Benefits of alignment quality-control processing steps and an Angiosperms353 phylogenomics pipeline applied to the Celastrales.

We examined the impact of successive alignment quality-control steps on downstream phylogenomic analyses. We applied a recently published phylogenomics pipeline that was developed for the Angiosperms353 target-sequence-capture probe set to the flowering plant order Celastrales. Our final dataset consists of 158 species, including at least one exemplar from all 109 currently recognized Celastrales genera.

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest.

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts.

Phylogeny of Celastraceae subfamily Hippocrateoideae inferred from morphological characters and nuclear and plastid loci.

The phylogeny of Celastraceae subfamily Hippocrateoideae (∼ 100 species and 19 genera in the Old and New World tropics) was inferred using morphological characters together with plastid (matK, trnL-F) and nuclear (ITS and 26S rDNA) genes. The subfamily is easily recognized by the synapomorphies of transversely flattened, deeply lobed capsules and seeds with membranous basal wings or narrow stipes together with bisexual, 5-merous flowers that generally have an extrastaminal disk and three stamens. Hippocrateoideae, like Salacioideae, are inferred to have an Old World origin.

Food bodies in Cissus verticillata (Vitaceae): ontogenesis, structure and functional aspects.

Background And Aims: The distinction between pearl bodies (or pearl glands) and food bodies (FBs) is not clear; neither is our understanding of what these structures really represent. The present work examined the ontogenesis, structure, ultrastructure and histochemical aspects of the protuberances in Cissus verticillata, which have been described since the beginning of the 19th century as pearl glands or pearl bodies, in order to establish a relationship between their structure and function.

Methods: Segments of stems and leaves in different stages of development were collected and fixed for study under light microscopy as well as electron transmission and scanning microscopy.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition by Brazilian plants.

The potential antihypertensive activity of Brazilian plants was evaluated in vitro by its ability to inhibit the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). Forty-four plants belonging to 30 families were investigated. Plants were selected based on their popular use as antihypertensive and/or diuretics.

Trypanocidal activity of triterpenes from Arrabidaea triplinervia and derivatives.

Ethanol extract from Arrabidaea triplinervia leaves showed in vitro activity (ED100 5.0 mg/ml) against trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas; disease. Bioactivity-directed fractionation of this extract led to the isolation of ursolic and oleanolic acids as trypanocidal compounds besides pomolic acid (not tested) and alpinetine (inactive).

Antifungal constituents of Clytostoma ramentaceum and Mansoa hirsuta.

Ethanol extracts of Clytostoma ramentaceum Bur. & K. Schum and Mansoa hirsuta DC.