• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.281-287
• /
• 2014

The present study was conducted to understand the growth pattern, pollinators and their frequency of visits of Euphorbia helioscopia population which is located at Tongyoung areas in Korea. The vegetative parts of the species grow early in March, and flowering begins in the middle of the month, and pollination was completed at the mid of April. As a typical form of early spring type, the fruits of E. helioscopia were matured between early in April and May, and the upper parts of plants were disappeared between May and June. During the blooming season about 11 insects species which belong to Diptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera and Heteroptera were the most common groups found on this plants. Among them the species of Diptera are the most dominant pollinators for E. helioscopia which is concordant to previous reports in Euphorbia species. Despite of significant numbers of insect visitors in Euphorbia species being reported, E. helioscopia attracts only 11 insect species in study areas, and the paucity of species probably associates with the insect fauna in Tongyoung areas or typical patterns of early spring bloomer of Euphorbias. We observed majority of Diptera species to visit in the morning, and the frequency of visit decreased in the afternoon. Thus, it suggests that the visiting activity of Diptera species is not associated with the temperature increase which was reported in Euphorbia species. However, the number of the cyathium during the blooming season is likely to be related to the frequency of visit of pollinators in E. helioscopia.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.109-117
• /
• 1999

Thirty two species of coastal plants (mainly halophytes) were investigated for their free amino acids and the total and water-soluble nitrogen contents in leaves. All plants except some species (e.g. Scutellaria and Linaria) contained proline, but only Ageratum. Tetragonia and Raphanus in rather high amounts, that it can be thought to serve as a cytoplasmic osmolyte. In some plant species (Euphorbia. Glehnia. Peucedanum. Raphanus and monocotyledonous Carex and Zoysia), however, hydroxyproline. (OH-Pro) rather than proline were accumulated to a considerable extent. The concentrations of total free amino acids were low in Aster tripolium, Linaria. Lysimachia. Plantago. Rumex, Vitex and especially in the members of the Chenopodiaceae and Crassulaceae. Marked differences also occurred in the nitrogen levels. Aizoaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cruciferae, Euphorbiaceae and Leguminosae usually showed high values of total and soluble amino nitrogen, while the opposite was true for most of the Cyperaceae, Gramineae, Lamiaceae, Plantaginaceae, Scophuriaceae, and Verbenaceae. The free amino acids in the investigated plant species contributed very little to the nitrogen content, but in plants of Euphorbia, Messerschmidia and Orostachys. their amino acid-N made up for 25∼30% of the total nitrogen. In conclusion, only a few cases did proline known as compatible solute constitute a significant proportion of the free amino acid pool in coastal plants.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.36 no.9
• /
• pp.1106-1112
• /
• 2007

The solvent extracts of Euphorbia helioscopia, which were extracted by using several solvents with different polarities, were prepared for utility as natural preservatives. The E. helioscopia extract by 80% ethanol was sequentially fractionated with n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethylacetate, and butanol. In order to effectively screen for a natural preservatives agent, we first investigated the antioxidant activities such as DPPH radical scavenging capacity, superoxide radical scavenging capacity, and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity of the E. helioscopia extracts. By the screening system, we found that ethylacetate fraction had the strongest antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner. The antimicrobial activities and cell growth inhibition were investigated for each strain with the different concentrations of E. helioscopia extracts. Antimicrobial activities were shown in ethylacetate fraction of E. helioscopia; however, ethanol, butanol and water fractions showed weak antimicrobial activity against the tested microorganisms. Among the five fractions, ethylacetate fraction showed the highest antimicrobial activities against microorganisms tested, such as Bacillus sublitis, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium. The polyphenol content from ethanol, n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethylacetate, butanol, and water fractions were 207.46 mg/g, 45.45 mg/g, 138.23 mg/g, 678.02 mg/g, 278.91 mg/g, and 63.76 mg/g, respectively. There seems to be a close relationship between antioxidant activities, and antimicrobial activities and polyphenol content in natural plant. From these results, it is suggested that E. helioscopia could be used for the ethylacetate fraction and could be suitable for the development of a food preservative.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.35-43
• /
• 2018

Objectives: In the brain, glutamate is the most important excitable neurotransmitter in physiological and pathological conditions. However, the high level of glutamate induces neuronal cell death due to exitotoxicity and oxidative stress. The present study investigated to evaluate a possible neuroprotective effect of furosin isolated from Euphorbia helioscopia against glutamate-induced HT22 cell death. Methods: Furosin was isolated from methanol extract of Euphorbia helioscopia and examined whether it protects glutamate-induced neuronal cell death. The cell viability was determined using Ez-Cytox assay. Anti-oxidative effect of furosin was determined by DPPH scavenging activities, and the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined by the fluorescent intensity after staining the cells with $H_2DCFDA$. To evaluate apoptotic cell death, we performed nuclear staining and image-based cytometeric analysis. Results: The cell viability was significantly increased by treatement with furosin compared with the treatment with glutamate. Furosin showed a strong DPPH radical scavenging activity ($EC50=1.83{\mu}M$) and prevented the accumulation of intra cellular ROS. Finally, the presence of 50 and $100{\mu}M$ furosin significantly the percentage of apoptotic cells compared with glutamate treatment. Conclusion: The present study found that furosin is a potent neuroprotectant against glutamate-induced oxidative stress through inhibition of apoptotic cell death induced by glutamate. Therefore, the present study suggests that furosin as a bioactive compound of E. helioscopia can be a useful source to develop a drug for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and acute brain injuries.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.279-293
• /
• 2003

Somatic chromosomes about 13 taxa of Korean Euphorbia L. was investigated to estimate its taxonomic significance. Somatic chromosome numbers of treated taxa were 2n= 12, 20, 22, 28, 40, 42, 56, therefore basic chromosome numbers of those were x=6, 7, 10, 11. The chromosome numbers of E. pallasii Turcz. (2n=20), E. hylonoma Hand.-Mazz (2n=20.), E. fauriei H. L$\acute{e}$v. & Vaniot ex H. L$\acute{e}$v (2n=28) and E. jolkini Boiss. (2n=28) were determined for the first time in this study. The chromosome numbers of four taxa were same as previous ones; E. sieboldiana Moor. & Decne. (2n=20), E. ebracteolata Hayata (2n=20), E. humifusa Willd. ex Schlecht. (2n=22). But those of six taxa were different; E. esula L (2n= 16, 20, 60, 64 vs 2n=20), E. helioscopia L. (2n=12, 42 vs 2n=42), E. lucorum Rupr. (2n=28, 40 vs 2n=56), E. pekinensis Rupr. in Maxim. (2n=24 vs 2n=28, 56), E. maculata L. (2n=28, 42 vs 2n=12), E. supina Raf. (n=7 vs 2n=40). E. ebracteolata, E. pallasii and E. hylonoma were distingushcd from the other taxa by the chromosome numbers, size and satellites, E. maculata, E. humifusa, E. supina had the different basic and somatic chromosome numbers in spite of the similar morphological. anatomical and palynological chracters. The chromosomal character of Korean Euphorbia was supported the Ma and Hu's systems, and as above results, it was found to be a good character in delimiting above sections and estimating relationships for some species.