Bioassay-directed separation of the methylene chloride extracts from the wood of Liriodendron chinense led to the isolation of six sesquiterpenes, tulipinolide (1), alpha-liriodenolide (2), beta-liriodenolide (3), lipiferolide (4), 11,13-dehydrolanuginolide (5), and tulipinolide diepoxide (6).
We examined the ability of yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) tissue cultures and plantlets to express modified mercuric reductase (merA) gene constructs. Mercury-resistant bacteria express merA to convert highly toxic, ionic mercury, Hg(II), to much less toxic, elemental mercury, Hg(O).