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Castanospermum
''Castanospermum australe'' (Moreton Bay chestnut or blackbean), the only species in the genus ''Castanospermum'', is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the east coast of Australia in Queensland and New South Wales, and to the Pacific islands of Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and the island of New Britain (Papua New Guinea). Growth It is a large evergreen tree growing to tall, though commonly much smaller. The leaves are long and broad, pinnate, with 11-15 leaflets. The flowers are bicoloured red and yellow, long, produced in racemes long. The fruit is a cylindrical pod long and diameter, the interior divided by a spongy substance into one to five cells, each of which contains a large chestnut-like seed. Common names The 1889 book 'The Useful Native Plants of Australia' records the common names of ''Castanospermum australe'' as "Moreton Bay Chestnut" and "Bean tree" and notes that it was called "Irtalie" by Aboriginal people of the Richmond and Clarence Rivers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castanospermine
Castanospermine is an indolizidine alkaloid first isolated from the seeds of ''Castanospermum australe''. It is a potent inhibitor of some glucosidase enzymes and has antiviral activity ''in vitro'' and in mouse models. The castanospermine derivative celgosivir is an antiviral drug candidate currently in development for possible use in treating hepatitis C virus The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a small (55–65 nm in size), enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family ''Flaviviridae''. The hepatitis C virus is the cause of hepatitis C and some cancers such as liver cancer ( hepato ... (HCV) infection. Biosynthesis of castanospermine L-Lys undergoes a transamination to form α-aminoadipic acid. α-aminoadipic acid undergoes a ring closure and then a reduction to form L-pipecolic acid (Figure 1). In the alternate pathway (Figure 2), L-Lys cyclizes and forms the enamine, which reduces to L-pipecolic acid. HSCoA and then malonyl-CoA react in a Claisen rea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legume
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. Well-known legumes include beans, soybeans, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, lupins, mesquite, carob, tamarind, alfalfa, and clover. Legumes produce a botanically unique type of fruit – a simple dry fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually dehisces (opens along a seam) on two sides. Legumes are notable in that most of them have symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in structures called root nodules. For that reason, they play a key role in crop rotation. Terminology The term ''pulse'', as used by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is reserved for legume crops harvested solely for the dry seed. This excludes green beans and green peas, which a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bush Tucker
Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora or fauna used for culinary or medicinal purposes, regardless of the continent or culture. Animal native foods include kangaroo, emu, witchetty grubs and crocodile, and plant foods include fruits such as quandong, kutjera, spices such as lemon myrtle and vegetables such as warrigal greens and various native yams. Traditional Indigenous Australians' use of bushfoods has been severely affected by the settlement of Australia in 1788 and subsequent settlement by non-Indigenous peoples. The introduction of non-native foods, together with the loss of traditional lands, resulting in reduced access to native foods by Aboriginal people, and destruction of native habitat for agriculture, has accentuated the reduction in use. Since the 1970s, there has been recognition of the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Article 18.5 states: "The following names, of long usage, are treated as validly published: ....Leguminosae (nom. alt.: Fabaceae; type: Faba Mill. Vicia L.; ... When the Papilionaceae are regarded as a family distinct from the remainder of the Leguminosae, the name Papilionaceae is conserved against Leguminosae." English pronunciations are as follows: , and . commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, are a large and agriculturally important of |
Allan Cunningham (botanist)
Allan Cunningham (13 July 1791 – 27 June 1839) was an English botany, botanist and List of explorers, explorer, primarily known for his travels in Australia to collect plants. Early life Cunningham was born in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, Surrey, England, the son of Allan Cunningham (head gardener at Wimbledon Park House), who came from Renfrewshire, Scotland, and his English wife Sarah (née Juson/Jewson née Dicken). Allan Cunningham was educated at a Putney private school, Reverend John Adams (educational writer), John Adams Academy and then went into a solicitor's office (a Lincoln's Inn Conveyancer). He afterwards obtained a position with William Townsend Aiton superintendent of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Kew Gardens, and this brought him in touch with Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose), Robert Brown and Joseph Banks, Sir Joseph Banks. Brazil and Australia (New South Wales) On Banks' recommendation, Cunningham went to Brazil with James Bowie (botani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Northern Star
''The Northern Star'' is a daily newspaper serving Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. The newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia. ''The Northern Star'' is circulated to Lismore and surrounding communities, from Tweed Heads to the north, to Kyogle and Casino to the west and Evans Head to the south and includes the seaside towns of Byron Bay and Ballina. The circulation of ''The Northern Star'' is 14,737 Monday to Friday and 22,653 on Saturday. ''The Northern Star'' website is part of the APN Regional News Network. History The two-page first issue of ''The Northern Star'' was brought out on 13 May 1876, on the tiny Albion hand press that today holds pride of place in the foyer of the Goonellabah Media Centre. In 1955, building started on the media centre in Goonellabah, and in 1957, the move was made from the Molesworth St office. In 1981, ''The Northern Star'' commissioned a 7unit Goss Urbanite Web Offset press capable of printing 20,000 fifty-six page copies – 1.1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Geographic
Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' magazine, ''DMag'' magazine, specialist book titles, travel guides, diaries and calendars and online media. It published editions of the Australian Encyclopaedia. It previously operated the Australian Geographic retail chain stores and Australian Geographic Travel and Australian Geographic Adventures. ''Australian Geographic'' magazine, originally titled ''Dick Smith's Australian Geographic'', is a bi-monthly geographical journal created by Dick Smith in 1986. The magazine focuses mainly on stories about Australia, or about Australian people in other countries. The six editions published each year are available by subscription and on newsstands. They include posters or sheet maps in each edition, as well as photographs and detailed technical illustrations. Australian Geographic also has a website that includes the entire magazine digital archive. Each year, a portion of the profits is prov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saponin
Saponins (Latin "sapon", soap + "-in", one of), also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed but found particularly in soapwort (genus Saponaria), a flowering plant, the soapbark tree (''Quillaja saponaria'') and soybeans (''Glycine max'' L.). They are used in soaps, medicinals, fire extinguishers, speciously as dietary supplements, for synthesis of steroids, and in carbonated beverages (the head on a mug of root beer). Structurally, they are glycosides, sugars bonded to another organic molecule, usually a steroid or triterpene, a steroid building block. Saponins are both water and fat soluble, which gives them their useful soap properties. Some examples of these chemicals are glycyrrhizin, licorice flavoring; and quillaia (alt. quillaja), a bark extract used in beverages. Uses The saponins are a subclass of terpenoids, the larges ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Songlines
A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dreaming. The paths of the songlines are recorded in traditional song cycles, stories, dance, and art, and are often the basis of ceremonies. They are a vital part of Aboriginal culture, connecting people to their land. Description The Dreaming, or the Dreamtime, has been described as "a sacred narrative of Creation that is seen as a continuous process that links traditional Aboriginal people to their origins". Ancestors are believed to play a large role in the establishment of sacred sites as they traversed the continent long ago. Animals were created in the Dreaming, and also played a part in creation of the lands and heavenly bodies. Songlines connect places and Creation events, and the ceremonies associated with those places. Oral histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indigenous Australian Seasons
Indigenous Australian seasons are differently classified than the traditional four-season calendar used by most western European peoples. Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people have distinct ways of dividing the year up. Naming and understanding of seasons differed between groups of Aboriginal peoples, and depending on where in Australia the group lives. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO have both worked with various groups to produce information about a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander seasonal calendars. Background Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples observe the position of the stars in the sky and follow water, plant and animal cycles as ways of identifying seasonal phenomena. The seasonal calendars of different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural groups demonstrate an understanding of the interdependence and interrelationships amongst living things. They use their calendars to predict seasonal changes an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iminosugar
An iminosugar, also known as an iminosaccharide, is any analog of a sugar where a nitrogen atom has replaced the oxygen atom in the ring of the structure. Iminosugars are common components of plants and may be responsible for some of their medicinal properties. The first iminosugar to be isolated from a natural source, 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), found in Mulberry, was reported in 1976, but few others were discovered until many years later. In terms of biochemical activity for medicinal applications, DNJ and 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-D-arabinitol (DAB, another early example of this class of compounds) are alpha-glucosidase inhibitors and were shown to have anti-diabetic and anti-viral activity. DNJ was modified to produce two derivatives now used as medicines, ''N''-hydroxyethyl-DNJ (miglitol) for diabetes and ''N''-butyl-DNJ (miglustat) for Gaucher's disease. Anti-cancer and anti-viral activity was subsequently observed for swainsonine—a mannose analogue—and castanospermine—a glu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
