Examining Slavery\u27s Architectural Finishes: The Importance of Interdisciplinary Investigations of Humble Spaces

This thesis studies the evidence of architectural finishes in slave dwellings as a vehicle for understanding their lives, experiences and culture. Reviewing the finishes analyses of slave quarters in eight case studies, the author examines evidence of original finishes and observes how they can inform our understanding of slavery, including the possibility of a transfer of color traditions from Africa. The author also considers architectural and archaeological investigations performed on slave dwellings as a supplement to understanding these spaces and the use of African culture as a form of cultural resistance. The limited but important evidence underlines the need for additional research on the experience of slave life as drawn from material evidence

Postharvesting Techniques and Maintenance of Seed Quality

Healthy seeds and grains are the demanding enterprise of the recent era for the production of high yield in the next season. The seeds must be stored for the maintenance of high-yielding crop. During storage, major losses of seeds are caused by various biological and nonbiological factors. There is a need to examine reasonable factors of these crop losses, which ultimately affect the market value and quality of the seed. The quality of seeds can be maintained by using careful postharvest handling techniques. There is need to establish the well-suited methods to assess the losses during the process and to use the best technique to minimize the loss and to ensure the quality and safety of the crop. The target is to achieve the high-quality seeds of the national and international standards that could meet the demand of the supplier. This chapter emphasizes on the aspects and postharvest techniques that are used to maintain seed quality. A comprehensive review of the better, economical, convenient, and productive methods is provided, focused on the needs of developing countries but also with relevance in more industrialized countries

Genetic and molecular analysis of the anthocyanin pigmentation pathway in Epimedium

IntroductionFlower color is an ideal trait for studying the molecular basis for phenotypic variations in natural populations of species. Epimedium (Berberidaceae) species exhibit a wide range of flower colors resulting from the varied accumulation of anthocyanins and other pigments in their spur-like petals and petaloid sepals.MethodsIn this work, the anthocyanidins of eight different Epimedium species with different floral pigmentation phenotypes were analyzed using HPLC. Twelve genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis were cloned and sequenced, and their expression was quantified.ResultsThe expression levels of the catalytic enzyme genes DFR and ANS were significantly decreased in four species showing loss of floral pigmentation. Complementation of EsF3’H and EsDFR in corresponding Arabidopsis mutants together with overexpression of EsF3’5’H in wild type Arabidopsis analysis revealed that these genes were functional at the protein level, based on the accumulation of anthocyanin pigments.DiscussionThese results strongly suggest that transcriptional regulatory changes determine the loss of anthocyanins to be convergent in the floral tissue of Epimedium species

Plant Ecology - Traditional Approaches to Recent Trends

This book is aimed to cover the phylogenetic and functional ecology with special reference to ecological shifts. I hope this book may benefit the students, fellow professors, and resource managers studying plant sciences. Since the topics stated in this book are not new but the issues and technologies mentioned were new to me, I expect that they will be new and equally advanced for the readers too. I encourage the readers to get out into the field to identify plants and to dig out the anthropogenic and social activities effecting plants to come along with the development of plant ecology; to rise and serve the topic of the enormous number of plants facing extinction; and to relish themselves and make some effort to contribute something to the world

Characterization of B- and C-class MADS-box genes in medicinal plant Epimedium sagittatum

The basal eudicot Epimedium (Barrenwort) exhibits innovative floral morphology in the form of petal spurs filled with nectar and petaloid sepals. The B-class MADS-box genes APETALAS3 (AP3) and PISTILLA (PI) determine sepal and petal identity while the C-class gene AGAMOUS (AG) determines carpel and stamen identity in Arabidopsis. Complex histories of gene duplication resulted in subsequent subfunctionalization or neofunctionalization of paralogs. Here, a total of four B- and two C-class genes were successfully isolated from E. sagittatum. Phylogenetic analysis showed that EsAP3-1, EsAP3-2, and EsAP3-3 are part of the AP3 clade; EsPI is part of the PI group; and EsAG and EsAG11 clustered into the AG and AG11 groups, respectively. Quantitative real-time PCR was utilized to detect the expression patterns of these genes, and all B-class genes except for EsAP3-3 were found to be universally expressed. The transcribed EsAG and EsAG11 genes were confined to reproductive organs. In addition, yeast three and two hybrid assays were used to explore the status of protein complexes. EsAP3-1 was found to have broadly interactive partners, and EsPI can form a heterodimer with EsAP3-1 and EsAP3-2. Transgenic EsAG overexpression in wild-type Arabidopsis confirmed the conserved function determining carpel development

Growth promotion effects of Bacillus subtilis on Bletilla striata seedlings

Objective: The objective of the study is to study the growth promotion effects of Bacillus subtilis inoculants on the growth of Bletilla striata seedlings. Methods: Various concentrations (1/10×, 1/50×, 1/100×, and 1/500 × dilutions) of B. subtilis inoculants were applied on the B. striata seedlings. Plant height, base diameter, leaf length, leaf width, relative chlorophyll content, tuber diameter, average fibrous root length, number of fibrous roots, and fresh weight were measured after incubation for 50 days. Results: Treatments with different concentrations of B. subtilis significantly increased the number of fibrous roots of the B. striata seedlings and promoted root elongation, and a higher concentration (1/10 × dilution) is associated with more significant promotion effects. B. striata seedlings treated with different concentrations of B. subtilis all showed an increase of relative chlorophyll contents in leaves with the increasing inoculant concentration. Only B. subtilis inoculant at a high concentration (1/10 × dilution) significantly promoted the plant height and base diameter of B. striata seedlings. The application of B. subtilis did not significantly promote the tuber diameter and fresh weight of B. striata seedlings. Principal component analysis confirmed the maximum growth promotion by B. subtilis inoculant in 1/10 × dilution than the other treatments. Conclusions: The application of B. subtilis can increase the relative chlorophyll content, promote growth and development of roots, and increase plant height and base diameter of B. striata seedlings. Therefore, B. subtilis has significant growth promotion effects on B. striata seedlings. These findings provide theoretical basis for the ecological cultivation of B. striata

Exploration of genetic diversity among medicinally important genus <i>Epimedium</i> species based on genomic and EST-SSR marker

<div><p><i>Epimedium</i> species has gained prime importance due to their medicinal and economic values. Therefore, in this study, 26 genomic SSR and 10 EST-SSR markers were developed for 13 medicinal species of the <i>Epimedium</i> genus and one out-group species <i>Vancouveria hexandra</i> W. J. Hooker to explore the existing genetic diversity. A total of 100 alleles by genomic SSR and 65 by EST-SSR were detected. The genomic SSR markers were presented between 2–7 alleles per locus. The observed heterozygosity (<i>H</i>_o) and expected heterozygosity (<i>H</i>_e) ranged from 0.00 to 4.5 and 0.0254 to 2.8108, respectively. Similarly, for EST-SSR, these values were ranged from 3.00 to 4.00 and 1.9650 to 2.7142. The number of alleles for EST-SSR markers ranged from 3 to 10 with an average of 3.51 per loci. It has been concluded that medicinally important species of the genus <i>Epimedium</i> possesses lower intraspecific genetic variation.</p></div

An ethnopharmacological evaluation of Navapind and Shahpur Virkanin district Sheikupura, Pakistan for their herbal medicines

Abstract Background The chief aim of this study was to enlist the ethnobotanical uses of wild plants in district Sheikhupura, province Punjab, Pakistan. Due to extreme geographical and climatic conditions, Pakistan has a great floral diversity. Plants have been used by the indigenous people for treatment of different ailments since long. They are still dependent on the plants for their domestic purposes. Moreover, plants are used as first aid to treat diverse ailments such as cold, cough, influenza, asthma, cancer, antidote, gastric and hepatic disorders. The traditional uses of medicinal plants lead to the discovery of natural drugs. This is first quantitative ethnobotanical documentation of medicinal plants in NavaPind and ShahpurVirkan district Sheikhupura, province Punjab, Pakistan. Methods This ethnobotanical information was collected from about 400 informants including male and female. Sample size was determined by statistical formula. The informative data was based on semi-structured interviews, group discussions, Questionnaire and field visits. Then the data was analyzed by applying different quantitative indices such as Informant Consent Factor (ICF), Use value (UV), Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), the Fidelity level (FL) and Jaccard Index (JI). Results Almost 96 plants belonging to 34 families were reported. Most-frequently cited families were Poaceae (16 species) and Fabaceae (15 species). The most dominant life form was herbs (30.20%). The most-used plant parts were leaves (31.14%), followed by whole plant (24.59%), Most common mode of administration is extraction (81.25%). Generally herbal medicines were acquired from fresh plant material. Among all 54.16% plants were toxic, 31.25% were nontoxic, whereas the remaining 14.58% may be toxic or nontoxic because of their dual attitude. Almost 34 species were reported with their different medicinal uses as has been reported in literature. Conclusions This ethnobotanical documentation revealed that the plants are still used by natives of rural areas in their day-to-day lives. This study provides basis for the conservation of local flora. Plants with high ICF, UV and FL can be further used for phytochemical and pharmacological studies. This documentation could provide baseline information which can be used to develop new plant-based commercial drugs