Reviews The Foxgloves (Digitalis) Revisited* Author Wolfgang Kreis Affiliation Supporting information available online at Lehrstuhl Pharmazeutische Biologie, Department Biology, http://www.thieme-connect.de/products FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany ABSTRACT Key words Digitalis, Plantaginaceae, cardiac glycosides, plant biotech- This review provides a renewed look at the genus Digitalis. nology, biosynthesis, plant tissue culture, phylogeny Emphasis will be put on those issues that attracted the most attention or even went through paradigmatic changes since received March 17, 2017 the turn of the millennium. PubMed and Google Scholar were “ ” “ ” revised April 27, 2017 used ( Digitalis and Foxglove were the key words) to iden- accepted May 8, 2017 tify research from 2000 till 2017 containing data relevant enough to be presented here. Intriguing new results emerged Bibliography from studies related to the phylogeny and taxonomy of the DOI https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-111240 genus as well as to the biosynthesis and potential medicinal Published online May 23, 2017 | Planta Med 2017; 83: 962– uses of the key active compounds, the cardiac glycosides. 976 © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York | Several Eastern and Western Foxgloves were studied with re- ISSN 0032‑0943 spect to their propagation in vitro. In this context, molecular biology tools were applied and phytochemical analyses were Correspondence conducted. Structure elucidation and analytical methods, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kreis which have experienced less exciting progress, will not be Department Biology, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg considered here in great detail. Staudtstr. 5, 91058 Erlangen, Germany Phone:+4991318528241,Fax:+4991318528243
[email protected] Taxus species is a prime example [4].