Three new species of Palearctic Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962 are described, P. iberica sp. nov., P. rameli sp. nov. and P. withersi sp. nov. These are compared with the three previously described species, a key is provided to the males of all the Palearctic species.

The mineral contents of Centaura leave and seeds were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Macro element concentrations (P, K, Ca, Mg and S) of samples were found at high levels. K was established at high level in both leave and seed samples of Centaurea. While K contents of leaves changes between 7254.10 mg/kg (Centaurea lycaonica) and 26396.36 m...

During a survey of saprophytic microfungi on decomposing woody, herbaceous debris and soil from different regions in Southern Europe, a wide range of interesting species of asexual ascomycetes were found. Phylogenetic analyses based on partial gene sequences of SSU, LSU and ITS proved that most of these fungi were related to Sordariomycetes and Dothideomycetes and to lesser extent to Leotiomyce...

El poeta Francisco Botelho de Moraes e Vasconcelos encarna con su vida y obra el ideal hombre letras iberico que, a caballo entre los siglos XVII XVIII, vivio Torre Moncorvo, Madrid, Coimbra, Barcelona, Lisboa Salamanca, recorrio tierras Francia Italia publico versos prosa en castellano, portugues tambien latin. Leer Fracisco como autor es, pues, un buen arranque para interpretar sus textos. Es...

Centaurea solstitialis, commonly known as yellow starthistle, is an invasive plant listed as a noxious weed in the western areas of North America and is the target of classical biological control, which involves release of herbivores known to be specific to this plant. These insects often choose their host plant on the basis of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted. Accordingly, volatil...

Members of the genus Centaurea (Asteraceae) have been used in traditional plant-based medicine. The methanol extracts of twelve Centaurea species, of which five are endemic to Turkey flora, were screened for antibacterial activity against four bacteria (Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella enteritidis, Staphylococcus aureus). The antibacterial activity was evaluated by the microdilutio...

Many of the best-selling anticancer drugs are plant-derived. We tested for the anticancer properties of extracts isolated from Centaurea ainetensis, a plant species endemic to Lebanon and which is often used in folk medicine. We performed bioassay-guided fractionation of Centaurea ainetensis extracts using a panel of normal and neoplastic murine cells to identify a component that is associated ...