Lindera obtusiloba is a medicinal herb traditionally used in Asia for improvement of blood circulation, treatment of inflammation, and prevention of liver damage. A previous study has shown that an ethanolic extract of Lindera obtusiloba stems (LOE) has vasoprotective and antihypertensive effects. The possibility that Lindera obtusiloba improves endothelial function and metabolic parameters in ...

Three new butanolides, 2-(1-methoxy-11-dodecenyl)-penta-2,4-dien-4-olide (1), (2Z,3S,4S)-2-(11-dodecenylidene)-3-hydroxy-4-methylbutano lide (2) and (2E,3R,4R)-2-(11-dodecenylidene)-3-hydroxy-4-methoxy-4-methylbu tanolide (3), were isolated from the stems of Lindera obtusiloba BLUME. Their chemical structures were assigned by spectroscopic evidence. They exhibited cytotoxicity against cultured ...

A new species of brown frog Rana luanchuanensis Zhao & Yuan, sp. n. is described from Luanchuan County, western Henan, central China. The mitochondrial genealogy suggests that the new species is the sister taxon to the clade including R. amurensis and R. coreana, and is separated by uncorrected pairwise distances more than 12.5%. Morphologically, this new species differs from its congeners by a...

Research Highlights: genetic diversity in populations were compared among related shrub species with different reproductive systems. Background and Objectives: Lindera are dioecious trees or shrubs that produce seeds by mating of males females. To evaluate the importance for persistence natural populations, we information four Japan. Three (Lindera praecox, umbellata, obtusiloba) sexual reprodu...

The phylogenetic relationships of 15 taxa from Hystrix and the related genera Leymus (NsXm), Elymus (StH), Pseudoroegneria (St), Hordeum (H), Psathyrostachys (Ns), and Thinopyrum (E) were examined by using the Giemsa C-banded karyotype. The Hy. patula C-banding pattern was similar to those of Elymus species, whereas C-banding patterns of the other Hystrix species were similar to those of Leymus...

A new butanolide, 3β-((E)-dodec-1-enyl)-4β-hydroxy-5β-methyldihydrofuran-2-one (1) and four known butanolides: Akolactone A (2), (3Z,4α,5β)-3-(dodec-11-enylidene)-4-hydroxy-5-methylbutalactone (3), (3E,4α,5β)-3-(dodec-11-enylidene)-4-hydroxy-5-methylbutalactone (4) and dihydroisoobtusilactone (5), were isolated from the aerial parts of Lindera akoensis. These butanolides showed in vitro anti-in...

(+)-Linderaspirone A and (-)-linderaspirone A, a pair of natural windmill-shaped enantiomers, were isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine plant Lindera aggregate by HPLC using a chiral column, achieving over 98% ee. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined on the basis of extensive analysis of NMR spectra, crystal X-ray diffraction, and calculation of the optical rot...