Divergence time analyses in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) have all relied on the same Gentianales crown group age estimate, reported by an earlier analysis of the asterids, for defining the upper age bound of the root node in their analyses. However, not only did the asterid analysis suffer from several analytical shortcomings, but the estimate itself has been used in highly inconsistent ways i...

The reproductive phenology of seven species of Rubiaceae from the Brazilian Atlantic rain forest was compared to evaluate the occurrence of phylogenetic constraints on flowering and fruiting phenologies. Since phenological patterns can be affected by phylogenetic constraints, we expected that reproductive phenology would be similar among plants within a family or genus, occurring during the sam...

Concentrations of Al, Si, Fe, Mn, Cu and Ca were analysed in leaves of ten Rubiaceae species, most of which are Al accumulators, and these were compared with concentrations in one species of Melastomataceae. Quantitative data confirmed the distribution of Al accumulation as previously determined by semi-quantitative tests, and suggest that there is an apparent congruency between the shoot Al co...

One new cyclic hexapeptide named rubipodanin A (1), which is the first identified natural N-desmonomethyl Rubiaceae-type cyclopeptide, together with six known Rubiaceae-type cyclopeptides (2-7) were obtained using the TLC cyclopeptide protosite detection method with ninhydrin from the roots and rhizomes of Rubia podantha. The cyclopeptide structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic an...

Comparative morphological microscopical and phytochemical studies of root and stem parts of R. cordifolia and R. tinctorum L. (Rubiaceae) have been carried out.

The genus Chiococca (Rubiaceae) with 22 species is endemic of the American Continent, and occurs from North America to Brazil. Several Chiococca species have been traditionally used in these regions for the treatment of numerous human ailments including inflammation, antivirus, anti-edema and as aphrodisiac. Other plants belonging to the Rubiaceae family have yielded a number of interesting bio...

S. Van Oevelen1,2*, R. De Wachter2, E. Robbrecht3, E. Prinsen1 1Laboratory of Plant Biochemistry and Physiology, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium 2Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp, Belgium 3National Botanic Garden, Domein van Bouchout, B-1860 Meise, ...

We report herein the application of a set of algorithms to identify a large number (2869) of single-copy orthologs (COSII), which are shared by most, if not all, euasterid plant species as well as the model species Arabidopsis. Alignments of the orthologous sequences across multiple species enabled the design of "universal PCR primers," which can be used to amplify the corresponding orthologs f...

Gousiekte, a cardiac syndrome of ruminants in southern Africa, is caused by the ingestion of plants containing the polyamine pavettamine. All the six known gousiekte-causing plants are members of the Rubiaceae or coffee family and house endosymbiotic Burkholderia bacteria in their leaves. It was therefore hypothesized that these bacteria could be involved in the production of the toxin. The pav...

Antimicrobial activity was detected in the 50% ethanolic extract of Ixora coccinea. The effective inhibitory concentration of the extract against both the bacterial test organisms and the fungal test organisms studied was 125 ug mL(-1), beyond which the inhibitory activity declined and the organisms started reviving from the effect of the antimicrobial principle.