Phalisteen Sultan

Comparative studies and identification of camptothecin produced by an endophyte at shake flask and bioreactor

The fungus showing homology with Nodulisporium by 28S ribosomal gene sequencing, which has been discovered as an endophyte on medicinal plant Nothapodytes foetida, was found to produce 45 and 5.5 µg of camptothecin (CPT) per gram of mycelia at bioreactor and at shake flask, respectively, which was further quantified and characterised by various spectroscopic analyses.

Molecular characterization and marker based chemotaxonomic studies of Podophyllum hexandrum Royle

Detailed chemical studies and RAPD analysis were done in different populations of Podophyllum hexandrum collected from high altitude regions of North Western Himalayas. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis revealed a high degree of genetic diversity among the 12 collected accessions, attributed to their geographical and climatic conditions. HPLC analysis also revealed variation in the concentration of two major marker compounds which lead to the identification of a chemotype. The study demonstrated that RAPD and chemical markers are very useful tools to compare the genetic relationship and pattern of variation among such prioritized and endangered medicinal plants.

Phylogenetic Characterization of Archaea in Saltpan Sediments

A study was undertaken to investigate the presence of archaeal diversity in saltpan sediments of Goa, India by 16S rDNA-dependent molecular phylogeny. Small subunit rRNA (16S rDNA) from saltpan sediment metagenome were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers specific to the domain archaea. 10 unique phylotypes were obtained by PCR based RFLP of 16S rRNA genes using endonuclease Msp 1, which was most suitable to score the genetic diversity. These phylotypes spanned a wide range within the domain archaea including both crenarchaeota and euryarcheaota. None of the retrieved crenarchaeota sequences could be grouped with previously cultured crenarchaeota however; two sequences were related with haloarchaea. Most of the sequences determined were closely related to the sequences that had been previously obtained from metagenome of a variety of marine environments. The phylogenetic study of a site investigated for the first time revealed the presence of low archaeal population but showed yet unclassified species, may specially adapted to the salt pan sediment of Goa.

TNF-α inhibitory effect of Euphorbia hirta in rats

Context: Euphorbia hirta L. (Euphorbiaceae) (E. hirta) is a tree locally used as a traditional medicine in Africa and Australia to treat numerous diseases such as hypertension, respiratory ailments, tumors, and wounds, and it has reported antiallergic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory activities, etc. Objective: This study evaluated the ability of fresh leaves of E. hirta ethanol extract to inhibit the intracellular tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) level in the synovial fluid and neutrophils in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflamed rat knees. Materials and methods: Female Wister albino rats 140–160 g were used. E. hirta ethanol extract was given orally at 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, 2 h before an intra-articular (i.a.) injection of LPS. Two and three hours later, synovial fluid and neutrophils levels of intracellular TNF-α production were measured. Results: In the time course of the experiment, E. hirta maximum inhibition at 100 and 200 mg/kg (p.o.) dose showed 16.5 ± 1.34 and 14.4 ± 1.30% of synovial fluid, 4.26 ± 0.36 and 3.78 ± 0.29% of neutrophils levels of intracellular TNF-α productions at 2 h after LPS injection. LPS control displayed 22.97 ± 1.61 and 6.78 ± 0.34% of synovial fluid and neutrophils levels of intracellular TNF-α at 2 h after LPS injection. Intracellular TNF-α was also estimated at 3 h after LPS injection. Discussion and conclusion: The LPS-injected rat knee model gives a comparative study of acute anti-inflammatory responses. E. hirta inhibition of proinflammatory intracellular cytokine TNF-α production with LPS-induced inflamed rat knee is of great importance in defining the anti-arthritic potential of E. hirta.

Ethnobotany, Traditional Knowledge, and Diversity of Wild Edible Plants and Fungi: A Case Study in the Bandipora District of Kashmir Himalaya, India

ABSTRACT This study explored the diversity of traditional knowledge, collected data on utilization, and identified and analyzed the wild edible plants and fungi of Kashmir Himalaya (India). Information was collected by interviews with 113 individuals during 2012–2014 from nine rural and mountainous areas. Data were classified as cooked vegetables, salads, spices, chutneys, herbal teas, home-made alcoholic drinks, soups, raw fruits, and underground snacks. Information was analyzed using use reports (UR), use values (UV), informant consensus (Fic), fidelity level (FL), and cultural importance index (CI) metrics. In total, 111 phytotaxa, distributed into 87 genera and 43 families, were identified as local edible resources. Overall, 94.25% of angiosperms, 3.45% gymnosperms, and 2.30% of cryptogams were documented as being used traditionally. Several taxa were highly cited (Amaranthus caudatus, Angelica archangelica, Asparagus racemosus, Berberis lycium, Fragaria vesca, Hippophae rhamnoides, Oxyria digyna, Juglans regia). Frequently used parts were young leaves (19.82%), fruits (15.32%), young twigs (9.01%), roots (8.11%), and tubers (6.31%). The most usage was mentioned for leafy vegetables (27.93%), followed by raw fruits (22.52%), herbal teas (14.41%), salads (9.91%), alcoholic drinks (6.31%), and snacks (4.50%). The high fidelity scores and informant consensus factors suggest that ethnobotanical knowledge could potentially guide the search for developing new nutraceutical products in the future.

Germplasm Conservation and Quantitative Estimation of Podophyllotoxin and Related Glycosides of Podophyllum hexandrum

We have done comparative morphological and chemotaxonomic studies to investigate the phylogenetic relationship of different accessions within the Podophyllum species. HPLC profiles revealed that all Podophyllum hexandrum accessions collected from different geographical locations are chemically highly diverse. Also, we have observed that chemotaxonomic studies clearly demonstrated that chemical characters of the Podophyllum hexandrum are suitable to generate essentially the same relationship as revealed by RAPD analysis.