Irshad A. Nawchoo

Fungal endophytes as prolific source of phytochemicals and other bioactive natural products: A review

Endophytic fungi are those that live internally in apparently healthy and asymptomatic hosts. Endophytic fungi appear to be ubiquitous; indeed, no study has yet shown the existence of a plant species without endophytes. High species diversity is another characteristic of endophytic mycobiota which is depicted by the fact that it is quite common for endophyte surveys to find assemblages consisting of more than 30 fungal species per host plant species. Medicinal plants had been used to isolate and characterize directly the bioactive metabolites. However, the discovery of fungal endophytes inside these plants with capacity to produce the same compounds shifted the focus of new drug sources from plants to fungi. Bioactive natural products from endophytic fungi, isolated from different plant species, are attracting considerable attention from natural product chemists and biologists alike which is clearly depicted by the steady increase of publications devoted to this topic during the recent years. This review will highlight the chemical potential of endophytic fungi with focus on the detection of pharmaceutically valuable plant constituents as products of fungal biosynthesis. In addition, it will cover newly discovered endophytic fungi and also new bioactive metabolites reported in recent years from fungal endophytes. It summarizes the up-to-date and comprehensive information on bioactive compounds from endophytic fungi by having done a thorough survey of literature.

Traditional Veterinary Medicine Among the Tribes of Kashmir Himalaya

ABSTRACT The Kashmir Himalayan Mountains are endowed with a diverse plant wealth. In this region, the Bakerwals and other migratory herders and shepherds utilize herbal therapies for treatment of their livestock. Information on these plants used for veterinary practices was obtained through interviews of herders, shepherds, and others that work with farm animals during the period of 1997 through 2001. A total of 25 plants within 19 families was identified for treatment of a variety of animal afflictions.

Cultivation and Conservation of Aconitum heterophyllum: A Critically Endangered Medicinal Herb of the Northwest Himalayas

ABSTRACT Aconitum heterophyllum, commonly known as Patris, has become an endangered species due to habitat destruction and extensive exploitation for the drug industry and local medicinal system. These factors, coupled with overgrazing, prolonged seed dormancy, high seedling mortality, and ecological restriction of endemic population to localized niches, mean the herb is in danger of extinction. The present study demonstrated that plants could be cultivated at lower altitudes than normal for wild populations, but growth was restricted. Chilling, but not other practices could improve seed germination.

Phytochemical Screening of the Root Tuber Extracts of Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of phytochemicals in the root tuber extracts of Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke. Phytochemical screening of the root tuber extracts was done to determine the phytochemical constituents in the various solvents studied using standard procedures. Our results confirm the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides, saponins, phenolic compounds, proteins, amino acids, anthraquinone glycosides, phytosterols, tannins, steroids, coumarins, quinones, carbohydrates, resins, triterpenoids and xanthoproteins. The phlobotannins and oxalates were absent in the root tubers. The presence of a large number of phytochemicals in Ferula jaeschkeana makes it to serve as a potential source for the development of plant based novel drugs.

Ex Situ Conservation Strategies for Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don (Liliaceae): A Critically Endangered Medicinal Herb of Kashmir Himalaya

Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don (Liliaceae), a valuable and critically endangered medicinal herb of northwest India, including Jammu and Kashmir, grows in temperate to alpine regions of the Himalaya. The bulbs of the plant are very valuable and are used to cure asthma, tuberculosis, haematemesis and many other health complications. The species faces threat due to multiple factors including habitat loss, over-exploitation for medicine, domestic and commercial trade. The present study was therefore undertaken to develop ex situ conservation strategies and domestication protocols for Fritillaria cirrhosa. The experimental treatments utilized to enhance the regeneration potential, growth and development of Fritillaria cirrhosa include soil texture variation, fertilizer treatment and farmyard manure treatment. The highest values of phenotypic attributes of the plants were recorded in soil: sand combination of 3:1. The plants prefer to grow in low sandy soils. Maximum plant height was attained in a combination of urea (nitrogen), diammonium phosphate (phosphorous) and potash (potassium) fertilizers. The plants depicted an admirably increased height and flower length in 1:1:2 combination and highest flower and leaf numbers in 2:1:1 combination of soil: sand: farmyard manure. Thus, low sandy soil with high organic matter was found to be favourable for better growth and development of the plants of Fritillaria cirrhosa.

Phytochemical Evaluation of Various Solvent Extracts of the Leaves, Fruits and Shoots of Ferula Jaeschkeana Vatke

The genus Ferula possess strong aromatic smell due to the presence of essential oil or oleoresin and is well-known in folk medicine for the treatment of various disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the presence of phytochemicals in various solvent extracts of leaves, fruits and shoots of Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke. This study investigates the effects of ethanol, methanol, chloroform, petroleum ether and aqueous extracts of leaves, fruits and shoots. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of various phytochemical constituents in the extracts of leaves, fruits and shoots. Phytochemical analysis of extracts of leaves confirmed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, saponins, phenolic compounds, proteins, anthraquinone glycosides, phytosterols, tannins, steroids, coumarins, quinones, carbohydrates, resins, triterpenoids and xanthoproteins, while it gave the negative results for cardiac glycosides, amino acids, phlobotannins and oxalates. Phytochemical analysis of extracts of fruits revealed the presence of all phytochemicals except anthraquinone glycosides, phlobotannins and xanthoproteins. Phytochemical analysis of extracts of shoots confirmed the presence of all phytochemicals except phlobotannins and oxalates. The presence of a several phytochemicals in Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke may serve as a possible source for the development of plant based novel drugs.

Anticoccidial activity of fruit peel of Punica granatum L

In the interests of food safety and public health, plants and their compounds are now re-emerging as an alternative approach to treat parasitic diseases. Here, we studied the anticoccidial effect of different solvent extracts of the fruit peel of Punica granatum-a commercial waste from pomegranate juice industries. The hope underlying these experiments was to find a sustainable natural product for controlling coccidiosis. The plant extracts were prepared using solvents of different polarity. Acute oral toxicity study was first carried out to see the safety of crude extracts. A high dose of crude extracts (300 mg/kg body weight) was tested for possession of anticoccidial activity against experimentally induced coccidial infection in broiler chicken. Activity was measured in comparison to the reference drug amprolium on the basis of oocyst output reduction, mean weight gain of birds and feed conversion ratio. Oocyst output was measured using Mc-Masters counting technique. Acute oral toxicity study showed that crude extracts of P. granatum are safe up to dosage of 2000 mg/kg body weight. LD50 was not determined as mortalities were not recorded in any of the five groups of chicken. For anticoccidial activity crude methanolic extract (CME) of the fruit peel of P. granatum showed the maximum effect as evident by oocyst output reduction (92.8 ± 15.3), weight gain of birds (1403.0 ± 11.9 g) and feed conversion ratio (1.66 ± 0.04), thereby affirming the presence of alcohol soluble active ingredients in the plant. We also tested different doses (100-400 mg/kg body weight) of the CME of the fruit peel of P. granatum, the most active extract on E. tenella and observed a dose dependent effect. From the present study it can be concluded that alcoholic extract of the fruit peel of P. granatum has significant potential to contribute to the control of coccidian parasites of chicken.

A performance appraisal of size dependent reproduction and reproductive allocation: A case study of two Inula species from Kashmir Himalaya

In this study we investigated the size-dependent reproductive pattern of Inula racemosa and I. royleana (Asteraceae) growing at different reaches in the environs of the Kashmir Himalaya. Size effects on reproductive pattern were evaluated by determining the size-dependency of flowering probability and reproductive effort. The results showed that the probability of flowering increased significantly with the size of the plant in all populations, indicating that individuals do not flower until they reach a threshold size and considerable between-site differences were found in the slope and the intercept of the regression between plant size and flower production. In I. racemosa, populations at high altitudes had significantly lower threshold sizes for reproduction and showed sharp increase in flowering probability with plant size, compared to other populations at lower altitudes. However, no pattern in size-dependent flower production was found relative to the altitude in I. royleana, as flower production at some sites, at high altitudes, increased more steeply with plant size than at other sites. For both taxa, reproductive effort decreased allometrically as adults grew, as can be interpreted from the allometric relationship between reproductive and vegetative biomass. Further studies are required to determine whether population differentiation in size-dependent reproductive pattern is maintained by selection.

Banding Techniques in Chromosome Analysis

Chromosome identification has been traditionally based on morphological features of individual chromosomes such as chromosome length, arm ratio and primary and secondary constriction collectively called as karyotype. A number of stains such as acetocarmine, Feulgen and aceto-orcein all of them being whole chromosome stains have been used in these studies. Although classical staining helps in studying chromosome morphology, structural and numerical variations, however, morphologically similar chromosomes cannot be distinguished. The utilization of fluorescent and other dyes together with various modifications in pretreatment of cytological material in the late 1960s led to the discovery of various banding techniques which proved to be additional tool for identification of individual chromosomes. New and reliable staining procedures were introduced; each was capable of revealing a unique banding pattern of the chromosomes of a given species. The advantage with banding techniques is that they can resolve morphologically similar as well as different chromosomes and help in understanding the chromosome organization. Chromosome banding is a lengthwise variation in staining properties along a chromosome based on the GC- or AT-rich regions or constitutive heterochromatin. A single dye or fluorochrome can often be used to produce a banding pattern on a chromosome. A band is a part of chromosome which is clearly distinguishable from its adjacent segment by appearing darker or lighter with various banding methods. The Paris Conference – 1971 – classified banding techniques as Q–banding (fluorescence based), C–banding (constitutive heterochromatin (AT- or GC-rich DNA)), G–banding (whole length banding (Giemsa staining)), R–banding (reverse of G–banding) and Ag-NOR stain (nucleolar organizing regions). All these banding techniques have led to a more precise cytogenetic and phylogenetic analysis of various eukaryotes. The major applications of banding techniques have been the mapping of genes on chromosomes and identification of chromosome alterations such as deletions, duplications, translocations and aneuploidy. They have also played an important role in measuring the amount of heterochromatin among individuals.

Variation in Growth Dynamics and Reproductive Allocation in Ajuga Species across Different Altitudes

Ajuga is a medicinally important genus of the Himalayan region. This study was carried out on the phenotypic variability and reproductive allocation in two species of genus Ajuga, A. bracteosa and A. parviflora growing in variable habitats of Kashmir valley. Our findings clearly displayed significant divergence among sites which reveals a definite impact of altitude on morphological and reproductive features of the species under study. In A. bracteosa the plants growing at low altitudes are comparatively taller and produce more number of leaves, greater leaf dimensions and inflorescence number. But in case of A. parviflora a more or less reverse trend was seen. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the habitat of Kangan and Dachigam proved relatively better for the growth of A. bracteosa and Brinal 2 and Gogaldara for A. parviflora. Maximum resources were allocated to the growth and development of the leaves followed by stem, root tubers and inflorescence in both the species. The reproductive effort was higher (40.48 ± 1.59) for the high altitude Betab valley population in case of A. bracteosa and was lowest for the high altitude Brinal 2 population (45.88 ± 1.37) in case of A. parviflora. The regression analysis revealed a positive correlation between branch length and root length, branch length and apical leaf length in both the species and a negative correlation between branch length and number of branches per plant in both the species. Our results are very useful to introduce the species into cultivation and developing strategies for conservation.The phenological behaviour of Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke, being unclear, was investigated for the first time with a conservation perspective. The present study revealed that at lower altitudes the plants enter into vegetative and reproductive phases comparatively earlier than the plants growing at higher altitudes. The plants overwinter in the form of underground root tubers which remain dormant throughout the chilling winter months. The plants sprout at the return of the favorable season in the 2nd week of March in natural populations and the process of sprouting lasts over a period of nearly 14-25 days. After 2-3 weeks of active vegetative period, the reproductive phase initiates with the production of floral buds. A decreasing trend was observed in the phenological variables along the altitude. The flowering phenology indices showed an increasing trend along the altitude. The value of flowering phenology index of Mahoro (Ri) was highest (13.07 ± 1.0) in Gulmarg population and was found to be least (6.39 ± 0.53) in the transplanted population. The overall flowering synchrony (Z) peaked at 0.65 ± 0.04 in the transplanted population and was found to be highest 0.84 ± 0.12 in Gulmarg population. The value of flowering synchrony index of Marquis (S) peaked at 9.46 ± 0.44 in Gulmarg population and was minimum in transplanted population (4.40 ± 0.60). Our regression analysis showed a significant correlation and predicts that number of umbels per branch has a positive effect on the umbellules per umbel and flowers per umbellule in this plant species.This study demonstrated that antibacterial cellulosic textiles can be fabricated in eco-friendly manner by grafting of monochlorotriazinyl β-cyclodextin (MCT-βCD) onto knitted and woven cotton fabrics followed by post-loading of any of the green active ingredients namely Rosemary oil, Lavender oil, Clove oil, Cinnamon oil, Aloe vera gel, Vanillin, Ag-ions, Natural Yellow 7 and Natural Red 25 dyes into the hydrophobic cavities of grafted β-CD moieties. Some of the grafted, postloaded fabric samples were characterized by FTIR, SEM, and EDS analysis. The enhancement in the imparted antibacterial functionality as well as durability to wash are governed by type of cellulosic substrate, kind chemistry antibacterial activity aswell as extentofinclusion and subsequentreleaseofthehosted bioactive agent. The obtained results revealed that the antibacterial efficacy follows the deceasing orders: i) knitted fabric>woven fabric and ii) Ag-ions>Lavender oil>Natural Yellow 7>Aloe vera>Cinnamon oil>Natural Red 25>Vanillin>Clove oil>Rosemary oil-loaded fabric sample, keeping another parameters constant