Pharmacological potential of parasitic Angiosperms against microorganisms / Potencial farmacológico de Angiospermas parásitas contra microorganismos

Parasitic habit plants arouse great interest for their extraordinary growth adaptations and produce different secondary metabolites that allow them to survive the extreme conditions in which they develop. This can provide a range of compounds with multiple uses. However, those plants have been poorly explored and there is very little information about their natural compounds, some healing properties attributed to several communities have been scientifically supported. Articles were consulted in databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, Scielo, Science Direct, Scopus) considering the biological activity reported until June 2021. Parasitic plants present mainly antibacterial activity, some species antifungal moderate activity, and to a lesser extent were found reports of antiprotozoal activity. The composition of parasitic plants should continue to be investigated, which could be an alternative to combat various microorganisms that cause diseases, even resistant to traditional medicines.

Las plantas parásitas despiertan gran interés por sus adaptaciones extraordinarias de crecimiento, y producir diversos metabolitos secundarios que les permiten desarrollarse en condiciones extremas, lo que puede brindar un abanico de compuestos con múltiples usos. Sin embargo, estas plantas han sido pobremente exploradas y es muy poca la información que se tiene de sus compuestos naturales, se han soportado científicamente algunas propiedades curativas, atribuidas por diferentes comunidades. Se consultaron artículos en bases de datos (Google Scholar, PubMed, Scielo, Science Direct, Scopus), teniendo en cuenta la actividad biológica reportada hasta agosto de 2019. Las plantas parásitas presentan principalmente actividad antibacteriana, algunas especies con actividad antifúngica moderada, y en menor proporción reportes de actividad antiprotozoaria. Debe continuarse indagando la composición molecular de estas plantas, lo que podría ser una alternativa para combatir diversos microorganismos causantes de enfermedades, incluso aquellos resistentes a los medicamentos tradicionales.

Correlation Analysis of Parasitic Chinese Medicine Based on Morphology-habit-habitat-property and Efficacy / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To explore the correlation of the botanical characteristics， biological characteristics， habitat， and medicinal property and efficacy of parasitic Chinese medicines， underpin quality evaluation based on property differentiation， and provide references for the development and utilization of parasitic medicinal plant resources. Method:The origin， property and meridian tropism， parasitic type， and the efficacy of the common of parasitic Chinese medicines were summarized. The frequencies of parasitic Chinese medicines in Qingfei Paidu decoction，<italic> Medicine Food Homology</italic>， <italic>Catalogue of Ancient Classical Formulas （the first batch）</italic>， and the 2020 edition of <italic>Chinese Pharmacopoeia</italic> were statistically analyzed. Excel 2013 and SPSS Statistics 23.0 were employed for statistical research. Result:The ranking results of parasitic Chinese medicines are listed below： root parasitism>stem parasitism>root hemiparasitism>symbiosis=saprophytism according to the parasitic type， plain>warm>cool>cold， no heat involved according to nature， sweet>bitter>pungent>sour=salt， with one sweet-pungent， one sweet-bitter， one sweet-salt， and one bitter-salt Chinese medicine according to flavor， kidney>liver>large intestine>spleen>lung>heart=bladder， no small intestine meridian involved according to meridian tropism. Conclusion:Parasitic Chinese medicines were mostly root-parasitic， plain in nature， sweet in flavor， and entered kidney meridian， with main effects of dispelling wind-dampness， nourishing liver and kidney， clearing heat， and removing toxin. The morphology， habit， and habitat of parasitic Chinese medicine were correlated with the property and efficacy. This study is expected to provide comprehensive references and a theoretical basis for in-depth research， clinical application， and resource development.

Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth: Phytochemistry and pharmacological properties outline.

This mini-review aims to outlining the beneficial impacts of the witch-weed parasitic plant; Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth. S. hermonthica plant beside its well-known devastating impacts on the most important food cereal crops in Africa and is deemed to be one of the main factors that threatens the food security in this continent; it does also have a beneficial side in the tradition medicine for the African people. S. hermonthica has a wide range of medicinal uses; the pharmacological abortificient effect, dermatosis, diabetes, leprosy ulcer, pneumonia and jaundice remedy, trypanocidal effects, antibacterial and anti-plasmoidal activities have been approved. Here, we focus mainly in the phytochemical studies, its applications in the remediation of both animal and human physiological and infectious diseases and Striga tissue culture advantage as biotechnological application for pharmaceutical production.

Genetic diversity in two variants of Orobanche gracilis Sm. [var. gracilis and var. deludens (Beck) A. Pujadas] (Orobanchaceae) from different regions of Spain

The pattern of genetic variation among populations of two Orobanche gracilis Sm. taxa (var. gracilis and var. deludens (Beck) A. Pujadas) from Northern and Southern Spain growing on different hosts was analysed using RAPD markers. The diversity analysis within populations revealed a higher level of diversity in the populations from the North when compared to the Southern ones. The results of principal co-ordinate analysis (PCoA) based on Dice distances among samples clearly established the separation of samples according to the taxonomical variety and the geographical origin of each population. The Southern populations of both var. gracilis and var. deludens were more differentiated among them than those of var. gracilis from the North. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that the lowest level of population differentiation was found in O. gracilis var. gracilis from the North, whereas in the case of O. gracilis var. deludens from the South most of the genetic diversity was attributable to differences among populations. Possible explanations for the distribution of variation in these populations are discussed.