The "spiny solanums," Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum (Solanaceae), comprise a large lineage with over 350 species and include the cultivated eggplant, Solanum melongena. Despite the importance of this subgenus, phylogenetic relationships among these taxa are currently unclear. The present research contributes to this understanding while focusing on Solanum section Acanthophora, a group of ca. 1...

Solanum nigrum is used in various traditional medical systems for antiproliferative, antiinflammatory, antiseizure and hepatoprotective activities. We have evaluated organic solvent and aqueous extracts obtained from berries of Solanum nigrum for antiproliferative activity on leukemic cell lines, Jurkat and HL-60 (Human promyelocytic leukemia cells). The cell viability after the treatment with ...

Violacein is a violet pigment extracted from the gram-negative bacterium Chromobacterium violaceum. It presents bactericidal, tumoricidal, trypanocidal, and antileishmanial activities. We show that micromolar concentrations efficiently killed chloroquine-sensitive and -resistant Plasmodium falciparum strains in vitro; inhibited parasitemia in vivo, even after parasite establishment; and protect...

The Clitoria ternatea, Solanum nigrum and Aloe vera leaves were extracted serially by the solvents of increasing polarity (petroleum ether, chloroform and ethanol) were tested for their free radical scavenging activity against DPPH. The petroleum ether extracts of Clitoria ternatea, Solanum nigrum and Aloe vera leaves were the most effective scavenging of DPPH. These plant extracts were also an...

The location of wild and cultivated host plants by pepper weevil (Anthonomus eugenii Cano) may be aided by visual cues, the male-produced aggregation pheromone, herbivore-induced, or constitutive host plant volatiles. The attractiveness of constitutive plant volatiles to pioneer weevils is important in understanding, and perhaps controlling, dispersal of this insect between wild and cultivated ...

L.K. Carta, Z.A. Handoo, Nematology Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland, USA 20705; T.O. Powers, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA 68583; S.A. Miller, Plant Quarantine Pest Unit, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa Laboratory (Fallowfield), Ontario, K2H 8P9 Canada; R. Pérez-Zubiri, and A. Ramírez-Suárez, SAGAR...