Fontainea picrosperma, a subcanopy tree endemic to the rainforests of northeastern Australia, is of medicinal significance following the discovery of the novel anti-cancer natural product, EBC-46. Laboratory synthesis of EBC-46 is unlikely to be commercially feasible and consequently production of the molecule is via isolation from F. picrosperma grown in plantations.
Lamon et al.2016. Population genetic analysis of a medically significant Australian rainforest tree, Fontainea picrosperma C.T. White (Euphorbiaceae): biogeographic pattersn and implications for species domestication and plant establishment. BMC Plant Biology, 29 Feb 2016.
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