The current study focussed on documenting the ethnobotanical knowledge of herbal medicines used by the Bapedi traditional healers to treat reproductive ailments in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Fifty one healers from 17 municipalities covering Capricorn, Sekhukhune and Waterberg districts of the Limpopo Province were interviewed between January and July 2011. Semi-structured interviews, o...

Microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers have been developed from genomic and expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries in red raspberry (Rubus idaeus, subgenus Idaeobatus) and also in blackberry (Rubus subgenus Rubus). Recently, there has also been increased interest in the use of SSR markers in black raspberry (R. occidentalis subgenus Idaeobatus) to aid in the identification and c...

During routine graft indexing of Rubus clones at the USDA-ARS Horticultural Crops Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon, a ‘Glen Clova’ plant that originated in Scotland induced severe symptoms including stunting and apical necrosis when grafted on ‘Munger’ black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis). Cloning of viral dsRNA obtained from the plant and sequence analysis indicated the presence of a n...

Raspberries (Rubus spp.) exhibit a unique rooting process that is initiated from the stem apex of primocane, conferring an unusual asexual mode of reproduction to this plant. However, the full complement of genes involved in this process has not been identified. To this end, the present study analyzed the transcriptomes of the Rubus primocane and floricane stem apex at three developmental stage...

Identifying the floral composition of honey provides a method for investigating the plants that honey bees visit. We compared melissopalynology, where pollen grains retrieved from honey are identified morphologically, with a DNA metabarcoding approach using the rbcL DNA barcode marker and 454-pyrosequencing. We compared nine honeys supplied by beekeepers in the UK. DNA metabarcoding and melisso...

The presence in New Zealand of the typhlocybine cicadellid Anzyginabilli Fletcher & Larivière, 2009 is confirmed, based on new material from Auckland. Rubus sp. is confirmed as a host plant.

Many studies have demonstrated the antioxidant activity and health benefits of the anthocyanins. The juice of Rubus sp. contains large amounts of anthocyanins and these flavonoids pigments give their characteristic color which tends to degrade easily, also its stability is affected during processing and storage, therefore spray drying can be used to avoid the degradation. The objective of the p...

The fruit hull of mangosteen, Garcinia mangostana L. has been used as a Thai indigenous medicine for many years. However, its mechanism of action as a medicine has not been elucidated. The present study was undertaken to examine the effects of mangosteen extracts (100% ethanol, 70% ethanol, 40% ethanol and water) on histamine release and prostaglandin E2 synthesis. We found that the 40% ethanol...

Two rust fungi from Iran are described as new species, viz. Puccinia hedjaroudei on Scutellaria multicaulis (Lamiaceae) and Phragmidium gorganense on Rubus caesius (Rosaceae). A key to the species of Phragmidium on Rubus spp. in Iran is also provided. All holotypes are preserved in the fungus reference collection of the Ministry of Jihad-e Agriculture (IRAN), located in Department of Botany of ...