Two new alkaloids from the sepals of Solanum melongena L.

Two new alkaloids named Melongenamides H-I (1-2), together with twenty-one known compounds (3-23), were isolated from the 70% ethanol extract of the sepals of Solanum melongena L. The structures of all isolated compounds were determined by 1D and 2D NMR spectra and by comparing their spectroscopic and physical data with values from the published literatures. All the isolated compounds were evaluated the cytotoxicity against three human canner lines (Hela, Ishikawa and MGC-803) by CCK8 assay.

Sesquiterpenoids with diverse carbon skeletons from the sepals of Solanum melongena L.

Eight new sesquiterpenoids named melongenaterpenes M-T (1-8), together with nine known compounds (9-17), were isolated from the 70% ethanol extract of the sepals of Solanum melongena L. The structures of all isolated compounds were elucidated based on 1D and 2D NMR spectra and a comprehensive comparison of their spectroscopic and physical data with values from the published literatures. Meanwhile, the cytotoxicity of all the isolated compounds was evaluated on the three human cancer lines of Hela, Ishikawa and MGC-803 by CCK8 assay, respectively.

New steroidal saponins from the roots of Solanum melongena L.

Phytochemical investigation of the roots of Solanum melongena L. resulted in the isolation of six new steroidal saponins, including five new cholestane saponins (1-5) and one new steroidal alkaloid (6), along with one new natural product (7) and three know steroids (8-10). The structures of all isolated compounds were determined by 1D and 2D NMR experiments and by comparison of their spectroscopic and physical data with literature values. The inhibitory activities on nitric oxide (NO) production stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in a RAW 264.7 cell line were assayed for all the isolated compounds. Compounds 1, 2 and 4-9 exhibited moderate inhibition of NO production with IC50 values ranging from 12.6 to 59.5 µM.

Paraburkholderia caffeinitolerans sp. nov., a caffeine degrading species isolated from a tea plantation soil sample.

A Gram-stain negative, facultatively anaerobic, non-sporulating, non-motile and rod-shaped bacterium, designated CF3T, was isolated from a tea plantation soil sample and its taxonomic position was determined using polyphasic taxonomy. Strain CF3T displayed optimum growth at 25 °C, pH 5.0 and in the presence of 0-1 % NaCl. Comparative phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA, recA and gyrB gene sequences showed that the isolate belongs to the genus Paraburkholderia, showing high levels of similarity with respect to Paraburkholderia oxyphila OX-01T (98.3, 95 and 93 %, respectively) and Paraburkholderia sacchari IPT101T (98.2, 95 and 95 %, respectively). The predominant ubiquinone was determined to be Q-8, and the polar lipids are phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, one unidentified amino-phospholipid, three unidentified amino-lipids and three unidentified polar lipids. The major fatty acids were found to be C16:0, C17:0 cyclo, summed feature 8 (C18:1 ω7c and/or C18:1 ω6c) and summed feature 3 (C16:1 ω7c and/or C16:1 ω6c). The DNA G+C content was found to be 63.8 mol% and the DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain CF3T and its two close relatives P. oxyphila OX-01T and P. sacchari IPT101T was 41 and 40 %, respectively. Based on phylogenetic analysis, phenotypic and genotypic data, it is concluded that the isolate represents a novel species of the genus Paraburkholderia, for which the name Paraburkholderia caffeinitolerans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CF3T (= LMG 28688T = CGMCC 1.15105T).