Artemisia annua hot water infusion (tea) has been used in in vitro experiments against P. falciparum malaria parasites to test potency relative to equivalent pure artemisinin. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometric analyses were employed to determine the metabolite profile of tea including the concentrations of artemisinin (47.5±0.8 mg L(-1)), dihydroartemisinic ac...

The yeast strain (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) MTCC 3157 was selected for combinatorial biosynthesis of plant sesquiterpene amorpha-4,11-diene. Our main objective was to overproduce amorpha 4-11-diene, which is a key precursor molecule of artemisinin (antimalarial drug) produced naturally in plant Artemisia annua through mevalonate pathway. Farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) is a common intermediate metab...

Artemisinin is an effective component of drugs against malaria. The regulation of artemisinin biosynthesis is at the forefront of artemisinin research. Previous studies showed that AaWRKY1 can regulate the expression of ADS, which is the first key enzyme in artemisinin biosynthetic pathway. In this study, AaWRKY1 was cloned, and it activated ADSpro and CYPpro in tobacco using dual-LUC assay. To...

Artemisinin (quinghaosu) is a natural compound, isolated from Artemisia annua L. (Compositae), of current interest in treatment of drug-resistant malaria. Aim of the current study was to hit upon novel artemisinin sources as alternative to A. annua. Therefore, ten species of the genus Artemisia (A. santonicum L., A. taurica Willd., A. spicigera K. Koch, A. herba-alba Asso, A. haussknechtii Bois...

Artemisia annua plants produce a broad range of volatile compounds, including monoterpenes, which contribute to the characteristic fragrance of this medicinal species. A cDNA clone, QH6, contained an open reading frame encoding a 582-amino acid protein that showed high sequence identity to plant monoterpene synthases. The prokaryotically expressed QH6 fusion protein converted geranyl diphosphat...

W H A T ' S B A L A N G O T T H A T O T H E R S LACK? The unique qual i ty of being w a t e r p r o o f . M a n y he rb ic ides a r e highly water-soluble. Bu t not Balan. It clings to soil particles in the weedgerminat ing area. Resists the leaching effect of heavy rains and rep e a t e d i rr igat ions. S t a y s p u t for months , before breaking down gradually and natural ly to avoid harmfu...

Artemisia annua L. (Asteraceae) is native to China, now naturalised in many other countries, well known as the source of the unique sesquiterpene endoperoxide lactone artemisinin, and used in the treatment of the chloroquine-resistant and cerebral malaria. The essential oil is rich in mono- and sesquiterpenes and represents a by-product with medicinal properties. Besides significant variations ...

Haemonchus contortus is a blood-sucking abomasal helminth of small ruminants responsible for major economic losses to producers worldwide. Widespread resistance to commercial anthelmintics has created a need for alternative methods of parasite control. One method involves using plant products with natural anthelmintic properties. This thesis assessed the efficacy of several plant products again...

Cinnamate-4-hydroxylase (C4H) converts trans-cinnamic acid (CA) to p-coumaric acid (COA) in the phenylpropanoid/lignin biosynthesis pathway. Earlier we reported increased expression of AaCYP71AV1 (an important gene of artemisinin biosynthesis pathway) caused by CA treatment in Artemisia annua. Hence, AaC4H gene was identified, cloned, characterized and silenced in A. annua with the assumption t...

Malaria is one of the world 's most devastating human infectious disease and, In India, it is endemic with the mortality rate steadil y increasing. As a result the search for the development of new and more effective chemotherapeutic agents to control this life threatening disease is going on at several centres. In this context, artemisinin isolated from the Chinese herb qinghao (Artemisia annu...