Myrmecophytic Acacia species produce food bodies (FBs) to nourish ants of the Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus group, with which they live in an obligate mutualism. We investigated how the FBs are protected from exploiting nonmutualists. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of the FB proteomes and consecutive protein sequencing indicated the presence of several Kunitz-type protease inhibitors (PIs). PIs...

Riparian ecosystem along rivers and streams are characterised by lateral and longitudinal ecological gradients and, as a result, harbour unique biodiversity. Riparian ecosystems in the fynbos of the Western Cape, South Africa, are characterised by seasonal dynamics, with summer droughts followed by high flows during winter. The unique hydrology and geomorphology of riparian ecosystems play an i...

This paper gives a proof that the universal cover of a closed 3-manifold built from three π1-injective handlebodies is homeomorphic to R. This construction is an extension to handlebodies of the conditions for gluing of three solid tori to produce non-Haken Seifert fibered manifolds with infinite fundamental group. This class of manifolds has been shown to contain non-Haken non-Seifert fibered ...

BACKGROUND Aqueous preparations of a medicinal plant, Gnidia stenophylla Gilg (Thymelaeaceae) are commonly used to cure malaria and other ailments in Ethiopia. This study evaluated the safety of the plant extract by determining its effects on food intake and histology of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) after oral administration for 13 weeks in albino mice. METHODS Thirty mice were equally assign...

Nitrogen is one of the major elements available to plants through biological nitrogen fixation, which has received much attention in recent years. The present study aims at improving tree legumes viz., Albizzia lebbeck, Pithecolobium dulce, Sesbania grandiflora, Albizzia amara, Enterolobium saman, Erythrina indica, Leucaena leucocephala, Acacia mellifera, Pongamia glabra and Acacia auriculiform...

Identification of mechanisms that allow some species to outcompete others is a fundamental goal in ecology and invasive species management. One useful approach is to examine congeners varying in invasiveness in a comparative framework across native and invaded ranges. Acacia species have been widely introduced outside their native range of Australia, and a subset of these species have become in...

Acacia nilotica once regarded as one of the worst weeds because of its invasiveness, potential for spread, economic and environmental impacts, thus it can easily grow and spread on large massive area for its survival. But recent studies and experiments shows that Acacia nilotica has many effective and efficient phytochemical activities in curing human diseases. Previous studies revealed that th...

Three Plumbago spp have been tested for mosquito larvicidal activity. The crude extracts exhibiting the highest larvicidal activity against Anopheles gambiae were hexane (LC50 = 6.4 microg/mL) and chloroform (LC50 = 6.7 microg/mL) extracts from Plumbago zeylanica Linn, chloroform (LC50 = 6.7 ug/mL) extract from Plumbago stenophylla Bull and ethyl acetate (LC50 = 4.1 microg/mL) extract from Plum...

Acacia senegal L. (Fabaceae) seeds are essential ingredient of "Pachkutta," a specific Rajasthani traditional food. The present study explored antiatherosclerotic and cardioprotective potential of Acacia senegal seed extract, if any, in hypercholesterolemic diet-induced atherosclerosis in rabbits. Atherosclerosis in rabbits was induced by feeding normal diet supplemented with oral administratio...

BACKGROUND Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is linked to the development of the majority of peptic ulcers and some types of gastric cancers, and its antibiotic resistance is currently found worldwide. OBJECTIVE This study is aimed at evaluating the anti-H. pylori activity of Korean acacia honey and isolating the related active components using organic solvents. MATERIAL AND METHODS The crude...