Response of locust bean tree Parkia biglobosa (Jacq) Benth. explant to growth promoters for micropropagation

Parkia biglobosa, a leguminous savanna species, is a threatened species in some West African countries especially Nigeria, due to deforestation and unsustainable exploitation. To conserve this economically important genetic resource, attempt on its micropropagation was carried out using nodal cuttings of the young stem as the explants. The explants were thoroughly surface sterilized, disinfected and cultured in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium. About three weeks after inoculation, 95% sprouting was recorded. The new spouts were subcultured into MS medium fortified with varied concentrations (0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.00 mg/L) of benzylaminopurine (BAP) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and then transferred to the growth chamber at 27±1oC. The 0.75 mg/L of BAP produced highest shoot elongation of 3.60 cm while 1.0 mg/L caused shrinkage of the explants in relation to the control (0.00 mg/L concentration). Attempt to root the plantlets with the above-stated concentrations of IBA led to callogenesis and the callus mass increased with the increasing concentration of IBA.Keywords: callus induction, explant, micropropagation, Parkia biglobos

Exploring the potentials of microalgae as an alternative source of renewable energy

The world’s energy needs highly depend on fossil fuels, which were formed over several million centuries. The price of petroleum increases daily and unfortunately, its exploitation is currently at an alarming rate for such essential non-renewable energy. Also, the recent clamour for safe and cheap alternative means of energy generation to mitigate global warming and its detrimental effects is drawing attention towards biofuel production to supplement and possibly, substitute fossil fuels. To this effect, many plant materials have been tested and employed in the past decades for biofuel production. However, a good number of plants used in biofuel production as feedstock are crop plants, which have more economic value as food. Therefore, it is imperative to explore the possibility of biofuel production from non-food sources, hence, we examine the potential of microalgae as an alternative source of renewable energy. Microalgae are of great interest in biofuel production for its high productivity, cosmopolitan nature, easy culturing on waters and land, and noncompeting with conventional agriculture for resources. In view of these, this article focuses on the potentials of microalgae in biofuel production and mitigation of environmental pollution by its considerably low greenhouse gas emissions

Comparative Phytonutrients Analysis and Proximate Constituents of few Accessions of Nigerian and Indian Eggplant (Solanum species)

Vegetable plants contain appreciable amount of bioactive components that may provide desirable well-being merits beyond primary nutrition. It also provide major role in preventing numerous chronic diseases. Therefore, this study compared the morphological, nutritional and phytonutrients parameters of some accessions of Nigerian and Indian Eggplants in a Completely Randomized design model. The Nigerian accessions are namely: NG/MR/MAY/09/007; NGB01309 and NHGB/09/136 collected from NACGRAB, Ibadan, Nigeria while the Indian accessions are NISHA improved and PINK collected from Authorized Agency, India. The results revealed a significant difference in the germination percentage with Indian species recorded between 80 and 90% as against between 50 and 70% noted for Nigerian species. Average plant height at 90 days for India samples was 33cm, 30cm for Nisha and Pink respectively while Nigerian samples was significantly high in height (48.3cm, 21cm and 36.3cm for NG/MR/MAY/09/007, NGB01309 and NHGB/09/136 respectively). With the exception of NGB01309 other Nigerians samples were superior (P<0.05) to the Indian sample. The phytochemicals of the leaves and fruits (Flavonoid, Cardiac glycosides, Alkaloids, Saponins, Tannins and Phytates) reported herein was greater in all Nigerian samples. Nutritionally, the Indian samples were superior in all the parameters (% Starch, Protein and Crude fibre) examined. The availability of more phytonutrients in Nigerian accession relates to more and better prevention of cardiovascular, stroke, Alzheimer and cancer diseases as well as ageing. In conclusion the accessions showed their potentials as a good source for use as nutraceuticals so as to promote general health, control symptoms and check malignant diseases. Keywords: Solanum species, phytochemicals, morphology, nutritional valu

Diversity level of genomic microsatellite among cultivated genotypes of Digitaria species in Nigeria

Acha ( Digitaria exilis Kipps. and D. iburua Stapf.) are valuable indigenous food crops in West Africa. Despite several economic potentials of this crop, little or no attention is paid to its germplasm evaluation and improvement. In this study, we assessed genetic diversity and relationship among genotypes of cultivated acha in Nigeria, using Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers for the first time. Genomic DNA were extracted from the genotypes and we performed fragment amplification by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). A total of 95 loci consisting of 790 bands were amplified by 13 ISSR primers, out of which 53.37% were polymorphic. Loci amplification per primer ranged from 5-10, with an average of 7.30 loci per primer. Eight of the primers had above 50% polymorphism. Cluster analysis separated the genotypes into two major groups; a group consisting of two D. exilis genotypes and the other comprising a mixture of genotypes. The D. exilis in the latter group were distant members and was only similar at 0.72 similarity index. The polymorphism we obtained in the present study showed that the ISSR markers are effective for assessment of genetic diversity of the genotypes. Clustering of D. exilis and D. iburua together suggests a common progenitor but could have been separated by geographical isolation mechanism.Les fonios ( Digitaria exilis Kipps. et D. iburua Stapf) sont des cultures alimentaires tr\ue8s importantes en Afrique de l\u2019Ouest. Malgr\ue9 les diff\ue9rentes potentialit\ue9s \ue9conomiques de cette culture, tr\ue8s peu ou aucune attention n\u2019est port\ue9e sur l\u2019\ue9valuation et l\u2019am\ue9lioration de son germplasm. Dans cette \ue9tude, nous avions \ue9valu\ue9 la diversit\ue9 g\ue9n\ue9tique et la relation entre les g\ue9notypes cultiv\ue9s du fonio au Nig\ue9ria, en utilisant les markers Inter-Simple SequenceRepeat (IISSR) pour la premi\ue8re fois. Les ADN g\ue9nomiques \ue9taient extraits des g\ue9notypes et nous avions utilis\ue9 la technologie de R\ue9action en Cha\ueene de la Polym\ue9rase (PCR). Un total de 95 loci contenant 790 bands \ue9taient amplifi\ue9es par 13 amorces d\u2019ISSR, sur lesquelles 53,37% \ue9taient polymorphiques. L\u2019amplification des loci par amorces variait de 5 \ue0 10, avec une moyenne de 7.30 loci per amorce. Huit des amorces ont plus de 50% de polymorphisme. L\u2019analyse typologique a s\ue9par\ue9 les g\ue9notypes en deux grands groupes\ua0; un groupe comportant deux g\ue9notypes de D. exilis et les autres comprennent un m\ue9lange de g\ue9notypes. Les D. exilis dans le dernier groupe \ue9taient membres distants et \ue9taient le seul similaire \ue0 0,72 d\u2019indice de similarit\ue9. Le polymorphisme que nous avons obtenu dans cette \ue9tude a montr\ue9 que les markers ISSR sont efficaces pour l\u2019\ue9valuation de la diversit\ue9 g\ue9n\ue9tique des g\ue9notypes. Le regroupement de D. exilis et D. iburua ensemble sugg\ue8re un parent commun mais pourrait \ueatre s\ue9par\ue9 par le m\ue9canisme d\u2019isolement g\ue9ographique

Heavy Metal Uptake Responses in Plants Grown on Crude Oil-Polluted Soils as Prospects for Phytoremediation

The demand and utilization of petroleum products have re-energized its exploration and exploitation globally and this upsurge in world production, refining and distribution of petroleum products have brought with it various problems of environmental pollution, which have effects on the ecosystems. Twenty (24) polyethylene pots each containing 7 kg of sandy loam soil mixed with 50 ml of crude oil, were arranged in the Botanical garden of the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, to assess their ability to phytoextract heavy metals in Crude oil-polluted soil. Seeds of Amaranthus hybridus L., Tithonia diversifolia, Abelmoschus esculentus L. and Zea mays were sown in polyethylene containers containing 7 kg of contaminated or Control soil. The containers were arranged in a complete randomized design. Plants were left to grow for two months with regular watering. Plants were harvested, separated into roots and shoots and oven-dried to constant weight. The experimental plants have been able to reduce the concentration of Cu in both soils by about 45% to 85%, Cr in the soil by 92.08% to 96.72%, as the residual concentration varied between 66.00 mg/kg and 99.00 mg/kg, Cd in the soil was reduced to 4.00 mg/kg and 17 mg/kg which represented 96.8% and 86.4% reduction. Tithonia had the highest Pb reduction in crude oilpolluted soil. Ni concentration was reduced by 85.84% by Tithonia planted in crude oil-polluted soil, 94.59% by Amaranthus hybridus planted in Control soil. These show that all the test plants were good phytoextractors of the metals. Keywords: Heavy metals, phytoremediation, Amaranthus hybridus L., Tithonia diversifolia, Abelmoschus esculentus L, Zea may