Malania Explained

Malania oleifera is a species of plant in the Olacaceae family, the only species in the genus Malania. It is a medium-sized tree, 10- tall, that is endemic to southern China where it can be found in Western Guangxi and South-Eastern Yunnan provinces.^[1] Known as "garlic-fruit tree" or ‘suantouguo’ (蒜头果) by local communities due to its garlic-shaped fruits, it is threatened by logging and habitat loss. Notable for its substantial phytochemical value, its seed has the highest-known proportion of nervonic acid (C₂₄H₄₆O₂, PubChem CID: 5281120).^[2] Nervonic acid is an important component in myelin biosynthesis in the central and peripheral nervous system, and has been proposed to enhance human brain function. To aid this research its 1.51 Gigabase genome has been sequenced by researchers in China.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Malania oleifera . Huaxing . Qiu . Michael G. . Gilbert . vanc . Flora of China . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA . 26 May 2012.
2. Tang TF, Liu XM, Ling M, Lai F, Zhang L, Zhou YH, Sun RR . Constituents of the essential oil and fatty acid from Malania oleifera. . Industrial Crops and Products . May 2013 . 43 . 1–5 . 10.1016/j.indcrop.2012.07.003 .
3. Xu CQ, Liu H, Zhou SS, Zhang DX, Zhao W, Wang S, Chen F, Sun YQ, Nie S, Jia KH, Jiao SQ, Zhang RG, Yun QZ, Guan W, Wang X, Gao Q, Bennetzen JL, Maghuly F, Porth I, de Peer YV, Wang XR, Ma Y, Mao JF . Genome sequence of Malania oleifera, a tree with great value for nervonic acid production . GigaScience . 8 . 2 . giy164 . February 2019 . 30689848 . 6377399 . 10.1093/gigascience/giy164 .