Saline stress is one of the most important abiotic factors limiting the growth and development of plants and associated microorganisms. While the impact of salinity on associations of arbuscular fungi is relatively well understood, knowledge of the ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi of trees growing on saline land is limited. The main objective of this study was to determine the density and diversity o...

In chloroplasts, several water-soluble carbohydrates have been suggested to act as stress protectants. The trisaccharide raffinose (alpha-1,6-galactosyl sucrose) is such a carbohydrate but has received little attention. We here demonstrate by compartmentation analysis of leaf mesophyll protoplasts that raffinose is clearly (to about 20%) present in chloroplasts of cold-treated common bugle (Aju...

The objective of the present study is to determine the bioefficacy of different crude extracts of Ajuga remota against anopheline and culicine larvae. Larval susceptibility of crude carbon-tetrachloride, methanol and petroleum-ether extracts of Ajuga remota leaves was observed against the malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi and the filariasis vector, Culex quinquefasciatus. Among the extracts t...

The influence of the aqueous crude extract of Glycine tomentella root (Leguminosae) on lipid metabolism was investigated in hyperlipidemic hamsters. It was found that the administration of the G. tomentella extract (GTE) leads to a decrease of high serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels induced by high-fat diet. The GTE also increased serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and decr...

Eight wild perennial Glycine species (G. argyrea, G. canescens, G. curvata, G. cyrtoloba, G. latifolia, G. microphylla, G. tabacina, and G. tomentella) were evaluated for resistance to isolates of races 1, 3, and 14 of Heterodera glycines. In a second experiment, reproduction of isolates of races 3, 5, and 14 of H. glycines on five of the wild perennial species was determined. Seventy-one deriv...

We used morphotyping and molecular methods to characterize ectomycorrhizas of bishop pine (Pinus muricata D. Don) and Bolander pine (Pinus contorta ssp. bolanderi (Parl.) Critchf.) from mixed conifer and hydric pygmy forests on the northern California coast. Sixteen ectomycorrhizal morphotypes were described, producing 15 internal transcribed spacer restriction fragment length polymorphism (ITS...

Feeding synthetic [2beta-2H]- and [2alpha-2H]-cholesterols to the hairy roots of Ajuga reptans var. atropurpurea and 2H-NMR analysis of the biosynthesized 20-hydroxyecdysone revealed that hydroxylation at C-2 proceeds with retention of configuration. Feeding [2alpha,3alpha-2H2]cholesterol followed by 2H-NMR analysis of the 2,3,22-triacetate of the resulting 20-hydroxyecdysone ruled out a mechan...

Ajuga remota is the most frequently used medicinal herb for malaria treatment in Kenya. Its two known isolates ajugarin-1 (1) and ergosterol-5,8-endoperoxide (3) and a new isolate 8-O-acetylharpagide (2) were evaluated for their in vitro antiplasmodial activity. Ajugarin-1 was moderately active, with an IC(50) of 23.0 +/- 3.0 microM, as compared to chloroquine (IC(50) = 0.041 +/- 0.003 microM) ...

Context Some Ajuga L. (Lamiaceae) species are traditionally used for the treatment of malaria, as well as fever, which is a common symptom of many parasitic diseases. Objective In the continuation of our studies on the identification of antiprotozoal secondary metabolites of Turkish Lamiaceae species, we have investigated the aerial parts of Ajuga laxmannii. Materials and methods The aerial par...

background & aim: the aim of this research is investigation and familiarity with the important herbal drugs that have used for traditional curing of animal diseases in different areas of kerman province, iran. from a long time ago native farmers and tribes of different regions used the available natural herbs which existed in those regions to cure animal diseases in different areas of kerma...