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Title: UNDERSTANDING BIOACTIVITY AND METABOLITE DIVERSITY IN ST. JOHN'S WORT AND RELATED SPECIES

Author
item HILLWIG, MATTHEW - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item WURTELE, EVE - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item HAMMER, KIMBERLY - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item BIRT, DIANE - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item MAURY, WENDY - UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
item PRICE, JASON - UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
item McCoy, Joe Ann

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/2006
Publication Date: 6/1/2006
Citation: Hillwig, M., Wurtele, E., Hammer, K., Birt, D., Maury, W., Price, J., Mccoy, J.H. 2006. Understanding bioactivity and metabolite diversity in St. John's Wort and related species [abstract]. The Second Scientific Meeting of the Metabolomics Society. 151:106.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Hypericum perforatum, commonly known as St. John's Wort, is a popular herbal supplement today in the United States taken for its reported anti-depressant and anti-viral properties. A large amount of literature on St. John's Wort has amassed over the last half-century, however this species contains a wide range of phytochemicals, and the full complement of bioactive compound(s) has not yet been elucidated. Also, there are over 450 additional species in the Hypericum genus worldwide, growing in the temperate climates of the northern hemisphere, over half of which have not been characterized biochemically. Several of these species are used medicinally as well. The hypothesis being tested is that the genus Hypericum has evolved the genetic mechanisms to accumulate several classes of bioactive polyketides, and, further, that different Hypericum species have evolved to produce unique and diverse subsets of these metabolites. The focus of our current research is to understand bioactivity and biochemical synthesis pathways in Hypericum species not previously studied in detail chemically. These metabolomics studies have revealed specific species with rather unique chemical profiles compared to other Hypericum species and to other plant taxa. These species are bioactive in multiple human in vitro assay systems.