Evaluating the production potential of six Combretum species in the biomimetic synthesis of silver nanoparticles

Existing research has shown that plants are best suited for the ecofriendly green synthesis of nanoparticles. This study reported novel findings on the biomimetic synthesis of silver nanoparticles using the aqueous leaf extract of six medicinal plant species in the genus, Combretum (C. paniculatum, C. dolichopetalum, C. platypterum, C racemosum, C. bauchiense, and C. demeusei). It was concerned with the characterization, phytochemical screening, antimicrobial and cytological evaluation of the synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The novelty of this study lies in the creation of a nanoparticle production index (NPPI) of the species based on their crystalline sizes (in nm) and yield (in mg/l) of AgNPs. This NPPI can be defined as a measure of the quantity of particles produced with respect to the experimental species.  The study also investigated whether these species would produce similar results since they belong to the same genus. It was observed that the smaller the size of the nanoparticles, the higher the production index. The highest production index was observed in C. paniculatum (18.75 nm, 144. 6 mg/l), and the least in C. demeusei (0 nm, 6.3 mg/l). The AgNPs were characterized using various standard analytical techniques. The X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the species showed 2 theta values in the 40° range, all corresponding to miller indices of (200). The synthesized AgNPs showed varying but significant antimicrobial activities. Also, majority of the species showed a high NPPI. The study heralds a system, “phytonanotaxonomy”, the classification of plants of the same taxa based on their NPPI

Domestication Potential of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae): Searching for Diversity in South Cameroon

Seeds and bark of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae) are popular products in West and Central Africa. Despite the tree's economic and cultural importance, little is known about its phenotypic and genotypic variation. This study characterised the morphological and genetic diversity of G. kola in South Cameroon, searching for traits and populations that might be used for domestication. Morphological assessment and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were applied to characterise diversity among geographic populations from Central and South regions, and between managed and wild trees. AFLP-SURV and analysis of molecular variance results indicated that a major part of genetic diversity is harboured within populations rather than between them. Bayesian analysis, principal component analysis and t-SNE identified three clusters where Ebolowa emerged as the transition population combining features from both regions. Trees from the South demonstrated a higher incidence of domestication-related traits, showing higher genetic diversity compared to the Central region. This suggests that individuals from the South might be more suitable for selection as "elite trees" in future breeding strategies for the species. No significant differences in phenotype and genotype were revealed between wild and managed populations, suggesting G. kola is still in the early stages of its domestication process

Effect of carbohydrate source on the in vitro germination of Elaeis guineensis Jacq. zygotic embryos on two basal media

In this study, seven carbohydrates, namely, glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, maltose, raffinose and starch were screened for the most suitable carbon source for the in vitro culture of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq. var. tenera) zygotic embryos on the basal media of Murashige and Skoog (MS) (1962) and Eeuwen (Y3) (1976). The embryos were excised aseptically and cultured on both media containing the different carbohydrates. Results obtained showed that while both media supported in vitro plantlet regeneration from the embryo explants, Y3 medium was significantly superior to MS medium (P=0.05) in length of root and shoot of plantlets produced. Sucrose was also significantly (P=0.05) superior to glucose and maltose while starch, raffinose, fructose and galactose had the least value in all growth parameters studied. In addition, more uniform plantlets were produced in Y3 media in which sucrose served as carbon source relative to the other six carbon sources tested. The protocol reported here has potential for speeding up germination process within a short period of time for oil palm.Keywords: Elaeis guineensis, Eeuwen (Y3) medium, Murashige and Skoog (MS) (1962) medium, embryo explants, carbohydrate

Domestication Potential of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae): Searching for Diversity in South Cameroon

Seeds and bark of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae) are popular products in West and Central Africa. Despite the tree’s economic and cultural importance, little is known about its phenotypic and genotypic variation. This study characterised the morphological and genetic diversity of G. kola in South Cameroon, searching for traits and populations that might be used for domestication. Morphological assessment and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were applied to characterise diversity among geographic populations from Central and South regions, and between managed and wild trees. AFLP-SURV and analysis of molecular variance results indicated that a major part of genetic diversity is harboured within populations rather than between them. Bayesian analysis, principal component analysis and t-SNE identified three clusters where Ebolowa emerged as the transition population combining features from both regions. Trees from the South demonstrated a higher incidence of domestication-related traits, showing higher genetic diversity compared to the Central region. This suggests that individuals from the South might be more suitable for selection as “elite trees” in future breeding strategies for the species. No significant differences in phenotype and genotype were revealed between wild and managed populations, suggesting G. kola is still in the early stages of its domestication process

Correction: Maňourová et al. Domestication Potential of <i>Garcinia kola</i> Heckel (Clusiaceae): Searching for Diversity in South Cameroon. <i>Plants</i> 2023, <i>12</i>, 742

The original version on the publication [...

Domestication Potential of <i>Garcinia kola</i> Heckel (Clusiaceae): Searching for Diversity in South Cameroon

Seeds and bark of Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae) are popular products in West and Central Africa. Despite the tree’s economic and cultural importance, little is known about its phenotypic and genotypic variation. This study characterised the morphological and genetic diversity of G. kola in South Cameroon, searching for traits and populations that might be used for domestication. Morphological assessment and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were applied to characterise diversity among geographic populations from Central and South regions, and between managed and wild trees. AFLP-SURV and analysis of molecular variance results indicated that a major part of genetic diversity is harboured within populations rather than between them. Bayesian analysis, principal component analysis and t-SNE identified three clusters where Ebolowa emerged as the transition population combining features from both regions. Trees from the South demonstrated a higher incidence of domestication-related traits, showing higher genetic diversity compared to the Central region. This suggests that individuals from the South might be more suitable for selection as “elite trees” in future breeding strategies for the species. No significant differences in phenotype and genotype were revealed between wild and managed populations, suggesting G. kola is still in the early stages of its domestication process