Taxonomic assessment of the Oxytropis species from South-East of Kazakhstan

The genus Oxytropis DC. is one of the largest genera in the Fabaceae family. The most plant species belonging to the Oxytropis genus have an important medicinal value. Currently the botanical taxonomy of the genus is complicated due to existence of many subgenera and sections that developed based on morphological traits. Also, in the literature there is luck of knowledge on phylogeny of Oxytropis species from Central Asian region. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was the clarification of taxonomic relationship of two Oxytropis species from SouthEast of Kazakhstan (O. almaatensis Bajt. and O. glabra DC.). The study was based on using phylogenetic analysis and haplotype network assessment based on sequences ITS (internal transcribed spacers), which is DNA marker of nuclear genome. Plant materials of O. almaatensis were collected from 2 populations in two neighboring Gorges in Trans Ili Alatau Mountains, O. glabra plant material was obtained from Herbarium of the Department of Biodiversity and Bioresources, al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Based on DNA sequences of ITS the phylogenetic and network relationships were investigated by using Neighbor Joining and Median Joining methods, respectively. The nucleotide sequences of ITS of O. almaatensis and O. glabra were aligned with sequences of 29 Oxytropis references found in the NCBI database. Out of the 601 aligned positions of ITS 33 (5.6 %) sites were found to be polymorphic nucleotides and used in evaluation of the genetic relationship of species. Constructed MJ haplotype network showed a very high congruence with the NJ phylogenetic tree. MJ network provided valuable additional hints in clarification of the taxonomic relationship among species involved in the analysis. In this study phylogenetic NJ tree and MJ network based on the variation of ITS sequences confirmed the monophyletic origin of the genus. The ITS haplotype network suggested that O. glabra is very diverse species and possibly played important role in the evolutionary processes of the genus in Central Asian region. The study is additional contribution in the molecular taxonomy of complex Oxytropis genus

Conspectus of the genus <i>Juniperus</i> L. growing in Kazakhstan

Background. The genus Juniperus L. is the most numerous in the family Cupressaceae Bartl. and includes about 75 species. There are from 7 to 10 species of this genus in Kazakhstan. All types of juniper are widely used in folk medicine and play an important ecological role. The purpose of our work was to study the current status, systematics and distribution of juniper species. This will help to clarify and expand the information on the current location of Juniperus species in Kazakhstan and will be used in the future to study intra- and interspecific genetic diversity of the genus.Materials and methods. To study the distribution and make a conspectus of the Juniperus spp. growing in Kazakhstan, floristic reports, materials of plant explorations and the herbarium collections for the period from 1890 to 2021 obtained from the herbarium of the Institute of Botany and Phytointroduction (AA), herbarium materials of the Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology as well as the digital herbarium of the Lomonosov Moscow State University – Depository of Living Systems “Noah’s Ark” (MW) were analyzed.Results. As a result of the study, 630 herbarium sheets were processed and 70 locations of 7 juniper species growing in Kazakhstan belonging to 2 sections – Juniperus (=Oxycedrus Endl.) and Sabina Endl. – were identified. A conspectus of 7 juniper species identified during the analysis of the three above-mentioned herbarium collections was made. The main division of species is observed in the context of administrative and floristic regions of Kazakhstan. The greatest species concentration occurs in Southern, South-Eastern and Eastern Kazakhstan. The results of the study contribute to the inventory and search for previously forgotten places of growth for the genus Juniperus. Besides, the continuation of comprehensive botanical and molecular genetic studies on junipers will help to examine and preserve the genetic diversity of the species and conserve forest bioresources

Innate Immunomodulatory Activity of Cedrol, a Component of Essential Oils Isolated from Juniperus Species

Little is known about the immunomodulatory activity of essential oils isolated from Juniperus species. Thus, we isolated essential oils from the cones and leaves of eight juniper species found in Montana and in Kazakhstan, including J. horizontalis, J. scopolorum, J. communis, J. seravschanica, J. sabina, J. pseudosabina, J. pseudosabina subsp. turkestanica, and J. sibirica. We report here the chemical composition and innate immunomodulatory activity of these essential oils. Compositional analysis of the 16 samples of Juniper essential oils revealed similarities and differences between our analyses and those previously reported for essential oils from this species. Our studies represent the first analysis of essential oils isolated from the cones of four of these Juniper species. Several essential oil samples contained high levels of cedrol, which was fairly unique to three Juniper species from Kazakhstan. We found that these essential oils and pure (+)-cedrol induced intracellular Ca2+ mobilization in human neutrophils. Furthermore, pretreatment of human neutrophils and N-formyl peptide receptor 1 and 2 (FPR1 and FPR2) transfected HL60 cells with these essential oils or (+)-cedrol inhibited agonist-induced Ca2+ mobilization, suggesting these responses were desensitized by this pretreatment. In support of this conclusion, pretreatment with essential oils from J. seravschanica cones (containing 16.8% cedrol) or pure (+)-cedrol inhibited human neutrophil chemotaxis to N-formyl peptide. Finally, reverse pharmacophore mapping predicted several potential kinase targets for cedrol. Thus, our studies have identified cedrol as a novel neutrophil agonist that can desensitize cells to subsequent stimulation by N-formyl peptide