The large carpenter bees (Xylocopinae, Xylocopa Latreille) occurring in central Saudi Arabia are reviewed. Two species are recognized in the fauna, Xylocopa (Koptortosoma) aestuans (Linnaeus) and Xylocopa (Ctenoxylocopa) sulcatipes Maa. Diagnoses for and keys to the species of these prominent components of the central Saudi Arabian bee fauna are provided to aid their identification by pollinati...

Procerain B, a novel cysteine protease (endopeptidase) isolated from Calotropis procera belongs to Asclepiadaceae family. Purification of the enzyme, biochemical characterization and potential applications are already published by our group. Here, we report cDNA cloning, complete amino acid sequencing and molecular modeling of procerain B. The derived amino acid sequence showed high sequence ho...

Phytochemical screening and antimicrobial activity of chloroform, acetone and methanolic extracts of Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br. (Asclepiadaceae) flowers were tested against various pathogens such as Salmonella paratyphi, S. paratyphi A, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus thuringiensis, Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Phytoc...

Capsicum annum L. (Family: Solanaceae) and Hemidesmus indicus (Linn.) R.Br. (Family: Asclepiadaceae) are commonly used in Tamilnadufor treating various ailments in the native system of medicine. The hydroalcoholic extracts of both plants at dose level of 100 mg/kg body weight showed demonstrable anti-inflammatory activity in the carrageenan-induced hind paw model in rats. Nevertheless, the over...