Two flavonoids and other compounds from the aerial parts of Centaurea bracteata from Italy

The flowering aerial parts of Centaurea bracteata Scop. (Asteraceae) have been studied for the first time. Nineteen compounds were isolated and identified, namely a sterol glucoside, two phenolic acids, three quinic acid derivatives, and 13 flavonoids, two of which, are new natural products. Structural elucidation was performed mainly by mean of FABMS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy.     

A flavonoid with cytotoxic activity and other constituents from Centaurea africana

A new acylated flavonoid glucoside named algerianin 1 and a new as natural product, 4′-methyl gossypetin 2, together with 10 known compounds, isovanillic acid ethyl ester, β-sitosterol, β-sitosterol 3-O-glucoside, a mixture of α and β-amyrin, 3′-hydroxyflindulatin, chrysoeriol, jaceidin, corniculatusin and centaurein were isolated from the ethanolic extract of the flowering and aerial parts of Centaurea africana Lamk var. africana (Bonnet) M., an endemic species to Algeria and Tunisia collected from El-Kala in the eastern Algeria. The structures were established by chemical and spectral analysis, mainly HREIMS, ESIMS, UV and NMR experiments (GOESY, COSY, ROESY, HSQC and HMBC). Algerianin showed cytotoxicity against the human myeloid leukaemia cell line HL-60.     

Bioactivity-guided isolation of antiproliferative compounds from Centaurea carduiformis DC

In this study, antiproliferative activity of methanol extract of Centaura carduiformis DC. subsp. carduiformis var. carduiformis DC (CC) was examined against Vero, HeLa and C6 cell lines in 1000 and 500 μg/mL concentrations using the BrdU ELISA assay. The CC root (CCR) has the most effective antiproliferative activity. The root extract was fractionated using various solvent and determined antiproliferative activities. Two new and two known flavonoids were isolated from CC roots. The isolated known compound of 7-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-4′-methylapigenin and new compound of 7-O-β-d-6″-O-glucopyranosyl-6″-O-β-d-furanosylpinocembrin were isolated from the ethyl acetate fractions. However, wogonin and new compound of N-(pentyloxy(m-tolyl)methyl)acetamideisowogonin were obtained from chloroform fractions. The chemical structures of pure compounds were elucidated with different chemical and spectroscopic methods (IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, HETCOR, COSY, GC-MS, etc.) and their antiproliferative activities were determined against Vero, HeLa and C6 cell lines. The IC₅₀ results showed that the compound 4 has the highest activity against Vero (250 μg/mL) and HeLa (735 μg/mL) cell lines than isolated other compounds from determined values.     

Polyunsaturated compounds of Centaurea scabiosa

Roots, green parts, and flower heads of Centaurea scabiosa were examined separately. Twenty-five polyacetylenes, 4 polyenic aldehydes, 1,8,11,14-heptadecatetraene, and the flavone apigenin were isolated and characterized. Three C₁₇ hydrocarbons with from one to three isolated double bonds and a series of minor compounds were also isolated.     

Catechin is a phytotoxin and a pro-oxidant secreted from the roots of Centaurea stoebe

When applied to the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana, the phytotoxin (±)-catechin triggers a wave of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to a cascade of genome-wide changes in gene expression and, ultimately, death of the root system. Biochemical links describing the root secreted phytotoxin, (±)-catechin, represent one of most well studied systems to describe biochemically based negative plant-plant interactions, but of late have also sparked controversies on phytotoxicity and pro-oxidant behavior of (±)-catechin. The studies originating from two labs^1–3 maintained that (±)-catechin is not at all phytotoxic but has strong antioxidant activity. The step-wise experiments performed and the highly correlative results reported in the present study clearly indicate that (±)-catechin indeed is phytotoxic against A. thaliana and Festuca idahoensis. Our results show that catechin dissolved in both organic and aqueous phase inflicts phytotoxic activity against both A. thaliana and F. idahoensis. We show that the deviation in results highlighted by the two labs^1–3 could be due to different media conditions and a group effect in catechin treated seedlings. We also determined the presence of catechin in the growth medium of C. stoebe to support the previous studies. One of the largest functional categories observed for catechin-responsive genes corresponded to gene families known to participate in cell death and oxidative stress. Our results showed that (±)-catechin treatment to A. thaliana plants resulted in activation of signature cell death genes such as accelerated cell death (acd2) and constitutively activated cell death 1 (cad1). Further, we confirmed our earlier observation of (±)-catechin induced ROS mediated phytotoxicity in A. thaliana. We also provide evidence that (±)-catechin induced ROS could be aggravated in the presence of divalent transition metals. These observations have significant impact on our understanding regarding catechin phytotoxicity and pro-oxidant activity. Our data also illustrates that precise conditions are needed to evaluate the effect of catechin phytotoxicity.Key words: Arabidopsis thaliana, cell death genes, (±)-catechin, phytotoxin, reactive oxygen species (ROS)     

Sesquiterpene lactones from Centaurea thessala and Centaurea attica. Antifungal activity

The aerial parts of Centaurea thessala ssp. drakiensis and C. attica ssp. attica afforded, in addition to several known sesquiterpene lactones, two new eudesmanolides, 4-epi-sonchucarpolide and its 8-(3-hydroxy-4-acetoxy-2-methylene-butanoyloxy) derivative and one new eudesmane derivative, named atticin. The in vitro antifungal activity of most compounds was tested against nine fungal species, using the micro-dilution method. All the compounds tested showed great antifungal activity.     

Selective adsorption of flavonoid compounds from the leaf extract of Ginkgo bilobaL.

A simple purification method has been developed in which flavonoid compounds are selectively adsorbed onto a polycarboxyl ester resin (XAD-7) from methanol extract of ginkgo leaves. When 1.0 g dried gingko leaves was extracted with 100 ml of methanol, about 98% of total flavonoid compounds was recovered by selective adsorption. The pH did not affect the adsorption of flavonoids but at high pH the chemical structure of flavonoids was changed and the adsorption decreased to almost zero. As the solution polarity played a key role in the selective adsorption, the amount of water added to the methanol extract was critical for the recovery and loading of flavonoids. Using standard flavonoids, kaempferol and quercetin, the optimal water content was 80% and the recovery was 80% with 10 g of resin dosage/l.     

A guaianolide from Centaurea behen

Five sesquiterpene lactones of the guaianolide type were isolated from the leaves of Centaurea behen. One was identified as a new derivative of solstitialin A. The same extract also yielded a methylated flavone, circimaritin.     

A guaianolide from Centaurea behen

The aerial parts of Centaurea behen afforded in addition to known lactones a new derivative of solstitialin A.     

Three new compounds from the roots of Juglans mandshurica Maxim.

A new biflavone glycoside juglbiflavone A (1) along with two new lupane-type triterpenes (2-3) were identified from the roots of Juglans mandshurica Maxim. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods including 1D/2D NMR, HRESIMS and CD. Compound 1 is the first example of biflavone glycoside consisted of a flavanol unit and a flavone unit from this genus, which also exhibited moderate cytotoxic activity against SGC-7901 and A549 cell lines in vitro with IC₅₀ values of 10.08 ± 0.52 μM and 12.44 ± 1.21 μM, respectively.     

Aliphatic compounds from Costus speciosus roots

Two new compounds G and H isolated from the roots of Costus speciosus have been characterized as 8-hydroxytriacontan-25-one and Me tritriacontanoat     

Localization of flavonoid enzymes in Arabidopsis roots

Immunofluorescence and immuno-electron microscopy have been used to test the hypothesis that flavonoid metabolism is organized as a membrane-associated enzyme complex. The cellular and subcellular locations of chalcone synthase (CHS) and chalcone isomerase (CHI), the first two enzymes of this pathway, were examined in Arabidopsis roots. High levels of both enzymes were found in the epidermal and cortex cells of the elongation zone and the root tip, consistent with the accumulation of flavonoid endproducts at these sites. Co-localization of CHS and CHI was observed at the endoplasmic reticulum and tonoplast in these cells, and also in electron-dense regions that are, as yet, unidentified. In addition, a striking asymmetric distribution was observed for these enzymes in cortex cells of the elongation zone, which may provide clues about the physiological function of flavonoids in roots. The accumulation of CHS and CHI was also examined in tt7(88), a mutant in the gene for flavonoid 3'-hydroxylase (F3'H), which has been postulated to serve as a membrane anchor for the flavonoid enzyme complex. CHS and CHI accumulated to lower levels in cortex cells and higher levels in epidermal cells in the roots of this mutant as compared with wild-type plants. Moreover, the electron-dense regions containing these two enzymes were not observed. However, localization of CHS and CHI to the ER and tonoplast did not appear to be affected, suggesting that other proteins may function in recruiting the "soluble" flavonoid enzymes to membranes. Staining of flavonoid endproducts with DPBA was consistent with expression of CHS and CHI in these seedlings.