Engineering sciences - Agronomy/Food Science

Under certain circumstances, a rare tropical plant develops into a carnivore. A research team from the universities of Hannover and Würzburg has now deciphered the mechanism responsible for this. Triphyophyllum peltatum is a unique plant. Native to the tropics of West Africa, the liana species is of great interest for medical and pharmaceutical research due to its constituents: In the laboratory, these show promising medically useful activities against pancreatic cancer and leukemia cells, among others, as well as against the pathogens that cause malaria and other diseases.