Cellulose synthesis in land plants.

All plant cells are surrounded by a cell wall that provides cohesion, protection, and a means of directional growth to plants. Cellulose microfibrils contribute the main biomechanical scaffold for most of these walls. The biosynthesis of cellulose, which typically is the most prominent constituent of the cell wall and therefore Earth's most abundant biopolymer, is finely attuned to developmental and environmental cues.

Biodiscoveries within the Australian plant genus Eremophila based on international and interdisciplinary collaboration: results and perspectives on outstanding ethical dilemmas.

In a cross-continental research initiative, including researchers working in Australia and Denmark, and based on joint external funding by a 3-year grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, we have used DNA sequencing, extensive chemical profiling and molecular networking analyses across the entire Eremophila genus to provide new knowledge on the presence of natural products and their bioactivities using polypharmocological screens. Sesquiterpenoids, diterpenoids and dimers of branched-chain fatty acids with previously unknown chemical structures were identified. The collection of plant material from the Eremophila genus was carried out according to a 'bioprospecting agreement' with the Government of Western Australia.

Nerylneryl diphosphate is the precursor of serrulatane, viscidane and cembrane-type diterpenoids in Eremophila species.

Background: Eremophila R.Br. (Scrophulariaceae) is a diverse genus of plants with species distributed across semi-arid and arid Australia.