Artemisinin is a sesquiterpene lactone which has been shown to be very effective in the control of certain forms of malaria. The source of the compound is the herb Artemisia annua. The project proposed here is intended to investigate methods for increasing the concentration and yield of artemisinin from cultivated A. annua. Because artemisinin is a secondary metabolite, it is hypothesized that stress will increase its concentration. Plants of A. annua will be subjected to water and nutrient stress under controlled environment conditions. In addition, the carbon:nitrogen ratio of the plants will be increased by growing the plants under elevated atmospheric C02 concentration. Increases in the carbon:nitrogen ratio are expected to increase the concentration of carbon-based compounds such as artemisinin. After environmental effects are investigated, a number of accessions will be screened for differences in yield of artemisinin. A third phase of the project will be the introduction of Artemisia annua to Puerto Rico and the systematic investigation of techniques for its cultivation. The artemisinin produced in the project will be tested against several trematode and cestode parasites, including Schistosoma mansoni and S. japonicum.

Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
17
Fiscal Year
1988
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
San Juan
State
PR
Country
United States
Zip Code
00931
Rodriguez, A D; Ramirez, C; Shi, Y P (2000) The cumbiasins, structurally novel diterpenes possessing intricate carbocyclic skeletons from the West Indian sea whip Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae (Bayer). J Org Chem 65:6682-7
Rodriguez, A D; Ramirez, C (2000) A marine diterpene with a novel tetracyclic framework from the West Indian gorgonian octocoral Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae. Org Lett 2:507-10
Rodriguez, A D; Soto, J J (1998) Pseudopterane and norcembrane diterpenoids from the Caribbean sea plume Pseudopterogorgia acerosa. J Nat Prod 61:401-4
Rodriguez, A D; Acosta, A L (1998) New cembranolides from the gorgonian Eunicea succinea. J Nat Prod 61:40-5
Richardson, P L; Rodriguez, A D; Boulanger, A et al. (1998) Methoxyamericanolide B. Acta Crystallogr C 54 ( Pt 1):66-8
Figueroa, I D; el Baraka, M; Quinones, E et al. (1998) A fluorescent temperature probe based on the association between the excited states of 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)benzonitrile and beta-cyclodextrin. Anal Chem 70:3974-7
Rodriguez, A D; Cobar, O M; Padilla, O L et al. (1997) Calyxamines A and B, novel piperidine alkaloids from the Caribbean sea sponge Calyx podatypa. J Nat Prod 60:1331-3
Cobar, O M; Rodriguez, A D; Padilla, O L (1997) A new steroidal glycoside from a Caribbean gorgonian, Eunicea sp.1. J Nat Prod 60:1186-8
Rodriguez, A D; Gonzalez, E; Huang, S D (1997) Euniciniatin. Acta Crystallogr C 53 ( Pt 3):311-3
Rodriguez, A; Acosta, A L (1997) New cembranoid diterpenes and a geranylgeraniol derivative from the common Caribbean sea whip Eunicea succinea. J Nat Prod 60:1134-8

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