To discover bioactive compounds from the plants in Lingnan region of Southern Asia

Lingnan is a geographic region referring to “Five Ranges”, which covers five Southern provinces of China and northern part of Vietnam. It is located in a tropical and sub-tropical climate zone with rich rainforests and diversified plant resources. For a decade, our research programs have investigated the chemical and biological properties of several thousands of the terrestrial plant samples in Lingnan region. We have evaluated the plant samples against cancer, parasites, fungi, bacteria and viruses (Figure 1). Bioassay-guided fractionation of the selected plant extracts led to the isolation of more than 300 compounds of varying degrees of structural complexity, novelty and/or biological activity (anticancer, antiviral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and antimalarial activities). [The work described in this paper was collaborative efforts within multi-disciplinary cooperative programs supported by grants from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. HKBU 262912 and HKBU12103014), HKBU Interdisciplinary Research Matching Scheme (RC-IRMS/12 – 13/03), Faculty Research Grants, Hong Kong Baptist University (FRG2/14 – 15/047 and FRG1/13 – 14/029), and NIH Grants 3U01TW001015 – 10S1 and 2U01TW001015 – 11A1 (administered by the Fogarty International Center as part of an International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups program, through funds from NIH, NSF, and Foreign Agricultural Service of the USDA)].

Fig. 1: Strategy for discovery of bioactive lead compounds from plant source