Nisha Kapoor

SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS AND CALLUS PROLIFERATION IN Picrorhiza kurroa ROYLE ex. BENTH

Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex. Benth is an endangered and important medicinal plant of alpine Himalayas. Developing an efficient protocol for its mass multiplication is essential to meet the requirements of pharmaceutical industries and also in conservation of this plant under its natural habitat. Present study was undertaken to develop a protocol for in vitro mass multiplication of P. kurroa. Result of study revealed that highest frequency of shoot regeneration was achieved on Murashige and Skoogs basal medium supplemented with 1.0mg/l BAP, 0.5 mg/l Kn and 1.0mg/l GA3, while the best rooting was observed in MS medium supplemented with 2.5 mg/l IBA. MS medium supplemented with 3.0 mg/l 2,4-D resulted in highest frequency of embryogenic callus. Callus inoculated on MS media supplemented with BAP and IAA resulted in both shoot and root formation while the callus on MS media supplemented with NAA and IBA resulted only root formation. The somatic embryos were established from callus on MS medium supplemented 2.5 mg/l 2,4- D after four weeks. MS medium containing 1.0 mg/l BAP and 1.0 mg/l GA3 resulted into shoots from well developed somatic embryos. This protocol will provide a system for the germplasm conservation in P. kurroa by multiplication and regeneration of true to type plants.

In Vitro Conservation Strategies for Gloriosa superba L.: An Endangered Medicinal Plant

The immense value of plants remains in their incredible potential, a bit of which has been discovered till now and ample still remains to be discovered. The capacity of plants to produce a diverse array of unique chemical compounds attracts the attention of researchers and pharma industry towards the advantage of procuring these biological compounds as medicines for human health. Gloriosa superba L., the plant of enormous medicinal importance, has been listed among the endangered plants a few decades back. The plant is exploited for the colchicine which adds a characteristic feature to the medicinal value of this seasonal herb. Biotechnological approaches involve several efficient and cost-effective techniques which further resulted in the manipulation of this endangered plant to enhance its yield. Even the use of callus culture, cell suspension and hairy roots recommends coherent and productive formula for conservation and production of colchicine so as to fulfil the increasing demands of the pharma industry. The chapter reviews the in vitro propagation and conservation efforts made by several workers to increase and maintain the germplasm and isolation of colchicine from in vitro grown cultures.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: A review of 45 candidate genes: association of single nucleotide polymorphism to schizophrenia risk

The following article has been retracted from publication in the Taylor & Francis journal New Genetics and Society. I. Priya, S. Sharma, I. Sharma, R. Mahajan and N. Kapoor, A review of 45 candidate genes: association of single nucleotide polymorphism to schizophrenia risk, New Genetics and Society https://doi.org/10.1080/14636778.2018.1481740. Version of Record published online 13 July 2018. The editorial office of the journal inadvertently processed the paper through the online submission system without proper peer review or requisite checks. This has now been remedied and the journal and publishers apologise to the authors that this occurred. Journal processes and checks have now been reviewed and updated so that all best efforts are made to ensure this does not occur again.

Biotechnological Approaches for In Vitro Conservation of Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth

Medicinal plants have been used by humans for the treatment of various diseases since ancient times. The plants being rich in secondary metabolites are exploited for their probable utility due to the presence of phytochemical properties. The pure compound can easily be obtained from the plants resulting in safer drugs. One of such important medicinal plant is Picrorhiza kurroa which is a principle source of iridoid glycosides, with a wide range of biological activities. Today the plant has become endangered due to restricted distribution and unskilled harvesting and is demanding to be conserved for its posterity. In order to safeguard and preserve such medicinally important plant species, certain biotechnological approaches are found to be very valuable for their conservation and further manipulation so as to augment their yield and quality traits.

Metabolic Responses of Medicinal Plants to Global Warming, Temperature and Heat Stress

Global warming has resulted in strong heat waves which has severely affected the growth and development of the plants. The changes in distinct metabolic pathways have hampered the adaptive responses of plants to different environmental stresses. Extreme variations in temperature during summers have a significant impact on agricultural production worldwide because the heat waves cause yield losses that risks the future global food security. However, the plants have made certain adjustments to cope up with the adverse environmental conditions which includes the production of compatible solutes that could maintain the cell turgor by stabilizing the osmotic regulation. Even at the molecular level, various modifications in the expression of genes protect the plants from heat stress. Further, the collaboration of molecular biologists and plant breeders, to develop new genotypes by identifying and introgressing the tolerance genes that can result in plants with acceptance to wide range of environmental stresses.

Functional Genomic Approaches in Plant Research: Challenges and Perspectives

Availability of huge genomic data has resulted in its wide applicative prospects in exploring the genes involved in different biosynthetic pathways. Some emerging functional genomic tools are showing potential in the field of plant research based on secondary data and have resulted in better utilization of natural medicinal resources. From the last few decades, the main focus is on the understanding of molecular basis of plant response to different environmental stresses. Several genes involved in stress responses have been studied using functional genomic approaches. The recent availability of next-generation sequencing and genome-editing tools provides sufficient opportunity to introduce targeted modifications in the genome competently. These new approaches further unravel the functional aspects of various components of the genome in various plants and offer potential opportunities for designing the plants as per our choice.