Exotic plant species can threaten closely related native congeners through asymmetric hybridization and subsequent backcrossing, the process known as genetic assimilation. I explore the initial stages of this process in Taraxacum ceratophorum (Asteraceae), the native alpine dandelion, and the invasive apomict T. officinale. In central Colorado, seven T. ceratophorum populations all occur in sym...

Dendrobium officinale is an endangered orchid from southeast Asia that is known for its medicinal properties in traditional Chinese medicine. We constructed an integrated genetic linkage map of an F(1) population derived from an interspecific cross between D. officinale and D. aduncum (both, 2n = 38), using expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSR) and sequence-related amplified ...

OBJECTIVE Hyperlipidemia is a known complication of diabetes mellitus and predisposes to coronary heart disease. The lowering of total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol should reduce the incidence of coronary disease. The aim of the present study was to examine the antihyperlipidemic and antidiabetic effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of watercress (Nasturtium officin...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assay the antifungal activity of selected essential oils obtained from plants against both fluconazole (FLU)-resistant and FLU-susceptible C. albicans strains isolated from HIV positive patients with oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC). MATERIALS AND METHODS The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation method from Myrtus communis (My. communis),...

The genus Dendrobium was used as a case study to elucidate the evolutionary history of Orchidaceae in the Sino-Japanese Floristic Region (SJFR) and Southeast Asia region. These evolutionary histories remain largely unknown, including the temporal and spatial distribution of the evolutionary events. The present study used nuclear and plastid DNA to determine the phylogeography of Dendrobium offi...

Polysaccharide (DOPA) from the stem of D. officinale, as well as two fractions (DOPA-1 and DOPA-2) of it, were isolated and purified by DEAE cellulose-52 and Sephacryl S-300 chromatography, and their structural characteristics and bioactivities were investigated. The average molecular weights of DOPA-1 and DOPA-2 were 394 kDa and 362 kDa, respectively. They were mainly composed of d-mannose, d-...

BACKGROUND Nasturtium officinale is a traditional herb that is used for diuresis. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study is to determine the effects of hydrophilic extract of Nasturtium officinale on ethylene glycol-induced renal stone in male Wistar rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study 32 male Wistar rats were randomly divided in six groups and studied during 30 days. Two groups of negative...

Is physiological performance a suitable proxy of fitness in plants? Although, several studies have been conducted to measure some fitness-related traits and physiological performance, direct assessments are seldom found in the literature. Here, we assessed the physiology-fitness relationship using second-generation individuals of the invasive plant species Taraxacum officinale from 17 localitie...

background & aim: ginger is common named zingber officinale roscoe. belongs to zingiberaceae family which extensively used to pharmaceutic industries in addition to food industries uses. dut to iran is located at world saline lands, salinity is a main problem to native and nonnative plant species cultivation such as ginger and because in plants salinity induces antioxidative and defensive s...