Sorrel Research Articles

Proanthocyanidin-enriched extract of Rumex acetosa L. inhibits the in vitro adhesion of Porphyromonas gingivalis to KB cells and decreases the biofilm formation

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a gram-negative periodontal pathogen, which plays a significant role in the progression of chronic periodontitis and may even be involved in the development of other cardiovascular diseases. The first critical step for the initiation of periodontitis is the specific adhesion of bacteria to tissue cells. By forming complex biofilms, anaerobic bacteria as P. gingivalis evade the hosts immune defense. In contrast to conventional antibacterial therapy approaches, an acetone-water extract of Rumex acetosa L. (RA1) [1] was tested for in vitro antiadhesive activity on KB cells by flow cytometrie in order to initiate a development against the first step of the infection.

Proteinase-inhibiting activity of an extract of Rumex acetosa L. against virulence factors of Porphyromonas gingivalis

Proteinase-inhibiting activity of an extract of Rumex acetosa L. against virulence factors of Porphyromonas gingivalis

Edible flowers — antioxidant activity and impact on cell viability

Abstract The phenolic compound composition, antioxidant activity and impact on cell viability of edible flower extracts of Allium schoenoprasum; Bellis perennis; Cichorium intybus; Rumex acetosa; Salvia pratensis; Sambucus nigra; Taraxacum officinale; Tragopogon pratensis; Trifolium repens and Viola arvensis was examined for the first time. Total phenolic content of the flowers of these plants fell between 11.72 and 42.74 mg of tannin equivalents/kg of dry matter. Antioxidant activity ranged from 35.56 to 71.62 g of ascorbic acid equivalents/kg of dry matter. Using the Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma cell-line (HepG2) and the Human Immortalized Non-tumorigenic Keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT), we assessed cell viability following a 3 day incubation period in media containing 25, 50, 75 and 100 μg/ml of total phenolic compounds using a colorimetric MTT assay. These three properties could make the herbs useful in treatment of various diseases like cancer. The tested extracts had significant effects on cell viability, but the effects were dependent not only on the phenolic compound concentration and the edible flowers species, but also on the phenolic compound and antioxidant profiles. In addition, responses differed between cell lines.

Male meiosis and behaviour of sex chromosomes in different populations of Rumex acetosa L. from the Western Himalayas, India

Detailed meiotic analysis in 28 North West Himalayan populations of dioecious plant Rumex acetosa L. was carried out. The species is generally discussed as an important plant having sex chromosomes. Male meiosis in all the studied populations clearly showed the formation of six bivalents and one trivalent during diakinesis and metaphase-I. The sex chromosomes in male plants exhibit a chain of trivalent (Y1–X–Y2). In addition, among the presently investigated populations ring-shaped trivalents were also observed for the first time in the species. Varied frequency of abnormal segregation of sex trivalent was also observed leading to XY:Y segregation instead of normal X:Y1Y2 segregation. A majority of the populations exhibit normal meiosis. Plants of six populations show meiotic abnormalities like cytomixis, laggards, bridges, chromatin stickiness, etc., leading to reduced pollen fertility. Translocation between an autosome and sex chromosomes was also observed in some of the populations. 0–1B chromosomes were noticed in one population. This is the first ever meiotic analysis of the species from India.

Characterization of two types of azedinha in the region of Sete Lagoas, Brazil

Azedinha (Rumex acetosa) is a vegetable crop species consumed in natura in salads and pertains to the group of non-conventional vegetables. These rustic plants are often considered weeds plants. There exist two types of native azedinha in the Sete Lagoas region, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, that are usually grown in family gardens and here denominated Type I and Type II. In this study we characterized the morphologic, physic-chemical and chromatic characteristic of these two types of azedinha. The study was carried out in randomized complete blocks with four replications in dependences of the EPAMIG (Non-Conventional Vegetable Bank) in Prudente de Morais, Brazil. Plants were trained to the point of harvest, 90 days after the planting of seedlings, when they were harvested for analysis. We evaluated the characteristics on the leaves: weight, length, width, number of veins, width/length ratio, transverse and longitudinal diameter of the base of the petiole and longitudinal and transverse diameter ratio of the base of the petiole. We also evaluated the contents of macro and micronutrients and chemical characteristics of the plant. There are significant differences between the assessed characteristics between azedinha types I and II. We concluded that the plants probably belong to two different varieties.

Contrasting patterns of transposable element and satellite distribution on sex chromosomes (XY1Y2) in the dioecious plant Rumex acetosa.

Rumex acetosa is a dioecious plant with the XY1Y2 sex chromosome system. Both Y chromosomes are heterochromatic and are thought to be degenerated. We performed low-pass 454 sequencing and similarity-based clustering of male and female genomic 454 reads to identify and characterize major groups of R. acetosa repetitive DNA. We found that Copia and Gypsy retrotransposons dominated, followed by DNA transposons and nonlong terminal repeat retrotransposons. CRM and Tat/Ogre retrotransposons dominated the Gypsy superfamily, whereas Maximus/Sireviruses were most abundant among Copia retrotransposons. Only one Gypsy subfamily had accumulated on Y1 and Y2 chromosomes, whereas many retrotransposons were ubiquitous on autosomes and the X chromosome, but absent on Y1 and Y2 chromosomes, and others were depleted from the X chromosome. One group of CRM Gypsy was specifically localized to centromeres. We also found that majority of previously described satellites (RAYSI, RAYSII, RAYSIII, and RAE180) are accumulated on the Y chromosomes where we identified Y chromosome-specific variant of RAE180. We discovered two novel satellites—RA160 satellite dominating on the X chromosome and RA690 localized mostly on the Y1 chromosome. The expression pattern obtained from Illumina RNA sequencing showed that the expression of transposable elements is similar in leaves of both sexes and that satellites are also expressed. Contrasting patterns of transposable elements (TEs) and satellite localization on sex chromosomes in R. acetosa, where not only accumulation but also depletion of repetitive DNA was observed, suggest that a plethora of evolutionary processes can shape sex chromosomes.

Slug responses to grassland cutting and fertilizer application under plant functional group removal

Current studies on trophic interactions in biodiversity experiments have largely relied on artificially sown gradients in plant diversity, but removal experiments with their more natural plant community composition are more realistic. Slugs are a major part of the invertebrate herbivore community, with some species being common pests in agriculture. We therefore investigated how strongly slugs are influenced by grassland management, plant biodiversity and composition. Here we analysed the effects of cutting frequency, fertilizer application and plant functional group composition on slug densities and their contribution to herbivory on Rumex acetosa in a removal experiment within a >100-year old grassland in Northern Germany. The experiment was laid out as a Latin rectangle with full factorial combinations of (i) plant functional group removal (3 levels) using herbicides, (ii) fertilizer application (2 levels) and (iii) cutting frequency (2 levels). The resulting 12 treatment combinations were replicated 6 times, resulting in 72 plots. We collected a total of 1020 individuals belonging to three species Arion distinctus (60.4% of individuals), Deroceras reticulatum (34.7%) and Arion lusitanicus (4.9%) using a cover board technique and additionally measured herbivore damage to R. acetosa. We found the highest slug abundance on plots with a low cutting frequency and high food resource availability (increased cover of forbs and taller vegetation). Fertilizer application had no significant effect on slug abundance, but caused higher herbivore damage to on R. acetosa, possibly as a result of increased tissue quality. The negative effect of higher cutting frequency on slug abundance was lowest in control plots with their naturally developed graminoid-forb communities (cutting reduced slug density by 6% in the control vs. 29% in herbicide plots). Our experiments therefore support the idea that more natural plant species compositions reduce the impact of disturbances (e.g. through cutting or grazing) on invertebrates.

Antiviral effect of polyphenol-enriched extract of Rumex acetosa L. against influenza A virus

Antiviral effect of polyphenol-enriched extract of Rumex acetosa L. against influenza A virus

Contemporary Evolution of Plant Growth Rate Following Experimental Removal of Herbivores

Herbivores are credited with driving the evolutionary diversification of plant defensive strategies over macroevolutionary time. For this to be true, herbivores must also cause short-term evolution within plant populations, but few studies have experimentally tested this prediction. We addressed this gap using a long-term manipulative field experiment where exclosures protected 22 plant populations from natural rabbit herbivory for <1 to 26 years. We collected seeds of Rumex acetosa L. (Polygonaceae) from our plots and grew them in a common greenhouse environment to quantify evolved differences among populations in individual plant growth rate, tolerance to herbivory, competitive ability, and the concentration of secondary metabolites (tannins and oxalate) implicated in defense against herbivores. In 26 years without rabbit herbivory, plant growth rate decreased linearly by 30%. We argue that plant growth rate has evolved as a defense against intense rabbit herbivory. In contrast, we found no change in tolerance to herbivory or concentrations of secondary metabolites. We also found no change in competitive ability, suggesting that contemporary evolution may not feed back to alter ecological interactions within this plant community. Our results combined with those of other studies show that the evolution of gross morphological traits such as growth rate in response to herbivory may be common, which calls into question assumptions about some of the most popular theories of plant defense.

Expansion of microsatellites on evolutionary young Y chromosome.

Sex chromosomes are an ideal system to study processes connected with suppressed recombination. We found evidence of microsatellite expansion, on the relatively young Y chromosome of the dioecious plant sorrel (Rumex acetosa, XY1Y2 system), but no such expansion on the more ancient Y chromosomes of liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha) and human. The most expanding motifs were AC and AAC, which also showed periodicity of array length, indicating the importance of beginnings and ends of arrays. Our data indicate that abundance of microsatellites in genomes depends on the inherent expansion potential of specific motifs, which could be related to their stability and ability to adopt unusual DNA conformations. We also found that the abundance of microsatellites is higher in the neighborhood of transposable elements (TEs) suggesting that microsatellites are probably targets for TE insertions. This evidence suggests that microsatellite expansion is an early event shaping the Y chromosome where this process is not opposed by recombination, while accumulation of TEs and chromosome shrinkage predominate later.

Investigation of Oxalate Levels in Sorrel Plant Parts and Sorrel-Based Products

The oxalate content of the leaves and stems of green and variegated cultivars of sorrel (Rumex acetosa) were extracted and measured using HPLC chromatography. The larger, more mature leaves of both cultivars contained higher levels of total, soluble and insoluble oxalates. The stems also contained appreciable levels of oxalates. The mean soluble oxalate content of the variegated leaves was 14.7%, which was significantly higher than found in the leaves of the green-leaved cultivar (11.9%). The proportion of soluble oxalate to total oxalate in the stems ranged from 12.7% to 24.4% for both cultivars. Sorrel sprouts contained a much higher proportion of soluble oxalates than the green sorrel leaves but were similar in oxalate content to the variegated leaves. Pesto and soup made from sorrel leaves retained their characteristic sour taste despite containing much lower levels of oxalates. The levels of oxalates in sorrel leaves were high and it was recommended that the leaves should be consumed occasionally as a delicacy because of their unique taste rather than as a significant part of the diet. However, the products made from sorrel leaves were less of a problem as they contained lower levels of oxalates.

An ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants in Bulgaria

Background: This study focuses on the wild vascular plants traditionally used for human consumption in Bulgaria and its aim is to present data about the richness and diversity of plants used as a nutrition source, about folk botanical knowledge and to give an impression about their contemporary state and development in relation to natural plant resources and traditional food culture. The study covers the period from the end of 19t h to the middle of the 20t h century. Material and Methods: The study gathered data from more than 30 ethnobotanical and ethnographical sources which provide information for the end of 19t h to the middle of the 20th century, in addition to field data collected through semi-structured interviews. Results: A total of 88 wild plant species, 25 families and 52 genera were identified as edible plants. Prevailing are representatives of Rosaceae, Amaranthaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Brassicaceae, Compositae and Polygonaceae. The largest numbers of species are from Allium, Rumex and Chenopodium. Similar in number are the species which are used as leaves (43) and fruits (38), followed by young shoots (9), seeds (7), roots (4), bulbs (4) and inflorescences (2). The largest group is from plants whose aboveground parts are gathered mainly during the spring and used as vegetables. Important species are Urtica dioica, Rumex acetosa, Rumexpatientia, Chenopodium album, Atriplex prostrata and Amaranthus retroflexus. The fruits are mostly gathered from Rosaceae, Adoxaceae, Ericaceae and Vitaceae shrubs and trees. The study determined eight major food groups: fresh greens and fruits, stuffed pies, stewed and boiled greens, boiled cereals, sweets (boiled fruit products), dried fruits, snacks and lacto-fermented products. The predominant taste is salty-sour-spicy. Some of wild foods are also used for medicinal purposes and included in preventing or healing diets. Conclusions: Today's traditional diet is very different from the past. Bulgaria provides a good opportunity for ethnobotanical research into wild edible plants as there is much ethnographic data available, including food culture and botanical observations, as well as the possibility of field study in rural areas where wild food plants are traditionally used on a daily basis.

碟子湖磷污染的植物修复研究

磷是富营养化水体中的特征污染物，是植物和微生物的主要营养元素。而水体富营养化是水体污染中最为普遍的现象，也是国内外水环境污染治理的难题。本文以生态修复技术为切入点，研究了碟子湖湿地中酸模、蔊菜、稗草、莎草、野生胡萝卜、虉草六种优势植物的生物量和对污水中磷的净化效果，分析了根系和地上部分生物量与污水净化效果之间的关系。根据植被的生长环境条件和植被的自身特性探究出最优组合，使其适应于当地局部地区的气候及土壤环境，治理水体污染。 Phosphorus is the specific pollutant in eutrophication of water body and it is a major nutrient element of plants and microorganisms. Water eutrophication is not only the most common phenomenon, but also a difficult prob-lem in water pollution environment treatment at home and abroad. This paper, based on ecological restoration technol-ogy as the breakthrough point, studies some plants in saucer lake wetland, including Rumex acetosa L., Rorippa indica L., Hiern, Echinochloa crusgalli L., Beauv, Cyperus rotundus L., Daucus carota L., Phalaris arundinacea Linn, the six dominant plant biomass and the purification effect of phosphorus in the sewage, and also analyzes the relationship be-tween roots, biomass above ground and the effect of the sewage purification. According to the growth environment conditions of vegetation and vegetation of its own characteristics, our team explores the optimal combination which makes it adapt to the climate and soil environment of the local area to govern the water pollution.

A Comparison between Water and Ethanol Extracts of Rumex acetosa for Protective Effects on Gastric Ulcers in Mice

Rumex acetosa is a perennial herb that is widely distributed across eastern Asia. Although the hot water extract of R. acetosa has been used to treat gastritis or gastric ulcers as a folk medicine, no scientific report exists for the use of this plant to treat gastric ulcers. Hence, the present study was undertaken to assess the anti-ulcer activity of water and 70% ethanol extracts obtained from R. acetosa, using an HCl/ethanol-induced gastric ulcer model in mice. Anti-inflammatory and free radical-scavenging activities of these two extracts were also evaluated and compared. As a result, the administration of R. acetosa extracts significantly reduced the occurrence of gastric ulcers. However, significant differences in protective activity against gastric ulcers were observed between the two samples. In the case of the group pretreated with an ethanol extract dosage of 100 mg/kg, the protective effect (90.9%) was higher than that of water extract (41.2%). Under histological evaluation, pretreatment with R. acetosa extracts reversed negative effects, such as inflammation, edema, moderate hemorrhaging and loss of epithelial cells, presented by HCl/ ethanol-treated stomachs. Meanwhile, R. acetosa extracts showed potent DPPH radical-scavenging activity and decreased NO production in a murine macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7, in a dose-dependent manner without affecting cellular viability. The greater anti-ulcer and NO production inhibitory activities exhibited by ethanol extracts compared to water extracts could be ascribed to the higher emodin levels, a major anthraquinone component of this plant.

Species and organ specificity of fungal endophytes in herbaceous grassland plants

Summary1. aFoliar endophytic fungi in herbaceous plants are known to be diverse, yet studies characterizing the fungal communities in roots and shoots of plants across time are absent. These fungi are supposedly ubiquitous in nature, infecting plants through airborne spores. As many foliar endophytes can also exist in soil, we hypothesized that there would be a strong similarity between root and shoot endophytes in any given plant species and that differences between plant species would be greater than those between organs within a species.2. Leaf and root fungal endophyte communities were assessed in field‐collected plants of three co‐occurring grassland forbs (Cirsium arvense, Plantago lanceolata and Rumex acetosa) in two contrasting seasons (winter and summer). The former two species are mycorrhizal, whilst the latter species is not so.3. The highest fungal species richness was recorded from P. lanceolata with R. acetosa hosting the least endophyte diversity. Endophyte communities were more diverse in root than leaf tissues and in summer than in winter. Similarity of endophyte communities between different host plant species and organs within an individual host was very low. Negative correlations were found between mycorrhizal colonization and endophyte presence in the roots of C. arvense and P. lanceolata, suggesting some degree of antagonism or competition between the fungi. Consistent positive associations were found between the number of endophyte species in roots and shoots of plants.4. Synthesis. In contrast to previous studies, the results show that many endophytes do not occur ubiquitously, but instead exhibit both plant and tissue specificity. There is a strong seasonal change in endophyte communities, but the differences between roots and shoots at any one time can be just as large. This dissimilarity suggests a lack of systemic growth by the fungi from one tissue to another. Mycorrhizas may interact negatively with other root endophytes, indicating that the latter should not be ignored in future mycorrhizal studies. We should begin to think of individual plants as ecosystems of interacting microbes, whose community is structured by plant genetics and environmental conditions, coupled with interactions between the microbes themselves.

Antiviral effect of polyphenol-enriched extract of Rumex Acetosa L. against Influenza A virus

Antiviral effect of polyphenol-enriched extract of Rumex Acetosa L. against Influenza A virus

Contrasting patterns of genetic divergence in two sympatric pseudo-metallophytes: Rumex acetosa L. and Commelina communis L.

BackgroundPatterns of genetic divergence between populations of facultative metallophytes have been investigated extensively. However, most previous investigations have focused on a single plant species making it unclear if genetic divergence shows common patterns or, conversely, is species-specific. The herbs Rumex acetosa L. and Commelina communis L. are two pseudo-metallophytes thriving in both normal and cupriferous soils along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Their non-metallicolous and metallicolous populations are often sympatric thus providing an ideal opportunity for comparative estimation of genetic structures and divergence under the selective pressure derived from copper toxicity.ResultsIn the present study, patterns of genetic divergence of R. acetosa and C. communis , including metal tolerance, genetic structure and genetic relationships between populations, were investigated and compared using hydroponic experiments, AFLP, ISSR and chloroplast genetic markers. Our results show a significant reduction in genetic diversity in metallicolous populations of C. communis but not in R. acetosa . Moreover, genetic differentiation is less in R. acetosa than in C. communis , the latter species also shows a clustering of its metallicolous populations.ConclusionsWe propose that the genetic divergences apparent in R. acetosa and C. communis , and the contrasting responses of the two species to copper contamination, might be attributed to the differences in their intrinsic physiological and ecological properties. No simple and generalised conclusions on genetic divergence in pseudo-metallophytes can thus be drawn.

&lt;i&gt;Rumex acetosa&lt;/i&gt; L. Application on the Bioremediation of Soil Polluted by Combined Heavy Metals of Cd, Cu and Pb

Enrichment capacity and transfer capability of R. acetosa were studied in situ at the different growth stages, and the soil was polluted by the two levels (T1: Cd 0.70 mg/kg+Cu 114.37 mg/kg+Pb 138.94 mg/kg; T2: Cd 1.34 mg/kg+Cu 164.90 mg/kg+Pb 176.19 mg/kg) of combined heavy metals. The results showed that the content of Cd, Cu and Pb in roots increased first, then decreased and increased again as R. acetosa growing in each test area. And the content of Cd, Cu and Pb in shoots showed the same trend as roots. The enrichment capacity of R. acetosa to Cu and Pb was improved as the level of heavy metal pollution increased at the different growth stages, while the Cd was in inverse proportion to the concentration. But its enrichment capacity and transfer capability of Cd to be significantly higher than Cu and Pb. R. acetosa application on the bioremediation of soil polluted by combined heavy metals of Cd, Cu and Pb showed great potential.

Antiproliferative Activity of Polygonaceae Species from the Carpathian Basin against Human Cancer Cell Lines

Aqueous and organic extracts of 27 selected species from five genera (Fallopia, Oxyria, Persicaria, Polygonum and Rumex) of the family Polygonaceae occurring in the Carpathian Basin were screened in vitro for antiproliferative activity against HeLa (cervix epithelial adenocarcinoma), A431 (skin epidermoid carcinoma) and MCF7 (breast epithelial adenocarcinoma) cells, using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. A total of 196 n-hexane, chloroform, 50% methanol or water extracts of different plant parts were investigated. It was found that extracts of Polygonum hydropiper, Rumex acetosa, Rumex alpinus, Rumex aquaticus, Rumex scutatus and Rumex thyrsiflorus at 10 or 30 µg/mL demonstrated substantial cell growth inhibitory activity (at least 50% inhibition of cell proliferation) against one or more cell lines. R. acetosa and R. thyrsiflorus proved to be the most active and are considered worthy of activity-guided phytochemical investigations.

Weed Hosts of Root-Knot Nematodes in Tomato Fields

Weed Hosts of Root-Knot Nematodes in Tomato Fields Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are one of the three most economically damaging genera of plant parasitic nematodes on horticultural and field crops. Root-knot nematodes are distributed worldwide, and are obligate parasites of the roots of thousands of plant species. All major field crops, vegetable crops, turf, ornamentals, legumes and weeds are susceptible to one or more of the root-knot species. In this study, nineteen weed species were found to be hosts for Meloidogyne incognita, M. javanica, M. arenaria race 2, and M. hapla in tomato fields in Khorasan Province, Iran. Egg mass production and galling differed (p &lt; 0.05) among these weed species: Amaranthus blitoides, Portulaca oleracea, Polygonum aviculare, Convolvulus arvensis, Cyperus rotundus, Plantago lanceolatum, Rumex acetosa, Solanum nigrum, Datura stramonium, Acroptilon repens, Alcea rosa, Alhaji camelorum, Chenopodium album, Echinochla crusgalli, Hibiscus trionum, Kochia scoparia, Malva rotundifolia, Setaria viridis, Lactuca serriola. The species P. oleracea, A. blioides, S. nigrum, P. lanceolatum, Ch. album, and C. arvensis are major threats to the natural ecosystem in the Iranian province of Khorasan. A. blitoides collected from tomato fields was a good host for 4 Meloidogyne species. C. arvensis, as an important weed, was a distinguished appropriate host for M. hapla, M. incognita, M. javanica. S. nigrum and Ch. album were good hosts for M. hapla, M. javanica, M. incognita race 1, and M. arenaria race 3. In this survey, we reported E. crusgalli as a new host of M. javanica and C. rotundus was a good host for M. arenaria and M. incognita. S. nigrum was also reported as a new host of M. hapla. R. acetosella was reported as a host of M. arenaria. M. incognita was recently described as a new species infecting D. stramonium worldwide.