Genetic markers used in combination with network analysis can characterize the fine spatial pattern of seed dispersal and assess the differential contribution of dispersers. As a case study, we focus on the seed dispersal service provided by a small guild of frugivorous birds to the common yew, Taxus baccata L., in southern Spain. We build the spatial networks of seed dispersal events between t...

Paclitaxel is a medicinal ingredient with high anticancer activity and widely used in hospitals and clinics. In this study, we isolate endophytic fungi efficiently producing paclitaxel from yew for the purpose of paclitaxel manufacture.The bark of Taxus wallichiana var. mairei was surface sterilized and then inoculated in potato dextrose agar culture medium to isolate endophytic fungi. The pacl...

The use of drugeluting stents (DES) has tackled the "Achilles' heel" of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) like no innovation before: the restenosis following initially successful PCI of de novo stenoses. Today, with DES, the pivotal clinical parameter TVF (target vessel failure) is in the upper single- digit range for "standard" lesions and 16% for long lesions. Numerous studies have as...

Acid rain (AR), a serious environmental issue, severely affects plant growth and development. As the gymnosperms of conifer woody plants, Pinus massoniana (AR-sensitive) and Taxus wallichiana var. mairei (AR-resistant) are widely distributed in southern China. Under AR stress, significant necrosis and collapsed lesions were found in P. massoniana needles with remarkable yellowing and wilting ti...

Bilobetin and 4'''-O-methylamentoflavone were isolated and identified in the needles of Taxus baccata, for the first time in this species. The antifungal activity of biflavones from T. baccata and Ginkgo biloba, namely amentoflavone, 7-O-methylamentoflavone, bilobetin, ginkgetin, sciadopitysin and 2,3-dihydrosciadopitysin towards the fungi Alternaria alternata, Fusarium culmorum, Cladosporium o...

Taxol is used to treatment of variety cancers including ovarian, breast, lung, head and neck carcinomas and the AIDS-related Karposi’s carcinoma, and was originally obtained from bark of taxus brevifolia. However the amount of extracted taxol from taxus is extremely low and cannot be considered as a suitable commercial source and it has led to studies for finding new sources of Taxol. In 1998, ...