How to make bioactive alkaloids: Vinblastine and vincristine are important, expensive anticancer agents that are produced by dimerization of the plant-derived alkaloids catharanthine and vindoline. The enzymes that transform tabersonine into vindoline are known; however, the mechanism by which the scaffolds of catharanthine and tabersonine are generated has been a mystery. Caputi et al. now describe the biosynthetic genes and corresponding enzymes responsible. This resolves a long-standing question of how plant alkaloid scaffolds are synthesized, which is important not only for vinblastine and vincristine biosynthesis, but also for understanding the many other biologically active alkaloids found throughout nature. Science , this issue p. 1235

Plants represent the main source of molecules for the development of new drugs, which intensifies the interest of transnational industries in searching for substances obtained from plant sources, especially since the vast majority of species have not yet been studied chemically or biologically, particularly concerning anti-inflammatory action. Anti-inflammatory drugs can interfere in the pathophysiological process of inflammation, to minimize tissue damage and provide greater comfort to the patient. Therefore, it is important to note that due to the existence of a large number of species available for research, the successful development of new naturally occurring anti-inflammatory drugs depends mainly on a multidisciplinary effort to find new molecules. Although many review articles have been published in this regard, the majority presented the subject from a limited regional perspective. Thus, the current article presents highlights from the published literature on plants as sources of anti-inflammatory agents.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos de diferentes espécies de fungos micorrízicos arbusculares (FMA) na produção e qualidade de óleos essenciais de Mentha arvensis L., cultivada com diferentes doses de fósforo. O trabalho foi realizado em casa de vegetação e o delineamento estatístico utilizado foi de blocos ao acaso com 20 tratamentos, constituídos pela combinação de cinco tratamentos microbiológicos (Glomus clarum Nicolson & Schenck, Glomus etunicatum Becker & Gerdemann, Gigaspora margarita Becker & Hall, Acaulospora scrobiculata Trappe e controle) e quatro doses de P (0, 50, 100 e 200 mg kg-1), com quatro repetições. As plantas foram colhidas 65 dias após o plantio. Sem adubação fosfatada, os fungos Gigaspora margarita e Glomus clarum aumentaram em 206 e 198%, respectivamente, a produção de matéria fresca em relação ao tratamento controle. A maior produção de matéria fresca (90 g por vaso) foi observada no tratamento de A. scrobiculata com 133 mg kg-1 de fósforo. Na ausência de adubação fosfatada, teores de óleos essenciais e de mentol no óleo foram menores em plantas sem inoculação, e os tratamentos com inoculação proporcionaram incrementos de até 89% nos teores de óleos e de mentol, em relação ao tratamento sem inoculação. Com o incremento da adubação fosfatada, não foram observados incrementos dos teores de óleos essenciais e mentol em razão dos FMA. As maiores produtividades de óleos essenciais e de mentol nos óleos, 0,69 g e 0,48 g por vaso, respectivamente, foram encontradas em plantas com inoculação de Acaulospora scrobiculata nas doses de P de 126 e 123 mg kg-1 de solo, respectivamente.

This work reviews the production of terpenoids by endophytic fungi and their biological activities, in period of 2006 to 2010. Sixty five sesquiterpenes, 45 diterpenes, five meroterpenes and 12 other terpenes, amounting to 127 terpenoids were isolated from endophytic fungi.

Lichens are a form of symbiont between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium, which contains a wide variety of organic compounds with certain secondary metabolite classes typical of these organisms. The Ramalina genus has approximately 246 species distributed around the World, of which in this review approximately 118 species with published chemical or biological activity studies of extracts or isolated compounds were cited. From the 153 mentioned compounds, only 27 passed were tested for biological activity, being usnic acid the most studied compound and the one showing the best results in almost all in vitro tests performed, although other compounds also presented excellent results as antimicrobial, antitumor and anti-inflammatory agents, among others. Extracts of several species also presented significant results in performed biological tests, demonstrating the potential that these organisms have, in particular, the gender Ramalina, to produce bioactive molecules that can be used as a model for the production of pharmaceuticals.

Agave sisalana (sisal) is known worldwide as a source of hard fibers, and Brazil is the largest producer of sisal. Nonetheless, the process of removing the fibers of the sisal leaf generates 95% waste. In this study, we applied chemical sequential steps (hydrothermal extraction, precipitation, liquid-liquid extraction, crystallization, SiO₂ and Sephadex LH 20 column chromatography) to obtain pectin, mannitol, succinic acid, kaempferol and a mixture of saponins as raw chemicals from sisal biomass. The structural identification of these compounds was performed though spectrometric methods, such as Infrared (IR), Ultraviolet (UV), Mass spectrometry (MS) and Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). All the sisal chemicals found in this work are used by both the chemical and pharmaceutical industries as excipients or active principles in products.