Azadirachtin in the fruit of melia azedaiuch

Azadirachtin, a triterpenoid of Azadirachta indica with feeding and growth disruptive effects on certain insects, has been found in Melia azedarach.     

Chrotacumines G–J,chromone alkaloids from Dysoxylum acutangulum with osteoclast differentiation inhibitory activity

Four new chromone alkaloids, chrotacumines G–J (1–4), have been isolated from the barks of Dysoxylum acutangulum. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated on the basis of NMR and CD data. Chrotacumines G and J (1 and 4) showed osteoclast differentiation inhibitory activity in a dose dependent manner.     

Limonoids from the West African Trichilia welwitschii (Meliaceae)

The seeds of Trichilia welwitschii C.DC. (Meliaceae) yielded three limonoids, dregeanin DM4 (1), reported here from a natural source for the first time, the known rohituka 3 (2) and trichilia lactone D5 (3). The bark yielded 28,29-dinorcycloart-24-ene-3,4,6-triol (4), sitosterol-3-O-β-d-glucoside, 4-hydroxy-N-methyl-l-proline, stigmasterol and sitosterol.     

大叶山楝根化学成分与细胞毒活性的研究

为了解大叶山楝(Aphanamixis grandifolia Bl.)根中的抗肿瘤活性成分,利用各种色谱技术从其95% 乙醇提取物中分离得到9 个化合物,经波谱分析分别鉴定为:7-hydroxycadalene (1)、dregeana-1 (2)、4-oxopinoresinol (3)、4-ketopinoresinol (4)、6-deoxyjacareubin (5)、schleicheol 1 (6)、豆甾醇 (7)、β-谷甾醇 (8)和胡萝卜苷 (9).其中化合物1~6 为首次从山楝属植物中分离得到,并首次报道了化合物1的碳谱数据.生物活性测试结果表明,化合物1和5对慢性髓原白血病细胞K562 有生长抑制活性,化合物1、5 和6 对人胃癌细胞SGC-7901 有生长抑制活性.     

Dammarane triterpenes from Cabralea canjerana (Vell.) Mart. (Meliaceae): Their chemosystematic significance

The stem of Cabralea canjerana (Vell.) Mart. yielded three new dammarane triterpenes 20S,24S-epoxy-7β,25-dihydroxy-3,4-secodammar-4(28)-en-3-oic acid, 20S,24S-epoxy-7β,15α,25-trihydroxy-3,4-secodammar-4(28)-en-3-oic acid and 20S,24R-epoxy-7β,22ξ,25-trihydroxy-3,4-secodammar-4(28)-en-3-oic acid, which were identified on the basis of spectroscopic methods. The known dammarane triterpenes ocotillone, eichlerianic acid, shoreic acid and the sterols sitosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, sitostenone and stigmast-5-en-3-one were also isolated and identified. The branches yielded the above three known dammaranes and eichlerialactone. The dammaranes in C. canjerana display strong similarities with Trichilieae tribe, which contains several dammaranes. The data reported herein thus provide firm support for placing Cabralea within the subfamily Melioideae, Trichilieae tribe.     

Ring A rearranged limonoids from the fruits of Aphanamixis grandifolia and their cytotoxicity evaluation

Two new limonoids aphanamolides C (1) and D (2), together with two known limonoids aphanamolide A (3) and aphapolynin A (4), were isolated from the fruits of Aphanamixis grandifolia. Their structures were assigned on the basis of spectroscopic data, with the absolute configurations of 1 and 2 being established by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopic analyses. Those limonoids varied in the ring A: aphanamolide C featured two oxygenated bridges, and aphanamolide D was the second example containing β-hydroxy-α,β:γ,δ-dienoate moiety. The cytotoxic activities were also evaluated in vitro against four human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, A549, SMMC-7721, and HL-60).     

Mite (Acari; Arachnida) diversity of two native plants in fragments of a semideciduous seasonal forest in Brazil

Studies to determine mite species richness in natural environments are still scarce, and have been conducted mainly in tropical ecosystems. The aim of this study was to determine the species richness of mites on two common native plants in fragments of the semideciduous seasonal forest in the Northwest of São Paulo State, Brazil. In each of eight fragments, 10 specimens of Actinostemon communis (Euphorbiaceae) and 10 of Trichilia casaretti (Meliaceae) were selected and marked. In total, 124 species of mites belonging to 21 families were found on the two plants. Tarsonemidae had the highest diversity (34 species), followed by Phytoseiidae (31), Tetranychidae (9) and Tenuipalpidae (8). Species accumulation curves for the two sampled plants did not reach an asymptote, even with the large sampling effort. Hence, it is estimated that a greater sampling effort may lead to an increase in species richness compared with what was found in this study. The richness of this mite fauna suggests that preservation of these plant species is important to maintain the mite diversity in these forest fragments.