When tested for ornithine and arginine decarboxylases, pyrrolizidine alkaloid-bearing Senecio riddellii, S. longilobus (Compositae), and Crotalaria retusa (Leguminosae) plants exhibited only ornithine decarboxylase activity. This contrasts with previous studies of four species of pyrrolizidine alkaloid-bearing Heliotropium (Boraginaceae) in which arginine decarboxylase activity was very high re...

The seed lipid of Nitraria tangutorum was extracted by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, microwaveassisted reflux extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction, or solvent reflux extraction. The experimental parameters of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction including pressure, temperature, particle size, and extraction time were investigated. A facile and sensitive method for the simult...

BACKGROUND The ethnic population of Arunachal Pradesh uses a number of orchids as such, or in decoction for various ailments. Three untapped orchids namely, Rhynchostylis retusa, Tropidia curculioides and Satyrium nepalense, traditionally used in tuberculosis, asthma and cold stage of malaria in folk medicine, were selected for the present study. METHODS Dried material of each plant was divid...

Many cases of intercontinental disjunct distributions of seed plants have been investigated, however few have concerned the continents of Eurasia (mainly Central Asia), Africa, and Australia, especially the xerophytic lineages are lacking. Nitraria (Nitrariaceae) is just one of these xerophytic lineages. Previous Nitraria studies have hypothesized either Africa as the ancient center, with dispe...

The methanolic extract of Sida retusa Linn.(Malvaceae),Urena lobata Linn.(Malvaceae)and Triumfetta rhomboidea Jacq.(Teliaceae) roots were found to inhibit lipid peroxidation, scavenge hydroxyl and superoxide radicals in vitro. The quantity of S.retusa root extract required for 50% inhibition of lipid peroxidation, scavenging hydroxyl radical and superoxide radical was 1130.24 ug/ml respectively...

The genetic diversity of the genus Crotalaria is unknown even though many species in this genus are economically valuable. We report the first study in which polymorphic expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers derived from Medicago and soybean were used to assess the genetic diversity of the Crotalaria germplasm collection. This collection consisted of 26 accessions repr...

This study deals with the ecology, phytochemistry, and biological activity investigation of Euphorbia retusa, belonging to Euphorbiaceae family, obtained from Egypt. Ecologically, Euphorbia retusa secretes white sap inhibiting the growth of the other species, so Euphorbia retusa is forming complete patches. Phytochemical study of the plant was visualized intensively based on its extraction with...

Ficus species (Moraceae) is a globally distributed and considered one of the largest most diverse genera woody plants with growing genetic, environmental, economic, nutritional, medicinal importance. This study was conducted to detect genetic evolutionary relationships among eight genus (Ficus microcarpa var nitida, F. retusa, benjamina Vivian, Starlight, cyathistipula, elastica Decora binnendi...

Modern pollen records have been used to successfully distinguish between specific prairie types in North America. Whether the pollen records can be used to detect the occurrence of Eurasian steppe, or even to further delimit various steppe types was until now unclear. Here we characterized modern pollen assemblages of meadow steppe, typical steppe and desert steppe from eastern Eurasia along an...