Varsha Sharma

Scale up production of isoflavonoids in cell suspension cultures of Pueraria tuberosa grown in shake flasks and bioreactor

Cell cultures of Pueraria tuberosa were grown in vessels of different sizes and 2L stirred tank bioreactor containing modified MS medium with morphactin (0.1 mg l−1) and 2iP (5.0 mg l−1) and 20% inoculum. Stable growth and total isoflavonoid yield of 76.6 mg l−1 were recorded in the cultures during scale up. This was in concordance with the persistent yield of the individual isoflavonoids regardless of the vessel size.

Salt stress enhanced antioxidant response in callus of three halophytes (Salsola baryosma, Trianthema triquetra, Zygophyllum simplex) of Thar Desert

Effects of salinity on growth, protein content, proline, catalase and antioxidant enzyme activity in callus of three halophytes of the Thar Desert; Salsola baryosma, Trianthema triquetra and Zygophyllum simplex were evaluated. Callus tissues were cultured on Murashige and Skoog’s medium containing different concentrations of NaCl (50, 100 and 200 mM). Increase in dry weight and soluble proteins were observed in the callus exposed to lower salinity (50 and 100 mM NaCl) in all the three species, whereas on the medium containing 200 mM NaCl, significant decrease in these two growth parameters was recorded. Under the salinity stress maximum proline accumulation was found in S. baryosma with parallel increase in soluble sugars. Among the three species, T. triquetra callus showed maximum CAT activity with 50 and 100 mM NaCl treatment, whereas the enzyme activity decreased at 200 mM NaCl treatment in all three species. The antioxidant potential steadily elevated under salt treatment in all the above three species using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) assay. Whereas, superoxide dismutase (SOD) quenching were recorded maximum at low (50 and 100 mM) concentrations in all the three species. However, T. triquetra callus showed maximum total phenolic content (TPC) 15 mg GAE g−1 with the elevated concentration of NaCl up to 200 mM, and S. baryosma callus showed lower TPC as compared to both species. A significant correlation between antioxidant capacity and TPC was observed indicating that phenolic compounds are the major contributors to the antioxidant potential in these halophyte species. FRAP and DPPH activity of Z. simplex showed maximum correlation (R = 0.992), as compared to other two species. We can conclude that all the three species exhibit a protection mechanism by sustaining growth parameters and antioxidant capacity. Due to high antioxidant property of all these species, the plant extracts may be included in nutraceutical formulations.

Biodiesel Production for Sustainable Agriculture

Biodiesel is produced by transesterification of edible and non-edible oils obtained from a wide range of plants. Biodiesel has developed rapidly as an eco-friendly, renewable, alternative source of energy compared to the limited resources of fossil fuels. There are wide ranging socio-economic implications of biodiesel for rural population in developing countries because biodiesel is an agriculture-based industrial product from plants. Diversion of edible oil for biodiesel, land use for biodiesel crops, and technology for biodiesel production are issues to be addressed. The use of edible and non-edible crops for biodiesel production and sustainability are discussed in this article. Biodiesel, amounting to about 300,000 barrels per day is mainly produced from edible oils and small quantities from non-edible oils from Jatropha curcas. Jatropha curcas is a multipurpose, drought-resistant, biofuel tree originating from Central and South America, though now growing pantropic. Jatropha plants produce up to 6.5 t seeds and yield about 2,000 L oil per hectare. Therefore agrotechnologies have to be developed towards mechanization and cost reduction to make an industrial product. A debate has already been started about use of edible oil for the production of biodiesel considering impact on land usage, prices of edible oil and benefits to farmers. The other potential non-edible oil crops are castor, neem and karanj (Pongamia). Therefore, a rational policy about biodiesel crops has to be evolved looking to the various needs of a particular country. Use of edible oil crops like soybeans, rapeseeds, sunflower and palm oil for non-edible purpose is a matter of debate from socio-economic aspect as population of many countries is malnourished. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations emphasizes that the versatility of Jatropha may make it useful in poor, remote areas of the world.

A Review of Biotechnological Approaches to Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Medicinal Lianas in India

Medicinal lianas of India are source of several important secondary metabolites which have great potential for future therapeutics. Because of their overexploitation using destructive harvesting methods and/or with some reproductive barriers, most of them have become threatened species. Recent biotechnological developments depicting their biological activity, standardizing the micropropagation methods, and development of callus and cell cultures for the production of useful metabolites have opened up novel ways for their conservation by reducing pressure on their natural populations. Though considerable success has been achieved in developing the micropropagation protocols as well as bioreactor level production of secondary metabolites for some lianas, yet for many lianas development of these technologies remained a challenge. This article reviews the status of biotechnology of medicinal lianas of India and discusses the novel combinations to achieve the desired results. The review is expected to help in deciding the priorities for further technology development for production of useful metabolites and multiplication of lianas in mass scale.

Biotechnology and Agroforestry in Indian Arid Regions

Agroforestry evolved with agriculture to make the best use of the land and to maintain equilibrium between man, land, livestock and plants. In recent years, agroforestry has been developed as an autonomous science that can help farmers to increase profitability and land sustainability. Tree growing in combination with agriculture, including individual farms, watersheds and regional landscape can be integrated to take advantage of the benefits provided by adjacent natural, semi-natural or restored ecosystems. Trees in a variety of agroforestry systems enhance nutrient cycling, improve soil conservation and soil faunal activities and contribute to food security. Trees increase rural income through a diversity of products and services. Tree planting reduces salinity and prevents soil erosion, increases local biodiversity and reduces the greenhouse effect. Multiplication and establishment by conventional propagation of some of the arid and semi-arid zone trees are difficult. The plants showing high endemism need to be conserved and improved as they provide useful products to support the life system of arid and semi-arid zones of India. In arid and semi-arid environments, agroforestry systems support livelihood improvement through simultaneous production of food, fodder and firewood without much affecting climate change. The important trees of Indian arid region agroforestry are Acacia nilotica, Acacia senegal, Capparis deciduas, Phoenixdactylifera, Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora oleoides, Salvadora persica, Tecomella undulata, and Zizyphus mauritiana. There is also a potential to utilize agroforestry to solve global problems like desertification and to conserve biodiversity. Biotechnology has the potential to ameliorate agroforestry plants. Recently developed technology in molecular biology and tissue culture play an increasing role in the choice of genotype for successful establishment and improvement of agroforestry plants. Agroforestry tree improvement intends to identify and improve several important trees attributes like growth rates, disease and pest resistance and adaptability, tree form, e.g. straightness, branch number and size, and wood fiber quality. Biotechnological approaches to agroforestry plants of arid region have produced excellent results in micropropagation, e.g. for Prosopis species and Tecomella undulata, production of useful metabolites, e.g., by Commiphora wightii, genomics and genetic markers, e.g. for P. cineraria, T. undulata, C. wightii, gene mapping, e.g. in P. dactylifera, and transformed plants, e.g. Tecomella undulata. Some of the future directions for arid and semi-arid zone agroforestry need to focus on the evaluation and improvement of plants which will make a profound impact on the agroforestry.