In vitro antioxidant activity and phenolic contents in methanol extracts from medicinal plants

Antioxidant activities and phenolic contents of 26 species extracts from 20 botanical families grown in north-western Himalaya were investigated. Antioxidant activities were determined using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Total phenolic content (TPC) was determined using a Folin-Ciocalteu assay. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of phenolic compounds was also carried out by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using diode array detector (DAD). Major phenolics determined using RP-HPLC in analyzed species were gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, p-hydroxy benzoic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid, p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid. Antiradical efficiency (1/EC₅₀) determined using DPPH radical scavenging assay ranged from 0.13 to 5.46. FRAP values ranged from 8.66 to 380.9 μmol Fe(II)/g dw. Similarly, the total phenolic content in the analyzed species varied from 3.01 to 69.96 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight. Gallic acid was found in the majority of the samples, being most abundant compound in Syzygium cumini bark (92.64 mg/100 g dw). Vanillic acid was the predominant phenolic compound in Picrorhiza kurroa root stolen (161.2 mg/100 g dry weight). The medicinal plants with highest antioxidant activities were Taxus baccata and Syzygium cumini. A significant positive correlation, R ²?=?0.9461 and R ²?=?0.9112 was observed between TPC determined using Folin-Ciocalteu method and antiradical efficiency and FRAP values respectively, indicating that phenolic compounds are the major contributor of antioxidant activity of these medicinal plants.     

Genetic Relationships Among Wild and Cultivated Accessions of Curry Leaf Plant (Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng.), as Revealed by DNA Fingerprinting Methods

Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. (Rutaceae), is an aromatic plant and much valued for its flavor, nutritive and medicinal properties. In this study, three DNA fingerprinting methods viz., random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD), directed amplification of minisatellite DNA (DAMD), and inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR), were used to unravel the genetic variability and relationships across 92 wild and cultivated M. koenigii accessions. A total of 310, 102, and 184, DNA fragments were amplified using 20 RAPD, 5 DAMD, and 13 ISSR primers, revealing 95.80, 96.07, and 96.73% polymorphism, respectively, across all accessions. The average polymorphic information content value obtained with RAPD, DAMD, and ISSR markers was 0.244, 0.250, and 0.281, respectively. The UPGMA tree, based on Jaccard’s similarity coefficient generated from the cumulative (RAPD, DAMD, and ISSR) band data showed two distinct clusters, clearly separating wild and cultivated accessions in the dendrogram. Percentage polymorphism, gene diversity (H), and Shannon information index (I) estimates were higher in cultivated accessions compared to wild accessions. The overall high level of polymorphism and varied range of genetic distances revealed a wide genetic base in M. koenigii accessions. The study suggests that RAPD, DAMD, and ISSR markers are highly useful to unravel the genetic variability in wild and cultivated accessions of M. koenigii.     

Melatonin: A promising agent targeting leukemia

Leukemia or cancer of blood is a well-known cancer, which affects a range of people from newborns to the very old. It is a public health problem throughout the world. By way of treatment, due to the lack of specific anticancer therapies, common treatments of leukemia lead to severe side effects. Nonspecific anticancer drugs result in inhibition of normal cell growth and thereby their necrosis. Moreover, drug resistance is an additional problem, which stands in the way of leukemia treatment. Thus, finding new treatments for leukemia is essential. Melatonin, as a natural product, has been shown to be effective in a wide variety of diseases such as coronary heart disease, schizophrenia, chronic pain, and Alzheimer's disease. In addition, melatonin levels have been observed to be altered in different cancers, such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer endometrial cancer, and hematopoetical cancers. Anticancer features of melatonin such as pro-oxidation, apoptosis induction, antiangiogenesis property and metastasis and invasion inhibition suggest that this natural compound can be used as a potential agent in novel therapeutic strategies for cancers. Also, it has been reported that melatonin has positive and protective effects on different physiological reactions and in normal bone marrow cells suggesting effectiveness in leukemia therapy. Thus, the aim of our paper was to depict and summarize the main molecular targets of melatonin on leukemia models.     

Validation of CSN1S1 transcriptional expression,promoter methylation,and prognostic power in breast cancer using independent datasets

Breast cancer ranked second among most frequent cancer in the world playing a significant role in mortality rate. Having prior knowledge on differentially expressed genes in breast cell carcinoma elucidated important indications to understand the molecular mechanism underneath breast carcinogenesis. In this study we have investigated the distinguished CSN1S1 expression in human breast cancer. We have analyzed CSN1S1 mRNA expression between cancer and normal tissues using TCGA datasets. Moreover, analysis including promoter methylation, mutations, prognosis, co-expression, gene ontology, and pathways of CSN1S1 were performed by the TCGA Wanderer, UCSC Xena, cBioPortal, PrognoScan, UALCAN, and Enricher server. We have observed low mRNA expression and high promoter methylation of CSN1S1 in cancer tissues compared to normal tissues. Furthermore, we have also identified low mRNA expression in clinicopathological patients, as well as 9 deleterious mutations with highly co-expressed protein MRC1, and significantly related signaling pathways. We have found a positive correlation between the lower expression of CSN1S1 and patients surviving with breast cancer. Here we have concluded that CSN1S1 acts as a biomarker for the surveillance and prognosis of breast cancer, and also works as a novel therapeutic target at the molecular and pathway levels.     

New specimens of the early Eocene bird Vastanavis and the interrelationships of stem group Psittaciformes

We describe new skeletal elements of Vastanavis from the early Eocene Cambay Shale Formation of western India, including a small coracoid that represents an unnamed new species, and comment on the relationships between this avian taxon and the recently described Avolatavis from the early Eocene Green River Formation in North America. Like the previously described ones, the new Vastanavis bones resemble those of the late Eocene Quercypsittidae, thus strengthening psittaciform affinities of the Indian taxon. Vastanavis differs from Avolatavis in the presence of a crista medianoplantaris on the tarsometatarsus and in claw morphology, but a fossil from the early Eocene London Clay, which was previously assigned to Vastanavidae, closely resembles Avolatavis in these features and all other osteological aspects. We show that most branches in a recent phylogeny of stem group Psittaciformes collapse after modification of a single erroneous character scoring for Vastanavis. We further describe a morphologically distinctive distal humerus of a small bird resembling the stem group nyctibiid Paraprefica, which was discovered in the most recent excavation in Vastan Lignite Mine.     

RAPD analysis of local bell pepper genotypes in relation with powdery mildew incidence and fruit yield: Managing disease by single chemical molecule

Abstract

A field study was conducted to investigate powdery mildew disease incidence and fruit yield of locally available bell pepper genotypes by Kharif 2004 and Rabi 2005. The study includes a single chemical molecule in managing the powdery mildew disease during both the seasons. Field studies include five chemical treatments (T₁ to T₅) plus one water spray control and an untreated control in five replications each. The result shows that out all treatments T₅ was best in controlling the powdery mildew disease in genotype Indra by 77.1 and 73.7% of disease decrease over control and 85.3 and 95.7% increase in yield over control respectively during Kharif and Rabi. The next best performing genotypes were Arka Basant and California Wonder in terms of less disease incidence and high yield. Further, the study was extended to relate the selected varieties for its genetic diversity using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNAs, with respect to the disease incidence and yield. The highest genetic dissimilarity of 49% was noticed between the genotypes Indra and Arka Gaurav having contrasting characters such as high and low fruit yield, respectively. The lowest genetic diversity of 21% was noticed between the genotypes Arka Mohini and California Wonder that were similar in most of the morphological characters, fruit yield and susceptibility to the powdery mildew disease. Based on the molecular data, a remarkable difference was exhibited by the commercially grown bell pepper genotypes.     

Detection of Prunus necrotic ring spot virus in plum,cherry and almond by serological and molecular techniques from India

Stone fruits are cultivated in the temperate and sub-temperate regions of India. During surveys in stone fruit growing areas, viral symptoms were observed in almond, cherry and plum. These samples were brought to the laboratory for further detection at serological and molecular levels to check the presence of virus. In the present study, incidence of PNRSV is reported on plum (Prunus domestica), almond (Prunus dulcis) and cherry (Prunus avium) using serological and molecular techniques. Coat protein gene of PNRSV was amplified from almond, cherry and plum. This is the first molecular evidence of PNRSV on these stone fruits reported from India.     

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Biotechnology

ABSTRACT

Polyunsaturated fatty acids like EPA and DHA have attracted a great attention due to their beneficial effects on human health. At present, fish oil is the major source of EPA and DHA. Various alternative sources are being explored to get these essential fatty acids. Genes encoding enzymes involved in the biosyntheses of PUFAs have been identified, cloned and gene prospecting becomes a novel method for enhanced PUFA production. Desaturase and elongase genes have important biotechnological appeal from genetic engineering point of view. This review highlights the research and results on such enzymes.