Genipa americana (Rubiaceae) is a fruit tree with broad phytogeographic domain and suitable for different silvicultural systems in the tropics. The knowledge associated with the relative growth rate of species such as G. americana, provides important guidelines for the effective establishment and survival of seedlings after planting in the field. In this study we investigated differences in growth, biomass allocation and photosynthesis of seedlings originating from different mother plants of G. americana in southern Bahia, Brazil. For this, we evaluated fifteen variables associated with carbon balance at the whole plant and leaf scales of twelve G. americana progenies. All seedlings grew over a period of 198 days under similar microclimatic conditions with approximately 65% full sun. Our results showed significant differences in the relative growth rates (RGR), with the highest and lowest mean values being 29.0 and 38.0 mg g-1 day-1, respectively. Differences in RGR between G. americana progenies were highly related to differences in biomass allocation at both whole plant and leaf scales. From a practical point of view, we demonstrate that the selection of mother plants to produce seedlings with higher growth rates, and consequently greater establishment capacity in field plantings, can be made from evaluations of growth and biomass allocation variables at the whole plant scale.

Over 125 million years of ant-plant interactions have culminated in one of the most intriguing evolutionary outcomes in life history. The myrmecophyte Duroia hirsuta (Rubiaceae) is known for its mutualistic association with the ant Myrmelachista schumanni and several other species, mainly Azteca, in the north-western Amazon. While both ants provide indirect defences to plants, only M. schumanni nests in plant domatia and has the unique behaviour of clearing the surroundings of its host tree from heterospecific plants, potentially increasing resource availability to its host. Using a 12-year survey, we asked how the continuous presence of either only M. schumanni or only Azteca spp. benefits the growth and defence traits of host trees. We found that the continuous presence of M. schumanni improved relative growth rates and leaf shearing resistance of Duroia better than trees with Azteca. However, leaf herbivory, dry matter content, trichome density, and secondary metabolite production were the same in all trees. Survival depended directly on ant association (> 94% of trees died when ants were absent). This study extends our understanding of the long-term effects of strict ant-plant mutualism on host plant traits in the field and reinforces the use of D. hirsuta-M. schumanni as a model system suitable for eco-co-evolutionary research on plant-animal interactions.

Nostolachma jenkinsii (Hook.f.) Deb & J.Lahiri, a member of the Rubiaceae family, is an endangered wild plant species with potential economic value. In this research, the complete chloroplast genome of N. jenkinsii was sequenced to gain insight into its genome feature and better understand the phylogenetic relationships among the Rubiaceae species. The chloroplast genome, with a total length of 155,036 bp, comprises two inverted repeats (IR) regions spanning 25,692 bp each, a large single-copy (LSC) region measuring 85,437 bp, and a short single-copy (SSC) region measuring 18,215 bp. There is an overall 37% GC content in the chloroplast genome. By annotation analysis,. 54 tRNA genes, 10 rRNA genes, and 107 protein-coding genes were all annotated in N. jenkinsii. Furthermore, we applied phylogenetic analysis that revealed a close relationship between N. jenkinsii, D. fruticosa and D. dubia, placing them together within the Rubiaceae family.

A phytochemical investigation on the 80% EtOH extract of the leaves of Paederia scandens (Lour.) Merr. resulted into the isolation of three undescribed iridoid glycosides, 10-O-trans-p-coumaroyl-(4R,6R)-3,4-dihydro-3α-methylthiopaederoside (1), 10-O-trans-feruloyl-(4S,6R)-3,4-dihydro-2\'-O-3α-paederoside (2), and 10-O-trans-caffeoyl-paederosidic acid ethyl ester (3). The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by spectral methods such as 1D and 2D (1H-1H COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) NMR spectroscopy, as well as high resolution mass spectrometry. The isolated compounds were tested in vitro for cytotoxic activity against five endocrine tumor cell lines. As a result, compound 1 exhibited some cytotoxicities against all the tested tumor cell lines with IC50 value less than 20.0 μM.

UNASSIGNED: Uncaria tomentosa (Willd. ex Schult.) DC. (Rubiaceae) is traditionally used by Amazonian indigenous groups to treat inflammatory diseases. To date, there are no systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the use of U. tomentosa for inflammation control in animals supporting the traditional knowledge about this species. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of U. tomentosa extracts in modulating inflammatory mediators and to determine which types of inflammatory diseases can be treated by this species.
UNASSIGNED: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical studies published before 26 July 2023, identified in PubMed, Embase, and Scopus. Four independent reviewers extracted the data and assessed the risks of bias. The effects of U. tomentosa on inflammatory diseases and the inflammatory mediators involved were extracted from the studies. Standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) of the outcomes were estimated. The meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan 5.4 (Cochrane Collaboration). This protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023450869).
UNASSIGNED: Twenty-four of 523 studies were included. U. tomentosa extracts decreased the cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 (SMD: -0.72, 95%CI: -1.15, -0.29, p = 0.001) and transcription factor nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) (SMD: -1.19, 95%CI: -1.89, -0.48, p = 0.001). However, the extracts did not significantly alter IL-1 (SMD: -0.16, 95%CI: -0.87, +0.56, p = 0.67), IL-10 (SMD: -0.05, 95%CI:-0.35, 0.45, p = 0.80), or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels (SMD: 0.18, 95%CI: -0.25, 0.62, p = 0.41).
UNASSIGNED: Many extracts of stem bark, roots, and leaves of U. tomentosa, mostly aqueous and hydroethanolic, exhibited anti-inflammatory and/or immunomodulatory activities and low toxicity. The extracts decreased NF-κB and IL-6. These findings suggest that this species has the potential to treat inflammatory diseases in which these markers are increased, according to the ethnopharmacological use. These activities are not related to a specific class of compounds.
Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=450869, Identifier CRD42023450869.

OBJECTIVE: Knoxia roxburghii is a member of the madder (Rubiaceae) family. This plant is cultivated in different areas of China and recognized for its medicinal properties, which leads to its use in traditional Chinese medicine. The incidence of root rot was 10-15%. In June 2023, the causal agent of root rot on K. roxburghii was identified as Fusarium oxysporum. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the complete genome of F. oxysporum strain ByF01 that is the causal agent of root rot of K. roxburghii in China. The results will provide effective resources for pathogenesis on K. roxburghii and the prevention and control of root rot on this host in the future.
METHODS: To understand the molecular mechanisms used by F. oxysporum to cause root rot on K. roxburghii, strain ByF01 was isolated from diseased roots and identified by morphological and molecular methods. The complete genome of strain ByF01 was then sequenced using a combination of the PacBio Sequel IIe and Illumina sequencing platforms. We obtained 54,431,725 bp of nucleotides, 47.46% GC content, and 16,705 coding sequences.

Continued interest in the bioactive alkaloids led to the isolation of five undescribed alkaloids (1-5), ophiorglucidines A-E, and seven known analogues (6-12) from the water-soluble fraction of Ophiorrhiza japonica. The structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic data and quantum calculations as well as X-ray crystallographic analysis. The structure of 1 was characterized as a hexacyclic skeleton including a double bridge linking the indole and the monoterpene moieties, which is the first report of a single crystal with this type of structure. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of zwitterionic indole alkaloid glycosides on xanthine oxidase was found for the first time. The alkaloids 2 and 3, both of which have a pentacyclic zwitterionic system, were more active than the reference inhibitor, allopurinol (IC50 = 11.1 μM) with IC50 values of 1.0 μM, and 2.5 μM, respectively. Structure-activity relationships analyses confirmed that the carbonyl group at C-14 was a key functional group responsible for the inhibitory effects of these alkaloids.

Nauclea officinalis is a Chinese medicinal material with a high medicinal value, which contains various chemical constituents such as alkaloids, pentacyclic triterpenoids and their saponins, organic phenolic acids and their glycosides, iridoids, and flavonoids. It has antiviral, antibacterial, antipyretic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and immunoregulatory functions. This article systematically reviewed the reported chemical constituents and pharmacological effects of N. officinalis. According to the concept of quality markers, the quality markers of N. officinalis were predicted and analyzed from the aspects of plant kinship, specificity of chemical constituents, traditional drug efficacy, measurability of chemical constituents, plasma components, and different producing areas and harvest times, in order to provide a basis for the quality evaluation of N. officinalis.

Galium genus belongs to the Rubiaceae family, which consists of approximately 14,000 species. In comparison to its well-known relatives, the plastomes of the Galium genus have not been explored so far. The plastomes of this genus have a typical, quadripartite structure, but differ in gene content, since the infA gene is missing in Galium palustre and Galium trfidum. An evaluation of the effectiveness of using entire chloroplast genome sequences as superbarcodes for accurate plant species identification revealed the high potential of this method for molecular delimitation within the genus and tribe. The trnE-UUC-psbD region showed the biggest number of diagnostides (diagnostic nucleotides) which might be new potential barcodes, not only in Galium, but also in other closely related genera. Relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) appeared to be connected with the phylogeny of the Rubiaceae family, showing that during evolution, plants started preferring specific codons over others.

Cordiera myrciifolia is an abundant species in Northeast Brazil that presents metabolites of biological/therapeutic interest. From this perspective, the present study aimed to investigate the chemical constituents and evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial activity of hexane (HECM) and ethanolic (EECM) extracts of C. myrciifolia leaves. The extracts were analyzed by chromatographic techniques (GC and UPLC) coupled with mass spectrometry. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts and the extracts combined with conventional drugs was evaluated by microdilution. The in vitro effect of the treatments on Candida\'s morphological transition was verified through cultivation in humid chambers. In HECM, 11 constituents including fatty acids, and triterpenes, including phytosterols, alkanes, tocols, and primary alcohols were identified. Triterpenes represented >40% of the identified constituents, with Lupeol being the most representative. In EECM, 13 constituents were identified, of which eight belonged to the class of flavonoids. High antibacterial activity of HECM was detected against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, with Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations of 8 and 16 μg/mL, respectively. The combined activity was more effective when combined with Norfloxacin and Imipenem. In anti-Candida activity, the IC50 of the extracts ranged from 36.6 to 129.1 μg/mL. There was potentiating effect when associated with Fluconazole. Both extracts inhibited the filamentous growth of C. tropicalis at a concentration of 512 μg/mL. C. myrciifolia extracts prove to be candidates for the development of new therapeutic formulations to treat bacterial and fungal infections.