Evaluation of Nutritional, Phytochemical, and Mineral Composition of Selected Medicinal Plants for Therapeutic Uses from Cold Desert of Western Himalaya

The aim of this study was to determine the elemental and nutritive values of leaf parts of 10 selected wild medicinal plants, Acer pictum, Acer caecium, Betula utilis, Oxalis corniculata, Euphorbia pilosa, Heracleum lanatum, Urtica dioica, Berberis lycium, Berberis asiaticaand, and Quercus ilex, collected from the high hills of the Chitkul range in district Kinnaur, Western Himalaya. The nutritional characteristics of medicinal plant species were analyzed by using muffle furnace and micro-Kjeldahl methods, and the mineral content in plants was analyzed through atomic absorption spectrometry. The highest percentage of used value was reported in Betula utilis (0.42) and the lowest in Quercus ilex (0.17). In this study, it was found that new generations are not much interested in traditional knowledge of ethnomedicinal plants due to modernization in society. Therefore, there is an urgent need to document ethnomedicinal plants along with their phytochemical and minerals analysis in study sites. It was found that rural people in western Himalaya are dependent on wild medicinal plants, and certain steps must be taken to conserve these plants from extinction in the cold desert of Himalayan region. They are an alternative source of medicine because they contain saponin, alkaloid, and flavonoid etc. as well as minerals. The leaves used for analysis possesses good mineral content, such as Na, N, K, P, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Ca, Mg, and S. Hence, in the current study it was observed that medicinal plants are not only used for therapeutic purposes, but they can also be used as nutritional supplements

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Bioactives and Its Role in Alleviating Oral Pathologies

Garlic (Allium sativa L.) is a bulbous flowering plant belongs to the family of Amaryllidaceae and is a predominant horticultural crop originating from central Asia. Garlic and its products are chiefly used for culinary and therapeutic purposes in many countries. Bulbs of raw garlic have been investigated for their role in oral health, which are ascribed to a myriad of biologically active compounds such as alliin, allicin, methiin, S-allylcysteine (SAC), diallyl sulfide (DAS), S-ally-mercapto cysteine (SAMC), diallyl disulphide (DADS), diallyl trisulfide (DATS) and methyl allyl disulphide. A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA statement. Scopus, PubMed, Clinicaltrials.gov, and Science direct databases were searched between 12 April 2021 to 4 September 2021. A total of 148 studies were included and the qualitative synthesis phytochemical profile of GE, biological activities, therapeutic applications of garlic extract (GE) in oral health care system, and its mechanism of action in curing various oral pathologies have been discussed. Furthermore, the safety of incorporation of GE as food supplements is also critically discussed. To conclude, GE could conceivably make a treatment recourse for patients suffering from diverse oral diseases

Analysis of Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia L.) Using Morphological and SSR Markers

The present investigation was carried out using 51 diverse bitter gourd accessions as material for studying genetic diversity and relatedness using morphological and SSR markers. A wide variation was observed for morphological traits like the number of days to the first female flower anthesis (37.33–60.67), the number of days to the first fruit harvest (47.67–72.00), the number of fruits/plant (12.00–46.67), fruit length (5.00–22.23 cm), fruit diameter (1.05–6.38 cm), average fruit weight (20.71–77.67 g) and yield per plant (513.3–1976 g). Cluster analysis for 10 quantitative traits grouped the 51 accessions into 6 clusters. Out of 61 SSR primers screened, 30 were polymorphic and highly informative as a means to differentiate these accessions. Based on genotyping, a high level of genetic diversity was observed, with a total of 99 alleles. The polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.038 for marker BG_SSR-8 to 0.721 for S-24, with an average of 0.429. The numbers of alleles ranged from 2 to 5, with an average of 3.3 alleles per locus. Gene diversity ranged from 0.04 for BG_SSR-8 to 0.76 for S-24, showing a wide variation among 51 accessions. The UPGMA cluster analysis grouped these accessions into 3 major clusters. Cluster I comprised 4 small, fruited accessions that are commercially cultivated in central and eastern India. Cluster II comprised 35 medium- to long-sized fruited accessions, which made up an abundant and diverse group. Cluster III comprised 11 long and extra-long fruited accessions. The polymorphic SSR markers of the study will be highly useful in genetic fingerprinting and mapping, and for association analysis in Momordica regarding several economic traits

Psychrotolerant plant-associated bacteria can enhance cold tolerance in crop plants

Climate change is causing warmer winter and spring periods with increased frequency of chilling and frost damage on crop plants. Psychrotolerant plant-associated bacteria could improve plant tolerance to cold stress. This work aims to identify psychrotolerant bacteria associated with cold-adapted plants and to understand mechanisms responsible for cold tolerance in crops. The bacterial community structure associated with alpine and Arctic plants was characterized by metataxonomic analyses and taxa associated with cold tolerance were highlighted. Psychrotolerant bacterial endophytes collected from cold-adapted plants improved the shoot growth of tomato seedlings under chilling stress and limited frost damage on apple and strawberry leaves. Bacterium-inoculated plants showed enhanced metabolic changes in response to chilling exposure and recovery, suggesting intimate interactions between psychrotolerant bacteria and the plant host

Whole-Exome Sequencing Reveals Migraine-Associated Novel Functional Variants in Arab Ancestry Females: A Pilot Study

Migraine, as the seventh most disabling neurological disease with 26.9% prevalence in Saudi females, lacks studies on identifying associated genes and pathways with migraines in the Arab population. This case control study aims to identify the migraine-associated novel genes and risk variants. More than 1900 Arab ancestry young female college students were screened: 103 fulfilled the ICHD-3 criteria for migraine and 20 cases confirmed in the neurology clinic were included for the study with age-matched healthy controls. DNA from blood samples were subjected to paired-end whole-exome sequencing. After quality control, 3365343 missense, frameshift, missense splice region variants and insertion–deletion (indels) polymorphisms were tested for association with migraine. Significant variants were validated using Sanger sequencing. A total of 17 (p-value 9.091 × 10−05) functional variants in 12 genes (RETNLB, SCAI, ADH4, ESPL1, CPT2, FLG, PPP4R1, SERPINB5, ZNF66, ETAA1, EXO1 and CPA6) were associated with higher migraine risk, including a stop-gained frameshift (-13-14*SX) variant in the gene RETNLB (rs5851607; p-value 3.446 × 10−06). Gene analysis revealed that half of the significant novel migraine risk genes were expressed in the temporal lobe (p-value 0.0058) of the cerebral cortex. This is the first study exploring the migraine risk of 17 functional variants in 12 genes among Saudi female migraineurs of Arab ancestry using whole-exome sequencing. Half of the significant genes were expressed in the temporal lobe, which expands migraine pathophysiology and early identification using biomarkers for research possibilities on personalised genetics