Precious Plant Research Articles

Solanapyrone analogues from endophytic Nigrospora sphaerica MZW-A associated with the endangered conifer Pinus wangii

Eight previously undescribed solanapyrone analogues, sphasolanapyrones A–H (1–8), together with four structurally related known compounds (9–12) were obtained from the solid fermentation of Nigrospora sphaerica MZW-A, an endophytic fungus isolated from the fresh branches of the endangered conifer Pinus wangii. This study represents the first investigation on the secondary metabolites of endophytic fungus associated with this precious plant. The structures and absolute configurations of compounds 1–8 were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. 1 and 2 are first examples of 3,4-vic diol solanapyrone analogues, whereas 7 and 8 are rare 17-nor-solanapyrones. Among these isolates, 3, 4, 5, and 11 showed weak inhibitory against Staphylococcus aureus. In addition, compound 5 displayed weak cytotoxic effects against several tumor cell lines.

Progress on metabolites of Astragalus medicinal plants and a new factor affecting their formation: Biotransformation of endophytic fungi.

It is generally believed that the main influencing factors of plant metabolism are genetic and environmental factors. However, the transformation and catalysis of metabolic intermediates by endophytic fungi have become a new factor and resource attracting attention in recent years. There are over 2000 precious plant species in the Astragalus genus. In the past decade, at least 303 high-value metabolites have been isolated from the Astragalus medicinal plants, including 124 saponins, 150 flavonoids, two alkaloids, six sterols, and over 20 other types of compounds. These medicinal plants contain abundant endophytic fungi with unique functions, and nearly 600 endophytic fungi with known identity have been detected, but only about 35 strains belonging to 13 genera have been isolated. Among them, at least four strains affiliated to Penicillium roseopurpureum, Alternaria eureka, Neosartorya hiratsukae, and Camarosporium laburnicola have demonstrated the ability to biotransform four saponin compounds from the Astragalus genus, resulting in the production of 66 new compounds, which have significantly enhanced our understanding of the formation of metabolites in plants of the Astragalus genus. They provide a scientific basis for improving the cultivation quality of Astragalus plants through the modification of dominant fungal endophytes or reshaping the endophytic fungal community. Additionally, they open up new avenues for the discovery of specialized, green, efficient, and sustainable biotransformation pathways for complex pharmaceutical intermediates.

Classification of Clove Leaf Blister Blight Disease Severity Using Pre-trained Model VGG16, InceptionV3, and ResNet

Clove is one of the precious plants produced in Indonesia. Clove has many benefits for humans, but clove cultivation often experiences problems due to disease attacks, including Leaf Blister Blight Disease(CDC). The handling of CDC disease is carried out based on the severity of the symptoms that can be seen on the affected leaves. This research was conducted to obtain a CDC disease classification model, so appropriate treatment can be carried out. This study used the pre-trained VGG16, InceptionV3, and ResNet models for classification. VGG16 got the highest average accuracy of 96.7%. Aside from that, k-fold cross validation improved the model's accuracy.

Development of robust in vitro propagation protocol and cyto-genetic fidelity assessment of Siraitia grosvenorii (monk fruit)

Siraitia grosvenorii (Swingle) C. Jeffrey of the family Cucurbitaceae is a unique and precious plant of medicinal and economic importance in the international market. Due to the huge market potential and to narrow down the gap between demand and supply, an efficient in vitro propagation system using nodal explants was established. Shoot nodal segments were cultured in medium supplemented with different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and kinetin (Kn 1.0–7.5 µM). A two-stage culture is recommended for micropropagation of S. grosvenorii. The highest shoot multiplication was observed in BAP-supplemented medium (5.0 µM), whereas rooting was observed in half-strength MS medium supplemented with 8.75 µM of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Fully developed plantlets were acclimatized with 100 % survival in sterilized sand. These hardened 15-day-old plants were successfully established under shade net conditions in fields. In vitro raised plants were found genetically stable using molecular markers, including RAPD and ISSR. The 2C nuclear DNA content using flow cytometry was observed to be 0.73–0.76 pg. Hence, the protocol developed for in vitro propagation of S. grosvenorii is cost-effective and can be efficiently used for the industrial production of this natural sweetener and pharmaceutically important plants.

Wood Degrading Enzymes and their Decay Strength: A Review

The degradation of wood is a major point of concern in the economy. The microbes that degrade the wood release various enzymes that decay the wood. In the present review article, we have collected the data for various decay strengths of different decay enzymes released by the various microbes from several peer-reviewed articles. The fungus basidiomycetes and some wood-degrading bacteria are responsible for the degradation of wood. The degraded wood is a major loss to the economy timber decay and many more. The degradation of wood or wood decay is also a major loss to the ecosystem by losing some precious plant species. Various data mining techniques have been used in this review to collect the data from the publications. The data in this article covers the various fields, the Name of the plant being degraded, the name of the wood degrading microbe, the Enzyme released by the microbe, the Decay strength of that enzyme, and the total loss to the economy by that decay. The unwanted decay of plant wood can be minimized if the causative agent and the enzyme released by it are found.

Climate Change Threatens the Future of Wild Rice

As a precious plant struggles to thrive in the U.S. Upper Midwest, researchers are taking steps to understand the reasons for its decline.

Identification of superior clones of Satureja rechingeri Jamzad. using progeny test

Satureja rechingeri is a precious plant for the pharmaceutical, feed and food industries due to the high content of antimicrobials in essential oil, mainly carvacrol. As a part of domestication and introduction into the cultivation program, a poly cross design was performed to evaluate genetic parameters and the general combining ability of 58 promising clones of S. rechingeri. Half-sib family seeds were grown in an RCBD with ten replications, and plants were assessed for their quantitative and essential oil traits. General combining ability and genetic parameters, phenotypic and genotypic correlations were estimated for all assessed traits. Analysis of variance revealed significant variation among entries of all the characters, indicating the possibilities of exploiting the available variability for further genetic improvement. Estimates of the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were highest for essential oil yield (98.38% and 213.95%) and essential oil content (91.60% and 135.14%) in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Broad sense heritability estimates for various traits ranged from 16.68 for leaf width to 91.88 for growth type. Essential oil traits showed a high and positive phenotypic and genotypic correlation with plant height, leaf width, number of lateral branches, plant fresh weight, plant dry weight, and growth type. The growth type, number of lateral branches, plant fresh weight, plant dry weight, leaf width, and number of main branches were identified as influential factors in increasing the quantity of S. rechingeri target traits essential oil traits, and dry weight. Based on general combining ability estimates of principal traits, half-sib families of S. rechingeri clones of ‘Z19′, ‘G48′, ‘Z16′, ‘K48′, ‘F3′, ‘K5′, ‘E41′, ‘G27′ and ‘F71′ showed the highest performance. These clones can be selected as parents of synthetic varieties or new genetic sources to select superior genotypes.

Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanol extracts from Adonis paryadrica (Ranunculaceae) – a critically endangered endemic species growing in the Turkish flora

This study was conducted to determine the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanol extract obtained from flower, leaf and root sections of endemic Adonis paryadrica (Boiss.) Kandemir & Aytaç stat. nova. naturally growing in the Turkish flora. The most efficient total phenolic compounds and flavonoid contents were obtained from leaf extract at 21.24 mg GAEs (gallic acid equivalent)/g dw and 54.97 mg REs (rutin equivalent)/g dw, respectively. Among the three different sections of this plant, leaf extracts showed the highest Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Power (CUPRAC) effect with 80.28 µmol TEs (trolox equivalent)/g dw. From the three different sections, the methanol extract of the leaf parts demonstrated strong antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis with a 16.1 mm zone diameter. These valuable and current findings from these precious plants, which constitute natural resources in terms of biodiversity, contribute innovative information to the literature on endemic plant species.

CORRELATION BETWEEN FRESH MASS AND DRY MASS OF SOME MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANT SPECIES GROWN ON SANDY SOILS

From the old times the phytotherapy help in ameliorating and treating of some ailments, this had highlith some medicinal and aromatic plants species to beeing cultivated to more areas. In Romania, more than 300 medicinal and aromatic plant species are known, the purpose of research from the RDSPCS Dabuleni being to the promotion of some medicinal and aromatic plants species on sandy soils. So, the folllowin medicinal and aromatic species with therapeutic value was studied: Salvia officinalis, Lavandula angustifolia, Calendula officinalis, Hyssopus officinalis. Salvia officinalis due to its rich vitamin content, is considered a miraculous plant with healing properties. Lavandula angustifolia is used in natural medicine for various teas, oils and tinctures, but also in the cosmetic industry for perfumes, soaps and body lotions. Calendula officinalis is cultivated for its flowers due to its antiinflammatory, antiseptic, antimicrobial action. Hyssopus officinalis is a very precious plant for health due to the volatile oils and flavonoids in its composition. These species are studied to profitably capitalize on the ecopedological conditions specific to sandy soils in terms of production capacities and the active principles they contain compared to the forms existing in other areas of the country. Thus, during the study period, Salvia officinalis has registerred the highest yield of 14052 kg/ha fresh herb compared to the other studied species, with a dry yield of 4:1.

Reviewing the therapeutic value of Bambusa Arundinacea: Bamboo

Many major medications used today are derived from medicinal plants. Humans have traditionally employed bamboo in a variety of ecological and medical applications. Bamboo is one of the precious plant resources of the earth. A tall, thorny tree Bambusa arundinacea, is a highly reputed medicinal tree commonly referred to as bamboo, a member of Graminae family found throughout India, moist parts of India. Various parts of the plant such as the leaves, root, shoot and seeds possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anthelminthic, anti-ulcer, antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-carcinogenic, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-apoptosis, cardiovascular properties, astringent activity and activities that improve endothelial function, are well documented. It is also used in Homoeopathy for the management of symptoms related to rheumatic conditions like Ankylosing spondylitis, Cervical and Lumbar spondylosis and female hormone complaints. This study includes a review of different available homoeopathic literature for a better evaluation and understanding of the therapeutic values of the recently proven drug Bambusa arundinacea.

The History of Botany (Gifts of Synesius, Bishop of Cyrene)

The article focuses on the identification of silphium — a forgotten precious plant and the symbol of ancient Cyrene — which became extinct in the first century C. E. due to the merciless plunder of local natural resources by Roman governors. However, some scholars believe that silphium survived into the fifth century, with reference to two letters (106 and 134) by Synesius, Bishop of Cyrene (370—413 C. E.). Based on their comparison with other written evidence, the author concludes that, consumed as he was with public duties and church service, Synesius could not fully immerse himself in botanical nuances of the local flora. He therefore identified some other Ferula species, acculturated by his correspondent, as silphium. As a local patriot, Synesius wholeheartedly upheld the legend of the surviving plant, seeing it as a symbol of victory over death, which gave hope to his fellow countrymen in hard times.

Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanol extracts from Adonis paryadrica (Asteraceae) – a critically endangered endemic species growing in the Turkish flora

This study was conducted to determine the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanol extract obtained from flower, leaf and root sections of endemic Adonis paryadrica (Boiss.) Kandemir & Aytaç stat. nova. naturally growing in the Turkish flora. The most efficient total phenolic compounds and flavonoid contents were obtained from leaf extract at 21.24 mg GAEs (gallic acid equivalent)/g dw and 54.97 mg REs (rutin equivalent)/g dw, respectively. Among the three different sections of this plant, leaf extracts showed the highest Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Power (CUPRAC) effect with 80.28 µmol TEs (trolox equivalent)/g dw. From the three different sections, the methanol extract of the leaf parts demonstrated strong antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis with a 16.1 mm zone diameter. These valuable and current findings from these precious plants, which constitute natural resources in terms of biodiversity, contribute innovative information to the literature on endemic plant species.

Two polyamines -responsive WRKY transcription factors from Anoectochilus roxburghii play opposite functions on flower development

Anoectochilus roxburghii is a rare and precious plant with medicinal and healthcare functions. Embryo abortion caused the lack of resources. Polyamine promoted its flowering and stress resistance in our previous study. But the mechanism remains unclear. The WRKY transcription factor family has been linked to a variety of biological processes in plants. In this study, two WRKY TFs (ArWRKY5 and ArWRKY20) of A. roxburghii, which showed significant response to Spd treatment, were identified and functionally analyzed. Tissue specific expression analyzation showed both of them mostly present in the flower. And ArWRKY5 expressed highest in the flower bud stage (−1 Flowering), while ArWRKY20 showed the highest expression in earlier flower bud stage (−2 Flowering) and the expression gradually decreased with flowering. The transcriptional activation activity assay and subcellular localization revealed that ArWRKY5 and ArWRKY20 were located in the nucleus and ArWRKY20 showed transcriptional activity. The heterologous expression of ArWRKY5 in Arabidopsis thaliana showed earlier flowering, while overexpression of ArWRKY20 delayed flowering. But the OE-ArWRKY20 lines had a robust body shape and a very significant increase in the number of rosette leaves. Furthermore, stamens and seed development were positively regulated by these two ArWRKYs. These results indicated that ArWRKY5 and ArWRKY20 not only play opposite roles in the floral development, but also regulate the plant growth and seed development in A. thaliana. But their specific biological functions and mechanism in A. roxburghii need to be investigated further.

Effects of climate change on the geographical distribution and potential distribution areas of 35 Millettia Species in China.

Climate change has an extremely important impact on the geographic distribution of plants. The genus Millettia is an important plant resource in China and is widely used in medicine and ornamental industries. Due to the continuous changes of climate and the development and utilization of plant resources of the genus Millettia, it is of great significance to systematically investigate the geographic distribution of plants of the Millettia and their potential distribution under climate change. DIVA-GIS software was used to analyze 3492 plant specimens of 35 species of genus Millettia in the herbarium, and the ecological geographic distribution and richness of Millettia were analyzed, and the MaxEnt model was used to analyze the current and potential distribution in the future. The results show that the genus Millettia is distributed in 30 provinces in China, among which Yunnan and Guangdong provinces are the most distributed. Our model determines that precipitation in the driest month and annual temperature range are the most important bioclimatic variables. Future climate changes will increase the suitable habitat area of M. congestiflora by 16.75%, but other cliff beans Suitable habitats for vines will decrease significantly: M. cinereal by 47.66%, M. oosperma by 39.16%, M. pulchra by 36.04%, M. oraria by - 29.32%, M. nitida by 22.88%, M. dielsiana by 22.72%, M. sericosema by 19.53%, M. championii by 7.77%, M. pachycarpa by 7.72%, M. speciose by 2.05%, M. reticulata by 1.32%. Therefore, targeted measures should be taken to protect and develop these precious plant resources.

Effect of three water-regimes on morpho-physiological, biochemical and yield responses of local and foreign olive cultivars under field conditions

BackgroundDrought stress is among the most serious threats jeopardizing the economic yield of crop plants in Iran. In particular, in response to withholding irrigation, the reduction in performance and quality of a precious plant such as the olive tree is remarkable. Therefore, the selection of cultivars that are resistant or tolerant to drought has been recognized as one of the most effective long-term strategies for sustainably alleviating the adverse effects of this stress. In this view, our study evaluated the response of 8 olive cultivars including 4 elite native cultivars (Zard Aliabad, Roughani, Dezful, and Shengeh) and 4 foreign cultivars (Manzanilla, Sevillana, Konservolia, and Mission) to water shortage in the Dallaho Olive Research station of Sarpole-Zahab in Kermanshah province in 2020. Olive trees underwent 3 levels of irrigation treatment including 100% full irrigation (control), 75%, and 50% deficit irrigation.ResultsBased on the results, 50% deficit irrigation decreased both growth and pomological traits, but determined the highest dry matter percentage. As the severity of drought stress increased, with an accumulation of sodium and malondialdehyde, an incremental increase in osmolytes was observed, as well as an enhancement of the activity of antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase and catalase). In contrast, full irrigation led to an increase in photosynthetic pigments, calcium, and potassium. Dezful and Konservolia cultivars revealed a significantly higher growth rate, correlated in the former to higher levels of chlorophyll, compatible compounds, total phenolic content, relative water content, potassium to sodium ratio, catalase, and peroxidase activities compared with other cultivars. Konservolia showed the best yield parameters under 75% and 100% irrigation regimes, correlated to higher chlorophyll, potassium, and total phenolic content (in particular at 75% ET).ConclusionsGenerally, the selection of more resilient or tolerant cultivars to sustain water scarcity stress is a widely operative solution to extend rainfed orchards in semi-arid environments. Our study showed that Dezful and Konservolia had the best adaptive mechanisms to cope with the detrimental effects of drought stress.

PocketQube development for earth exploration and vegetation monitoring

A PocketQube is being popular these days due to the enhancement in technologies for space research and earth observation. It is extremely vital to analyze the condition of vegetation on the earth surface because deforestation, forest fire and smuggling of precious plants have been increasing dramatically. The camera module in the payload captures the image from the space which helps in analyzing the vegetative condition of the forest on the earth’s surface. The provided image data is huge in order to maintain the quality of the images it captures. Hence, the received image data is further divided into chunks. Each chunks holds 64bits of hex values of each pixels of the image. The subsequent real time Image data is transmitted to the ground station and the received image is checked, analyzed and displayed on the screen. The received data is regenerated by combining the received chunks at a time at ground station. Based on the provided images further image processing activities are conducted in order to understand the condition of vegetation by calculating the vegetative index of each pixels in the received images.

Comparative de novo transcriptome analysis of flower and root of Oliveria decumbens Vent. to identify putative genes in terpenes biosynthesis pathway.

The Oliveria decumbens Vent. is a wild, rare, annual medicinal plant and endemic plant of Iran that has metabolites (mostly terpenes) which make it a precious plant in Persian Traditional Medicine and also a potential chemotherapeutic agent. The lack of genetic resources has slowed the discovery of genes involved in the terpenes biosynthesis pathway. It is a wild relative of Daucus carota. In this research, we performed the transcriptomic differences between two samples, flower and root of Oliveria decumbens, and also analyze the expression value of the genes involved in terpenoid biosynthesis by RNA-seq and its essential oil’s phytochemicals analyzed by GC/MS. In total, 136,031,188 reads from two samples of flower and root have been produced. The result shows that the MEP pathway is mostly active in the flower and the MVA in the root. Three genes of GPP, FPPS, and GGPP that are the precursors in the synthesis of mono, di, and triterpenes are upregulated in root and 23 key genes were identified that are involved in the biosynthesis of terpenes. Three genes had the highest upregulation in the root including, and on the other hand, another three genes had the expression only in the flower. Meanwhile, 191 and 185 upregulated genes in the flower and root of the plant, respectively, were selected for the gene ontology analysis and reconstruction of co-expression networks. The current research is the first of its kind on Oliveria decumbens transcriptome and discussed 67 genes that have been deposited into the NCBI database. Collectively, the information obtained in this study unveils the new insights into characterizing the genetic blueprint of Oliveria decumbens Vent. which paved the way for medical/plant biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry in the future.

Genetic and chemical diversity analyses in tale grapes (Vitis vinifera L.)

Vitis vinifera L. is one of the economically important plant crops worldwide which is a valuable food source for humans. This precious plant species has several local varieties and accessions which are continuously under selection and cultivation. Due to these human activities, the grape faces genetic homogeneity and erosion. Therefore, it is important to investigate available genetic diversity in grape plants all over the world. We aimed to study the genetic structure and diversity as well as chemical differences of seven grape cultivars in the country. We used SSR, and SRAP molecular markers for genetic diversity analyses, as well as biochemical traits. Both molecular markers showed a medium to moderate genetic variability in the studied grape cultivars (about 20% genetic polymorphism). Similarly, both molecular markers differentiated the studied cultivars into two genetic groups. AMOVA indicated significant genetic difference in these cultivars. ANOVA analysis of flavonols (quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, and rutin) contents of seeds extract by HPLC indicated the significant difference (P <0.01) among grape cultivars. PCA biplot of cultivars based on chemical features separated these cultivars into two major groups according to their flavone and flavonoid contents. Pairwise Mantel tests performed between molecular and chemical data showed a significant association between SSR and SRAP data, but no significant association was obtained between either SSR or SRAP data with chemical features in grape cultivars studied. A heat-map constructed based on combined molecular and chemical data revealed that some of the studied grape cultivars are distinct in their genetic and chemical features.

Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenase/Cytochrome P450 Reductase Bi-Enzymatic System Isolated From Ilex asprella for Regio-Specific Oxidation of Pentacyclic Triterpenoids.

Ilex asprella is a plant from Aquifoliaceae. Its root is commonly used as folk medicinal materials in southern China. The chemical compositions of I. asprella are rich in pentacyclic triterpenoids, which show various biological activities and demonstrate a good prospect for drug development. The elucidation of biosynthesis mechanism of triterpenoids in I. asprella could lay important foundations for the production of these precious plant secondary metabolites by metabolic engineering. Our previous studies have revealed IaAO1 (a CYP716A210 homolog) responsible for the C-28 oxidation of α- and β-amyrin. Herein, we reported the identification of three more cytochrome P450 monooxygenase genes IaAO2 (a CYP716A212 homolog), IaAO4 (CYP714E88), IaAO5 (CYP93A220), and a cytochrome P450 reductase gene IaCPR by using Saccharomyces cerevisiae eukaryotic expression system and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Among them, the protein encoded by IaAO2 can catalyze the C-28 oxidation of α-amyrin and β-amyrin, IaAO4 can catalyze the C-23 oxidation of ursolic acid and oleanolic acid, while IaAO5 is responsible for the C-24 oxidation of β-amyrin. By introducing three genes IaAO1, IaAO4 and IaCPR into S. cerevisiae. We constructed an engineered yeast strain that can produce C-23 hydroxyl ursane-type triterpenoid derivatives. This study contributes to a thorough understanding of triterpenoid biosynthesis of medicinal plants and provides important tools for further metabolic engineering.

Sandy grasslands regeneration results of the conservation management on the Homoktövis Conservation Area in Budapest (2009 2021)

In Budapest, despite the density of the population, precious plant communities still remain in a lot of, mostly isolated fragments of habitats which,are outstanding in the diversity of species and are rare inhabitants of endemic species. On the examined territory, since 2006 long term reconstructions of the habitats have been ongoing which strive for the decrease of the invasive woody species on the territory and the insurance of the habitat of the sandy lawn, as well as the long term conservation of the fragments of the lawn and the creation of the natural sandy lawn. This activity is conducted by the volunteers of the MME and with the help of the students of educational institutions in parallel requesting for the permits of the Municipality of the Capital. During these interventions, the shoots were mechanically beat down and they were wiped dried as well. Besides these interventions, it was fundamental to preserve the sensitive, rare or legally protected species and to increase their volume as much as possible.