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Vernonia galamensis (Cass.) Less. — Habit: Herb. Habitat: LMWF, LMDF; 1 600–2 500 m. Distribution: IIIb. Voucher: Meru Forest,Alt. 1 746 m, 20 Jan. 2015, SAJIT 002391 (HIB). References: Bussmann (1993, 1994), Bussmann & Beck (1995a), Beentje (2000), Agnew (2013)., Published as part of Zhou, Ya-Dong, Mwachala, Geoffrey, Hu, Guang-Wan & Wang, Qing-Feng, 2022, Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Mount Kenya, East Africa, pp. 1-108 in Phytotaxa 546 (1) on page 97, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.546.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/6550464, {"references":["Bussmann, R. W. (1993) The forest of Mt. Kenya (Kenya): A phytosociological approach with special reference to ecological problems. Ph. D. Thesis, Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen, Tubingen, 119 pp.","Bussmann, R. W. (1994) The forest of Mt. Kenya (Kenya): Vegetation, ecology, destruction and management of a tropical mountain forest ecosystem. Ph. D. dissertation, Universitat Bayreuth Startseite, Bayreuth, 252 pp.","Bussmann, R. W. & Beck, E. (1995 a) The forests of Mt. Kenya (Kenya), a phytosociological synopsis. Phytocoenologia 25 (4): 467 - 560. https: // doi. org / 10.1127 / phyto / 25 / 1995 / 467","Beentje, H. J. (2000) Compositae (Part 1). In: Beentje, H. J. & Smith, S. A. L. (Eds.) Flora of Tropical East Africa. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 316 pp.","Agnew, A. D. Q. (2013) Upland Kenya wild flowers and ferns, 3 rd edn. Nature Kenya Publications, Nairobi, 733 pp."]}

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T01:27:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-01-01 Soybean (Glycine max) meal is an important protein source. Soybean meal with lower phytate and oligosaccharides improves meal quality. A single recessive mutation in soybean myo-inositol 1-phosphate synthase (Gm-lpa-TW75-1) confers a seed phenotype with low phytate and increased inorganic phosphate. The mutant was crossed with high oil lines expressing a diacylglycerol acyltransferase1 (DGAT) gene from Vernonia galamensis (VgD). Gm-lpa-TW75-1 X VgD, designated GV, has 21%, and 22% oil and 41% and 43% protein from field and greenhouse seed production, respectively. No significant differences were found in mineral concentrations except for Fe which was 229 μg/g dry mass for GV followed by 174.3 for VgD and 162 for Gm-lpa-TW75-1. Phosphate (Pi) is higher in Gm-lpa-TW75-1 as expected at 5 mg/g, followed by GV at 1.6 mg/g whereas Jack, VgD, and Taiwan75 have about 0.3 mg/g. The Gm-lpa-TW75-1 line has the lowest phytate concentration at 1.4 mg/g followed by GV with 1.8 mg/g compared to Taiwan75, VgD, and Jack with 2.5 mg/g. This work describes a high oil and protein soybean line, GV, with increased Pi and lower phytate which will increase the nutritional value for human and animal feed. Department of Biology College of Science for Women University of Baghdad, Karrada, Al-Jadriya, 10071 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences University of Kentucky, Plant Science Building, 1405 Veterans Drive Department of Animal and Food Sciences University of Kentucky USDA-ARS SPIERU-CGAHR UNESP Campus Jaboticabal State of Sao Paulo 295 9 de julho street Conchal Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Germplasm Resources Institute of Crop Science Zhejiang University UNESP Campus Jaboticabal State of Sao Paulo 295 9 de julho street Conchal

[EN] Vernonia galamensis is a native weed of Ethiopia containing high concentration of naturally epoxidized oil (glyceryl trivernolate) in its seeds, which could be used as a potential substitute for currently used epoxy oils. Apart from an epoxy group, vernolic acid contains a double bond that could be further epoxidized yielding a low viscosity, high oxirane, non-edible oil. Epoxidized vegetable oils are usually produced at industrial scale mainly by the peracid process. Soluble mineral acids are essential for this process but these acidic components lead to several drawbacks. Our study deals with a solvent free epoxidation of vernonia oil using heterogeneous catalysts. Ordered mesoporous materials are good candidates as catalysts for epoxidation reactions of large molecules such as vernonia oil (MW =926 g/mol). The aim of this work is to obtain titanium containing SBA-15 catalysts with tunable pore size and convenient particle morphology to avoid diffusion problems. Titanium was incorporated in SBA-15 catalysts by co-condensation as well as grafting methods in order to compare their catalytic performance. Ti-SBA-15 materials with hexagonal symmetry, surface area between 368 and 888 m/g, high pore volume (0.75-1.41 cm/g) and average pore diameter ranging from 7.2 to 14.3 nm have been successfully synthesized. The long fibers commonly observed in SBA-15 could be avoided obtaining small crystals with plate morphology having the channels running along the short axis of the crystal. DR UV-vis and ICP-OES studies revealed that Ti has been successfully incorporated as isolated Ti(IV) species in SBA-15 while maintaining good textural properties. Ti was also incorporated in hydrophobic PMO supports by co-condensation and grafting for comparative purposes. Epoxidation of vernonia oil was carried out using anhydrous TBHP as an oxidant without any organic solvent at 70 °C. Titanium-grafted, large-pore size SBA-15 (TiCgESBAL) yielded 71% conversion with more than 80% selectivity, while short-channel Ti-SBA-15 and Ti-PMO showed the highest selectivity towards epoxide., Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (formerly the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness), Project MAT2016-77496-R (AEI/FEDER, UE), and CSIC, Project iCOOP+2016 COOPA20136, and the School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, for supplying scCO2-extracted VO. We thank Chemistry Department, Addis Ababa University, and BETAQUIMICA for their support. YA also acknowledges Assosa University for financial support

Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are the major component of plant storage lipids. Acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final step of the Kennedy pathway, and responsible for plant oil accumulation. We previously found DGAT activity of Vernonia galamensis DGAT1 was distinctively higher than that of Arabidopsis thaliana DGAT1 and soybean DGAT1 in a yeast microsome assay. In this study, the DGAT1 cDNAs of Arabidopsis, Vernonia, soybean, and castor were introduced into Arabidopsis (ecotype Col-0). All Vernonia DGAT1 expressing lines showed a significantly higher oil content (average 49% relative increase compared to the wild type) followed by soybean, and castor. Most Arabidopsis DGAT1 over-expressing lines did not show a significant increase. In addition to these four DGAT1s, sunflower, Jatropha and sesame DGAT1 genes were introduced into the TAG biosynthesis defective yeast mutant (H1246). In the yeast expression culture, DGAT1s from Arabidopsis, castor, and soybean only slightly increased TAG content, however, DGAT1s from Vernonia, sunflower, Jatropha, and sesame remarkably increased TAG content more than 10 times higher than the former three DGAT1s. Three amino acid residues were characteristically common in the latter four DGAT1s. Using soybean DGAT1, these amino acid substitutions by site-directed mutagenesis was performed and analyzed. These substitutions substantially increased the TAG content.HighlightDGAT1s from several plant species were tested their TAG accumulation promotion in Arabidopsis and yeast. They were divided into high and low function and single amino acid substitution enhanced function

Background Vernonia (Vernonia galamensis) is a potential novel industrial crop due to high demand to its natural epoxidised oil, which can be used for the manufacturing of polyvinyl chloride, adhesives, and petrochemicals, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. This study is initiated for the systematic and intensive assessment of V. galamensis accessions genetic diversity through SSR molecular markers to minimize the existing research gaps, and provide a clue for germplasm conservation and further research. Results A total of 150 V. galamensis accessions were analyzed using 20 SSR markers. The markers detected a total of 79 with an average of 3.9 alleles per locus. The mean number of effective alleles was 3.06 and, the mean observed heterozygosity (Ho) was 0.15 across all the 20 markers evaluated. The marker also showed the highest percent of polymorphism that ranged from 0.50 to 0.96 with an average of 0.76. The analysis of molecular variance showed only 11% variation was among populations, 22% among individuals within populations and 67% within individuals. The largest number of migrants per generation was occurred between Derashie and Wollo (Nm=7.37) whereas the lowest values was between East Harerghe and West Harerghe (Nm =1.42). A factor analysis including dendrogram clusters and principal coordinates classified the 150 accessions into 4 groups. However, the Bayesian model based clustering (STRUCTURE) grouped into 3 (K = 3) major gene pools. These analyses showed accessions collected from the same region of origin did not often grouped entirely together within a given major groups. Conclusions Molecular genetic diversity analysis, using SSR markers was the first report in V. galamensis. All the markers used were polymorphic in the population studied. The markers detected the larger number of alleles, higher expected heterozygosity than observed heterozygosity. The markers applied to ten populations, in which East Showa and West Harerghe revealed higher genetic diversity, and can be considered as the hotspots for in-situ conservation of V. galamensis. In addition, the values of SSR markers such as heterozygosity, Shannon‘s index, polymorphic information content and population clusters are an important baseline information for future V. galamensis cultivation, breeding and genetic resource conservation endeavors in Ethiopia.

Vernonia [Vernonia galamensis (Cass.) Less.] (Asterales: Asteraceae) was examined as a potential trap crop for the cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L., Malvales: Malvaceae) arthropod complex. Four rows of vernonia were embedded within a 96-row cotton field. The abundance of true bug pests, true bug predators, and spiders were determined by whole-plant and sweep net sampling procedures during the early, middle, and late phases of the cotton-growing season. The census data showed that the arthropods had a strong preference for the vernonia trap crop throughout the cotton-growing season. The movement of the arthropods from the trap crop into cotton was also measured using the protein immunomarking technique as a mark–capture procedure. The arthropods inhabiting the vernonia trap crop were marked directly in the field with a broadcast spray application of egg albumin (protein) during each phase of the study. In turn, the captured specimens were examined for the presence of the mark by an egg albumin-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Very few marked specimens were captured beyond the vernonia trap crop 1, 3, and 6 d after each marking event. The arthropods’ strong attraction and fidelity to vernonia indicate that it could serve as a trap crop for cotton pests and a refuge for natural enemies.

The physicochemical changes of refined vernonia oil?RVO (which naturally contains epoxidized triglycerides) upon heating was evaluated and is reported in this manuscript. A boiling point range of 183 °C to 190 °C (at 760 mm Hg) for the vernonia oil was obtained using the Siwolobboff's method. The oil changed its physical appearance and consistency in the course of the heating. A homogenous free?flowing beige?sand shade refined vernonia oil at room temperature (25 °C) was transformed irreversibly to an intense?brown shade, becoming increasingly more viscous with increase in temperature, and ceasing to flow momentarily at 188 °C. On cooling to room temperature, the oil solidified into a brown rubber?like elastic material. The oil also exhibited a reduction in its oxirane content from 1.39±0.004 equivalent HBr kg?l at 25 °C to 0.542±0.002 equivalent HBr kg?l at 70 °C. This signifies a 61% drop in oxirane content for the 45 °C temperature rise. These findings point towards a thermally driven polymerization and/or decomposition of the refined vernonia oil (RVO). (Received May 20, 2000, revised December 13, 2000) Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2000, 14(2), 161-168

The aim of this study was to test the antibacterial property of the extract of the leaves and isolated compounds of Vernonia galamensis that is traditionally claimed to have diverse medicinal use. The disk diffusion method was used to test the successively extracted dried leaves of V. galamensis on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi and Shigella boydii. Further fractionation of the acetone extract by a combination of column chromatography, gel filtration using Sephadex LH-20 and Prep-TLC afforded two compounds. The results showed that Vernonia Acetone Extract (VAE) of the leaves of V. galamensis showed weak to moderate antibacterial growth inhibition on the test bacteria. Two active compounds; C-I (vernolide) and C-II (vernonioside) were isolated that were not reported from V. galamensis before. C-I (0.6 mg/disc) showed antibacterial activity on all bacteria except E. coli with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 2.5 mg/mL and C-II (0.48 mg/disk) showed growth inhibition only against S. boydii and S. typhi with MIC value of 1 mg/mL. In conclusion, V. galamensis leaves have been proved to possess antibacterial chemicals. The plant can possibly be exploited as a source of lead compounds for antibacterial drug development. Key words: Antibacterial, Vernonia galamensis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Shigella boydii, vernolide, vernonioside.

Substituted long-chain fatty acids may be useful dietary supplements to suppress ruminal biohydrogenation of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) and thereby increase the flow of UFA to meat and milk. The aim of this study was to determine if Vernonia galamensis (ironweed, a member of the sunflower family) and vernolic acid (cis-12,13-epoxy-cis-9-octadecenoic acid), the main constituent of the seed oil, affected the biohydrogenation of linoleic acid (LA; cis-9,cis-12-18:2) to rumenic acid (CLA; cis-9, trans-11-18:2), vaccenic acid (VA; trans-11-18:1) and stearic acid (SA; 18:0) by ruminal microorganisms. Ruminal digesta from four sheep receiving a mixed hay-concentrate diet were incubated in vitro with LA (0.2 g/L) ± 0.2 g/L vernolic acid or 5 g/L of dried flowers or leaves of V. galamensis, either alone or combined. Vernolic acid had a substantial effect on LA metabolism, causing decreases in cis-9, trans-11 CLA and VA accumulation as well as SA production (P

The field experiment was carried out at Wondo Genet Agricultural Research Center 07°03’19’’ to 07°04’00’’ N latitude and 38°30’08’’ to 38°31’02’ E longitude during 2015/16 dry season. The experiments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Seven soil moisture depletion levels (30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 100% of the total available water of the soil) were used. The result indicated that different soil moisture depletion levels had very highly significant (p

Vernonia oil is obtained by extraction from Vernonia galamensis seeds. It is a triglyceride containing 70–80 % vernolic acid (12,13-epoxy-9-decenoic acid). With approximately three epoxy groups per molecule, vernonia oil is a good raw material for new product development and many derivatives have been reported. In this work we report for the first time direct polymerization of vernonia oil through cationic means. The reaction entails the use of fluorosulfonic acid as a catalyst and 25–35 °C. Depending on the level of acid catalyst used, the products can range from a viscous oil to a completely insoluble resin. These products have been characterized by NMR and FT-IR. The polymer may perhaps find applications as a thickener in lubricants and oil-based commercial formulations.

Developing new soybean (Glycine max) varieties with greater amounts of oil and protein enhances soybean as a renewable source of food and fuel. Soybean expressing highly active ACYL-COA: Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) from Vernonia galamensis had oil increased by 4% with no protein reduction. To assess other seed composition changes, seeds of two independent transgenic (VgD) soybean lines and controls were obtained from two field locations in multiple years. Many analyses addressed what seed component(s) was/were reduced to compensate for the oil increase, including carbohydrate analysis (structural and nonstructural), NDF (Neutral detergent fiber), main minerals and proximate analyses. In Princeton, oil increased by 4% for the high oil lines in 2016 and 2017, with no significant reduction in protein, this was slightly different in Spindletop with an increase in oil by 1.6–1.7 %, and an increase in protein by 2.6–2.4 % in comparison to the control, as an average for both high oil lines in 2016 and 2017. Soluble carbohydrate was reduced in VgD by 1.2 % in Princeton location for the high oil lines in 2016 and 2017, whereas only VgD1-2 was significantly reduced in Spindletop in comparison to Jack on 2016 with 2%, Oil in the VgD seeds was greater than in control seeds without a decrease in seed protein in both locations, suggesting that the trait was maintained across environments.

Increasing the production of plant oils such as soybean oil as a renewable resource for food and fuel is valuable. Successful breeding for higher oil levels in soybean, however, usually results in reduced protein, a second valuable seed component. This study shows that by manipulating a highly active acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) the hydrocarbon flux to oil in oilseeds can be increased without reducing the protein component. Compared to other plant DGATs, a DGAT from Vernonia galamensis (VgDGAT1A) produces much higher oil synthesis and accumulation activity in yeast, insect cells, and soybean. Soybean lines expressing VgDGAT1A show a 4% increase in oil content without reductions in seed protein contents or yield per unit land area. Incorporation of this trait into 50% of soybeans worldwide could result in an increase of 850 million kg oil/year without new land use or inputs and be worth ∼U.S.$1 billion/year at 2012 production and market prices.

Camelina ( Camelina sativa ), guayule ( Parthenium argentatum ), lesquerella ( Physaria fendleri ), and vernonia ( Centrapalus pauciflorus [formerly Vernonia galamensis ]) are either under limited commercial production or being developed for production in the southwestern USA. Insect pests are a potential economic threat to all these new crops, with Lygus hesperus , the western tarnished plant bug, among the most prominent due to its regional abundance and propensity to feed on reproductive plant tissue. The objectives of this study were to establish baseline data on the feeding behavior and potential impact of L. hesperus on camelina, guayule, lesquerella and vernonia. Behavioral observations of adult females and males, and nymphs of this insect were made in the laboratory. Insects spent ≈35% of their time either probing (=tasting) or feeding on various reproductive and vegetative tissues of guayule, lesquerella or vernonia, but only 20% on camelina. When insects did probe and feed they preferred reproductive tissues, primarily flowers and siliques/achenes, and there were differences in these behaviors relative to crop but not generally to insect stage or sex. Insects probed and fed more on flower tissue of guayule and vernonia compared with camelina and lesquerella, and more on siliques of lesquerella compared with achenes of vernonia. When probing and feeding on vegetative tissue, there was generally a preference for stems compared with leaves in all crops except guayule. Results show that L. hesperus will readily feed on the economically important tissues of all crops, and although research has shown that this feeding did not consistently affect lesquerella yield, further work will be needed to determine if such feeding poses a risk to commercial production of camelina, guayule or vernonia.

The Vernonia galamensis (Cass.) Less [synonym: Centrapalus pauciflorus] Compositae, is a source of naturally epoxidized oil. Its commercial use is limited due to presence of a lipase enzyme that produces high free fatty acid levels in vernonia oil. The genomic information and the gene expression patterns of lipase in vernonia has not been studied in detail. The objectives of our studies were to construct a complementary DNA (cDNA) library from vernonia seed to identify expressed sequence tags (ESTs) related to various plant functions. We were successful in constructing a cDNA library from seed tissues of vernonia. A total of 1325 cDNA clones were randomly sequenced and analyzed. A total of 97 high-quality ESTs with an average length of 400 bp were generated. These ESTs indicated the existence of genes involved in varied functions such as defense, protein processing, transcription, translation, signal transduction, and secondary metabolism. Out of the total EST sequences, there were 129 ESTs containing simple sequence repeats (SSRs) from which 63 SSR primer pairs were designed. It is the first transcriptome report from the vernonia that has generated ESTs as well as EST derived SSR markers capable of being used in future oil quality, transformation and germplasm characterization studies.

Vernonia (Vernonia galamensis variety ethiopica) is a potentially novel renewable source of natural epoxy oil. The objective of this study was to determine the genotype by environment interaction and to identify superior and stable genotypes of vernonia with high seed and oil yield. Field experiments were conducted during 2006, 2007 and 2008 at two localities namely, Gabaza and Syferkuil. Ten selected genotypes of vernonia were evaluated for seed yield, oil content and oil yield using the randomized complete block design with three replications. Significant interactions (P ≤ 0.05) were detected among genotype by location for seed yield, oil content, oil yield and genotype by year for seed and oil yield. Genotype Vge-18 had the highest seed yield ranging between 3095 and 3337 kg/ha followed by Vge-17 yielding 3006–3137 kg/ha at Gabaza. These genotypes were also the best performers at Syferkuil where Vge-17 yielded 2915–3217 kg/ha followed by Vge-18 with 2819–3152 kg/ha. The superiority statistics allocated Vge-17 and Vge-18 as best yielding and stable genotypes. In both locations Vge-4 had increased seed oil contents at 43% (Gabaza) and 35% (Syferkuil). Other promising genotypes with high seed oil content were Vge-33 at Gabaza (40–43%) and Vge-3 at Syferkuil (34–35%). Genotypes with the highest oil yields were found to be Vge-18 (1117–1370 kg/ha) at Gabaza and Vge-4 with yields of 885–922 kg/ha at Syferkuil. Overall, Vge-17 and Vge-18 were identified as having the highest seed yield, while Vge-4 and Vge-3 yielded the highest seed oil content with average stability. These genotypes could be used for direct large scale production or strategic breeding of vernonia in these or similar environments.

Vernonia galamensis is a new potential industrial oilseed crop found in tropical Africa. It is the source of a naturally epoxidized oil called vernonia oil (VO) which is extracted from the seed of the plant. In this study VO was used as the starting material for the synthesis of a mixture of amines, with the major product amine being N,N-dimethyl-(12S,13R)-epoxy-cis-9-octadecenyl amine. VO was transesterified via a base catalyzed methanolysis using sodium methoxide to yield VO methyl esters (VOME). Aminolysis of the VOME with dimethylamine as reagent and solvent under reflux conditions afforded the tertiary amides, with N,N- dimethyl-(12S,13R)-epoxy-cis-9-octadecenyl amide as the major product. The mixture was then subjected to metal hydride reduction with lithium aluminum hydride in diethylether under reflux conditions to obtain the desired amine mixture including N,N-dimethyl-(12S,13R)-epoxy-cis-9-octadecenyl amine. Electron impact mass spectrometry was used to characterize the mixture of amines. Additionally, proton NMR, 13C NMR, and FTIR were used for characterization of N,N-dimethyl-(12S,13R)-epoxy-cis-9-octadecenyl amine. To further confirm the conversion of VO to the amines, the quaternary ammonium salts were synthesized and characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

The magnitude of relationships among different traits is important in plant breeding programs to identify the best selection criteria and improve the efficiency of selection. This study was conducted to determine relationships between seed yield and seed oil content with other important agronomic traits among 36 diverse accessions of Vernonia ( Vernonia galamensis variety ethiopica ), a potentially novel industrial oilseed crop. Field evaluations were conducted during 2005, 2006 and 2007 at the Limpopo Province in South Africa using a partially balanced lattice design. Simple correlation and path analysis were performed to identify the best selection criteria for increased seed yield and seed oil content. Simple correlation and path analyses revealed that the formation of productive primary heads strongly associated with increased seed yield ( r g = 0.81, p p r g = 0.4). The path analysis, however, exposed seed yield followed by 1000 seed weight with significant direct effect on seed oil content. The study demonstrated that selection for increased number of productive primary heads is the principal selection criterion to improve seed yield. Whereas selection for 1000 seed weight and increased seed yield serve as major selection criteria to achieve increased oil content in V . galemanesis .

Vernonia galamensis is a new potential industrial oil seed crop for semiarid areas with very high content of naturally epoxidized vernolic acid (80% of the oil). Chemical investigation of the seeds of Vernonia galamensis afforded two compounds, which are vernolic acid derivatives. Their structures were established by various spectroscopic techniques: IR, UV, NMR, and 2D NMR spectra (COSY, HSQC, and HMBC), and by comparison with literature data for the known compound methylvernolate. The cis-(12S,13R)-(3-methylpentyl) vernolate (1) and the cis-(12S,13R)-(2,3-propanediol) vernolate (2) were isolated and characterized.

Seeds of Vernonia galamensis (Cass.) Less. contain a high proportion of vernolic acid that is highly desirable for industrial use and emphasises the potential of this species for commercialisation. For successful commercialisation, seed quality during storage must be maintained and regularly assessed, which can be rapidly achieved by using biochemical markers of seed viability. In V. galamensis , three potential viability markers electrolyte leakage (as a measure of membrane integrity) and the antioxidants tocopherol and glutathione were investigated in highly viable, aged and dead seeds at 6% and 12% moisture content (MC). Both electrolyte leakage and tocopherol were not correlated with seed viability whereas the glutathione half-cell reduction potential ( E GSSG/2GSH ) correlated strongly with viability loss during seed ageing at both MCs. However, an increase in E GSSG/2GSH associated with viability loss was delayed in the drier seeds (6% MC), highlighting that the performance of this seed viability marker could be decreased in seeds which lose viability in, or close to, the glassy state.

To increase oil accumulation in the high-biomass vegetative organs of tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants for renewable production of biofuels, VgDGAT1a isolated from developing seeds of Vernonia galamensis L. was ectopically overexpressed in tobacco leaves using a constitutive promoter. The transgenic tobacco leaves showed a 3.5–5.0-fold increase in oil content compared to the control, with a maximum increase of 9.2% (DW). The transgenic leaves also showed a substantial change in fatty acid composition, with significant enhancement of linoleic acid (18 : 2) and notable reduction of -linolenic acid (18 : 3). The overexpression of VgDGAT1a exhibited no deleterious effect on other phenotypes in the tobacco plant. These results will facilitate development of a novel system for lipid metabolic engineering in vegetative organs of plants, as well as provide a platform for the production of biofuels using the vegetative organs of commercial non-food crops.

Detailed germination studies were conducted on seeds of two subspecies of Vernonia. galamensis (nairobiensis and afromontana var. gibbosa), a potential industrial oil crop. Plants of both subspecies were grown at two experimental sites in Kenya and sequential harvesting carried out during seed development to determine the best production environment and optimum harvest time for low-dormant, high-quality seed-lots. Seeds harvested at different maturity levels were germinated under different temperature regimes before and after desiccation. The studies revealed that the onset of germinability and desiccation tolerance was achieved during the dry matter accumulation phase of seed development and that seeds developed dormancy 3 to 6 d after acquiring germinability, with high levels of germination only reaching under an alternating temperature regime. The seeds of the subsp. nairobiensis were shown to be more dormant than those of the subsp. afromontana var. gibbosa. Similarly, seeds harvested from a warmer en...

Throughout the ages, fats, oils and their chemical derivatives have been used in a variety of medical applications, but currently they are becoming important as components in drug delivery systems. Liposomes (vesicles from phospholipids) are among the lipid-based delivery systems that have been most extensively studied. However, targeting of liposomes to specific tissues is still problematic, and attempts to overcome these limitations include developments in nano-sized monolayer vesicles made of bolaamphiphiles (compounds containing two hydrophilic headgroups at each end of an alkyl chain). This paper describes bolaamphiphile synthesis and characterization of the nano-sized vesicles formed from the bolaamphiphiles with potential application for targeted drug delivery to the brain. The starting material for the synthesis is vernonia oil (or its fatty acids or methyl esters), which is a naturally epoxidized triacyl-glycerol obtained from the seeds of Vernonia galamensis. The targeting mechanism is based on the hydrolysis of the amphiphile's headgroup by an enzyme abundant in the target tissue, with subsequent release of the encapsulated drug at the target site. Preliminary experiments in mice demonstrated that the marker FITC-dextran, which normally does not penetrate the blood brain barrier, is delivered into the brain when encapsulated in these vesicles.

Plants from the genus Vernonia produce a variety of flavonoids and bitter sesquiterpene lactones important for agriculture and human health. Leaf glandular trichomes of Vernonia galamensis ssp. galamensis var. ethiopica Gilbert (VGAE) were investigated for ultrastructural development and content composition because sesquiterpene lactones that impart a bitter taste to the leaves have been associated with the presence of these glands. Trichome ultrastructure was examined using LM, SEM, and TEM. Glands were removed from the leaf surface, and the chemical composition of gland contents was determined using HPLC and high‐resolution mass spectrometry. Immature and mature 10‐celled peltate biseriate glandular trichomes were present only at the abaxial side of the leaf. A large subcuticular space (head) developed from the most distal cell pair of the mature trichome and gradually filled with an osmiophillic substance. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the peltate trichome is a major source of prevernocistif...

Vernonia (Vernonia galamensis) is an industrial oil seed crop with potential as a source of natu- ral epoxy fatty acids. Diverse accessions of V. galamensis var. ethiopica were studied at the Limpopo Province in South Africa to determine agronomic performance and to identify suitable germplasm with quantity and quality seed oil content. Thirty-six accessions were subjected to fi eld evaluations using a partially balanced lattice design in 2005 and 2006. Signifi cant differences were observed for days to fl ower- ing (88-143 d), plant height (131.6-167.85 cm), number of productive primary head (23-72 head plant −1 ), number of productive secondary head (12-35 head plant −1 ), thousand seed weight (1.68-3.63 g), and seed yield (1594.89- 3126.09 kg ha −1 ) between different accessions. Results from oil analysis show signifi cant differences in the contents of seed oil (20.36-35.86%), ver- nolic acid (70.15-77.92%), linoleic acid (12.05- 14.73%), oleic acid (3.72-5.52%), palmitic acid (2.49-3.24%), and stearic acid (1.73-3.28%). Of the fi ve accessions identifi ed as potentially useful, three (Vge-17, Vge-18, and Vge-19) had better seed yield and agronomic performances and two (Vge-4 and Vge-31) increased contents of seed oil and vernolic acid. Accessions Vge- 4 and Vge-18 also displayed relatively high oil yield, 966.58 and 801.28 kg ha −1 , respectively. The accessions will be used in the stra tegic improvement of vernonia to maximize seed yield and oil content as an alternative crop in the province and similar environments.