Cross-cultural comparison of three medicinal floras and implications for bioprospecting strategies

Saslis‐Lagoudakis, C. Haris; Williamson, E. M.; Savolainen, Vincent; Hawkins, Julie A.

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2011.03.044

Cited by 85 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Despite studies that show traditional use is concentrated in certain taxonomic groups that are sometimes the same in different cultures (19), cross-cultural comparisons have had limited use in bioprospecting. The disparate regions that have experienced limited cultural contact are floristically disparate too, so different cultures will not be exposed to the same species, genera, or even families (19).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The disparate regions that have experienced limited cultural contact are floristically disparate too, so different cultures will not be exposed to the same species, genera, or even families (19). Molecular phylogenetic trees can overcome the limitations of taxonomic approaches by measuring phylogenetic distance (20) between the plant species that compose medicinal floras.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Phylogenies reveal predictive power of traditional medicine in bioprospecting

Saslis‐Lagoudakis

Savolainen

Williamson

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

221

191

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is controversy about whether traditional medicine can guide drug discovery, and investment in bioprospecting informed by ethnobotanical data has fluctuated. One view is that traditionally used medicinal plants are not necessarily efficacious and there are no robust methods for distinguishing those which are most likely to be bioactive when selecting species for further testing. Here, we reconstruct a genus-level molecular phylogenetic tree representing the 20,000 species found in the floras of three disparate biodiversity hotspots: Nepal, New Zealand, and the Cape of South Africa. Borrowing phylogenetic methods from community ecology, we reveal significant clustering of the 1,500 traditionally used species, and provide a direct measure of the relatedness of the three medicinal floras. We demonstrate shared phylogenetic patterns across the floras: related plants from these regions are used to treat medical conditions in the same therapeutic areas. This finding strongly indicates independent discovery of plant efficacy, an interpretation corroborated by the presence of a significantly greater proportion of known bioactive species in these plant groups than in random samples. We conclude that phylogenetic cross-cultural comparisons can focus screening efforts on a subset of traditionally used plants that are richer in bioactive compounds, and could revitalize the use of traditional knowledge in bioprospecting.ethnobotany | ethnopharmacology | herbal medicine | phylogeny | systematics M any pharmaceutical drugs are derived from plants that were first used in traditional systems of medicine (1), and according to the World Health Organization ∼25% of medicines are plant-derived (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/ fs134). Discoveries of novel molecules and advances in production of plant-based products (2, 3) have revived interest in natural product research. Traditional knowledge has proven a useful tool in the search for new plant-based medicines (4-8). The number of traditionally used plant species worldwide is estimated to be between 10,000 and 53,000 (9, 10); however, only a small proportion have been screened for biological activity (11,12) and the plants from some regions are less studied than others. For example, only 1% of tropical floras have been investigated (12). Moreover, there has been no systematic study to determine whether traditionally used species are significantly more likely to yield valuable bioactive compounds. This lack of data creates controversy about whether traditional medicine can guide drug discovery (1,11,(13)(14)(15), and investment in ethnobotanically led bioprospecting has fluctuated (5, 14, 15). Methods put forward for distinguishing those plants most likely to be bioactive when selecting species for further testing have been criticized, and criteria proposed to prioritize traditionally used species have not been rigorously tested (16,17). For example, use of the same or related plants by people from different regions and cultures provides indirect evidence for bioactiv...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogenies reveal predictive power of traditional medicine in bioprospecting

Saslis‐Lagoudakis

Savolainen

Williamson

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

221

191

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This discussion refers to the paper by Saslis-Lagoudakis et al (2011). In fact, this is a continuation of the discussion in a "setting standards" paper on how to deal with ethnopharmacological data (Heinrich et al, 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Primary data are the basis of all science!

Verpoorte

2012

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Professor Gertsch raises interesting points in his wide-ranging commentary on our recent publication (Saslis-Lagoudakis et al, 2011a). We welcome the opportunity to explore the points he raises.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%