Utilization of conserved genic SSR markers for phylogenetic analysis of Nigerian Ipomoea species

Ipomoea, with enormous economic importance, is a large genus with species that are highly evolutionarily diverged. There is dearth of information regarding the phylogenetic relationships of the Nigerian species of the genus Ipomoea. It is therefore imperative to use contemporary taxonomic evidences to understand the diversity of its distribution in a region and provide enhanced delimitation of the taxa. In this study, 6 genic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers whose cross transferability have been established among the plant species were selected to appraise their level of polymorphism and used to study the phylogenetic relationships among 11 indigenous Nigerian Ipomoea species. The 6 SSR loci showed varying levels of polymorphism among the genotypes of all 11 species assessed and demonstrated 100% polymorphism when examined across the 11 species. A total of 55 alleles were produced. The PIC of the primers ranged between 0.2223 and 0.874 with an average value of 0.71885. Phylogenetic analysis clustered species into 3 major and 6 sub clusters wherein the species were clearly separated. This study has shown the effectiveness of developed genic SSR markers for establishing phylogenetic relationship in Ipomoea species

Temporal variation in pollination services to Cucurbita moschata is determined by bee gender and diversity

It has been proposed that species-rich insect communities and species turnover across landscapes enhance the pollination efficiency of crops through complementarity, where both the dominant and less abundant species contribute to reaching a yield threshold from pollination. Alternatively, fluctuations in the most abundant pollinator species, rather than changes in species richness, may drive temporal variation in pollination services. In this study, we used Cucurbita moschata as a model to investigate temporal variation in pollinator communities in a Mexican tropical dry forest region. We sampled floral visitors in the coastal region of Jalisco during the wet and dry seasons and determined the pollination efficiency of all floral visitors. Our results showed that there was temporal variation in the pollinator community and in the pollination efficiency of the main pollinators of Cucurbita moschata crops. In the wet season, native bees of the genus Peponapis were the most frequent and effective pollinators of C. moschata, whereas in the dry season, Peponapis bees were scarce and Apis mellifera became the most frequent floral visitor. Apis mellifera transfers smaller pollen loads than Peponapis, but it provides an effective pollination service in conjunction with other native bees during the dry season. There was also an interaction between flower gender and pollinator species, where A. mellifera had higher visitation rate to female C. moschata flowers, and Peponapis bees to staminate flowers. Mean visitation rate by Peponapis female bees was 17 times higher than visitation rate by male bees. This is the first report of a vis-à-vis relationship of pollinator gender with respect to plant gender in which plants of the genus Cucurbita that produce unisexual staminate and pistillate flowers are differentially visited by Peponapis male and female bees, where females are the main pollinators. Understanding the temporal variation in pollinator communities and the contribution of the different species of pollinators to the reproductive success of different crop species and varieties can be crucial to maintaining pollination services under the current global pollination crisis.Fil: Delgado-Carrillo, Oliverio. Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica; México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Martén-Rodríguez, Silvana. Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica; MéxicoFil: Ashworth, Lorena. Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica; México. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Aguilar, Ramiro. Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica; México. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Lopezaraiza-Mikel, Martha. Universidad Autonoma de Guerrero; MéxicoFil: Quesada, Mauricio. Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica; Méxic

Stimulation of Growth and Development of Celosia argentea L. by Crude Extracts of Senna alata (L.) Roxb

The effects of different concentrations of Senna alata crude water extracts on the germination, growth and flowering of Celosia argentea were studied. All concentrations of this extract induced a consistent decrease in absolute percentage and rate of germination, and inhibited radical elongation in Celosia argentea. Earliness in flowering and overall increase in height was obtained from seedlings sprayed with 75 %C and 100 % C crude water extracts. @JASE

Stimulation of Growth and Development of Celosia argentea L. by Crude Extracts of Senna alata (L.) Roxb

The effects of different concentrations of Senna alata crude water extracts on the germination, growth and flowering of Celosia argentea were studied. All concentrations of this extract induced a consistent decrease in absolute percentage and rate of germination, and inhibited radical elongation in Celosia argentea. Earliness in flowering and overall increase in height was obtained from seedlings sprayed with 750/0 C and 100% C crude water extracts. (Journal of Applied Sciences & Environmental Management: 2003 7(1): 9-14

Contribution of indigenous health care givers to the herbal managament of febrile illnesses in Rivers state, South-south, Nigeria

This study was carried out in two rural communities: Kaani and Boue, in Khana Local Government Area (LGA) and, in one urban community, Eleme, in Eleme LGA, all in Rivers State, South-South Nigeria. The investigations involved in-depth interviews conducted with 104 health care givers comprising indigenous healers: herbalists, sellers of herbal remedies and community elders. Information was obtained on types of fevers (febrile illnesses) treated, symptoms and methods of establishing illnesses, and traditional herbs used in the prevention and treatment of febrile illnesses. On types of febrile illnesses treated, respondents presented the following: malaria (78.8%), typhoid (23.1%), yellow fever (21.2%), high fever (19.2 %), convulsion (15.4%), and pregnancy fever (2.9%). Other illnesses treated were yellow eyes (4.8%) headache (11.5%), waist pain (14.4%), and joint pains, (8.7%). Respondents determined whether a person had fever by the following: physical examination (85.4 %), listening to patients' complaints (9.4 %), through divination and inspiration (9.4 %), while others (0.2 %) were not quite explicit on their methods of diagnoses. On the treatment of febrile illnesses, respondents used herb teas (88.5%), herb powders (42.3%), incantation (3.3 %), and performance of sacrifice (4.8%) or use of special fluids (27.9%). Majority of the respondents, in describing the best herbal medicines for the treatment of febrile illnesses, 62.5 % said that dogonyaro (Azadiracta indica) was the best medicine. Other responses were: lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratys, 51.9 %), mango (Mangifera indica) bark (29.8 %); lime (Citrus limetta) juice (30.0 %), paw paw (Carica papaya) leaf/fruit (20.2 %); guava (Psidium guajava) leaf (18.3 %), akpagbogoro (Salacia nitida), 7.7 %, plantain (Musa sapientum) sucker (6.7 %), Lipton tea (3.8 %) and scent leaf (Ocimum gratissimum), 1.9%. Keywords: Malaria, fever, febrile illness, herbal remedies, NigeriaWest African Journal of Pharmacology and Drug Research Vol. 21 (1&2) 2005: pp. 48-5