Salvia dominica

Salvia dominica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Salvia
Species:	S. dominica
Binomial name
Salvia dominica L.
Synonyms
Salvia graveolens Vahl

Salvia dominica (Dominica sage, in Arabic ( Maru = مرو or "Khowwekha" = خويخة ), in (Hebrew: מרווה, marva) is a strong-scented perennial shrub found throughout the eastern Mediterranean, especially Jordan^[1] Israel,^[2]Lebanon and Syria. The branched inflorescence is one of several salvias thought to have inspired the design of the menorah. It grows to about 1 meter in height and width, and blooms in spring or early summer with pale yellow and white flowers in delicate whorls.^[3]

Biological properties

A group of Italian and Jordanian researchers isolated twenty-four new sesterterpenes, some of them with interesting biological activity due to their interaction with tubulin-tyrosine ligase (TTL), an enzyme involved in the tyrosination cycle of the C-terminal of tubulin, and inhibit TTL activity in cancer cells.^[4]

References

1. ^ Field Guide of Wild Flower of Jordan and Neighbouring Countries by Dawud Al-Eisawi
2. ^ Flowers in Israel
3. ^ Clebsch, Betsy; Carol D. Barner (2003). The New Book of Salvias. Timber Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780881925609. http://books.google.com/books?id=NM0iwB8GrQYC&pg=PA112. 
4. ^ Dal Piaz F, Vassallo A, Lepore L, Tosco A, Bader A, De Tommasi N (June 2009). "Sesterterpenes as tubulin tyrosine ligase inhibitors. First insight of structure-activity relationships and discovery of new lead". J. Med. Chem. 52 (12): 3814–28. doi:10.1021/jm801637f. PMID 19459643.