Opuntia ficus-indica is a long-domesticated cactus crop that is important in agricultural economies throughout arid and semiarid parts of the world. The biogeographic and evolutionary origins of this species have been obscured through ancient and widespread cultivation and naturalization. The origin of O. ficus-indica is investigated through the use of Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of nrITS DN...

The major components of annual seed deposition in the rain forest at Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, México are seeds of the pioneer tree species Cecropia obtusifolia and those of some species of Ficus. Cecropia obtusifolia Bertol. forms a relatively persistent viable soil seed bank, whereas seeds of Ficus are seldom found in the soil. Both genera require light for seed germination; however, the species...

Objective: Ficus benghalensis Linn. (Family: Moraceae) is a reputed plant in ayurvedic medicine and commonly known as "banayan tree" in ayurvedic literature. Traditionally, Ficus benghalensis is used for pain and fever. Since no detailed scientific data is available regarding the analgesic and antipyretic activities of Ficus benghalensis, the present study was designed to explore the same. Meth...

BACKGROUND The genus Ficus, collectively known as figs, is a key component of tropical forests and is well known for its ethnobotanical importance. In recent decades an increasing number of studies have shown the indigenous knowledge about wild edible Ficus species and their culinary or medicinal value. However, rather little is known about the role of these species in rural livelihoods, becaus...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Microsatellite markers for dioecious fig species, Ficus bernaysii King (section Sycocarpus), Ficus pachyrrhachis K. Schum. & Lauterb. (section Sycocarpus), and Ficus copiosa Steud. (section Sycidium) were developed to estimate gene flow among closely related fig species. METHODS AND RESULTS Loci were developed from tri- and tetranucleotide-enriched genomic libraries. The ...

The antivenom properties of methanolic extract of Ficus iteophylla miq and Borassus aethiopum plants were investigated against the venom of Naja mossandica snake. Both plant extracts effectively reduced the Naja mossandica venom induced hemolytic activity. The result reveals that hemolysis due to venom was 81.5% without extract but the heomolytic activity was drastically reduced by Ficus iteoph...

Parasitoid diversity in terrestrial ecosystems is enormous. However, ecological processes underpinning their evolutionary diversification in association with other trophic groups are still unclear. Specialisation and interdependencies among chalcid wasps that reproduce on Ficus presents an opportunity to investigate the ecology of a multi-trophic system that includes parasitoids. Here we estima...

Figs (Ficus, Moraceae) constitute one of the largest genera of flowering plants with ca. 750 species worldwide. While the extraordinary mutualism between figs and their pollinating wasps has received attention for decades, we are only just beginning to reconstruct the phylogeny of both partners, a necessary framework for addressing a variety of questions concerning the evolution of mutualism. H...

Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten. is widely cultivated in Jeju Island (South Korea) for use in manufacture of health foods. This study described antidepressant effect of two flavonoids (kaempferol and quercitrin) isolated from the Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten. The expression of the hypothalamic POMC mRNA or plasma β-endorphin levels were increased by extract of Opuntia ficus-indica var. s...