Hydroxyanthracene derivates citotoxicity: A differential evaluation between single molecule and whole plant extract.

Hydroxyanthracene derivates (HADs) are a group of natural or synthetic compounds with a wide range of biological activities (for instance, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiarthritic). In addition, because of their properties for helping the normal bowel function, HADs are widely used in constipation as pharmacological drugs and nutritional supplements. Nevertheless, during the past years, a safety usage of HAD products has been under consideration because some studies reported that HADs are not lacking toxicity (i.

Green Plants in the Red: A Baseline Global Assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants.

Plants provide fundamental support systems for life on Earth and are the basis for all terrestrial ecosystems; a decline in plant diversity will be detrimental to all other groups of organisms including humans. Decline in plant diversity has been hard to quantify, due to the huge numbers of known and yet to be discovered species and the lack of an adequate baseline assessment of extinction risk against which to track changes. The biodiversity of many remote parts of the world remains poorly known, and the rate of new assessments of extinction risk for individual plant species approximates the rate at which new plant species are described.