Testing of lupine varieties for alkaloids was performed in the period 2006-2010 at the Voke Branch of the Lithuanian Institute of Agriculture in the course of a competitive trial of feeding lupine (Lupinus sp.). Samples of feeding yellow lupine (Lupinus luteus L.) varieties as well as narrow-leaved lupine (Lupinus angustifolius L.) were used. The alkaloid concentration was assessed in the perio...

Varieties of alkaloids are known to be produced by various organisms, including bacteria, fungi and plants, as secondary metabolites that exhibit useful bioactivities. However, understanding of how those metabolites are biosynthesized still remains limited, because most of these compounds are isolated from plants and at a trace level of production. In this review, we focus on recent efforts in ...

Glaucium flavum is used in Algerian folk medicine to remove warts (benign tumors). Its local appellations are Cheqiq el-asfar and Qarn el-djedyane. We have recently reported the anti-tumoral activity of Glaucium flavum root alkaloid extract against human cancer cells, in vitro and in vivo. The principal identified alkaloid in the extract was protopine. This study aims to determine which compone...

Lupinus, Baptisia, Sarothamnus, Diumal Rhythm, Photomixotrophic Cell Suspension Cultures, Quinolizidine Alkaloids Fluctuations of quinolizidine alkaloid content in leaflets of Lupinus polyphyllus, L. hartwegii, Baptisia australis, and Sarothamnus scoparius were studied over a 36 h period. The alkaloid contents reached their maximum at noon or early afternoon, and their minimum during the night....

Complex phenotypes typically have a correspondingly multifaceted genetic component. However, the genotype-phenotype association between chemical defense and resistance is often simple: genetic changes in the binding site of a toxin alter how it affects its target. Some toxic organisms, such as poison frogs (Anura: Dendrobatidae), have defensive alkaloids that disrupt the function of ion channel...

Berberis microphylla is a native plant that grows in Patagonia and is commonly used by aboriginal ethnic groups in traditional medicine as an antiseptic for different diseases. The present study evaluated the antibacterial and synergistic activity of alkaloid extracts of B. microphylla leaves, stems and roots used either individually or in combination with antibiotics against Gram-positive and ...

Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids are one of the most important secondary metabolite groups, and include the economically important analgesic morphine and the antimicrobial agent berberine. To improve the production of these alkaloids, we investigated the effect of the overexpression of putative rate-limiting step enzymes in benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis. We introduced two O-methyltransfe...

When tested for ornithine and arginine decarboxylases, pyrrolizidine alkaloid-bearing Senecio riddellii, S. longilobus (Compositae), and Crotalaria retusa (Leguminosae) plants exhibited only ornithine decarboxylase activity. This contrasts with previous studies of four species of pyrrolizidine alkaloid-bearing Heliotropium (Boraginaceae) in which arginine decarboxylase activity was very high re...

The immunomodulatory activity of diterpene alkaloids from Aconitum lycoctonum L. (Ranunculaceae family) was evaluated; the alkaloid components were extracted from plants grown wild in the Apennines near Parma (Northern Italy). The diterpene alkaloid lycoctonine evaluated by means of HPLC and IR techniques reaches its highest value in flowers, followed by stems, roots and leaves, while the maxim...

morning of the 13th November I was hurriedly called in to see him. He had after much coughing and sneezing evacuated a worm-like creature from his nose, and this had been thrown on the floor, where it looked like a small mass of muco-purulent nasal secretion with a streak of blood along it. In due course however it uncoiled itself to a length of about one inch and began to move very slowly. At ...