The evolution and medical use of nature-based biochemical in angiosperms of the Asteraceae of the Americas
Eloy Rodriguez
Cornell University Ithaca, USA
: J Plant Physiol Pathol
Abstract
The first Asian-like immigrants to the Americas 20,000 years ago must have been very delighted to discover that many flowers of plants, endemic to the New World, were indeed also similar in their curative powers, to plants they knew quite well in the Old World. In this presentation, I will discuss the physiological and biological activities of unique secondary metabolites in members of the sunflower family (Asteraceae). Chemical ecology and medical ethnopharmcognosy studies in my laboratory have provided new insights on the diversity of natural chemicals in various tribes of the Asteraceae. Ongoing studies at Cornell with Medical College investigators has revealed that certain categories of metabolites of the Asteraceae also exhibit potent a ctivity against leukemia (liquid tumors) and breast cancer (solid tumors). The major take home message of our studies is the following: Natural chemical defenses that have evolved in plants and repel or poison herbivores such as, giant caterpillars, large mammals and fungi also inhibit similar enzymes or proteins in cancer cells and membranes of bacteria and fungi. Of course, some of the metabolites also exhibit the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde condition of "split biological and physiological activities." I will present examples of two classes of compounds from sunflowers that produce a diverse group of metabolites that as a collective group repel insects and also inhibit cancer cells.
Biography
