South African Journal of Botany 2003, 69(2): 224–268 Copyright © NISC Pty Ltd Printed in South Africa — All rights reserved SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY ISSN 0254–6299 Conference Abstracts South African Association of Botanists Abstracts of papers and posters presented at the 29th Annual Congress of the South African Association of Botanists and the International Society for Ethnopharmacology held at the University of Pretoria, 8–11 January 2003 The presenter of multi-authored papers is underlined $ Awards made to students Plenary Lectures ability of immense biological resources in Africa have provided a feasible platform for the establishment of a ‘biology-industrial pro- Ethnopharmacology as source of new drug paradigms: gramme’, which focuses on biodiscovery. In this approach, biodi- the case of an Amazonian ‘brain tonic’ versity functions not as raw materials or industrial feedstock but more importantly as an informational input to research development EE Elisabetsky1,3, IR Siqueira2,3, AL Silva1,4, DS Nunes5 and CA processes. Biodiscovery is an inclusive term to describe the collec- Netto2,3 tion of biological resources for the identification of valuable molecu- 1 Laboratório de Etnofarmacologia, Deptamento de Farmacologia, lar or genetic information about those biological resources and to Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, CP 5072, 90041-970, Porto utilise that information in the development of bio-products. Africa Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil possesses a unique advantage in the development of plant genetic 2 Deptamento de Bioquímica e PPGs, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande materials into consumer goods because of the long history and do Sul, CP 5072, 90041-970, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil widespread use of traditional medicine in the continent. The 3 Deptamento de Fisiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, CP International Centre for Ethnomedicine and Drug Development 5072, 90041-970, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 4 (InterCEDD) Nsukka has developed a method for rapid scientific Deptamento de Bioquímica, ICBS, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do validation of traditional remedies that integrates proof of safety with Sul, CP 5072, 90041-970, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 5 Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, Paraná Brazil clinical outcome studies to select ingredients that could be stan- dardised as nutraceuticals and/or phytomedicines. This approach The pharmaceutical industry regards medicinal plants as poten- leads to the development of products with precisely defined charac- tial sources of bioactive unusual molecules, potentially bearing inno- teristics and consistent quality, as well as the generation of purified vative mechanisms of action; for allopathic drug development, even phyto-chemicals for drug development. There is also a direct rela- when traditional formulations are taken into consideration, tradition- tionship between the value added to these biological resources and al medical systems are very scarcely regarded as such. The herbal the protection of traditional knowledge and biodiversity. In this industry is more likely to accommodate innovations as well as to model, biodiversity is regarded as natural resources to be con- accept unconventional concepts of health/disease, main- served and sustainably utilised for wealth creation and poverty alle- tenance/treatment and drug mode of action, thereby eventually gen- viation. Examples given in the paper will include nutraceuticals used erating useful clinical data. Despite its history, pharmacology as a as supplements in the management of chronic disorders, infections discipline has been refractory to the potential contribution of diseases and metabolic disorders. ethnopharmacology in terms of different paradigms for drug mode of action or usage. The complex patterns often found in pharmacolog- ical studies of medicinal plant extracts suggest that the effects of Plants, peoples and cultures: perspectives from south- plant drugs may often be based on a more diverse/complex phar- ern Africa macodynamic basis than the common drug/effect relationships. In fact, pharmacological properties and clinical effects observed with AE van Wyk herbal drugs may result from effects of more than one active ingredi- Department of Botany, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa ent, from drug interactions among ingredients, from active ingredients possessing multiple mechanisms of action, or even from interference An holistic picture is painted of the remarkable position Africa, and with targets not yet recognised by the current biomedical understand- particularly southern Africa, occupies in the fields of natural ing of cell biology modulation. This paper focuses on the neuropro- resource and cultural diversity. The existence and subsequent tective profile of an Amazonian ‘brain tonic’ to explore newer para- breakup of Gondwana set the scene for the biological, geological digms of psychotropic drug action and therapy. It is suggested that the and geomorphological evolution of southern Africa. This ancient understanding of traditional medical concepts of health and disease in event still reverberates in the minds and actions of humans who, general, and traditional medical practices in particular, can lead to true from the time of their earliest evolutionary emergence, have been innovation in paradigms of drug usage and drug development. an integral part of life in Africa. Geomorphological and biological evolution of southern Africa is closely related to geology, which, con- sidering the size of the region, is unequalled anywhere else in the Biodiscovery and development of new phytomedicines world. Biologically southern Africa contains three of the world’s bio- and biodiversity conservation in Africa diversity Hotspots, and botanically two of its six Floristic Kingdoms, including one in its entirety. Linguistically the oldest of the world’s six MM Iwu language phylums, Khoesaan, is essentially confined to southern International Centre for Ethnomedicine and Drug Development, Bioresources Africa, with significant representation of at least three others. Development and Conservation Programme, 110 Aku Road, Nsukka, Nigeria Interaction between humans and plants has resulted in the accu- mulation of extensive indigenous knowledge relating to the use of Advances in information and process technology and the avail- plant products. It has taken only 300 years to witness the extinction South African Journal of Botany 2003, 69: 224–268 225 of several local cultures and languages, notably those of several tible infected plants, while the uninfected plants showed a similar Khoesaan peoples, the oldest human inhabitants of the region. pattern but at lower levels. The hydrogen peroxide levels in the However, for all its biological and cultural diversity, there has been plants were also measured to determine the earliest response of the no significant domestication of native plants and animals in sub- plant to the pathogen. The result was increased levels within nine Saharan Africa, neither have the peoples in the region developed a hours after inoculation in the resistant- and within twelve in the sus- culture of using plants for their flowers. Explanations for these ceptible plants, while the uninfected plants showed no significant anomalies are offered and the contributions Africa can make increases. Hydrogen peroxidase activity correlated with the hydro- towards stemming the Sixth Extinction are highlighted. gen peroxide levels. RT-PCR was finally used to identify possible kinases involved in this early interaction. Papers Elaeodendron, biogeography, and the Elaeodendron Effects of gibberellic acid and benzyladenine pretreat- complex (Celastraceae) in Madagascar ment on six wheat cultivars under salinity stress RH Archer M Adam, LM Raitt and J Aalbers National Herbarium, National Botanical Institute, Private Bag X101, Pretoria Department of Botany, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535, South 0001, South Africa Africa Elaeodendron has always been confused with the South African Three salt sensitive wheat cultivars (Knoppies, Rooiwol, and Cassine. Previous studies have elucidated the clear-cut differences Rooigys) and three salt tolerant wheat cultivars (Yecoro Royo, between these unrelated groups. Elaeodendron s.str. is a well cir- Charchia, and Losper) were examined under five different NaCl cumscribed, almost cosmopolitan group of species from Central concentrations, 0, 100, 200, 300 and 400mMol. Wheat seeds were America, Africa, Indo-China to Fiji. However, four remaining taxa pretreated with five hormone concentrations, (0, 12.5, 40 and 125 from Madagascar, enumerated in Flora of Madagascar (1946), μMol), of Gibberillic acid (GA3) or N6-Benzyl adenine. Root length, exhibit strange characters for the genus that need to be elucidated. shoot length, root mass, shoot mass and percentage seed germi- Without fruit no accurate placement is possible. Preliminary studies nation were measured as indicators of hormone effects at different have revealed additional distinctive characters indicating that each salt levels. Results showed that treatment with GA3 led to significant of these may be placed in its own genus. Recent specimens, main- increases in most parameters measured, particularly the percent- ly by the prolific collector and author, René Capuron, provided valu- age seed germination of salt sensitive cultivars. The result of N6- able fruit material. This gives new insight into this complex