Crassocephalum Research Articles

Published Evidence Enhances Occurrence Data Resolution for Invasive Species in India

Photo 1. Mile-a-minute (Mikania micrantha Kunth) plant, one of the 100 most invasive species in the world, has 562 occurrences in the dataset. It increases the data resolution of global databases like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), which had 15 records in 2021. Photo credit: Achyut Kumar Banerjee. Photo 2. The blood flower (Asclepias curassavica L.), an invasive plant species with medicinal and ornamental values in India, has occurrence records from 10 Indian states, from temperate Jammu and Kashmir to tropical Kerala. Photo credit: Achyut Kumar Banerjee. Photo 3. The occurrence records of Redflower rag leaf (Crassocephalum crepidioides (Benth.) S. Moore), an aggressive invasive species in India, in the dataset represent the species' distribution in the eastern, northern, and southern states of the country. Photo credit: Achyut Kumar Banerjee. These photographs illustrate the article “An Occurrence Data Set for Invasive and Naturalized Alien Plants in India” by Authors: Jyoti Prajapati, Abhijit Singh, Kshitij Patil, Amiya Ranjan Bhowmick, Abhishek Mukherjee, Yelin Huang, and Achyut Kumar Banerjee published in Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3794

Morphological characterization and response of red flower rag leaf (Crassocephalum crepidioides Benth S. Moore) to organic and inorganic fertilizers and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus

Red flower rag leaf (Crassocephalum crepidioides) is one of the underutilized vegetables consumed globally. Pot trials were conducted to characterize 15 morphologically distinct accessions of C. crepidioides and assess the effects of treatment combinations of eggshell, NPK 15:15:15, poultry manure and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus(Glomus mosseae) as soil amendments on growth and yield-related characters of C. crepidioides. Thereafter, 48 seedlings of the best performing accession were transplanted into perforated polythene bags filled with 7 kg of heat-sterilized soil. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with three replicates. Treatment combinations were incorporated into in the polythene bags 1 week after transplanting, while control plants received no amendments. The results showed that accession NH/GKB-15 had the highest plant height (29.83 cm), stem length (27.67 cm), number of leaves (15) and length of internode at node 3 (1.13 cm) and node 4 (1.17 cm). The growth and yield characters of this best performing accession (NH/GKB-15) in response to soil amendments showed that poultry manure produced the tallest plants (55.17 cm), longest and widest stems (48.35 and 0.66 cm), longest and widest leaves (16.39 and 6.26 cm, respectively), and higher number of inflorescence (2.13). With NPK 15:15:15 the seedlings did not survive. Poultry manure should therefore be utilized for better plant nutrition and faster growth of C. crepidioides seedlings as well as for safer consumption of the leafy vegetable.

Contribution to the knowledge of affinities of traditional medicine of Bantu of high and low lands in the territories of Beni and Lubero

The investigations were conducted during 2012 on the Nande Bantu ethnic majority in the villages of Beni and Lubero territories which are located in North Kivu province in the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Thus 6 villages in the zone of high altitude and 6 others in the zone of low altitude have been chosen randomly, by taking the farthest ones among them. Two-hundred and forty (240) persons were interviewed in 12 villages; 120 persons in each agro-climatic zone. In spite of the investigation, 309 species have been recorded, among these, 15 species treat at least 10 different diseases, such as: Allium sativum, Allium cepa, Aloe vera, Bidens pilosa, Carica papaya, Citrus limon, Conyza sumatrensis, Crassocephalum montuosum, Dichrocephala integrifolia, Elaeis guineensis, Erythrina abyssinica, Persea americana, Plantago palmata, Ricinus communis and Solanum aculeastrum. Plants in the family of Asteraceae are the most represented or (26%), followed by Alliaceae (13%). Two species were cited in more than 5 villages in low and high altitude, namely: C. limon and R. communis. In terms of the diseases treated by the species, 4 species are the most interesting such as: A. sativum and C. limon (26 diseases for each), R. communis (24) and A. vera (20). Key words: Plants, popular traditional medicine, Bantus, high and low altitude, Beni and Lubero.

Potency of Traditional Insecticide Materials against Stored Bean Weevil, Acanthoscelides Obtectus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) in Tanzania

The bean weevil, Acanthoscelides obtectus is a major insect pest of stored common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris an important source of plant protein in many parts of the world, Tanzania inclusive. In rural Tanzania, most smallholder farmers apply traditional insecticide materials in the protection of bean from insect pests. The laboratory study investigates the potency of the selected traditional insecticide materials employed by small scale farmers to reduce stored bean losses caused by A. obtectus . The materials were identified and collected from Kimuli and Mabira villages in Kagera region and from Dar es Salaam. The effect of the materials to A. obtectus at different doses and durations was determined by both the number of surviving insects in treated set-ups reflecting the insect mortality and by the insects' reproductive performance at first filial generation (F1). The findings revealed effectiveness of the materials against A. obtectus to vary in the order: Azadirachta indica > Tephrosia vogelii > Nicotiana tabacum > Vegetation ash > Ocimum gratissimum > Crassocephalum crepidioides . Kruskal-Wallis test indicated significant differences in the number of A. obtectus survivors among the treatments at different doses during the study periods and also in the number of insects’ progeny (F1) produced at the end of their life cycle. It was concluded that the materials exhibit potency against A. obtectus at varying levels. Keywords : Traditional insecticide materials, Acanthoscelides obtectus , potency, Phaseolus vulgaris , mortality

FIRST REPORT OF THE OCCURRENCE OF EMILIA YELLOW VEIN VIRUS IN CRASSOCEPHALUM CREPIDIOIDES IN CHINA

In May of 2008, the wide occurrence of Emilia sonchifolia plants with yellow vein symptoms was observed in the Chinese province of Fujian. Symptomatic plants were infected with Emilia yellow vein virus (EmYVV) (Yang et al., 2008). Subsequently, the presence of thickhead plants (Crassocephalum crepidioides) show- ing foliar yellow vein symptoms was noticed in proximity to symp- tomatic E. sonchifolia. Total DNA was extracted from symptomatic C. crepidioides leaves and tested by rolling circle amplification (Haible et al., 2006). Amplification products were digested by the restriction enzyme EcoRI for 30 min. Restriction products (2.7 kb) were then cloned and sequenced. Comparison of DNA sequences by Clustal V analysis revealed the occurrence of EmYVV and an isolate denoted Fz12 was selected for further sequence analysis. The genome of EmYVV isolate Fz12 was 2,726 nt in size and had the typical genomic organization of begomoviral DNA-A (Gen- Bank accession No. JQ247188). A BLAST analysis of the NCBI database disclosed that isolate Fz12 had the highest nucleotide se- quence identity (99.67%) with that of an EmYVV isolate from E. sonchifolia (GenBank accession No. EU377539). To our knowl- edge, this is the first report of the natural occurrence of EmYVV in C. crepidioides, a common weed species in the People’s Republic of China.

Changing pattern of the flora vis-a-vis tea cultivation in Uttarakhand Hills

This communication outlines the influence of tea cultivation on the change in vegetation through summer, winter and rainy season in tea gardens and adjoining non-tea areas in Uttarakhand hills. A total of 184 genera (57 families) grow in summer, 263 genera (73 families) in rainy season and 211 genera (57 families) in winter. Weed species such as Ageratum conyzoides, Chrysanthellum americanum , Crassocephalum crepidioides and others grow abundantly in tea gardens, which are otherwise uncommon in the native flora adjoining the tea gardens. These species may invade the adjacent areas and change the composition of native flora that could lead to ecological consequences such as alteration of natural habitat, elimination of native species and a change in pollinators’ populations. Some of the habitats ideal for medicinal herbs have been brought under tea cultivation. The adverse impact on insect pollination and soil fauna is emphasized due to the use of pesticides in tea gardens.

Phytochemical screening and nutrient-antinutrient composition of selected tropical green leafy vegetables

Levels of some nutrients and antinutrients in 14 commonly consumed tropical green leafy vegetables were evaluated and also screened for some phytochemicals. Saponin was present in all the vegetables with the exception of Hibiscus esculentus, Solanum macrocarpon and Piper guineese while only tannin was absent in Crassocephalum crepidioides, Talinum triangulare, Corchorous olitorius and Piper guineese . Crude protein, fat, fibre and ash recorded ranges from 20.59 to 38.18, 5.90 to 12.73, 6.20 to 7.20 and 8.00 to 25.49 %, respectively. Na (0.64 to 8.97 g/100 g) and P (1.34 to 3.34 g/100 g) recorded the highest values of minerals. The low levels of antinutrients (phytic acid, tannic acid and oxalate) coupled with high level of zinc biovalability indicates that the studied vegetables are good dietary supplements. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 4 (6), pp. 497-501, 2005

Resistance of Winter Wheat to Cereal Leaf Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and Bird Cherry-Oat Aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae)

Resistance tests based on estimation of leaf-feeding damage by cereal leaf beetle, Oulema melanopus (L.), and infestation by bird cherry-oat aphid, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.), were conducted on 26 winter wheat genotypes over a 3-yr period. Grain yield and thousand-kernel mass were measured in infested and non-infested control plots in cages covered by insect nets. Highly significant differences were found between genotypes in feeding damage by cereal leaf beetle and infestation by bird cherry-oat aphid. The most resistant genotype had 7.4% leaf-feeding damage by cereal leaf beetle and the most susceptible 69.4%. Values of infestation by bird cherry-oat aphid varied between 25 and 79.2%. Yield response was more sensitive indicator of genotype reaction than the I,000-kernel mass. Yield of the most tolerant genotype was reduced by 26%, whereas the 1,000-kernel mass was reduced only 23%: The maximum losses were 63% in yield and 50% in 1,000-kernel mass. A close correlation was found between infestation severity by bird cherry-oat aphid and yield reduction ( r = 0.7572), but feeding by cereal leaf beetle did not significantly affect yield. Trichome length of the Rag leaf exhibited a significant correlation with feeding damage by cereal leaf beetle ( r = -0.7161), hut neither trichome density nor length influenced the infestation by aphids. Principal components analysis and multiple regression analyses were performed to determine the relationships among tested characteristics and to quantify the effect of leaf-feeding damage by cereal leaf beetle, infestation by bird cherry-oat aphid, Fusarium spp. infection, heading date, and plant height on grain yield and 1,000-kernel mass. Among the variables examined, infestation severity of R. padi had the highest relative importance and direct effect on both yield reduction and 1,000-kernel mass.