Calcium oxalate druses were isolated from the stems and leaves of six Pereskioideae family members and investigated by infrared spectroscopy, showing that in all samples the biomineral was present in the form of whewellite, CaC2O4 x H2O. As Pereskia is thought to represent the "ancestral" condition of the leafless stem-succulent cacti, these results suggest that the biomineralization of calcium...

Many plants have been used to treat some diseases and infections since time immemorial, and this potential has been exploited by the pharmaceutical industry in the search of new analgesic, anticarcinogenic and antimicrobial agents, among other active agents. In order to contribute with bioprospection studies on the Colombian flora, 35 extracts from 13 plant species belonging to seven families (...

Las pectinas tienen un gran potencial de uso en la industria alimenticia y farmacéutica. principales fuentes comerciales son las manzanas naranjas. Pero existen otras potenciales para su extracción, como los cactus familia Cactaceae.

Shilajit, exuding from the rocks of mountains has been proved to be basically derived from the latex of cactus like Euphorbia species. Therefore, in the present communication, an attempt has been made to provide similar information from the ayurvedic literatures.

Peniocereus striatus (Cactaceae) and Euphorbia cryptospinosa (Euphorbiaceae) both produce slender pencil-like stems with stomata restricted to series of furrows separated by bark-covered ribs. In each species, as the stems dehydrate, the ribs come together to close off the furrows. The unusual structure of these stems in two unrelated succulent genera is a remarkable example of evolutionary con...

Cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) belongs to the family Cactaceae. Family Cactaceae is reported to contain about 130 genera and nearly 1500 species. This plant is native of Mexico and it is widely distributed in Mexico and in all American hemispheres as well as in Africa and in the Mediterranean basin. It has been used in traditional folk medicine because of its role in treating a number of disease...

Characteristics developed by Cactaceae for adaptation to climates where water is limited include crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), a thick cuticle, and spines and trichomes that intercept a proportion of solar radiation. A few studies consider morpho-anatomical and physiological characteristics of Cactaceae seedlings, which may help understand their establishment, growth, and eventual reprodu...

The dorsoventral axis of the Drosophila embryo is determined by a morphogen gradient established by the action of 12 maternal-effect genes: the dorsal group genes and cactus. One of the dorsal group genes, dorsal (dl), encodes the putative morphogen. Although no overall asymmetry in the distribution of dorsal protein is observed, a gradient of nuclear concentration of dl protein is established ...