Miniaturized Cultivation of Microbiota for Antimalarial Drug Discovery.

The ongoing search for effective antiplasmodial agents remains essential in the fight against malaria worldwide. Emerging parasitic drug resistance places an urgent need to explore chemotherapies with novel structures and mechanisms of action. Natural products have historically provided effective antimalarial drug scaffolds.

Effects of salinity on anatomical features and physiology of a semi-mangrove plant Myoporum bontioides.

The effect of different concentrations of NaCl, 0, 100, 200, 300 and 400 mM, on the anatomical features and physiology of Myoporum bontioides was investigated. The photosynthetic rates (Pn) were significantly reduced by salt stress, with the lowest values at 400 mM NaCl. The content of malondialdehyde (MDA), proline and soluble sugar, as well as the activities of peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) increased at the beginning, but became similar to the control as the experiment proceeded.

Screening mangrove endophytic fungi for antimalarial natural products.

We conducted a screening campaign to investigate fungi as a source for new antimalarial compounds. A subset of our fungal collection comprising Chinese mangrove endophytes provided over 5000 lipophilic extracts. We developed an accelerated discovery program based on small-scale cultivation for crude extract screening and a high-throughput malaria assay.

Degradation of Phthalate Esters by Fusarium sp. DMT-5-3 and Trichosporon sp. DMI-5-1 Isolated from Mangrove Sediments.

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are important industrial compounds mainly used as plasticizers to increase flexibility and softness of plastic products. PAEs are of major concern because of their widespread use, ubiquity in the environment, and endocrine-disrupting toxicity. In this study, two fungal strains, Fusarium sp.

Differences in leaf construction cost between alien and native mangrove species in Futian, Shenzhen, China: implications for invasiveness of alien species.

Construction cost (CC) is a quantifiable measure of energy demand for biomass production, and low CC is hypothesized to give an alien plant growth advantages and increase its potential to be an invader. Comparison of leaf CC and growth traits between alien and native mangroves in Shenzhen Futian Nature Reserve showed CC per unit mass (CC(mass)), carbon concentration and gross and ash-free caloric values of alien mangroves were significantly lower than those of native species, while the height and chest circumference were just the opposite. Alien species Sonneratia apetala had the lowest CC(mass) while Sonneratia caseolaris had the lowest CC(area), and were 8.