Steroidal and Triterpenoidal saponins from the fruits of Diploclisia glaucescens

'Sharpshooter' in Botanic Garden: the tale of a rare plant-insect interaction

Here we report a unique plant-insect interaction between the leafhopper Aloka depressa (tribe Phlogisini) and the host liana, Diploclisia glaucescens, from a Botanic Garden located at the southern edge of Western Ghats in India. Field observations and SEM micrographs were employed to derive evidences on this rare plant-insect interaction. 20-Hydroxyecdysone (20E), insect moulting hormone, was detected and quantified in the host plant D. glaucescens using HPTLC-densitometry. 20E was isolated and characterized from D. glaucescens using column chromatography, 1H-, 13C-NMR and HR-MS. 20E was also detected in A. depressa excrement using HPTLC-densitometry. The leafhopper A. depressa is functioning as a 'sharpshooter' drawing nutrients from the host liana, D. glaucescens, and flinging the waste fluid as droplets through their tail ends. SEM micrographs of A. depressa revealed its external morphological features, characteristic of a sharpshooter. We quantified 20E (0.44-1.44%, dry wt.) in various parts of D. glaucescens. 20E (1.47%, dry wt.) was also detected in the excrement of A. depressa. This plant (D. glaucescens)-insect (A. depressa) association crucially is not damaging the host liana. Considering the diseases caused by sharpshooting leafhoppers in the Americas, this association and the survival of the host plant (D. glaucescens) is illustrating a unique plant-insect interaction.

Structural characterization and identification of ecdysteroids from Sida rhombifolia L. in positive electrospray ionization by tandem mass spectrometry

Seven ecdysteroids isolated from Sida rhombifolia L. were studied by electrospray ionization multi-stage tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS(n)) in the positive ion mode using an ion trap analyzer and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode-array detector (HPLC/DAD). The HPLC experiments were performed by means of a reversed-phase C(18) column and a binary mobile phase system consisting of water (containing 0.05% formic acid) and acetonitrile (containing 0.05% formic acid) under gradient elution conditions. According to mass spectral features and the substitution at C-2, C-20, C-24 and C-25, ecdysteroids in S. rhombifolia were classified into three sub-groups. Structural identification of these three sub-groups of ecdysteroids was established by LC/multi-stage ion trap mass spectrometry on-line or off-line. The fragmentation patterns of ecdysteroids yielded ions of successive loss of 1-4 water molecules. Furthermore, ions corresponding to the complete loss of the side chain at C-17 will help to identify the sub-groups of ecdysteroids in addition to containing a hydroxyl moiety at one of the above-mentioned positions. Based on the HPLC retention behavior, the diagnostic UV spectra and the molecular structural information provided by ESI-MS(n) spectra, a total of nine naturally occurring ecdysteroids were identified, of these two are identified for the first time in S. rhombifolia.

Triterpenoids

This review covers the isolation and structure determination of triterpenoids including squalene derivatives, protostanes, lanostanes, holostanes, cycloartanes, dammaranes, euphanes, tirucallanes, tetranortriterpenoids, quassinoids, lupanes, oleananes, friedelanes, ursanes, hopanes, isomalabaricanes and saponins. The literature from January 2005 to December 2006 is reviewed and 478 references are cited.

Quantitative Determination of Ecdysteroids in Sida rhombifolia L. and various other Sida Species Using LC-UV, and their Anatomical Characterization

The genus Sida is used extensively in herbal medicine. A simple and specific analytical method for the quantitative determination of ecdysteroids in S. rhombifolia is reported. The ecdysteroids were separated with an acetonitrile (0.1% acetic acid)-water (0.1% acetic acid) gradient at a flow rate of 1.0 mL per minute. The HPLC separation was performed on a Synergi Polar-RP reversed phase column and operated at 35°C. Detection was performed at 247 nm. The method facilitated the quantification of seven ecdysteroids [20-hydroxyecdysone-3- O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), 20-hydroxyecdysone (2), 2-deoxy ecdysone-3- O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), pterosterone-3- O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), ecdysone-3- O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), ecdysone (6), and 20-hydroxy-(25-acetyl)-ecdysone-3- O-β-D-glucopyranoside (7)] in aerial parts of S. rhombifolia. The LOD and LOQ for compounds 1–7 were found to be in the range from 0.07-0.1 μg/mL and 0.3–0.5 μg/mL, respectively. In the present study, a micro-morphological description of S. rhombifolia is provided. The developed method was used for the determination of ecdysteroids in various other species of Sida, which were compared both micro-morphologically and chemically.

Ecdysteroid Glycosides fromSida rhombifolia L

Seven ecdysteroids, including the three new compounds 1-3, were isolated from Sida rhombifolia L. Their structures and configurations were determined by extensive spectroscopic techniques in combination with chemical derivatization. The four known compounds--ecdysone (4), 20-hydroxyecdysone (5), 2-deoxy-20-hydroxyecdysone-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (6), and 20-hydroxyecdysone-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (7)--are reported for the first time from this plant.

(2-Nitro ethyl)phenyl and cyanophenyl glycosides from the fruits ofDiploclisia glaucescens

Chemical investigation of polar fractions of the methanol extract of the fruits of Diploclisia glaucescens of the family Menispermaceae furnished two new phenyl glycosides, 4-(2-nitroethyl)phenyl-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(l approximately 6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, and 4-cyanophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(l approximately 6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside.