The extract containing sesquiterpene lactones of Centaurea iberica (Asteraceae) isolated was separated and a steroidal compound, which is stigmast-1,5-dien-3beta-ol, was purified. The chemical structure was established based on spectroscopic data (UV, IR, MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR). Both the extract and the compound showed significant antioxidant and antimicrobial activities.

Urophora merzisp. n. reared from flower heads of Centaurea behen Linnaeus is described from Iran. It is similar to Urophora campestris, Urophora sachalinensis, Urophora stylata, Urophora tsoii and Urophora vera in wing pattern with 3 well developed crossbands and indistinct subbasal crossband, differing in aculeus tip with two pairs of diminished preapical steps and different host plants.

Malacitanolide (2), a new eudesmanolide isolated from the aerial parts of Centaurea malacitana, was characterized spectroscopically. The synthesis of 2 from cnicin (1), via the epoxide 3, confirmed the structure and stereochemistry of malacitanolide, as well as its biogenetic relationship with 1. Cytotoxic activity values for 2 are significantly higher than for 1.

Two previously undescribed elemanolide esters, the 2-methylpropanoate and 2-methyl-2-propenoate of 11,13-dehydromelitensin, were isolated in the course of a bioassay-guided fractionation from the aerial parts of Centaurea chilensis Hook. et Arn., used traditionally to treat 'gout and rheumatism'. The mixture of both substances exhibits anti-inflammatory activity in the carrageenan-induced paw e...

Abundances and interactions among biological control insects and their effects on target invasive plants were monitored within the flower heads and roots of diffuse knapweed, Centaurea diffusa, and in spotted knapweed, Centaurea stoebe, along the Colorado Front Range. Flower weevils, (Larinus species) and root-feeders (Cyphocleonus achates and Sphenoptera jugoslavica) were released on knapweed ...

The use of micro-computed tomography (μCT) provides a unique opportunity to look inside the shells of larger benthic foraminifera to investigate their structure by measuring linear and volumetric parameters. For this study, gamonts/schizonts and agamonts of the species Heterostegina depressa d'Orbigny were examined by μCT; each single chamber's volume was digitally measured. This approach enabl...