BACKGROUND AND AIMS Stereochemical variation is widely known to influence the bioactivity of compounds in the context of pharmacology and pesticide science, but our understanding of its importance in mediating plant-herbivore interactions is limited, particularly in field settings. Similarly, sesquiterpene lactones are a broadly distributed class of putative defensive compounds, but little is k...

Vlasouliolides A-D (1-4), four rare sesquiterpene lactone dimers, were isolated from Vladimiria souliei. The common structural characteristic of 1-4 is the C32 skeleton comprising two sesquiterpene lactone units linked by a C11-C13' single bond with one acetyl connected to the C-13 position of one of the two sesquiterpene lactone units. The stereochemistries of 1-4 were assigned by a combinatio...

re-investigation of the methylene chloride extract of the roots of ferula sinaica gave ferusinol, a new sesquiterpene coumarin with a rare carbon skeleton, and samarcandin diastereomer. the structures elucidation were determined by ms, 1h- 13c-1d and 2d nmr spectral data.

Terpenes have various applications as fragrances, cosmetics and fuels. One of the most prominent examples is the sesquiterpene farnesene, which can be used as diesel substitute in its hydrogenated form farnesane. Recent metabolic engineering efforts have enabled efficient production of several terpenes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli. Plant terpene synthases take on an essentia...

BACKGROUND Sesquiterpenes are 15-carbon terpenes synthesized by sesquiterpene synthases using farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) as a substrate. Recently, a sesquiterpene synthase gene that encodes a 65 kDa protein was isolated from the aromatic plant Persicaria minor. Here, we report the expression, purification and characterization of recombinant P. minor sesquiterpene synthase protein (PmSTS). Insig...

Esterified drimane-type sesquiterpene lactones such as astellolides display various biological activities and are widely produced by plants and fungi. Given their low homology to known sesquiterpene cyclases, the genes responsible for their biosynthesis have not been uncovered yet. Here, we identified the astellolide gene cluster from Aspergillus oryzae and discovered a novel sesquiterpene bios...

Sesquiterpenoids, and specifically sesquiterpene lactones from Asteraceae, may play a highly significant role in human health, both as part of a balanced diet and as pharmaceutical agents, due to their potential for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and cancer. This review highlights the role of sesquiterpene lactones endogenously in the plants that produce them, and explores mechanisms b...

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) sesquiterpene lactones were recently shown to be derived from a common sesquiterpene intermediate, (+)-germacrene A. Germacrene A is of interest because of its key role in sesquiterpene lactone biosynthesis and because it is an enzyme-bound intermediate in the biosynthesis of a number of phytoalexins. Using polymerase chain reaction with degenerate primers, we have i...

The recent discovery and structure elucidation of approximately 100 new sesquiterpene lactones during a systematic study of Artemisia and other genera of the family of Compositae in our laboratory (16) have provided the opportunity for further investigations on the potential of these sesquiterpene lactones as new therapeutic agents. Much of the earlier study on sesquiterpene lactones for medici...

Column chromatographic separation of a MeOH extract of the aerial parts of Saussurea triangulata led to the isolation of a new sesquiterpene glycoside 6, together with three quinic acid derivatives, two phenolics, two sesquiterpene glycosides and two flavonoids. The new compound 6 was identified as amarantholidol A glycoside by spectroscopic and chemical methods.