Complete chloroplast genome of the medicinal plant Evolvulus alsinoides: comparative analysis, identification of mutational hotspots and evolutionary dynamics with species of Solanales

Exploring the neuropharmacological properties of scopoletin-rich Evolvulus alsinoides extract using in-silico and in-vitro methods

OBJECTIVES

This study investigates the neuropharmacologic properties of Scopoletin, a bioactive compound in Evolvulus alsinoides (EA) extract, for managing cognitive impairment using in-vitro, in-silico, and zebrafish embryo toxicity assays.

METHODS

The study estimates Scopoletin concentration in EA extract using HPTLC, assesses antioxidant properties using 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP) assays, and uses bioinformatic tools for scopoletin targets. Zebrafish embryo toxicity (ZET) is used to assess its toxicological profile.

RESULTS

0.0076% w/w Scopoletin in the samples was quantified using HPTLC, further studies on the DPPH (0.5 mM) and FRAP gave EC50 at 440.0 μg/ml and 84.29 μg/ml respectively. Twelve common targets associated with cognitive impairment (CI) were identified, along with possible pathways and molecular interactions. Our results indicate significant binding affinities of Scopoletin with ERAP1, SCN3A, and COMT. Molecular dynamics simulations further confirm the stability of these interactions. ZET assessment demonstrated mortality after 450 µg/ml concentration of EA extract.

CONCLUSION

The study verifies the presence of Scopoletin in EA, along with their targets playing a crucial role in neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. The ZET demonstrated concentration-dependent effects, emphasizing the importance of dosage considerations in developing new formulations or therapeutics. This comprehensive study contributes valuable insight into the therapeutic potential of Scopoletin from EA for cognitive impairment, paving the way for further research.

Biochemical analysis of methanolic extract from Evolvulus alsinoides

Evolvulus alsinoides is a medicinal plant in the Convolvulaceae family. Traditionally, it is used for different ailments in India and in several other countries. It has a variety of pharmacological qualities, including those that aid wound healing, hepato-protection, cardio-protection, anti-diabetic action, asthma, and epilepsy, memory and learning, and neuroprotection. The whole plant is utilized in Ayurvedic medicine to treat neurological disorders, including amnesia, and it is called the brain tonic by them. Therefore, the use of GC-MS in phytochemical research and chemotaxonomic investigations of medicinal plants containing physiologically active components is critical. Hence, the various secondary metabolites from the methanolic extract of E. alsinoides were analyzed using GC-MS technique. The methanolic extract of E. alsinoides yielded ten compounds. All ten compounds showed the highest number of hits. Those with the highest concentration were chosen to identify the qualitative compound. All compounds are non-toxic. Molecules with specific properties are capable of modulating a variety of proteins, including some enzymes. Thus, these molecules are potential hit-to-lead molecules in preclinical studies.

Nootropic activity of methanolic extract from Evolvulus alsinoides Linn. in mice with scopolamine-induced amnesia

Plants have been used as therapeutic agents in both un-ionized (Unani, Ayurveda) and unstructured forms since ancient times. Therefore, it is of interest to document the nootropic activity of methanolic extract from Evolvulus alsinoides Linn (Vishnukranthi) in mice with scopolamine-induced amnesia. Healthy male Swiss albino mice ranging between 25 and 30 g were used in the study. Scopolamine induced amnesia, the following two tests are performed, elevated plus maze test, passive avoidance test. The mean time spent in the open arm, closed arm, and central platform for each group of animals. The total transitions were 12.6±0.89 by GS group mice, 3.4±0.55 by GSP group mice, 7±0.71 by GSLD group mice and 10±0.71 by GSHD group mice. A significant difference was seen between GS and GSP group mice means. The mean time in the safe zone and shock zone for each group of animals when comparing to Group 2 Vs Group 3, 4 showed a statistical significance of p < 0.05. The findings of this study suggest that Evolvulus alsinoides may be a promising candidate for the development of new treatments for memory impairment and other cognitive disorders. It should be noted that more data is needed to confirm the safety and efficacy of Evolvulus alsinoides in humans and to investigate its long-term effects.

Decoding the complete chloroplast genome of Cissus quadrangularis: insights into molecular structure, comparative genome analysis and mining of mutational hotspot regions

Cissus quadrangularis L., a member of the Vitaceae family, is an important medicinal plant with widespread application in Indian traditional medicines. C. quadrangularis L. whole chloroplast genome of 160,404 bp was assembled using a genome skimming approach from the whole genome library. The assembled chloroplast genome contained a large single-copy region (88,987 bp), a small single-copy region (18,621 bp), and pairs of inverted repeat regions (26,398 bp). It also comprised 133 genes, including 37 tRNAs, eight rRNAs, and 88 protein-coding genes. Aside from that, we annotated three genes atpH, petB, and psbL, as well as one duplicated copy of the ycf1 gene in C. quadrangularis L. that had previously been missing from the annotation of compared Cissus chloroplast genomes. Five divergent hotspot regions such as petA_psbJ (0.1237), rps16_trnQ-UUG (0.0913), psbC_trnS-UGA (0.0847), rps15_ycf1 (0.0788), and rps2_rpoC2 (0.0788) were identified in the investigation that could aid in future species discrimination. Surprisingly, we found the overlapping genes ycf1 and ndhF on the IRb/SSC junction, rarely seen in angiosperms. The results of the phylogenetic study showed that the genomes of the Cissus species under study formed a single distinct clade. The detailed annotations given in this study could be useful in the future for genome annotations of Cissus species. The current findings of the study have the potential to serve as a useful resource for future research in the field of population genetics and the evolutionary relationships in the Cissus genus.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-023-01312-w.

Complete chloroplast genome sequence of Lens ervoides and comparison to Lens culinaris

Lens is a member of the Papilionoideae subfamily of Fabaceae and is generally used as a source of vegetable protein as part of human diets in many regions worldwide. Chloroplast (cp) genomes are highly active genetic components of plants and can be utilized as molecular markers for various purposes. As one of the wild lentil species, the Lens ervoides cp genome has been sequenced for the first time in this study using next-generation sequencing. The de novo assembly of the cp genome resulted in a single 122,722 bp sequence as two separate coexisting structural haplotypes with similar lengths. Results indicated that the cp genome of L. ervoides belongs to the inverted repeat lacking clade. Several noteworthy divergences within the coding regions were observed in ndhB, ndhF, rbcL, rpoC2, and ycf2 genes. Analysis of relative synonymous codon usage showed that certain genes, psbN, psaI, psbI, psbE, psbK, petD, and ndhC, preferred using biased codons more often and therefore might have elevated expression and translation efficiencies. Overall, this study exhibited the divergence level between the wild-type and cultured lentil cp genomes and pointed to certain regions that can be utilized as distinction markers for various goals.

The chloroplast genome of Salix floderusii and characterization of chloroplast regulatory elements

Salix floderusii is a rare alpine tree species in the Salix genus. Unfortunately, no extensive germplasm identification, molecular phylogeny, and chloroplast genomics of this plant have been conducted. We sequenced the chloroplast (cp) genome of S. floderusii for the first time using second-generation sequencing technology. The cp genome was 155,540 bp long, including a large single-copy region (LSC, 84,401 bp), a small single-copy region (SSC, 16,221 bp), and inverted repeat regions (IR, 54,918 bp). A total of 131 genes were identified, including 86 protein genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The S. floderusii cp genome contains 1 complement repeat, 24 forward repeats, 17 palindromic repeats, and 7 reverse repeats. Analysis of the IR borders showed that the IRa and IRb regions of S. floderusii and Salix caprea were shorter than those of Salix cinerea, which may affect plastome evolution. Furthermore, four highly variable regions were found, including the rpl22 coding region, psbM/trnD-GUC non-coding region, petA/psbJ non-coding region, and ycf1 coding region. These high variable regions can be used as candidate molecular markers and as a reference for identifying future Salix species. In addition, phylogenetic analysis indicated that the cp genome of S. floderusii is sister to Salix cupularis and belongs to the Subgenus Vetrix. Genes (Sf-trnI, Sf-PpsbA, aadA, Sf-TpsbA, Sf-trnA) obtained via cloning were inserted into the pBluescript II SK (+) to yield the cp expression vectors, which harbored the selectable marker gene aadA. The results of a spectinomycin resistance test indicated that the cp expression vector had been successfully constructed. Moreover, the aadA gene was efficiently expressed under the regulation of predicted regulatory elements. The present study provides a solid foundation for establishing subsequent S. floderusii cp transformation systems and developing strategies for the genetic improvement of S. floderusii.