Salvia dominica (Dominica sage, in Arabic ( Maru = مرو or "Khowwekha" = خويخة ), in (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: מרווה, marva) is a strong-scented perennial shrub found throughout the eastern Mediterranean, especially

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

and Syria. The branched inflorescence is one of several salvias thought to have inspired the design of the

menorah Menorah may refer to: * Jewish candelabra: ** Temple menorah, a seven-lamp candelabrum used in the ancient Tabernacle in the desert, the Temple in Jerusalem, and synagogues ** Hanukkah menorah or ''hanukkiyah'', a nine-lamp candelabrum used on the ...

. It grows to about 1 meter in height and width, and blooms in spring or early summer with pale yellow and white flowers in delicate whorls.

Biological properties

A group of Italian and Jordanian researchers isolated twenty-four new sesterterpenes, some of them with interesting biological activity due to their interaction with tubulin-tyrosine ligase (TTL), an enzyme involved in the tyrosination cycle of the

C-terminus The C-terminus (also known as the carboxyl-terminus, carboxy-terminus, C-terminal tail, C-terminal end, or COOH-terminus) is the end of an amino acid chain (protein or polypeptide), terminated by a free carboxyl group (-COOH). When the protein i ...

of tubulin, and inhibit TTL activity in

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

cells.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q796690 dominica Flora of Lebanon and Syria Flora of Palestine (region) Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus