The lion's share of bacteria in various environments cannot be cloned in the laboratory and thus cannot be sequenced using existing technologies. A major goal of single-cell genomics is to complement gene-centric metagenomic data with whole-genome assemblies of uncultivated organisms. Assembly of single-cell data is challenging because of highly non-uniform read coverage as well as elevated levels of sequencing errors and chimeric reads. We describe SPAdes, a new assembler for both single-cell and standard (multicell) assembly, and demonstrate that it improves on the recently released E+V-SC assembler (specialized for single-cell data) and on popular assemblers Velvet and SoapDeNovo (for multicell data). SPAdes generates single-cell assemblies, providing information about genomes of uncultivatable bacteria that vastly exceeds what may be obtained via traditional metagenomics studies. SPAdes is available online ( http://bioinf.spbau.ru/spades ). It is distributed as open source software.

SPAdes, a new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing ( 7th Annual SFAF Meeting, 2012)

Podophyllotoxin: distribution, sources, applications and new cytotoxic derivatives

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of selected medicinal plants from Yemen

Propolis is a sticky material collected by bees from plants, and used in the hive as building material and defensive substance. It has been popular as a remedy in Europe since ancient times. Nowadays, propolis use in over-the-counter preparations, “bio”-cosmetics and functional foods, etc., increases. Volatile compounds are found in low concentrations in propolis, but their aroma and significant biological activity make them important for propolis characterisation. Propolis is a plant-derived product: its chemical composition depends on the local flora at the site of collection, thus it offers a significant chemical diversity. The role of propolis volatiles in identification of its plant origin is discussed. The available data about chemical composition of propolis volatiles from different geographic regions are reviewed, demonstrating significant chemical variability. The contribution of volatiles and their constituents to the biological activities of propolis is considered. Future perspectives in research on propolis volatiles are outlined, especially in studying activities other than antimicrobial.

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Propolis volatile compounds: chemical diversity and biological activity: a review

Phenolamides: bridging polyamines to the phenolic metabolism.

Furanosesquiterpenes from Commiphora sphaerocarpa and related adulterants of true myrrh

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of resins of Boswellia neglecta, B. pirottae, B. rivae, Commiphora myrrha (myrrh) and C. guidottii (opopanax or scented myrrh) were analysed using GC–MS. α-Thujene (19.2%), α-pinene (16.7%) and terpinen-4-ol (12.5%) were found to be the major components in B. neglecta; limonene (14.8%) in B. rivae; trans-verbenol (15.5%) and terpinen-4-ol (14.6%) in B. pirottae; (E)-β-ocimene (33%) in gum opopanax and furanoeudesma-1,3-diene (34%) in myrrh. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Essential oils of some Boswellia spp., Myrrh and Opopanax

Sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum) leaves at the mature stage have strong ovipositional deterrence against Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) (Diptera, Agromyzidae), whereas the cotyledons are fiercely attacked by the fly. Treatment of the cotyledons with 50 μM and 100 μM of a jasmonic acid (JA) solution caused the plant to acquire strong oviposition deterrence against the leafminer. An HPLC analysis of the JA-treated cotyledons revealed the inducible accumulation of a compound. Based on spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods, the induced compound was identified to be caffeoylputrescine (CP). The accumulated amounts of CP in the cotyledons treated with 0, 10, 50 and 100 μM of JA were 6.0, 43.0, 105 and 140 μg/g fr. wt., respectively. Treatment of the cotyledons with CP resulted in a significant decrease in the number of punctures made by L. trifolii, indicating that the JA treatment enhanced the deterrence against the leafminer by inducing CP accumulation.

Induction of Resistance against the Leafminer, Liriomyza trifolii, by Jasmonic Acid in Sweet Pepper

Crystal structures of two furanosesquiterpenes from Commiphora sphaerocarpa

The resin of Boswellia neglecta yielded four triterpenes canaric acid, a -amyrin, a -amyrone and epi-a -amyrin. Canaric acid and epi-a -amyrin are isolated here for the first time from the family Burseraceae. The compounds were identified using 1D and 2D NMR techniques. 
(Received March 13, 2002; revised May 17, 2002) 
Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2002, 16(1), 87-90.

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Aman Dekebo

Papers

Furanosesquiterpenes from Commiphora sphaerocarpa and related adulterants of true myrrh

Essential oils of some Boswellia spp., Myrrh and Opopanax

Induction of Resistance against the Leafminer, Liriomyza trifolii, by Jasmonic Acid in Sweet Pepper

Crystal structures of two furanosesquiterpenes from Commiphora sphaerocarpa

Triterpenes from the resin of Boswellia neglecta