Plant Biology

Nayak S, Dhua U, Chhotaray A, Samanta S, Sengupta C. 2018. Short Communication: Genetic diversity of fumonisin producing Fusarium isolates from rice using PCR-RFLP of IGS-rDNA region. Biodiversitas 19: 621-626. Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc.) and related species produce carcinogenic mycotoxin known as Fumonisins in several agricultural crops including rice. However, this principal food crop has been infected by genetically diverse Fusarium species. Odisha belongs to the coastal part of India and many popular rice varieties are in the food chain in this region. Many Fusarium species producing fumonisins have been found to be associated with these rice varieties. Hence, the genetic diversity of twenty eight Fumonisin producers and non producers of Fusarium pathogens in this region was carried out in the current study. The IGS regions of 28 Fusarium isolates (both fumonisin producing and non producing) were amplified and the PCR products were restriction digested with ECoRI and HhaI. ...

Treating inflammatory conditions such as vaginosis, vaginitis, and vulvovaginitis in pregnancy is a special problem due to limitations of available drugs. However, possible treatment options can be found also in naturally originated products, such as essential oils (EOs) of different plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro antimicrobial and toxic activities of the commercial EO of Rosmarinus officinalis L. ( Lamiaceae) against five Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains and two Candida strains obtained from pregnant women with vaginal infection. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of the tested EO revealed oxygenated monoterpenes to be the major ingredients, while microdilution assay showed the highest activity on Staphylococcus aureus II strain at 6.2 mg/mL. After 24 hours, toxicity was determined at 19.4 mg/mL on Artemia salina nauplii. The obtained results show this EO to be a promising alternative therapy for vaginal infections, although further toxici...

African purslane ( Zaleya pentandra ), native to Africa, is a new plant species. Owing to its extensive use in the traditional cure of many diseases, it paved way for managing an originally weed species and shifting its status from a weed to a blessing in arid regions. In this review, Z. pentandra is explored as a weed along with its medicinal and folkloric uses. As a fodder plant, it can boost up an economic profile of less productive and drought-prone arid ecosystems by rearing livestock and protecting natural flora and controlling erosion losses. Shifting the status from weed to a cover crop, Z . pentandra can supplement soil with huge quantities of mineral nutrients. As a vital issue, desert encroachment with its control measures is a prerequisite in drylands. Z. pentandra includes in natural flora of arid lands, hence its characterization as a blessing or/and threat is a strong topic for researchers struggling towards better utilization of natural products for curing diseases a...

Stevia (Rebaudiana bertoni) leave, is an ancient perennial shrub mostly found in South America in countries like Paraguay and Brazil. It contains a low-calorie sweetener, which is about 300 times sweeter than sucrose. Diabetes mellitus is among the common metabolic disorders affecting about 2.8% of the world’s population and is reported to reach 5.4% by the year 2025. In this work, insulin was successfully extracted from Rebaudiana bertoni to serve as an alternative to bovine insulin extracted from animals which is devoid of the risk of transferring infectious diseases from the animals to the diabetic patient as is the case with convectional animal-based insulin. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) and Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) analysis were used to analyze and determine the functional groups available in the isolated compound and the results shows that it has retention time of 14.11 min; abundance/peak area (% PA) of 86.613 %; mass number (m/z) of 413 g/mol; molecu...

Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has halted activities throughout the globe because of its rapid spread. COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) a β-coronavirus first detected in China. SARS-CoV-2 has been implicated to be transmitted via direct contact, fomite, respiratory droplets, and possibly aerosol. The spread of the disease is complicated due to the slow onset of symptoms and asymptomatic infected patients. Methods: This narrative communication summarizes the recent researches sourced using sensitive search strategies to identify COVID-19 current perspectives on the control, prevention, and therapeutic promise. Result: Several strategies and multiple control measures have been implemented around the globe to contain COVID-19. Considering the exponential spread of the pandemic, several scientists and physicians have been racing to discover possible therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19. There are clinical...

Diabetes is a chronic disease cause the metabolic disorder and associated with serious complications. Various studies have shown that diabetes mellitus is associated with increased the formation of free radicals and decreased antioxidant potential. Oxidative stress is increased in diabetes because of multiple factors. Dominant among these factors is glucose autoxidation leading to the production of free radicals. Treatment with the antioxidants may play an important role in the improvement of diabetes. In this study, we aimed to determine the antioxidant and anti-hyperglycemic properties of Tithonia diversifolia aqueous leaves extract (TDA). The potential antioxidant was examined and the results showed that the total phenolic content and the total antioxidant capacity of TDA were 55.92 ± 4.45 GAE mg/g dry weight and 93.09 ± 37.91 μM TEAC/mg dry weight, respectively. The anti-hyperglycemic activity of TDA at dose 500 mg/kg BW were studied by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in norm...

Transgenic rice plants harboring resistant gene to yellow stem borer, cry1B gene had been obtained. However, the cry1B gene in second generation of transgenic rice lines still segregating following Mendelian ratio 3:1. For further use in the breeding programs, it is important to ensure that the gene is dominant gene and the plants are homozygous for  cry1B gene. Selection  of homozygous transgenic rice lines containing  cry1B  gene at third, fourth and fifth generation had been conducted by PCR.  The presence of  cry1B  gene was determined by showing the PCR product of 1.9 kb. Segregation analysis proved that six transgenic rice  lines i.e. 3R7.8.15.1, 3R7.8.15.9, 3R7.8.15.10, 3R7.8.15.15, 3R7.8.15.21, 3R7.8.15.29 are homozygous lines for  cry1B  gene.   Moreover, bioassay studies at vegetative stage on six homozygous transgenic rice lines showed that  these transgenic rice lines are potential resistant to yellow stem borer comparing with non-transgenic plants, with the score of 0 (...

Mexico is a center of domestication and diversification of tomatoes, with various landrace cultivated populations and wild varieties, but they are poorly documented in terms of their physical, chemical and nutritional characteristics. In order to evaluate the lycopene content, ascorbic acid and other physicochemical characteristics of a sampling of tomato fruits originating from different regions of Mexico, as well as evaluate the effect of storage on lycopene loss, a collection of thirteen accessions was made and later it was sown in greenhouse conditions under a randomized complete block design with four replications. The analysis of variance show significant differences (P < 0.05) among accessions for titratable acidity, pH, lycopene on wet and dry basis, in the CIE chromaticity coordinates L *, a * b *, and in the maturity index. Accessions GTO-11, OAX-115, PH-102 and PH-96 stood out for their lycopene content on a wet and dry basis with values above 20 and 300 mg 100 g-1, re...