Culturable endophytic bacteria of Camellia species endowed with plant growth promoting characteristics

AIM

Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) is an economically important caffeine-containing beverage crop with massive plantation in the Northeast corner of the agroclimatic belt of India. The main aim of the work was to isolate, identify and characterize the native plant growth promoting endophytes associated with tea for future microbe based bioformulation.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A total of 129 endophytic bacteria were isolated and characterized for plant growth promoting traits such as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), phosphate solubilization, ammonia production, biocontrol traits like siderophore and extracellular enzyme production. BOX-PCR fingerprinting was used to differentiate the various bacterial isolates obtained from six different tea species. 16S rRNA sequencing and blast analysis showed that these isolates belonged to different genera, that is, Bacillus, Brevibacterium, Paenibacillus and Lysinibacillus. Lysinibacillus sp. S24 showed the highest phosphate solubilization and IAA acid production efficiency of 268·4 ± 14·3 and 13·5 ± 0·5 µg ml^-1 , respectively. Brevibacterium sp. S91 showed the highest ammonia production of 6·2 ± 0·5 µmol ml^-1 . Chitinase, cellulase, protease and pectinase activities were shown by 4·6, 34·1, 27·13 and 13·14% of the total isolates, respectively. Similarly, 41% of the total isolates were positive for 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase activity. Further, the potent PGP isolates, S24 and S91 were able to enhance the vegetative parameters such as dry/fresh weight of root and shoot of tea plants in nursery conditions.

CONCLUSION

Our findings corroborate that tea endophytic bacteria possess the potential to demonstrate multiple PGP traits both, in vivo and in vitro and have the potential for further large-scale trials.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The exploration of tea endophytic bacterial community is suitable for the development of bioformulations for an integrated nutrient management and thus sustainable crop production and decreasing the hazardous effects of chemical fertilizers on the environment and human health.

Thermoelectric properties of dispersant-free semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes sorted by a flavin extraction method

Flavin extraction method realized an improved power factor by easy removal of the dispersant from semiconducting SWNT sheet.

Ethnomedicobotanical study of indigenous knowledge on medicinal plants used for the treatment of reproductive problems in Nalbari district, Assam, India

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Reproductive problems are becoming the most predominant health care problems in many countries. World Health Organization (WHO), in 2012, also exemplified maternal illnesses, for instance, birth asphyxia and post birth difficulties are rising at an alarming rate. In addition, not all abnormalities of the human reproductive system have the same origin; the effects of reproductive problems would likely been affected by both male and female. For easy accessibility and affordability, medicinal plants are playing crucial role in primary healthcare services in India and their use is moreover, an integral part of the cultural heritage. However, our growing understanding of the human reproductive problems are segregated and scanty for herbal medications.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To document the local name of the medicinal plants used by both male and female from indigenous knowledge for the treatment of reproductive ailments and to explore their biological and pharmacological confirmation and to address the class of secondary metabolites present therein.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The results stem in September 2015-April 2016 from an array of informations that were collected by direct interviews of the traditional medicinal practitioners in three villages, viz. Jaha, Niz-Bahjani and Madhupur of the southern Nalbari district, Assam. Both semi-structured and open-ended interview schedule was carried out with purposively selected individuals and focus group discussion (FGD) in the three selected sites for this study. Systematic analysis of fidelity level percentage (FL %), preference ranking percentage (PR %) and formulation scoring (FS) were calculated. Electronic databases such as Google, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect were also been used to search existing pharmacological citations. Finally, qualitative chemical profiling were executed for the plants whose PR % scores ≥ 65.

RESULTS

A total of 71 plant species belonging to 48 families and 64 genera are reported to be used for the treatment of several reproductive problems such as, infertility in male, impotence, erectile dysfunctioning, retrograde ejaculation and sexual potency in men and in women, aphrodisiac, metrorrhagia, infertility, dysmenorrhea and/or post birth difficulties under mono (57), di (17) and poly (8) herbal formulations. Herbs (40.85%) were reported as the most common lifeform, whereas leaves (22.54%) and the roots (22.54%) were the commonly used plant parts against different ailments. Extracts of Abroma augusta L. (stem) (FL: 66.67%, PR: IM-77.33%, L-65.33, FS: 2), Morinda angustifolia Roxb. (bark) (FL: 64.29%, PR: L-68%, FS: 1), Hodgsonia heteroclita Roxb. (fruit) (FL: 63.64%, PR: IF-65.33, FS: 0.25) and Hibiscus mutabilis L. (stem) (FL: 40%, PR: IM-68%, IIM: 65.33%, IML-68%, FS: 2) were than selected for further phytochemical analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Of the 71 plants used for reproductive management system, the highest number of plants were used for the treatment of irregular menstruation (22) followed by infertility (in both men and women) (19), vaginal disorder and leucorrhoea (9) and sexual potency (8). The qualitative chemical profiling have demonstrated the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and phytosterols, in maximum concentrations. Additionally, these data may be the most important resource for the new discovery of many bioactive principles.

Targeting self-renewal pathways in cancer stem cells: clinical implications for cancer therapy

Extensive cancer research in the past few decades has identified the existence of a rare subpopulation of stem cells in the grove of cancer cells. These cells are known as the cancer stem cells marked by the presence of surface biomarkers, multi-drug resistance pumps and deregulated self-renewal pathways (SRPs). They have a crucial role in provoking cancer cells leading to tumorigenesis and its progressive metastasis. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are much alike to normal stem cells in their self-renewal mechanisms. However, deregulations in the SRPs are seen in CSCs, making them resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic agents resulting in the tumor recurrence. Current treatment strategies in cancer fail to detect and differentiate the CSCs from their non-tumorigenic progenies owing to absence of specific biomarkers. Now, it has become imperative to understand complex functional biology of CSCs, especially the signaling pathways to design improved treatment strategies to target them. It is hopeful that the SRPs in CSCs offer a promising target to alter their survival strategies and impede their tumorigenic potential. However, there are many perils associated with the direct targeting method by conventional therapeutic agents such as off targets, poor bioavailability and poor cellular distribution. Recent evidences have shown an increased use of small molecule antagonists directly to target these SRPs may lead to severe side-effects. An alternative to solve these issues could be an appropriate nanoformulation. Nanoformulations of these molecules could provide an added advantage for the selective targeting of the pathways especially Hedgehog, Wnt, Notch and B-cell-specific moloney murine leukemia virus integration site 1 in the CSCs while sparing the normal stem cells. Hence, to achieve this goal a complete understanding of the molecular pathways corroborate with the use of holistic nanosystem (nanomaterial inhibition molecule) could possibly be an encouraging direction for future cancer therapy.