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Vateria indica L. is a critically endangered tree species in South-Western Ghats of India, commercially exploited for its valuable resins. Seed recalcitrance is a major problem hindering the natural regeneration of this species and it poses a great challenge in seed storage and conservation. There was a continuous import of water from the maternal tissues to seed tissues till maturity and the seeds were released in a fully hydrated state. Differential accumulation of water has been noticed in the cotyledons and embryonal axis. There was a positive correlation between seed moisture content and rate of germination which is a character of recalcitrant seeds. The critical moisture content was found to be 40% in the axis and 23.5% in the cotyledons, below which the embryo will not germinate. Loss of germination ability as a result of desiccation was attributed to the cell membrane damage, expressed as the electrolyte leakage exceeding 0.79 μS/cm. ABA peaked in the mid embryogenesis, then dropped drastically and maintained a lower level till seed maturity. On desiccation, ABA started to increase but gradually dropped down. Both cotyledons and embryonal axis had differential ABA content but exhibited a general pattern of ABA level during embryogeny. Due to the thin seed coat/embryo ratio and low investment in the seed coat, this recalcitrant seed could not hold water as efficient as orthodox seeds. Thus, it germinated as soon as it was shed from the mother plant. On desiccation, ABA shot up and moisture content decreased along with electrolyte leakage and cell membrane damage. All these hindered germination of the seed. Thus, we can see a clear interplay between moisture content and ABA levels during embryogeny and desiccation. Since the seed biology of this species has not been well documented, the present work is mainly intended to study the dynamics of water and ABA during embryogeny and embryo drying. This study can surely contribute to the long-term storage and conservation of recalcitrant seeds which is a less explored area.

Background: Seed recalcitrance is a major problem associated with many tropical plants, limiting their natural regeneration. Vateria indica L. is a vulnerable and endemic tree species in South-Western Ghats of India, which is also recalcitrant. ABA and gibberellins are the most important plant hormones required for seed germination. It is the balance between ABA and GA which is responsible for desiccation tolerance in orthodox seeds. Exogenous hormones pretreatment has been also reported to influence seed germination. But such studies had been sparsely done in the case of recalcitrant seeds. This study aims to find out whether GA/ABA antagonism in recalcitrant plants is operating in the same way, like that in the orthodox seeds.Methods: The effect of the exogenous pre-soaking application of phytohormones viz. GA3 and ABA individually as well as their combinations on seed germination and growth of Vateria indica L. were carried out in the present work. The seeds were collected from April to July 2018 and the experiment was designed at Post Graduate and Research Department of Botany, Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram. When different concentrations of each phytohormone were externally given to the seeds, ABA reduced the germination and growth in almost all the concentrations. But GA3 gave better results. When combinations of GA3 and ABA were used, germination was poor in the sample where ABA was more than GA3, But in samples with same concentrations of both the hormones and with more GA3 gave better results. Result: This study clearly showed that GA3 when given externally along with ABA, might have affected the endogenous ABA in this recalcitrant seed and suppressed its retarding effect. Thus ABA/GA antagonism is working out, here, in the same way as in orthodox seeds. Since the germination of recalcitrant seeds is a less investigated area, the present study will form a basis and a lot more for further such studies.

Vateria indica Linn seeds were found to contain nearly 19% of oil/fat content. This fat is converted into biodiesel by a novel method by the authors at the biodiesel preparation facility at NITK, S...

The rapid depletion of fossil fuels and the increasing levels of exhaust gas emissions have paved the way for researchers to focus their attention on alternative fuels. One such potential alternative source of fuel is biodiesel. In the light of the search for newer fuels, the present work focuses on Vateria Indica biodiesel that is found widely in Western Ghats of India and Srilanka. The work reports on the extraction of Vateria Indica oil, preparation of its biodiesel and performance testing of biodiesel blends on compression ignition engine (diesel engine). The oil and biodiesel yields have been optimized by Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and are found to be 23% and 85% respectively. The performance test results of Vateria Indica biodiesel blends on diesel engine have indicated that the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) was found to be lower and the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) was found to be higher for B10 (90% diesel+10% biodiesel), B20 (80% diesel+20% biodiesel) and B30 (70% diesel+30% biodiesel) blends compared to neat diesel. The performance characteristics of B10 blend were very close to neat diesel. The combustion characteristics of biodiesel blends were found to be superior compared to neat diesel. The B30 blend has better combustion characteristics compared to B10 and B20 blends. The emissions of unburnt hydrocarbons (UBHC), carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke were lower, and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) were higher for all the blends of biodiesel compared to neat diesel.

Agroforestry entails different life forms including mixtures of trees that occupy different soil strata and exhibit a certain degree of spatial complementarity in resource use. However, rigorous experimental studies characterising root interactions in tree–tree systems are notoriously few. We present here the available empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that occurrence of two or more tree species close to one another may favour diminished lateral spread and/or deeper root penetration of the woody components and closer the tree components are located greater will be the subsoil root activity. These evidences are based on either root excavation studies in coconut-based multistorey production systems, or 32P soil injection experiments involving binary mixtures of coconut+interplanted dicot multipurpose trees (Vateria indica, Ailanthus triphysa or Grevillea robusta), and bamboo (Bambusa bambos)+teak (Tectona grandis) or Malabar white pine (V. indica). The excavation study denotes a spatially segregated root distribution pattern of the component species. Furthermore, in the coconut + dicot tree system, interplanted dicot trees absorbed considerable quantities of the radio-label applied to the palm, which declined log-linearly with distance from the palms, signifying a substantial potential for “capturing” the lower leaching nutrients, at proximal distances. Likewise, lower teak/Vateria root activity in the surface horizons and higher activity in the deeper layers, when bamboo clumps were nearby and vice versa when they were farther apart, implied that proximity of species/individuals favoured competitive downward displacement of roots. Nutrient pumping and/or current transfer of nutrients between the rhizospheres of the two associated crops are also possible. In designing sustainable agroforestry systems, it is, therefore, advantageous to mix trees with divergent root growth habits.

Bubble chamber incubation of surface sterilized segments of root bark and xylem of 10 riparian tree species of the Sampaje (475–500 m asl) and VʼBadaga (765–800 m asl) stream reaches of the Western Ghats yielded 20 species of endophytic aquatic hyphomycetes. Anguillospora crassa, A. longissima and Cylindrocarpon sp. were among the top five species in streams. A two-way ANOVA showed significantly higher species richness and counts of conidium in the tree species of Sampaje compared to VʼBadaga (p

Ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi being obligate mutualists of roots of several vascular plants have a major role in diversity, biogeography, erosion prevention, and biogeochemical cycles. Recent findings depict that the EM fungi have multifunctional roles in ecosystem processes leading to valuable ecosystem services. They are the main players in reclamation of degraded ecosystems based on their ability to develop stress tolerance, nutrient acquirement, and bioremediation. Although the Western Ghats has been recognized as an important hotspot of biodiversity in the tropics, studies on the EM fungi are fairly meager. This review is an attempt to consolidate the research on the EM fungi in different parts of the Western Ghats addressing their diversity, distribution, and ecology. A total of 148 species (34 genera) of EM fungi has been known from the Western Ghats. Inocybe is the dominant genus (36 spp.) followed by other genera Russula (31 spp.) and Amanita (13 spp.). The host trees that supported the EM fungi consist of 60 species (40 genera). Vateria indica showed the highest EM fungi (69 spp.) followed by Hopea ponga (50 spp.), Hopea parviflora (48 spp.), and Diospyros malabarica (37 spp.). Eight tree species of Dipterocarpaceae supported up to 77% of EM fungi, while 15 exotic trees supported only 20%. Up to 30 new EM fungi are known from the Western Ghats. Importance and association of EM fungi with hosts and future research directions are emphasized.

Vateria Indica is a multipurpose tree that is much used locally in India. It provides food, medicine and a range of other commodities. It is often planted along avenues in India. The use of vegetable oil as feedstock for biodiesel production is divisive as an outcome of the challenges of a food-fuel catastrophe linked with the use of fit to be eaten oils for biodiesel making. The present study is focused on the extraction of oil from vateria Indica seed using a solvent extraction method, evaluation of optimal conditions for oil extraction. A Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology (RSM) with 15 experimental runs is used to study the optimum environment for the withdrawal, and the variables of interest are effective solvent/seed ratio 1 ml/gm, 1.25 ml/gm and 1.5 ml/gm. extraction temperature 60°C, 65°C, 70°C, and extraction time 3 hr, 4 hr, 5 hr. From the current study it is observed that the optimized oil yield using the solvent extraction is found to be 22.85% at temperature of 66.6°C, extraction time of 4.41 hour keeping the solvent to seed ratio of 1.353 ml/g after adopting response optimization technique.

The remarkable α-glucosidase inhibition exhibited by the acetone extract of the rhizome of Ampelocissus indica (L.) and stem bark of Vateria indica Linn. (IC50 23.2 and 1.47 μg mL−1) encouraged us to isolate the phytochemicals from these plants. (+) and (−)-hopeaphenol (1) and (2) were isolated from A. indica (L.) and V. indica Linn. respectively. Compounds 1 and 2 displayed IC50 values of 21.21 ± 0.987 and 9.47 ± 0.967 μM in an α-glucosidase inhibitory assay. The effect of glucose uptake performed by 2-NBDG in L6 rat skeletal muscle cells using flow cytometry (BD FACS Aria II, USA) showed potent glucose uptake by (+) and (−)-hopeaphenol of 31% and 26.4%, respectively. The data from an MTT cell viability assay revealed that the compounds are not toxic to the cells up to 200 μM. Molecular docking studies show that the compounds bind effectively to the active sites of the proteins 1BVN, 3A4A and 3AJ7, which supported the observed α-glucosidase inhibition. The structures of these compounds were determined by the analysis of various spectroscopic data including HRMS-ESI, 2D NMR, CD spectroscopy, optical activity and were unequivocally established by single crystal X-ray crystallography. Herein we are reporting the phytochemicals from Ampelocissus indica (L.) and their antidiabetic activities for the first time.

Vateria indica is a critically-endangered and economically-important tree endemic to the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot in India. Due to extreme local endemism and anthropogenic destructive harvesting of resin, the species is categorized as critically endangered. The present study investigated the biotic limiting factors of recruitment of V. inidica in its natural populations, and studied the pattern of anthropogenic harvest of nuts of V. indica in the recent past. Seed predation and seedling herbivory particularly by insects were assessed. The sustainability of the nut harvest was assessed by conducting pre- and post-harvest censuses of nuts on forest floors. Over 90 % of the fruits of V. indica were infested by the insects, but, only about 10 % of the infested fruits were seed-predated. Seedling herbivores included a leaf miner, ants of two species, and larvae of a lymantrid moth. Seedling mortality due to herbivores was moderate (45.5 %). Pre- and post-harvest censuses showed that only 3.81 % of the fruits that were naturally-fallen on the forest floor were spared after the harvest had taken place. Sringeri has exported 820 metric tons of nuts in the study year, which was an all-time high estimate. The study concludes that the anthropogenic nut collection can hamper the population structure of V. indica locally. Since V. indica has an alternate-year major flowering cycle, the seed loss as seen in the present study is critical. Raising plantations of V. indica as an afforestation program can contribute to the conservation of the species and the development of local communities.

Tropical agro-forest landscapes are potentially valuable reserves of forest genetic resources for forestry and restoration of degraded forests. The Dipterocarpaceae is a dominant Southeast Asian family of tree species of global significance for the tropical timber industry. Very little information exists about how effective human modified landscapes are for conserving genetic diversity in dipterocarp species. This study provides a baseline for understanding how fragmented agro-forest landscapes in India sustain forest genetic resources in an endemic dipterocarp tree. We compare genetic diversity and fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) in the threatened tree species Vateria indica within an isolated and a continuous forest site in the Western Ghats, South India. We place these results in the context of dipterocarps from both the Seychelles and Borneo. Parentage analysis of 694 progeny using twelve nuclear microsatellite markers is applied to estimate pollen and seed dispersal. Using a nursery trial we evaluate effects of inbreeding on growth performance. Our results show that levels of FSGS, and gene dispersal are comparable between a small isolated and a large continuous site of V. indica. Realized long-distance pollen flow into the isolated patch appears to help maintaining genetic diversity. The nursery experiment suggests that selection favours outbred progeny. Individuals of V. indica in close proximity appear less related to each other than in another highly fragmented and endangered dipterocarp species from the Seychelles, but more related than in three dipterocarp species studied in continuous forest in Borneo. We discuss the wider implications of our findings in the context of conservation and restoration of dipterocarp forest genetic resources in fragmented populations.

A new species of the encyrtid genus Neastymachus (N. punctatiscutellum Singh, sp. nov.) is described from a female specimen collected from the Western Ghats of India. It was collected by fogging the canopy of Vateria indica L. (Dipterocarpaceae). A key to the females of the Afrotropical, Australian and Oriental species is also given.

While conducting a survey in the Western Ghats, we recently came across several populations of a mycohetertrophic orchid species, Aphyllorchis montana Rchb.f. during our ongoing ecological research in Soppinabetta forests (SBF) of Chikmagalur District in the central Western Ghats. The paper provides the details on the population structure and ecology of the species in SBFs of Sringeri. Fourteen different SBFs were surveyed to record the orchid shoots and clumps during the monsoon months from June-October in 2007 and 2008. Orchid clumps were located in five SBFs that were separated by a distance of 6 and 20 km from each other. Orchid clumps were located in the SBFs having either one of the three dipterocarp plant species, Hopea ponga (Dennst.) Mabb., Hopea parviflora Bedd. and Vateria indica L., as a dominant canopy tree. The local-scale leaf litter study showed that the leaf litter composition in the near vicinity of orchid clumps was clearly dominated by either of the above-mentioned species. This indicates that the associated host mycorrhizal fungi may be specific to the dipterocarpacean tree species. The possible reasons for the data deficient status of the species are discussed.

The investigation of phenolic constituents in Vateria indica afforded five resveratrol tetramers, vateriaphenols B and C, isohopeaphenol, hopeaphenol, and shoreaketone. Their structures and configurations were established by spectroscopic methods. The structure assigned to vateriaphenol C was found to be identical with the structure reported in the literature for the resveratrol tetramer isohopeaphenol. The structure of isohopeaphenol was revised and confirmed by spectroscopic evidences.

Phytosociological analysis reveal that Palaquium ellipticum and Knema attenuate are the common dominant species present with their co- dominants such as, Memecylon decanese, Macranga peltata, Vateria indica etc. More than fifty percent of the established seedlings are contributed by the dominant and co- dominant species. Thus there is a gradual shift of natural evergreen species composition to the more light demanding moist deciduous elements. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/apjeesd.v1i1.9508Asia Pacific Journal of Environment Ecology and Sustainable Development 2013; 1: 29-31

The spatial distribution of basidiocarps of the ectomycorrhizal Basidiomycete Russula subsect. Foetentinae was assessed in a primary forest in the Western Ghâts (India) dominated by the ectomycorrhizal tree species Vateria indica and Dipterocarpus indicus. Over a 7,700-m(2) sampling area, both trees and basidiocarps of Russula subsect. Foetentinae were mapped during the first month of the 2002 rainy season. First-order spatial analysis revealed that the distribution of the 45 collected carpophores was highly aggregated, with 60% of all basidiocarps located at a distance lower than 1 m from the nearest one. The genetic structure of the Russula subsect. Foetentinae population was studied by inter-simple sequence repeat polymorphism analysis using three primers. Eighteen of the 45 genotypes were represented by single basidiocarps. Twenty-seven basidiocarps were identified as belonging to 11 genets or separated ramets. Five genets were small, with diameters ranging from 0.5 to 5 m. The six others were large, with a diameter ranging from 31 m to a maximum measured distance of 70 m. In spite of the lack of data concerning the reproductive biology of this species, the presence of large genets suggests that mature stands may shelter well-spread underground mycelium, crucial for durable interaction with plant partner.

Pisolithus is cosmopolitan in both tropical and temperate regions and forms ectomycorrhizal as- sociations with a wide range of woody plants. Pisoli- thus indicus, a new species associated with Vateria indica (Dipterocarpaceae) is reported in this study from a dipterocarp native forest in the Western Ghats in India, using both morphological and molecular tools. The length of ITS1 and ITS2 regions of the present collection differed with other sequences of Pisolithus available in the databases. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that this species did not show sig- nificant homology with existing Pisolithus sequences reported previously and formed a separate branch linking with another Pisolithus isolate from diptero- carps. Molecular and morphological evidence showed that P. indicus is a new species associated with dipterocarps in India.

Galangal (Kaempferia galanga L.) is a promising medicinal and aromatic oil-yielding herb grown in the subcanopy of multistrata production systems in the tropics. The effects of differing light transmission levels on its growth, yield, quality and nutrient dynamics under a solitary canopy, six multistrata canopies and ‘no-over-canopy’ were evaluated in a randomized-block experiment. Coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) provided the solitary canopy while coconut+dicot trees (Vateria indica, Ailanthus triphysa or Grevillea robusta grown in two planting geometries-single row and double row) represented the multistrata environment. Stand leaf area index (LAI) and subcanopy photosynthetic photon flux density were measured when the palms were 17 to 18 years of age and other trees, 3 to 4 years old. Understorey photosynthetic photon flux density was controlled by tree species and stand LAI. Ailanthus-based treatments consistently registered lower photon flux densities. Mean daily subcanopy photon flux density ...

We investigated the links between slope variation and heterogeneity in tree growth and stand structure. The study was conducted in an undisturbed wet evergreen forest in India. We selected three plots situated on gentle slopes and three plots situated on steep slopes. Tree growth was considered as mean annual diameter increment. Stand structure was considered in relation to several characteristics: trunk diameter distributions, tree heights, and spatial distributions of stems and crowns. Except for the spatial structure, analyses were performed on samples including either all the species or only the dominant species (Vateria indica L.). Diameter growth varied according to slope intensity and to tree size: growth of large trees was clearly higher on steep slopes whereas growth of small trees proved lower or similar. Diameter distributions were different among the six plots, but the difference cannot be related to slope intensity. On the contrary, tree heights differed according to slope intensity: for a given diameter, trees were taller on gentle slopes than on steep slopes. Finally, stem spatial distributions showed strong regularity on gentle slopes whereas they were random on steep slopes. The observed changes between gentle and steep slopes suggest differences at tree level through a modification of its shape, but also differences in the major processes responsible for stand dynamics: competition, establishment and survival.

Dipterocarpaceous plants contain various resveratrol oligomers that exhibit a variety of biological activities, such as antibacterial and antitumor effects. Previously, we found that vaticanol C, a resveratrol tetramer, exhibits strong cytotoxicity against various tumor cell lines. In the present study, we examined the antitumor activity of the ethanol extract from the stem bark of Vateria indica, which has been traditionally used for health and healing diseases as Ayurveda in India. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that the extract contains bergenin, hopeaphenol, vaticanol B, vaticanol C, and epsilon-viniferin. The in vitro assay displayed the extract's anti-cancer activity against mouse sarcoma 180 cells (IC50=29.5 microM). In the animal study, the tumor growth of sarcoma S-180 cells subcutaneously allografted in DDY mice was significantly retarded by oral administration of the extract (30 or 100 mg/kg body weight: P < 0.001). The extract did not show significant toxicity to mice even at a dosage of 1000 mg/kg body weight by daily oral administration for 28 days. These results demonstrated that the ethanol extract containing various stilbenoids from the stem bark of V. indica has the potent antitumor activity.

Two new stilbenoids, vateriaphenols A ( 1 ) and B ( 2 ), were isolated from the stem bark of Vateria indica along with known 10 stilbenoids ( 3–12 ) and bergenin ( 13 ). The structures of isolates were established based on spectroscopic analysis. The structures of vateriaphenols A and B were characterized as an octamer and a tetramer of resveratrol, respectively. The spectral properties of the highly condensed vateriaphenol A were also discussed.

Vateria indica Linn. is a tree belonging to Family Dipterocarpaceae and has been traditionally used for lipid disorders. The present study was performed to study the antiobesity effect of Vateria indica Linn. stem bark against high fat diet induced obesity models in albino wistar rats. Rats were fed with high fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks. Aqueous extract of Vateria indica stem bark (AVIB) was administered orally in three doses i.e. 100, 200 and 400mg/kg body weight to the treatment groups. The following parameters were recorded – body weight, organ weights and various biochemical parameters like total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL and VLDL. There was significant (p

Conservation Genetics Resources, 5 (2), ISSN:1877-7252, ISSN:1877-7260

This study reports 11 species of macrofungi in the botanical garden and arboretum of Mangalore University. Frequent species include Clathrus delicatus, Entoloma serrulatum and Tetrapyrgos nigripes in the botanical garden, and Collybia aurea and T. nigripes in the arboretum. Five species are edible ( Collybia aurea, Lepista sp., Russula adusta, R. atropurpurea and Termitomyces microcarpus ), one is medicinal ( T. microcarpus ) and two are ectomycorrhizal ( Russula adusta and R. atropurpurea ) with critically endangered endemic tree species Vateria indica (Dipterocarpaceae). Some macrofungi grow on bark, woody litter and leaf litter, while others were found on typical lateritic soils with organic matter. Termitomyces microcarpus was common in the faecal pellets of termites in the botanical garden. Brief descriptions of species based on field and laboratory observations, along with their substrates and distribution, are given.

Indopamphantini trib. nov., a new tribe of subfamily Pamphantinae of family Geocoridae, is erected for Indopamphantus gen. nov., containing one species, I. makutaensis sp. nov., as the first member of this subfamily from the Oriental Region. The strikingly myrmecomorphic I. makutaensis, collected only from Makuta range area within Coorg [Kodagu] district at altitudes of up to 909 metres in the canopy of Vateria indica L. (Dipterocarpaceae), a tree indigenous to the Western Ghats in south India, is described and illustrated. The affinities of the new tribe with other tribes within the Pamphantinae as well with other related subfamilies of Geocoridae and families of Lygaeoidea are discussed. The Geocoridae and Pamphantinae are redefined to accommodate this new tribe.

Root distribution pattern and competitiveness of bamboo ( Bambusa arundinacea (Retz.) Willd.) for below ground resources in mixed species systems were evaluated using logarithmic spiral trenching and 32 P soil injection techniques respectively. Excavation studies indicated that rooting intensity in different soil horizons declined either exponentially or quadratically with increasing lateral distance from the bamboo clump. Surface horizon (0- 10 cm) of the soil proe le showed the least bamboo rooting intensity. It was highest in the 10- 20 cm soil layer with nearly 27% of the total roots. Clump size is another important determinant of bamboo rooting intensity. Smaller bamboo crowns/clumps showed the lowest rooting intensity, when measured at 5 m and 7.5 m lateral distances and increased linearly with increasing crown radius. Implicit in this is the potential for management practices to regulate competition in mixed species systems through controlling clump size/crown expansion. Our results also showed that 32 P uptake by bamboo in binary combinations involving teak (Tectona grandis ) and vateria ( Vateria indica ) was proportional to bamboo rooting intensity, when the 32 P label was applied to the dicot trees. Root competitiveness in polycultural systems involving bamboo, therefore, is a function of the proximity of bamboo to the associated tree/crop, which in turn, decides the bamboo rooting intensity.

A novel resveratrol octamer, vateriaphenol A, was isolated from stem bark of Vateria indica (Dipterocarpaceae). The structure and the relative configuration were confirmed on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR spectral data. Vateriaphenol A showed cytotoxicity against KB cells.

In a field study on bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea (Retz.) Willd.) hedgerow systems of Kerala, we tested the following three hypotheses: (1) Effective root foraging space is a function of crown spread, (2) Proximity of trees depress lateral spread of roots in mixed species systems and (3) The closer the trees are located the greater will be the subsoil root activity which in turn facilitates active absorption of nutrients from deeper layers of the soil profile. Root distribution of boundary planted bamboo and root competition with associated trees in two binary mixtures, teak (Tectona grandis)-bamboo and Malabar white pine (Vateria indica)-bamboo, were evaluated using modified logarithmic spiral trenching and 32P soil injection techniques respectively. Excavation studies indicate that rooting intensity declined linearly with increasing lateral distance. Larger clumps manifested wider foraging zones. Eighty three per cent of the large clumps (>4.0 m dia.) extended roots beyond 8 m while only 33% of the small (

The Dipterocarpaceae are a globally significant family of tropical timber trees. They are especially dominant in lowland rainforests of Southeast Asia, but have a pan tropical distribution. Vateriopsis seychellarum is the sole representative of this family on the Seychelles. Historically one of the dominant canopy trees on Mahe, extensive overexploitation of this species for its timber has led to its virtual extinction. The last individuals of this species are found in small fragmented populations at lower altitudes (up to 400 m) on the island of Mahe where the total number of known reproductive adults is 112. We developed ten polymorphic microsatellite loci for this species to enable us to quantify the levels of diversity in remnant populations and to study genetic structure and contemporary gene flow. In addition we tested for cross amplification of these alleles in the closely related but geographically disjunct species Vateria indica. In Vateriopsis seychellarum the number of alleles per locus ranged from 6 to 20 (mean of 11.4 per locus) with an average polymorphic information content of 0.73 across loci. Expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.40 to 0.71 with 3 of the 10 loci showing deviation from Hardy–Weinberg expectations. 8 of the 10 primers showed cross amplification in Vateria indica. These markers will help to provide a better understanding of the significance of historic distributions, gene flow and recent anthropogenic habitat degradation for the survival of widespread species in recently fragmented landscapes.

The magnitude of root competition 17 year-old coconut palms suffer from three year-old inter-planted multipurpose trees, Vateria indica L., Ailanthus triphysa (Dennst.) Alston. or Grevillea robusta A. Cunn. and kacholam (Kaempferia galanga L.), a herbaceous medicinal plant, was evaluated based on the extent of absorption of applied 32P by the palms in sole and mixed crop situations. The multipurpose tree (MPT) species were grown under two planting geometries (single row and double row). The hypothesis that, when grown together, widespread root proliferation of coconut and multipurpose trees occurs in the well-fertilised kacholam beds was tested by root excavation. Interplanted MPTs substantially altered absorption of 32P by coconut. Both Ailanthus and Vateria exerted a modest depressing effect, while Grevillea enhanced 32P uptake by coconut. Single rows of MPTs also favoured 32P recovery by coconut, presumably because of the increased root densities in the subsoil. Ailanthus, Vateria and Grevillea absorbed substantial 32P. Overall, high 32P absorption in the coconut-Grevillea plots indicates complementary root-level interactions between these species. 32P absorption by MPTs was generally higher closer to the trees owing to the greater root concentration of the MPTs, which in turn suggests possible root interference between MPTs and coconut. Hence selection of tree species with low root competitiveness and/or trees with complementary root interaction is of strategic importance in agroforestry. Kacholam showed substantial 32P content in its foliage. This 32P appears to have been translocated by coconut into the kacholam beds where new coconut roots were abundant.

A permanent plot of 28 ha was established in a dense wet evergreen forest in the Western Ghats of India to study the functioning of the ecosystem. Since April 1990, 1981 trees of ≥30 cm gbh have been enumerated in a systematic sampling of five strips totalling 3.12 ha. This paper describes the main structural and floristic characteristics of the plot.The density (635 trees ≥30 cm gbh per hectare) and basal area (39.7 m2 ha−1) are high. Despite the high diversity (Simpson's D = 0.92 and Shannon's H' = 4.56), four species are distinctly, dominant in terms of an importance value index (relative density + relative basal area). Each of these four species occupies a different layer in the ecosystem: Humboldtia brunonis Wall. (Fabaceae) dominates the undergrowth, Myristica dactyloïdes Gaertn. (Myristicaceae) the intermediate strata, Valeria indica L. (Dipterocarpaceae) the higher canopy level and Dipterocarpus indicus Bedd. (Dipterocarpaceae) the emergents. This pronounced species hierarchy is one of the most important characteristics of the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats. The two dipterocarps account for 20.1% of the total number of trees and contribute 40.9% to the total basal area. This formation can, therefore, be considered as the westernmost lowland dipterocarp forest of Asia.Analysis of the spatial variations in the floristic composition and in the structure of the main species populations shows that two kinds of mature phases can be identified: where the topography is raised and gently sloping, the vertical structure of the stand is discontinuous, with Dipterocarpus indicus and Vateria indica forming an emergent layer above a dense undergrowth; on slopes, the stand is lower, vertically continuous and saturated with Valeria indica and Myristica dactyloïdes. The link between the structure of the stand and dynamic processes is discussed.

A novel resveratrol octamer, vateriaphenol A, was isolated from stem bark of Vateria indica (Dipterocarpaceae). The structure and the relative configuration were confirmed on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR spectral data. Vateriaphenol A showed cytotoxicity against KB cells.

A few solid and semi-solid fats of tree origin in India, namely sal (Shorea robusta), kokum(Garcinia indica), mahua (Madhuca latifolia), dhupa (Vateria indica) and mango (Mangifera indica), were chosen for modification into cocoa butter substitutes by lipase-catalyzed ester interchange with methyl palmitate and/or stearate. Hexane solutions of mixtures of fat and methyl ester(s) in various molar proportions were passed through a column of Lipozyme™, a lipase fromMucor miehei immobilized on a macroparticulate ion-exchange resin. The interesterified fats were purified by extraction with 95% ethanol followed by silica column chromatography. Interesterified dhupa, kokum and sal fats compared well with cocoa butter in the total fatty acid composition and the 2-position of triacylglycerols, as well as glyceride composition. In particular, interesterified kokum fat resembled cocoa butter well in solid fat content and peak melting temperature as determined by differential scanning calorimetry.