Cananginones A-I, linear acetogenins from the stem bark of Cananga latifolia

Nine linear C23 and C21 acetogenins, named cananginones A–I (1–9), were isolated from stem bark of Cananga latifolia. Their structures were established by spectroscopic methods. These compounds showed cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines (KB, MCF7 and NCI-H187) with IC₅₀ values in the range 16.6–129.7 μM. Only 5 showed weak antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum. In addition, 8 and 9 exhibited weak antifungal activity against Candida albicans.     

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) linkage map,and quantitative trait locus analysis for sex ratio and related traits

Sex ratio and shell-thickness type are among the main components determining yield in oil palm. An integrated linkage map of oil palm was constructed based on 208 offspring derived from a cross between two tenera palms differing in inherited sex ratio. The map consisted of 210 genomic simple sequence repeats (SSRs), 28 expressed sequence tag SSRs, 185 amplified fragment length polymorphism markers, and the Sh locus, which controls shell-thickness phenotype, distributed across 16 linkage groups covering 1,931 cM, with an average marker distance of 4.6 cM. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis identified eight QTLs across six linkage groups associated with sex ratio and related traits. These QTLs explained 8.1–13.1 % of the total phenotypic variance. The QTL for sex ratio on linkage group 8 overlapped with a QTL for number of male inflorescences. In most cases a specific QTL allele combination was responsible for genotype class mean differences, suggesting that most QTLs in heterozygous oil palm are likely to be segregating for multiple alleles with different degrees of dominance. In addition, two new SSRs were shown to flank the major Sh locus controlling the fruit variety type in oil palm.     

A New Apotirucallane from Walsura trichostemon Leaves and Its Antibacterial and α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activities

Phytochemical investigation of Walsura trichostemon leaves led to the isolation of a new apotirucallane-type triterpenoid, 11,25-dideacetyl-16-hydroxytrichostemonate ( 1 ), along with two known apotirucallane-type triterpenoids ( 2 and 3 ), two known tirucallane-type triterpenes ( 4 and 5 ), and two known steroids ( 6 and 7 ). Their structures were identified by intensive analysis of 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared, and mass spectrometry data, which were compared with data reported in the literature. Compounds 2 , 3 , and 5 exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value: 64 μg/mL), and compound 4 showed weak antibacterial activity against P. aeruginosa (MIC: 128 μg/mL). Furthermore, compound 5 displayed activity against Bacillus cereus (MIC: 64 μg/mL). In addition, compound 4 showed stronger α-glucosidase inhibitory activity than the control, acarbose. The active compound 4 was subjected to molecular docking experiments using AutoDock4 and revealed precise interactions with the active gorge of the enzyme through hydrogen bonding, supporting the in vitro results.