Metabolic clustering of a core collection of Indian ginseng Withania somnifera Dunal through DNA, isoenzyme, polypeptide and withanolide profile diversity

Withania somnifera is one of the most important medicinal plants of Ayurveda and finds extensive uses in Indian traditional herbal preparations. In this investigation, selected accessions of the plant were examined for diversity through RAPDs, isoenzymes, polypeptide polymorphism and withanolide profiles. The accessions clustered together with respect to their characteristic profile of major withanolides and represented withaferin A, withanone, withanolide D or withanolide A rich groups. This level of phytochemical diversity as discrete chemotypes is widest and is being first ever documented to occur in Indian population of the plant.     

海洋细菌生物膜用于生物修复陆地生态系统中土壤多环芳烃污染

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) in soil retain for a quite long period due to their hydrophobicity and aggregation properties. Biofilm-forming marine bacterial consortium(named as NCPR), composed of Stenotrophomonas acidaminiphila NCW702,Alcaligenes faecalis NCW402, Pseudomonas mendocina NR802, Pseudomonas aeruginosa N6P6, and Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes NP103, was used for the bioremediation of PAHs in a soil microcosm. Phenanthrene and pyrene were used as reference PAHs. Parameters that can affect PAH degradation, such as chemotaxis, solubility of PAHs in extracellular polymeric substances(EPS), and catechol2,3-dioxygenase(C23O) activity, were evaluated. P. aeruginosa N6P6 and P. pseudoalcaligenes NP103 showed chemotactic movement towards both the reference PAHs. The solubility of both the PAHs was increased with an increase in EPS concentration(extracted from all the 5 selected isolates). Significantly(P 0.001) high phenanthrene(70.29%) and pyrene(55.54%) degradation was observed in the bioaugmented soil microcosm. The C23O enzyme activity was significantly(P 0.05) higher in the bioaugmented soil microcosm with phenanthrene added at 173.26 ± 2.06 nmol min~(-1) mg~(-1) protein than with pyrene added at 61.80 ± 2.20 nmol min~(-1) mg~(-1) protein. The C23O activity and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer analyses indicated catechol pathway of phenanthrene metabolism. However, the metabolites obtained from the soil microcosm added with pyrene revealed both the catechol and phthalate pathways for pyrene degradation.     

Characterizing the Economic Value and Impacts of Wild Pig Damage on a Rural Economy

Wild pigs are a free-ranging invasive species capable of inflicting significant damage on rural property. Wildlife management personnel may benefit from understanding the negative societal impact of wild pigs. A statewide mail survey of randomly selected landowners was conducted in rural Tennessee counties known to have wild pigs. The economic value of damage caused by wild pigs in 2015 in these counties was estimated at $26.22 million, whereas the cost incurred in control and eradication was $2.09 million. Input-output modeling of damage in these counties on the state’s economy showed $32.8 million in lost industrial output, $4.6 million in lost labor income, and 332 jobs or job equivalents affected. Findings are useful in understanding the types of damage, and the extent of these impacts on the rural economy. They could also facilitate comparing the expected benefit with the cost of control programs in Tennessee and comparable areas facing similar invasions from wild pigs.     

Assessment of phytochemical and genetic diversity analysis of Plumbago zeylanica L. accessions

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - Selection of elite accessions is important to get the maximum quantity of bioactive compounds in medicinal plants. In this study, thirteen accessions...     

Effect of Benzyladenine on Transpiration, Water Potential and its Components in Genotypes of Wheat Contrasting in Drought Tolerance

Drought tolerant and susceptible cultivars of wheat, C-306 and Kalyan sona, growing under non-stressed and water-stressed conditions, were sprayed with benzyladenine (BA) at 70 days after sowing (DAS). Observations recorded at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 days after spraying revealed that BA increased the rate of transpiration (TR) in C-306 under non-stressed conditions. However, under water stress, the increase was significant only after 5 days of BA spraying. In Kalyan sona BA treatment either decreased TR or did not exhibit significant increase under non-stressed conditions, but caused significant increase in TR under water stress. The increase in TR was elicited through enhanced stomatal opening. Water potential, osmotic potential and pressure potential of both genotypes decreased on account of water stress. The effect of BA was not perceptible on restoration of leaf water potential (LWP) or its components. The effect of BA was possibly confined to stomatal behaviour and transpiration.     

Status and consolidated list of threatened medicinal plants of India

A wide array of medicinal plants in India, primarily used by locals for health care, have found wide acceptance and adoption globally (either directly or processed) due to distinct advantages of good results, low or no side-effects and ease of access to general public. Indigenous and traditional systems of medicine in practice since historical times have shown potential (direct or indirect as immune-boosters) against many dreaded ailments including the recent global pandemic of COVID-19. With prediction of sixth mass extinction, there is worldwide concern as majority of these plants, collected from natural stands, are also facing threat of extinction. Since 1990s concerted efforts have been directed towards assessment of threat status, the basic requirement for prioritizing conservation activity to various species of plants and animals. In literature there is staggered information regarding list of threatened plants, including medicinal plants of India, compiled at either state level or national or international level. Analysis of these publications led to collation of a consolidated list of 84 species and the same is presented here. A brief account of conservation efforts in India at national level and supportive policy framework is also included. This compilation is aimed to serve as a comprehensive reference especially for beginners, researchers, conservationists, foresters, pharmaceutical professionals as well as policy makers.

     

Evaluation and utilization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aegilops</Emphasis> and wild <Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum</Emphasis> species for enhancing iron and zinc content in wheat

Grains of 80 accessions of nine species of wild Triticum and Aegilops along with 15 semi-dwarf cultivars of bread and durum wheat grown over 2 years at Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, were analyzed for grain iron and zinc content. The bread and durum cultivars had very low content and little variability for both of these micronutrients. The related non-progenitor wild species with S, U and M genomes showed up to 3–4 folds higher iron and zinc content in their grains as compared to bread and durum wheat. For confirmation, two Ae. kotschyi Boiss. accessions were analyzed after ashing and were found to have more than 30% higher grain ash content than the wheat cultivars containing more than 75% higher iron and 60% higher zinc than that of wheat. There were highly significant differences for iron and zinc contents among various cultivars and wild relatives over both the years with very high broad sense heritability. There was a significantly high positive correlation between flag leaf iron and grain iron (r = 0.82) and flag leaf zinc and grain zinc (r = 0.92) content of the selected donors suggesting that the leaf analysis could be used for early selection for high iron and zinc content. ‘Chinese Spring’ (Ph ^I ) was used for inducing homoeologous chromosome pairing between Aegilops and wheat genomes and transferring these useful traits from the wild species to the elite wheat cultivars. A majority of the interspecific hybrids had higher leaf iron and zinc content than their wheat parents and equivalent or higher content than their Aegilops parents suggesting that the parental Aegilops donors possess a more efficient system for uptake and translocation of the micronutrients which could ultimately be utilized for wheat grain biofortification. Partially fertile to sterile BC₁ derivatives with variable chromosomes of Aegilops species had also higher leaf iron and zinc content confirming the possibility of transfer of required variability. Some of the fertile BC₁F₃ and BC₂F₂ derivatives had as high grain ash and grain ash iron and zinc content as that of the donor Aegilops parent. Further work on backcrossing, selfing, selection of fertile derivatives, leaf and grain analyses for iron and zinc for developing biofortified bread and durum wheat cultivars is in progress. Nidhi Rawat, Vijay K. Tiwari, and Neelam Singh have contributed equally to the work.