Analysis of the antioxidant activity and caffeine content of Barbula indica (Hook.) Spreng. (Bryophyta; Pottiaceae)

The current research aims to investigate the phytochemical content of Barbula indica different solvents, its antioxidant properties and quantification of the caffeine content in a methanolic extract by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC). The total alkaloid content was higher in the methanolic extract, 32.06±0.28 mg/g. The antioxidant properties were evaluated by using DPPH and NOSA; the IC50 values of DPPH and NOSA were 61.09±1.26 µg/mL and 58.04±0.46 µg/mL, respectively. TLC and HPTLC are advanced standardization procedures that provide quantitative and semi-quantitative data about the active compound present in a sample. The development of such a biochemical fingerprint can be used to differentiate the species and adulterants through the analysis of phytochemical content and thus can serve as biochemical markers in pharmacological research and studies related to plant systematics

Mining of microsatellites in mitochondrial genomes of order Hypnales (Bryopsida)

Microsatellites or SSRs are the markers of selection due to their reproducibility, degree of polymorphism, distribution throughout the genome and co-dominant nature. Microsatellites are used primarily to study the genetic variability in various species and marker aided selection. Since microsatellites can be readily amplified by PCR, they have been utilized most extensively. To reduce time and cost to a great extent, the computational approach for identifying and developing microsatellite markers by mining nucleotide sequences is preferred over the conventional methods. In the present analysis, an in-silico method was used to detect microsatellites effectively in mitochondrial genomes of Anomodon rugelii (Müll. Hal.) Keissl., Anomodon attenuatus (Hedw.) Hueb., Climacium americanum (Renauld & Cardot) Kindberg, and Hypnum imponens Hedw. (Bryopsida; Hypnales). A total of 101 perfect microsatellites were mined with an average density of 1 microsatellite/4.21 kb. The hexa-nucleotide repeats were not detected in mitochondrial genomes of studied taxa. Di-nucleotides were seen to be the most frequent repeats followed by tetra-nucleotides. The identified microsatellites were also checked for variability in length between species. The mined microsatellites will be used for gene tagging, species identification and population genetic studies

Marchantia polymorpha L.: An Emerging Model Plant System to Study Contemporary Plant Biology – A Review

The liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha L., one of the species of first land plants is a promising model plant system for the analysis of diverse facets of contemporary plant biology. The unique characteristics of the plant such as dominant haploid gametophytic generation enables the isolation and disruption of mutant for genetic analysis, rapid sexual and asexual reproduction can be induced under controlled conditions which leads to the formation of genetically homogenous lines and also the complete organelle genome sequence of chloroplast and mitochondria has been established. In addition, the ongoing whole genome sequencing of M. polymorpha by the community sequencing plan at the Joint Genome Institute specifies the conservation of several mechanisms of biological science that are instituted in other terrestrial plants in a smaller extent of intricacy. Thus, with the development of several feasible and reliable genetic transformation strategies, in vitro cell culture, gene silencing, targeted gene modification and its critical evolutionary position make this plant as a potential model plant to study evolutionary and developmental biology in detail

Peat moss: A hyper-sorbent for oil spill cleanup - a review

Peat moss, a well-known hyper-sorbent is now gaining attention for its utilization in oil-spill cleanup techniques because of its cost-effectiveness, biodegradability and relatively high oil absorption capacities. This review mainly emphasis on the characteristic features of the peat moss such as high porosity and large surface area which make it an efficient natural sorbent material for cleaning up oil spills. There are several products which have been developed from the peat moss and are commercially available in the market for oil spill cleanup

Evaluation of Phytochemicals, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activity of Hyophila involuta (Hook.) Jaeg. and Entodon plicatus C.Muell. (Bryophyta) from Rajasthan, India

Abstract. Plants are the ultimate source of drugs against many communicable diseases since time immemorial. Multitudinous drugs have been obtained from countless plant species. However, invariably angiosperms were the preferred choice of most of the workers and other plant groups remain somewhat unexplored in this direction. Hence, the aim of the present study was to examine the phytochemicals, antioxidant and antibacterial activity of two such neglected mosses (bryophyta), Hyophila involuta (Hook.) Jaeg. and Entodon plicatus C. Muell. (Bryopsida). In preluded phytochemical analysis cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, anthroquinone, terpenoids, tannins, phenolic, proteins, fats and fixed oils were observed by using standard tests. It was found that E. plicatus contains more amount of phytochemicals than H. involuta. The antioxidant activity of both the plants was also determined according to standard protocols and appealing results were found. Comparative analysis was done for the activity of Catalase, Peroxidase, Ascorbate peroxidase, Glutathione reductase and Superoxide dismutase and interesting observations were made. Antimicrobial activity of methanolic extracts of both the plants was evaluated against Bacillus subtilis, B. cereus and Escherichia coli by using the Agar well diffusion method. Extract of H. involuta showed a greater inhibitory activity than Entodon plicatus. Bacillus spp. (gram+ve) were found more affected than E. coli (gram-ve)

Resurrection plants: Imperative resources in developing strategies to drought and desiccation pressure

Resurrection plants are the vital assets of nature that have amazing mechanism to restrict the negative impacts of drought or desiccation stress by diminishing cell damage. These surprising plants are in minority on this planet but have the potential to serve as a powerful resource for developing new strategies for major crop plants that are unable to adapt well to the arid climate. In this review, an attempt is made to highlight the potential aspects of these resurrection plants especially the genetic engineering facet which has been done to develop drought tolerance in economically important plants

Responses of Rhizophora mangle L. to effluents from textile Industry in Kano, Nigeria

Polluted water discharge sourced from industrial effluent has emerge a distressing happening owing to its harmful effects on health, lives and safety of organisms. The extent of this unpleasant situation by and large remains unidentified. Thus, in the present study, the toxic effects of effluents from textile are analyzed through Rhizophora mangle L., by leaving it to polluted surface water by effluent from the Challawa stream.  An observation on the effects of textile effluent polluted water was analyzed on the growth, chlorophyll content, heavy metal quantification and membrane integrity in R. mangle was carried out. Seedlings raised from viviparous seeds (propagules) were grown in 50L effluent water from textile industry for 4 weeks.  Growth, physiological, biochemical parameters as well as quantification analysis of heavy metals of the seedlings were analysed immediately after the treatment period. The results proved that R. mangle seedlings were sensitive to metal toxicity. The treatment significantly reduced the growth index and chlorophyll contents evaluated. MDA content, catalase enzyme and heavy metal content (Fe, Ni and Cu) significantly increase when plants were grown in effluent water indicating ROS production. Therefore, this result implies that metals present in the textile effluent induce oxidative stress and membrane damage in R. mangle

Antioxidant response of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni (Angiosperms; Asteraceae) during developing phase of suspension cell culture

The present study established a protocol for suspension cell culture of Stevia rebaudiana and demonstrates the antioxidant enzymes activity during various developing phase of it. Higher concentration of Auxin and Cytokines (3.0 mg L-1 BAP and 4.0 mg L-1 NAA) with Ascorbic acid (1 mg L-1) considered as highly suitable growth regulator combination for growth and development of Stevia rebaudiana suspension culture. Maximum concentration of stevioside (~70 mg G-1 of dry weight of tissue) was obtained on 14th day (exponential phase) which got reduced on 28th day (apoptotic phase) upto ~21 mg G-1 of dry weight of tissue. The amount of MDA reduced initially upto stationary growth phase which showed the adaptation of suspension cells in the culture medium and culture environment. Reduction of Chlorophyll showed the enhancing phenolic content with progressive culture period, while enhanced amount of proline was indicating the generation of defense mechanism with depletion of nutrient (with increased culture duration). The amount of SOD got enhanced with elevating the concentration of H2O2 as well. The concentration of CAT enhanced upto stationary growth phase of suspension cell while APX concentration showed continuous inhibition up to apoptotic phase from exponential phase

Bryology in India - Retrospect and Prospects

Bryology in India has seen remarkable progress starting with Kashyaps’ pioneering work, as reflected in its greatly improved multi-faceted research. This article summarizes some important developments in Indian bryology. Attention is drawn to the negligence of taxonomy in general and of the lower groups of plants in particular studies on bryophytes

Distribution and predictors associated with the use of breast cancer screening services among women in 14 low-resource countries

Abstract Background: Breast cancer is one of the leading public health problem globally, especially in low-resource countries (LRCs). Breast cancer screening (BCS) services are an effective strategy for early determining of breast cancer. Hence, it is imperative to understand the utilisation of BCS services and their correlated predictors in LRCs. This study aims to determine the distribution of predictors that significantly influence the utilisation of BCS services among women in LRCs