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Ergot, fungal genus Claviceps , are worldwide distributed grass pathogens known for their production of toxic ergot alkaloids (EAs) and the great agricultural impact they have on both cereal crop and farm animal production. EAs are traditionally considered as the only factor responsible for ergot toxicity. Using broad sampling covering 13 ergot species infecting wild or agricultural grasses (including cereals) across Europe, USA, New Zealand, and South Africa we showed that the content of ergochrome pigments were comparable to the content of EAs in sclerotia. While secalonic acids A-C (SAs), the main ergot ergochromes (ECs), are well known toxins, our study is the first to address the question about their contribution to overall ergot toxicity. Based on our and published data, the importance of SAs in acute intoxication seems to be negligible, but the effect of chronic exposure needs to be evaluated. Nevertheless, they have biological activities at doses corresponding to quantities found in natural conditions. Our study highlights the need for a re-evaluation of ergot toxicity mechanisms and further studies of SAs' impact on livestock production and food safety.

An aminoborane side product from the nicergoline manufacture process was identified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. As boranes of pharmaceutical molecules are quite rare, the binding potential of the BH 3 group was investigated and compared with similar compounds using Cambridge Structural Database (CSD). Surprisingly, the packing was stabilized by a dihydrogen bond, which triggered a false alert for too-short contact of hydrogen atoms in IUCR checkCIF. As the dihydrogen bond concept is not widely known, such an alert might mislead crystallographers to force -CH 3 optimal geometry to -BH 3 groups. The B-H distances equal to or less than 1.0 Å (17% of the CSD structures) are substantially biased when analyzing the structures of aminoborane complexes in CSD. To conduct proper searching, B-H bond length normalization should be applied in the CSD search.

Callus cultures of Juniperus virginiana L. (varieties 'Hetzii', 'Glauca', 'Grey Owl') were derived from fresh leaves of garden-grown trees on Schenk and Hildebrandt medium supplemented with 3.0 mg/L of α-naphthaleneacetic acid, 0.2 mg/L of kinetin and 15 mg/L of ascorbic acid. The growth characteristics of one-year-old and two-years-old cultures were determined. The maximum biomass in all varieties was achieved on the 35th day of the cultivation period. The increase in fresh weights of two-years-old callus cultures, when compared with one-year-old callus cultures, was as follows: variety 'Hetzii' by 25%, variety 'Glauca' by 29% and variety 'Grey Owl' by 49%. J. virginiana suspension cultures (varieties 'Hetzii', 'Glauca', 'Grey Owl') were derived from two-years-old callus cultures on Schenk and Hildebrandt medium supplemented with 3.0 mg/L of α-naphthaleneacetic acid, 0.2 mg/L of kinetin and 15 mg/L of ascorbic acid. The maximum biomass of all varieties was found on the 21st day of the cultivation period. These results indicate that a sub-cultivation interval of 35 days for callus cultures and of 21st days for suspension cultures can be recommended. The callus and suspension cultures of J. virginiana of the variety 'Glauca' have the best survivability and thus provide the most biomass.