Editorial

In 2004, on the occasion of the retirement of Professor Nahrstedt and the installation of Professor Matthias Hamburger as the new Editor-in-Chief, the Board of Editors of Planta Medica stated: Scientific publishing has undergone profound changes over the past few years. To deal with the ever-increasing globalisation of the scientific community, which goes together with electronic ways of communication that are continuously becoming faster and more powerful, an electronic submission and review system was implemented, other new features were introduced, and the Board of Editors was enlarged. With the increase to 15 annual issues in 2006 and despite the installation of three additional Editors, it became obvious that a restructuring of the editorial board, a reorganisation of the workflow, and a redistribution of the editorial tasks among more editors were necessary. Professor Matthias Hamburger resigned as Editor-in-Chief and has decided to take up the newly created position of Review Editor who will be responsible for the redaction of thematic issues of Planta Medica, together with invited Guest Editors, and for the acquisition of review papers in the regular issues of the journal. The Board of Editors has invited me to take over the position of Editor-in-Chief, and I feel honoured to accept the responsibility for a highly estimated journal such as Planta Medica.

I am proud to say that most new candidates for the position of Editor that were suggested by the editorial board, have indeed accepted this task. This confirms my belief that Planta Medica still is one of the leading journals in the field of natural product and medicinal plant research, and I am confident that the journal will maintain and even strengthen its position in the future.

From January 1, 2007 onwards the Board of Editors will be composed as follows:

Editor-in-Chief:

Luc Pieters, Antwerp, Belgium

Senior Editor:

Adolf Nahrstedt, Münster, Germany

Review Editor:

Matthias Hamburger, Basel, Switzerland

Editors:

Wolfgang Barz, Münster, Germany

Rudolf Bauer, Graz, Austria

Veronika Butterweck, Gainesville FL, USA

João Batista Calixto, Florianopolis, Brazil

Thomas Efferth, Heidelberg, Germany

Jerzy Jaroszewski, Copenhagen, Denmark

Ikhlas Khan, Oxford MS, USA

Wolfgang Kreis, Erlangen, Germany

Irmgard Merfort, Freiburg, Germany

Kurt Schmidt, Graz, Austria

Thomas Simmet, Ulm, Germany

Hermann Stuppner, Innsbruck, Austria

Yang-Chang Wu, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Yang Ye, Shanghai, China

In addition some new members of the Advisory Board were invited. From January 1, 2007 the Advisory Board will be enforced by:

Ana Maria de Oliveira, São Paulo, Brazil

Alfonso Garcia-Pineres, Frederick MD, USA

Jürg Gertsch, Zürich, Switzerland

Simon Gibbons, London, UK

Roberto Maffei Facino, Milan, Italy

Thomas Schmidt, Münster, Germany

Deniz Tasdemir, London, UK

The composition of the Board of Editors and the Advisory Board is a reflection of the truly international nature of Planta Medica, publishing the best scientific work from researchers all over the world. The multidisciplinary nature of Planta Medica is quite unique. The journal publishes original research papers, letters, rapid communications and reviews in the fields of Pharmacological and Clinical Studies, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Physiology and in vitro Biotechnology, Natural Products Chemistry, and Analytical Methods. When looking at the ten most cited papers published in 2005, although the time window is rather short, it is striking that almost all categories are covered, highlighting the broad scope of Planta Medica. The most cited paper is a contribution by Bertea et al. on the early steps of artemisinin biosynthesis [1]. The list also contains two parts of a review on hyphenated NMR methods in natural products research by Jaroszewski [2], [3]. In addition, a pharmacological paper on the absence of relevant pharmacokinetic interactions of a low-hyperforin St. John's wort extract with alprazolam, caffeine, tolbutamide, and digoxin, is highly cited [4]. Two contributions on the list of most cited papers from 2005 are Letters, one on the in vitro protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitory phenols from the seeds of Psoralea coryfolia by Kim et al. [5], and the other on honokiol as an inducer of apoptosis by Park et al. [6]. The list is completed by a review on dietary phytoestrogens by Basly and Lavier [7], an analytical paper on miniaturization of the structure elucidation of natural products by Hu et al. [8], and two research papers in the field of natural product chemistry: ”New sesquiterpenes from Erigeron annus” by Li et al. [9], and ”Antioxidant and cytotoxic isoprenylated coumarins from Mammea americana” by Yang et al. [10]. The senior authors of these contributions have their affiliation in seven different countries from three continents, which illustrates the international nature of Planta Medica.

I am confident that with the support of the Board of Editors and the Advisory Board we will be able to maintain and even to strenghten the position of Planta Medica as an International Journal of Natural Products and Medicinal Plant Research.

References

• 1 Bertea C M, Freije J R, Van der Woude H, Verstappen F WA, Perk L, Marquez V, De Kraker J W, Posthumus M A, Jansen B JM, De Groot A e, Franssen M CR, Bouwmeester H J. Identification of intermediates and enzymes involved in the early steps of artemisinin biosynthesis in Artemisia annua.  Planta Med. 2005;  71 40-47
• 2 Jaroszewski J W. Hyphenated NMR methods in natural products research, Part 1: Direct hyphenation.  Planta Med. 2005;  71 691-700
• 3 Jaroszewski J W. Hyphenated NMR methods in natural products research, Part 2: HPLC-SPE-NMR and other new trends in NMR hyphenation.  Planta Med. 2005;  71 795-802
• 4 Arold G, Donath F, Maurer A, Diefenbach K, Bauer S, Henneicke-von Zepelin H H, Friede M, Roots I. No relevant interaction with alprazolam, caffeine, tolbutamide, and digoxin by treatment with a low-hyperforin St John’s wort extract.  Planta Med. 2005;  71 331-337
• 5 Kim Y C, Oh H, Kim B S, Kang T H, Ko E K, Han Y M, Kim B Y, Ahn J S. In vitro protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B inhibitory phenols from the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia .  Planta Med. 2005;  71 87-89
• 6 Park E J, Zhao Y Z, Kim Y H, Lee B H, Sohn D H. Honokiol induces apoptosis via cytochrome c release and caspase activation in activated rat hepatic stellate cells in vitro .  Planta Med. 2005;  71 82-84
• 7 Basly J P, Lavier M CC. Dietary phytoestrogens: Potential selective estrogen enzyme modulators?.  Planta Med. 2005;  71 287-294
• 8 Hu J F, Yoo H D, Williams C T, Garo E, Cremin P A, Zeng L, Vervoort H C, Lee C M, Hart S M, Goering M G, O’Neil-Johnson M, Eldridge G R. Miniaturization of the structure elucidation of novel natural products - Two trace antibacterial acylated caprylic alcohol glycosides from Arctostaphylos pumila .  Planta Med. 2005;  71 176-180
• 9 Li X, Yang M, Han Y F, Gao K. New Sesquiterpenes from Erigeron annus .  Planta Med. 2005;  71 268-272
• 10 Yang H, Protiva P, Gil R R, Jiang B, Baggett S, Basile M J, Reynertson K A, Weinstein I B, Kennelly E J. Antioxidant and cytotoxic isoprenylated coumarins from Mammea americana . Planta Med 2005 71: 852-860