The interactions between bees that depend on floral oil for their larvae and flowers that offer oil involve an intricate mix of obligate and facultative mutualisms. Using recent phylogenies, new data on oil-offering Cucurbitaceae, and molecular-dating, we ask when and how often oil-offering flowers and oil-foraging bees evolved, and how frequently these traits were lost in the cause of evolutio...

The consumption of sweeteners, natural as well as synthetic sugars, is implicated in an array of modern-day health problems. Therefore, natural nonsugar sweeteners are of increasing interest. We identify here the biosynthetic pathway of the sweet triterpenoid glycoside mogroside V, which has a sweetening strength of 250 times that of sucrose and is derived from mature fruit of luo-han-guo (Sira...

2007 saw the publication of two molecular phylogenies of Cucumis that relied on combined chloroplast and nuclear gene regions, and broad species sampling. One of these studies also addressed the position of Cucumis in the Cucurbitaceae family tree. It was found that the genera Cucumella, Dicaelospermum, Mukia, Myrmecosicyos, and Oreosyce are embedded within Cucumis and that the closest relative...

Abstract Olfaction and chemical ecology in phytophagous ladybird beetles have been largely ignored so far. The present paper describes for the first time basiconic, grooved, trichoid porous olfactory sensilla on antennae of Chnootriba elaterii (Epilacnini) demonstrates sensitivity to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from host plants, belonging common less Cucurbitaceae crops wild species ( Cit...

Nonphotosynthetic cells of higher plants depend on the supply of a carbon substrate, usually sucrose, for cellular metabolism. Typically this sucrose is synthesized in leaves from the products of photosynthesis. Because of the lack of light below ground, roots do not generally photosynthesize (we note the exception of certain mangrove species and members of the Orchidaceae), although many roots...

Seeds from Cucurbitaceae plants (squashes, pumpkins, melons, etc.) have been used both as protein-rich food ingredients and nutraceutical agents by many indigenous cultures for millennia. However, relatively little is known about the bioactive components (e.g., peptides) of the Cucurbitaceae seed proteins (CSP) and their specific effects on human health. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a ...

The mitochondrial genomes of seed plants are unusually large and vary in size by at least an order of magnitude. Much of this variation occurs within a single family, the Cucurbitaceae, whose genomes range from an estimated 390 to 2,900 kb in size. We sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of Citrullus lanatus (watermelon: 379,236 nt) and Cucurbita pepo (zucchini: 982,833 nt)--the two smallest cha...

In Sri Lankan and Indian traditional systems of medicine, Trichosanthes cucumerina Linn. (Family: Cucurbitaceae) is one the medicinal plants frequently utilised to create formulations treat a range illnesses conditions. Along with other plant components, aerial parts T. are used indigestion, bilious fevers, boils, sores, skin eruptions like eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, inflammation, ulcers, d...