Zabta Khan Shinwari

Organization and expression of two Arabidopsis DREB2 genes encoding DRE-binding proteins involved in dehydration- and high-salinity-responsive gene expression.

In plants, a cis-acting element, DRE/CRT, is involved in ABA-independent gene expression in response to dehydration and low-temperature stress. To understand signal transduction pathways from perception of the dehydration stress signal to gene expression, we characterized a gene family for DRE/CRT-binding proteins DREB2A and DREB2B in Arabidopsis thaliana. Northern analysis showed that both genes are induced by dehydration and high-salt stress. Organ-specific northern analysis with gene-specific probes showed that these genes are strongly induced in roots by high-salt stress and in stems and roots by dehydration stress. The DREB2A gene is located on chromosome 5, and DREB2B on chromosome 3. We screened an Arabidopsis genomic DNA library with cDNA fragments of DREB2A and DREB2B as probes, and isolated DNA fragments that contained 5′-flanking regions of these genes. Sequence analysis showed that both genes are interrupted by a single intron at identical positions in their leader sequence. Several conserved sequences were found in the promoter regions of both genes. The β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene driven by the DREB2 promoters was induced by dehydration and high-salt stress in transgenic Arabidopsis plants.

The Phytochrome-Interacting Factor PIF7 Negatively Regulates DREB1 Expression under Circadian Control in Arabidopsis

Transcription factors of the DRE-Binding1 (DREB1)/C-repeat binding factor family specifically interact with a cis-acting dehydration-responsive element/C-repeat involved in low-temperature stress-responsive gene expression in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Expression of DREB1s is induced by low temperatures and is regulated by the circadian clock under unstressed conditions. Promoter sequences of DREB1s contain six conserved motifs, boxes I to VI. We analyzed the promoter region of DREB1C using transgenic plants and found that box V with the G-box sequence negatively regulates DREB1C expression under circadian control. The region around box VI contains positive regulatory elements for low-temperature-induced expression of DREB1C. Using yeast one-hybrid screens, we isolated cDNA encoding the transcriptional factor Phytochrome-Interacting Factor7 (PIF7), which specifically binds to the G-box of the DREB1C promoter. The PIF7 gene was expressed in rosette leaves, and the PIF7 protein was localized in the nuclei of the cells. Transactivation experiments using Arabidopsis protoplasts indicated that PIF7 functions as a transcriptional repressor for DREB1C expression and that its activity is regulated by PIF7-interacting factors TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION1 and Phytochrome B, which are components of the circadian oscillator and the red light photoreceptor, respectively. Moreover, in the pif7 mutant, expression of DREB1B and DREB1C was not repressed under light conditions, indicating that PIF7 functions as a transcriptional repressor for the expression of DREB1B and DREB1C under circadian control. This negative regulation of DREB1 expression may be important for avoiding plant growth retardation by the accumulation of DREB1 proteins under unstressed conditions.

Sustainable harvest of medicinal plants at Bulashbar Nullah, Astore (Northern Pakistan).

Rapid decline of plant resources due to their conventional use needs ex-situ and in-situ conservation, training of the community regarding collection of medicinal plants and their marketing. In this regard, the Bulashbar valley, Astore, District Diamer was identified as a case study. The main objectives of this activity were to enlist economic, medicinal and aromatic plants including their occurrence, general distribution and abundance in the project areas; to determine traditional use and pharmaceutical values of each medicinal plant species found in the project area. Ethnobotanical studies of the area revealed that 33 plants were being used by the local communities for medicinal purposes. Two species, Bunium persicum and Ephedra gerardiana, are recommended for in vitro cultivation to obtain quick benefits. While Hippophae rhamnoides can be sustainably used for socio-economic uplift of the local communities.

An ethnobotanical survey of indigenous medicinal plants in Wana district south Waziristan agency, Pakistan.

ETHNOMEDICINAL RELEVANCE Medicinal plants are treasure of any region for ailment treatment. The present research work was focused to document the indigenous knowledge of unexplored area of Wana, South Waziristan Agency, Pakistan. This was the very first study, to explore the potential ethno-medicinal plants of study area. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data was collected by opting people participation involving interviews, group meetings, semi structured discussions and filling of questionnaires. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total 50 wild medicinal plants belonging to 30 families were collected. Medicinal plants used against the stomach disorders were 10% followed by the cold/cough (8%), hepatitis (7%), diuretic (7%), sedative/narcotic (7%), tonic (6%), asthma (5%), cardiac problems (4%), jaundice (4%) and so on. Among plant parts used for indigenous medicines, leaves were (24%) followed by the fruit (15%), root (12%), seed (11%), whole plant (9%), arial parts (8%), flower (6%), rhizome, bark and stem (4%), bulbs (2%) and pods (1%). Xanthium strumarium reported the highest use value i.e. 0.95. CONCLUSION People of Wana still rely on indigenous plants for their basic healthcare needs. Harvesting of roots and whole plants is a big threat to conservation of medicinal plants diversity.

Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants from Gujranwala district, Pakistan.

AIM OF STUDY This study was focused with the aim to investigate and document the indigenous medicinal knowledge and commonly used medicinal plants from Gujranwala district, Pakistan and to establish a baseline data in continuing studies aimed at more comprehensive investigations on bio-active compounds of indigenous medicinal plants. MATERIAL AND METHODS Rapid appraisal approach (RAA) was used along with the interviews, group meetings with people having knowledge about indigenous uses of medicinal plants and individual meetings with herbalists were conducted, to collect the ethnomedicinal data. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS About 71 species of medicinal plants belonging to 38 families have been documented through 203 informants. Most favored plant part used for indigenous medicine was leaves (38%) followed by the seed (13%), whole plant (11%), flower (9%), fruit (8%), root and bark (6%) and the main source of these medicines was wild herbs (54%) followed by the wild shrubs, wild trees (13%), cultivated herbs (10%), cultivated trees (5%), cultivated shrubs (3%) and wild grasses (2%). The herbal preparations were mainly administrated orally and topically. CONCLUSION Gujranwala district has great diversity of medicinal plants and people are aware about their medicinal values. Few plants are playing vital role in the basic health care needs of study areas; such plants should be screened for detailed pharmacological studied to explore new biological compounds.

Pure culture of Metarhizium anisopliae LHL07 reprograms soybean to higher growth and mitigates salt stress

Little is known about the role of endophytic fungi against abiotic stresses and isoflavonoids (IF) contents of soybean. In current study, we investigated the role of fungal endophytes on the growth of soybean under salt stress conditions. Pure cultures of nine endophytic fungi were isolated from the roots of field-grown soybean plants, and their culture filtrates were screened on Waito-C and Dongjin-byeo rice cultivars; for identification of plant growth promoting fungal strains. It was observed that fungal isolate GMC-2B significantly promoted the growth of both Waito-C and Dongjin-byeo. GMC-2B was later identified as a new strain of Metarhizium anisopliae LHL07 on the basis of 18S rDNA sequences and phylogenetic analysis. Metarhizium anisopliae LHL07 inoculated soybean plants recorded significantly higher shoot length, shoot fresh and dry biomass, chlorophyll contents, transpiration rate, photosynthetic rate and leaf area; under sodium chloride induced salt stress as compared to non-inoculated control plants. An elevated proline and reduced superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde contents in M. anisopliae LHL07 inoculated soybean plants demonstrated mitigation of salt induced oxidative stress. Furthermore, reduced abscisic acid and elevated jasmonic acid contents in soybean plants confirmed that lesser stress was convened to M. anisopliae inoculated-plants under salinity stress. We also assessed the role of M. anisopliae interaction on IF biosynthesis of soybean, and found significantly higher IF contents in M. anisopliae inoculated soybean plants. In conclusion, endophytic fungal interactions with soybean can be beneficial to improve soybean quality and quantity under salt affected agricultural systems.

Ethnomedicinal uses of plants for the treatment of snake and scorpion bite in Northern Pakistan.

ETHNO-PHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Medicinal plants represent one of the most accessible resources available for snake and scorpion bite among the rural communities of Northern Pakistan. This first ethno-botanical study aimed to document the indigenous knowledge and practices of using plants for snake and scorpion bite disorders in Northern Pakistan. METHODS Ethno-medicinal data is documented from 187 informants using semi-structured interviews. The data is analyzed using quantitative ethno-botanical indices of frequency citation (FC) and relative Frequency of Citation (RFC). In addition to this, the ethno-medicinal findings of this survey were compared with 10 previous published studies in order to report novel uses of medicinal plants against snake and scorpion bite disorders. RESULTS In total 62 medicinal plants belonging to 40 families are reported against snake and scorpion bite in this study. Our results showed that Asteraceae is the most used family (10 species), dominant life form is herb (48.38%), leaves were the most used plants part (18 Use-reports) and the paste is most used method of administration (22 reports). The range of RFC was 0.08-0.27 about the use of documented species. Compared to previous published studies, 33.87% similarity index while 66.12% novelty index is reported. About 40 plant species are first time reported with medicinal uses against snake and scorpion bite from Northern Pakistan. CONCLUSIONS This study presents useful traditional knowledge of rural communities for the control of snake and scorpion bite using medicinal plants. The study mainly focused on ethno-medicinal documentation to preserve the valuable traditional knowledge that can be used in future phytochemical and pharmacological studies on medicinal plants of the area.

Ethnobotany of medicinal plants among the communities of Alpine and Sub-alpine regions of Pakistan.

ETHNO-PHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE To best of our knowledge it is first quantitative ethno-botanical study from Alpine and Sub-alpine, Western Himalaya of Pakistan. The study aims to report, compare the uses and highlight the ethno-botanical significance of medicinal plants for treatment of various diseases. METHODS A total of 290 (278 males and 12 females) informants including 14 Local Traditional Healers (LTHs) were interviewed. Information was collected using semi-structured interviews, analyzed and compared by quantitative ethno-botanical indices such as Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), Relative frequency of citation (RFC), use value (UV), Fidelity Level (FL) and Jaccard index (JI). RESULTS A total of 125 plant species (Gymnosperms 7 species, Monocotyledons 2 and 116 Di-cotyledons) belonging to 41 families are collected, identified and ethno-botanically assessed. The most dominant family is Ranunculaceae (20 species) followed by Rosaceae (14 species). In diseases treated, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) diseases have highest proportion (27.5%) followed by respiratory diseases (20%) in the mountain communities. The most dominant life form of plants used is herbs (78%) followed by shrubs (19%) while the most commonly used plant parts are leaves (44 reports) followed by underground part, the roots (37 reports). The highest ICF (0.68) is found for ear, nose and eye disease category followed by respiratory disorders (0.46). There are 15 medicinal plants having 100% FL. Use value (UV) and Relative frequency of citation (RFC) range from 0.03 to 0.53 and 0.04 to 0.23 respectively. In comparison, maximum similarity index is found in the studies with JI 19.52 followed by 17.39. Similarity percentage of plant uses range from 1.69% to 19.52% while dissimilarity percentage varies from 0% to 20%. CONCLUSIONS The Alpine and Sub-alpine regions of Pakistan are rich in medicinal plants and still need more research exploration. On the other hand, ethno-botanical knowledge in study areas is decreasing day by day due to high emigration rates resulting from after effects of wars during the last few decades. Historically developed ethno-botanical heritage should be preserved and promoted on global level for analyzing phytochemical, pharmaceutical and other biological activities for future drug discovery.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Alysicarpus monilifer leaf extract and its antibacterial activity against MRSA and CoNS isolates in HIV patients

The emergence of multi‐drug‐resistant microorganisms in hospital environments is a global public health problem and threat to everyone, especially HIV‐infected patients. Methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and coagulase‐negative Staphylococci (CoNS) are the major causative agents associated with morbidity and mortality in HIV patients. Therefore, control of MRSA and CoNS‐related infections in HIV patients is a worldwide concern. To investigate novel, potent, and cost‐effective therapeutic approaches, the current study reports a simple and rapid synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using aqueous leaf extract of Alysicarpus monilifer and its antibacterial efficacy against multi‐drug‐resistant MRSA and CoNS isolates from HIV patients. The green‐synthesized AgNPs were characterized using ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray analysis, selected area electron diffraction pattern, X‐ray diffraction patterns, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Stable, well‐defined AgNPs, mostly spherical in shape with mean size of 15 ± 2 nm, were obtained within an hour. Moreover, green synthesized AgNPs revealed significant dose‐dependent antibacterial action against MRSA and CoNS isolates. This study concludes that biogenic AgNPs have demonstrated to be potent antibacterial agents in comparison with conventional antibiotics.

Current state and prospects of the phytosynthesized colloidal gold nanoparticles and their applications in cancer theranostics

The design, development, and biomedical applications of phytochemical-based green synthesis of biocompatible colloidal gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are becoming an emerging field due to several advantages (safer, eco-friendly, simple, fast, energy efficient, low-cost, and less toxic) over conventional chemical synthetic procedures. Biosynthesized colloidal gold nanoparticles are remarkably attractive in several biomedical applications including cancer theranostics due to small size, unusual physico-chemical properties, facile surface modification, high biocompatibility, and numerous other advantages. Of late, several researchers have investigated the biosynthesis and prospective applications (diagnostics, imaging, drug delivery, and cancer therapeutics) of AuNPs in health care and medicine. However, not a single review article is available in the literature that demonstrates the anti-cancer potential of biosynthesized colloidal AuNPs with detailed mechanistic study. In the present review article, we for the first time discuss the biointerface of colloidal AuNPs, plants, and cancer mainly (i) comprehensive mechanistic aspects of phytochemical-based synthesis of AuNPs; (ii) proposed anti-cancer mechanisms along with biomedical applications in diagnostics, imaging, and drug delivery; and (iii) key challenges for biogenic AuNPs as future cancer nanomedicine.