Cyanogenesis denotes a chemical defensive strategy where hydrogen cyanide (HCN, hydrocyanic or prussic acid) is produced, stored, and released toward an attacking enemy. The high toxicity and volatility of HCN requires both chemical stabilization for storage and prevention of accidental self-poisoning. The few known cyanogenic animals are exclusively mandibulate arthropods (certain myriapods an...

Background & Aim:Vaginal disease has always been a great concern of women. Medicinal plants as natural resources with fewer side effects can effectively treat these infections given the diversity of these infections, resistance to antibiotics and side effects of existing drugs. The present study aimed to compare antimicrobial effects of methanol extract of Francoeuria Undul...

BACKGROUND Induction of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis in cancer cells represents an alternative approach for cancer therapy. The objective of this study was to elucidate whether ethanol extract of the marine brown alga Dictyopteris undulata can induce apoptosis, via ER stress, in human colon adenocarcinoma cells. METHODS Anti-proliferative activity was evaluated by the ...

BACKGROUND The "good genes" theory of sexual selection postulates that females choose mates that will improve their offspring's fitness through the inheritance of paternal genes. In spite of the attention that this hypothesis has given rise to, the empirical evidence remains sparse, mostly because of the difficulties of controlling for the many environmental factors that may covary with both th...

Treatment of tuberculosis (TB) is a challenge because of multidrug-resistant and extremely drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Plant species contain antimicrobial compounds that may lead to new anti-TB drugs. Previous screening of some tree species from the Anacardiaceae family revealed the presence of antimicrobial activity, justifying further investigations. Leaf extracts of...

Betulinic acid (BA) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid acid obtained from the stem bark of Tecomella undulata Seem. (Bignoniaceae). Development of an efficient extraction method for the isolation of BA is important as it has a wide range of pharmacological activity. A Box-Behnken design (BBD) was used to investigate the effect of extraction variables such as temperature (30-60 °C), time (4-8 h) and ...

Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) derived from Species Distribution Model (SDM) has been used to infer or predict local demographic properties such as abundance for many species. Across species studied, HSI either presented a poor predictor of potential rather than realized abundance. The main explanation the lack relationship between and is that varies in time due various ecological processes ar...