Editorial

When Planta Medica increased in 2007 the number of issues to 15 per year, the Board of Editors decided to implement the publication of Special Issues dedicated to specific topics or events. The first Special Issue here contains selected contributions from Plenary and Keynote Lectures, and from the Special Workshops given at the 55^th Annual Congress of the Society for Medicinal Plant Research (GA).[] [*]

The contributions based on plenary and keynote lectures cover a broad range of topical subjects in the field of natural product research and phytomedicines. They analyze the potential of plant derived natural products in bacterial resistance (S. Gibbons), address the issue of medicinal plant authentication by molecular markers (N. Sucher), and give an overview on the uses of zebrafish as a model for drug discovery (A. Crawford).

Three of the seven workshops held during the congress were dedicated to specific plants and phytomedicines. The contributions published in the Special Issue provide an overview and update on the phytochemistry, pharmacology, and on clinical data of Echinacea, Umckaloabo® (Pelargonium sidoides), and on nasal immunity and its modulation by herbal extracts.