Four new withanolides named dmetelins A-D (compounds 1-4), along with the known compound 7α,27-dihydroxy-1-oxo-witha-2,5,24-trienolide (5) were isolated from the leaves of Datura metel L. (Solanaceae). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of detailed analysis of 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectrometry data. All the compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide...

BACKGROUND New viruses pathogenic to plants continue to emerge due to mutation, recombination, or reassortment among genomic segments among individual viruses. Tospoviruses cause significant economic damage to a wide range of crops in many parts of the world. The genetic or molecular basis of the continued emergence of new tospoviruses and new hosts is not well understood though it is generally...

Hyoscyamine is epoxidized to scopolamine via 6beta-hydroxyhyoscyamine in several solanaceous plants. 6,7-Dehydrohyoscyamine has been proposed to be an intermediate in the conversion of 6beta-hydroxyhyoscyamine to scopolamine on the basis of the observation that this unsaturated alkaloid is converted to scopolamine when fed to a Datura scion. To determine whether a dehydration step is involved i...