BACKGROUND Ecdysteroids are steroid hormones that control moulting and govern several changes during metamorphoses in arthropods. The discovery of the same molecules (phytoecdysteroids) in several plant species displayed a wide array of rather beneficial agricultural impact. Many representatives of the genus Ajuga plants contain phytoecdysteroids with a 5β-7-ene-6-one system exhibiting physiolo...

This study was carried out to evaluate the Brine shrimp lethality (cytotoxicity), antiglycation, phytotoxicity, antiplatelet, antifungal, and antibacterial activities of Ajuga bracteosa. The n-hexane fraction of Ajuga bracteosa was investigated for various biological activities in vitro. Hexane extract showed promising phytotoxicity (100%) at the highest dose only. Interestingly, n-hexane fract...

Two new antifungal withanolides, (1) and (2) have been isolated from the defatted methanolic extract of Ajuga parviflora. Their structures were established as 3/3,17/3,20-trihydroxyl-oxo-(20/?, 22/?)-witha-5,14,24-trienolide (1), 28-hydroxy-14,20-epoxy-l-oxo-(22/?)-witha2,5,24-trienolide (2) on the basis of spectroscopic data including two dimensional NMR tech­ niques. The pyrrolizidine alkaloi...

Nitrogen availability may be a major factor structuring ectomycorrhizal fungal communities. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has been implicated in the decline of ectomycorrhizal fungal (EMF) sporocarp diversity. We previously characterized the pattern of decreased sporocarp species richness over an anthropogenic N deposition gradient in Alaska (USA). To determine whether this change in spor...