Neue Cardenolide aus Convallaria majalis (15) (New Cardenolides of Convallaria majalis)

The occurrence of allose, and of the disaccharide rhamnosido~-deoxy-allow, respectively, as the sugar moieties of cardiac glycosides, was detected for the first time . H . P . KoLn+ (Authora' abstract) Korn, B . and KueELxw, W . (Institute of Pharmacoeoosy, University of Vienns, Austria) Neue Cardenolide aus Convallaria mgjalis (15) (New Cardenolides of Convallaria mgjalis) (in German) Plants med. 45, 195 (1982) . FROM THE leaves of Convallarla mgjalis L . eight glycosides of strophanthidin, cannogenol, sarmentogenin and 19-hydroxysarmentogenin, respectively, were isolated and structurally elucidated as strophanthidin-3-O-6' ~eoxyß-o-allosido-a-L-rhamnoside, strophanthidin-3-0-6'-deoxy-ß-D-allosido-a-t,-arabinoside, strophanthidin-3-0-at .-rhamnosido-2'-ß-o-glucoside, cannogenol-3-o-6'-deoxy-ß-n-allosido-ß-o-glucoside, cannogenoi3-0-6'~eoxy_ ß-o-allosido-a-t.-rhamnoside, 19-hydroxy-sarmentogenin-3-o-a-L-rhamnoside, sarmentogenin-3-o-6' iieoxy-ß-oallosido-a-t.-rhamnoside and sarntetttogenin-3-o-6'-deoxy-ß-o-guloside, mainly by means of their H-NMR-spectra, by EI-MS and LD-MS . This is the fast report of the occurrence of 19-hydroxy-sarmentogenin in nature . The presence of arabinosido-6-deoxyallose within the sugar chain of a cardiac glycoside was detected for the first time, as well . Including the new glyrnsides, a total of 38 cardenolides, derived from nine aglycones, have now been found in Convallaria mgjalis. (Authors' abstract)

H . P . KOLM

LEHTOIA, T., HUHTIKANGAS, A. and VIRTANEN, R . (Division of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Department of Pharmacy, University of Kuopio, and Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Finland) Application of radioimmunoassay to the quantitation of hyoscyamine in plant material . Plants med. 45, 237 (1982) . A xwulotl~tuNOassr,Y has been developed for the analysis of atropine (dl-hyoscyamine) from unpurified ethanolic extracts of Atropa belladonna L . The antiserum used was highly specific for d-hyoscyamine, the unnatural enantiomer . Consequently, a racemization step had to be included in the assay procedure in order to obtain the analysis of atropine . The method is rapid and sensitive, giving excellent values for accuracy, precision and wrnlation . There was practically no interference in the assay from other compounds present in the extracts . The atropine immunogen was prepared by reacting the alkaloid with diazotized p-aminobettzoic acid followed by coupling the resulting product to human serum albumin . The antiserum was obtained by immuniäadon of rabbits .

H . P . KOLM

SwvwoE, J . M . and DEWEESE, J. E. (Allan Hancock Foundation and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, U .S .A .) The status of the Central American Leptodactylic frogs Eleutherodartyhcs melanostictus (Cope) and Eleutherodaetylus platyrhynchus (Günther) . Proc. 6îo1. Soc. Wicsh . 93, 928 (1980). Eleutherod~tyhcs melantutletus, a species unique to the genus in lower Central America in having dark transverse bars on the anterior, dorsal, and posterior surfaces of the thighs, is redefined . E. platyrhynchus is conspecific with mdartastlctus. In eternal and skeletal morphology the species seems allied to the unistrigatus-cruentus series . Jaw musculature (dfsq + e) allies this species to the fitzingeri-rugulosus series, whereas all known representatives of the unfstrigatus-cnualtus stock have a very distinctive set of jaw muscles (DFSQdAT + s). Karyologically the species has 2N = 22, N .F . = 36 and resembles several members of the fitzingerl -rugulosus series, especially E. berkenbusrhil of eastern Mexico. Known members of the unistrigatus-cruentus series have 2N = 26, 32, 34 ; N.F . = 32, 36, 46. These differences make E, melanastictus the sole representative of a monotypic species group . (Authors' abstract) SAVAGE, J . M . (Department of Biological Sciences and Allan Hancock Foundation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, U .S .A .) The tadpole of the Costa Rican fringe-limbed tree-frog, Hyla Flmbrlmeynbra. Proc. biol. Soc. Wmsh. 93, 1177 (1980) . A SINGLE large, long-tailed, tuberculate, and generalized hylid tadpole from the Isle Bonito-Cinchona area of the Cordillera Central of Costa Rica cannot be associated with any of the 93 tadpoles of the family Hylidae described from Mexico and Central America . Consideration of geography and tadpole characteristics typical of the species groups for the 29 hylid species from the region, whose tadpoles are unknown, leads to association of the larva with the fringe-limbed flying frog . Hyla ftmbrimembna . The tadpola is the first to be described for the S species of flying frogs that comprise the miliaria group . (Author's abstract)

P . E. HAMMANN