Effects of methanol extracts of Xanthium strumarium on different cancer cell lines and on the mortality rates of Aedes caspius, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) were investigated. Among the cell lines tested, the Jurkat cell line was the most sensitive to the methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction, with reported LC50 values of 50.18 and 48.73 μg/ml respectively. Conversely, methanol extr...

BACKGROUND Overcoming boundaries is crucial for incursion of alien plant species and their successful naturalization and invasion within protected areas. Previous work showed that in Kruger National Park, South Africa, this process can be quantified and that factors determining the incursion of invasive species can be identified and predicted confidently. Here we explore the similarity between ...

The objective of the present work was to evaluate the biological activities of the major bioactive compound, xanthatin, and other compounds from Xanthium strumarium (Asteraceae) leaves. Inhibition of bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei brucei and leukaemia HL-60 cell proliferation was assessed using resazurin as a vital stain. Xanthatin was found to be the major and most active compound aga...

Xanthium strumarium, commonly referred to as "cocklebur," rarely causes poisoning in cattle. When mature, this robust, annual weed bears numerous oval, brownish, spiny burs. Only the seeds in the burs and young seedlings (cotyledonary leaves) contain the toxic principle, carboxyatractyloside. In the Frankfort district of the Free State Province of South Africa, a herd of 150 Bonsmara cows were ...

The host suitability to Ditylenchus destructor of seven common weed species in peanut (Arachis hypogaea) fields in South Africa was determined. Based on the number of nematodes per root unit, white goosefoot (Chenopodium album), feathertop chloris (Chloris virgata), purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus), jimson weed (Datura stramonium), goose grass (Eleusine indica), khaki weed (Tagetes minuta), a...