Inoculation of Ceratonia siliqua L. with native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi mixture improves seedling establishment under greenhouse conditions

The potential benefits of inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi were investigated on carob tree Ceratonia siliqua, a Mediterranean legume in Morocco. The parameters under study were the effect of an inoculation on growth, mineral nutrition and roots mycorrhizal colonization of the plant under nursery conditions. C. siliqua growth was measured after six months of culture in plastic bags arranged in a randomised complete block under greenhouse conditions. Fungal inoculation consisted of a mixture of native AM fungi propagated on Zea mays roots. Results show that the fungal symbionts were effective to improve the growth of C. siliqua, confirming the requirement of mycorrhizal symbiosis for the successful establishment of C. siliqua in a degraded soil. The approach used with indigenous AM fungi complex isolated under C. siliqua appeared to be effective in promoting growth and nutrition of C. siliqua. After 6 months of culturing in nursery conditions, height, shoot and root biomass, total biomass, phosphorus and nitrogen foliar contents of the plants inoculated with native AM fungi were significantly higher than in the control. Glomus spores were extracted from the soil under C. siliqua and were observed on permanent slides under a microscope connected to a computer with digital image analysis software. Seven spore morphotypes were detected under C. silqua in the Ourika Valley, Morocco. Five Glomus species were classified as Glomus aggregatum, Glomus intraradices and Glomus constrictum, whereas, two other Glomus species were not identified. The analysis of this spore community revealed the presence of two other species belonging to Gigaspora genera. The use of a mixture of native AM fungi as fungal inoculum improves clearly growth, nutrition and roots colonization of C. siliqua seedling.Key words: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, diversity, growth, soil microbial activity, Ceratonia siliqua

Метод комплексной экспертной оценки при проектировании сложных технических систем

Предложен метод количественной обработки экспертных оценок и метрических характеристик при проектировании сложных технических систем, обеспечивающий эффективное решение задачи оценивания, упорядочения и выбора за счет комплексного использования различных методов количественной оценки качества альтернативных вариантов.Запропонований метод кількісної обробки експертних оцінок і метричних характеристик при проектуванні складних технічних систем, що забезпечує ефективне рішення задачі оцінювання, впорядкування і вибору за рахунок комплексного використання різних методів кількісної оцінки якості альтернативних варіантів.A new method of quantitative treatment of expert estimations and metrical descriptions is offered at planning of the difficult technical systems, providing the effective decision of task of evaluation, organization and choice, due to the complex use, different methods of quantitative estimation of quality of alternative variants

Advances in genotyping microsatellite markers through sequencing and consequences of scoring methods for Ceratonia siliqua (Leguminosae)

Premise of the Study: Simple sequence repeat (SSR) or microsatellite markers have been used in a broad range of studies mostly scoring alleles on the basis of amplicon size as a proxy for the number of repeat units of an SSR motif. However, additional sources of variation within the SSR or in the flanking regions have largely remained undetected. Methods: In this study, we implemented a next-generation sequencing–based genotyping approach in a newly characterized set of 18 nuclear SSR markers for the carob tree, Ceratonia siliqua. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of three different methods of scoring molecular variation present within microsatellite markers on the genetic diversity and structure results. Results: The analysis of the sequences of 77 multilocus genotypes from four populations revealed SSR variation and additional sources of polymorphism in 87% of the loci analyzed (42 single-nucleotide polymorphisms and five insertion/deletion polymorphisms), as well as divergent paralog copies in two loci. Ignoring sequence variation under standard amplicon size genotyping resulted in incorrect identification of 69% of the alleles, with important effects on the genetic diversity and structure estimates. Discussion: Next-generation sequencing allows the detection and scoring of SSRs, single-nucleotide polymorphisms, and insertion/deletion polymorphisms to increase the resolution of population genetic studies.This research is part of the DYNAMIC project funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR‐14‐CE02‐0016). J.V. benefited from a postdoctoral fellowship funded by DYNAMIC (ANR‐14‐CE02‐0016) and a Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Individual Fellowship (704464‐YAMNOMICS‐MSCA‐IF‐EF‐ST)

Insight into biological activities of chemically characterized extract from Marrubium vulgare L. in vitro, in vivo and in silico approaches

Aqueous extracts of Marrubium vulgare L. (M. vulgare) are widely used in traditional medicine for their therapeutic effects. Hence, this study aims to evaluate in vitro, in vivo, and in silico the biological activities of M. vulgare aqueous extract to further support their traditional use. Qualitative phytochemical tests of M. vulgare extracts showed the presence of primary and secondary metabolites, while quantitative analyses recorded revealed the contents of total phenols, flavonoids, and tannins, with values of 488.432 ± 7.825 mg/EAG gallic acid extract/g, 25.5326 ± 1.317 mg/EQ Quercetin extract/g and 23.966 ± 0.187 mg/EC catechin extract/g, respectively. Characterization of the phytochemical constituents of the extract revealed the presence of catechin and maleic acid as the most abundant while the evaluation of the antioxidant power revealed that the extract possesses significant antioxidant capacity, antimitotic potential, and antimicrobial properties against Streptococcus agalactiae and Staphylococcus epidermidis among many others. The antidiabetic activity of the extract showed a potent antihyperglycemic effect and a significant modulation of the pancreatic α-amylase activity as revealed by both in vitro and in vivo analysis, while an in silico evaluation showed that chemicals in the studied extract exhibited the aforementioned activities by targeting 1XO2 antimitotic protein, W93 antidiabetic protein and 1AJ6 antimicrobial protein, which revealed them as worthy of exploration in drug discovery odyssey. Conclusively, the result of this study demonstrates the numerous biological activities of M. vulgare and gives credence to their folkloric and traditional usage