Artemisinins are derived from extracts of sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) and are well established for the treatment of malaria, including highly drug-resistant strains. Their efficacy also extends to phylogenetically unrelated parasitic infections such as schistosomiasis. More recently, they have also shown potent and broad anticancer properties in cell lines and animal models. In this review...

Artemisinin, isolated from Artemisia annua, is recommended as the preferred drug to fight malaria. Previous research showed that jasmonate (JA)-mediated promotion of artemisinin accumulation depended on light. However, mechanism underlying interaction light and JA in regulating still unknown. We identified a WRKY transcription factor, AaWRKY9, using transcriptome analysis. The glandular trichom...

The medicinal plants find application in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, agricultural and food industry. The efficacy of some herbal products is beyond doubt, the most recent examples being Silybum marianum (Linn.) Gaertn (silymarin), Artemisia annua Linn. (artemesinin) and Taxus baccata Linn. (taxol). Randomized, controlled trials have proved the efficacy of some established remedies, for instance Z...

The antimalarial artemisinin, the active principle of the plant Artemisia annua L., was extracted by Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE). Soxhlet extraction was studied as comparison processes. The extracts were analyzed by the indirect method GC-FID. The maximal extraction yield (1.82%DW) was obtained by SFE at T=40°C, P=200bar, CO2flow=4.5g/min, and 20% ethanol as modifier. The artemisinin e...

Artemisia annua is an important medicinal crop used for the production of the anti-malarial compound artemisinin. In order to assist in the production of affordable high quality artemisinin we have carried out an A. annua breeding programme aimed at improving artemisinin concentration and biomass. Here we report on a combining ability analysis of a diallel cross to identify robust parental line...

Artemisia annua is the source of antimalarial phytomolecule, artemisinin. It is mainly produced and stored in the glandular secretory trichomes present in the leaves of the plant. Since, the artemisinin biosynthesis steps are yet to be worked out, in this investigation a microarray chip was strategized for the first time to shortlist the differentially expressing genes at a stage of plant produ...

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays an important role in plant development and environmental stress response. In this study, we cloned an ABA receptor orthologue, AaPYL9, from Artemisia annua L. AaPYL9 is expressed highly in leaf and flower. AaPYL9 protein can be localized in both nucleus and cytoplasm. Yeast two-hybrid assay shows AaPYL9 can specifically interact with AtABI1 but not wit...

Artemisia annua, an annual herb used in traditional Chinese medicine, produces a wealth of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, including the well-known sesquiterpene lactone artemisinin, an active ingredient in the treatment for malaria. Here we report three new monoterpene synthases of A. annua. From a glandular trichome cDNA library, monoterpene synthases of AaTPS2, AaTPS5, and AaTPS6, were isol...

Although dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and other artemisinin derivatives have selective toxicity towards cancer cells, Artemisia annua (A. annua) extracts containing artemisinin have not been evaluated for their anticancer potential. Our main goal was to assess the anticancer effect of ethanolic leaf extracts of A. annua from Brazilian and Chinese origins (with DHA as a comparison) on normal and can...

Ancient Chinese herbal texts as far back as the 4th Century Zhou hou bei ji fang describe methods for the use of Qing Hao (Artemisia annua) for the treatment of intermittent fevers. Today, the A. annua constituent artemisinin is an important antimalarial drug and the herb itself is being grown and used locally for malaria treatment although this practice is controversial. Here we show that the ...