Cryopreservation of zygotic embryos of Podophyllum hexandrum Royle, an endangered medicinal plant, by vitrification and v cryo-plate techniques

BACKGROUND

Podophyllum hexandrum is a highly endangered valuable medicinal plant of the Himalayas belonging to family Berberidaceae. This plant needs conservation efforts due to the over-exploitation and unscrupulous harvesting from the wild because of its ever-increasing demand.

OBJECTIVE

To establish a long-term cryopreservation method for Podophyllum hexandrum using two techniques: Vitrification and V Cryo-plate.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Zygotic embryos were cryopreserved using vitrification and V cryo-plate by optimization of parameters including preculture time, loading time and PVS2 dehydration time. Recovery of zygotic embryos was performed on different regrowth media for plantlet formation.

RESULTS

With V cryo-plate, 90% regrowth was obtained as compared to 73.3% with vitrification. V Cryo-plate conditions were pre-culture of zygotic embryos in 0.3 M sucrose for 4 days, treatment in loading solution with 0.8 M sucrose for 20 min, dehydration in PVS2 for 50 min, LN exposure, unloading in 1.2 M sucrose for 20 min and transfer of zygotic embryos to regrowth medium for recovery. During recovery, the maximum number of shoots (4.2) and highest shoot length (5.1 cm) were observed on regrowth medium with 1.5 mg per liter BAP and 0.1 mg per liter IAA (R7).

CONCLUSION

Zygotic embryos of Podophyllum hexandrum were cryopreserved with 90% regrowth using a V cryoplate technique and plantlets were produced directly after cryopreservation. Doi: 10.54680/fr23410110712.

Alborixin clears amyloid-β by inducing autophagy through PTEN-mediated inhibition of the AKT pathway

Imbalance in production and clearance of amyloid beta (Aβ) is the primary reason for its deposition in Alzheimer disease. Macroautophagy/autophagy is one of the important mechanisms for clearance of both intracellular and extracellular Aβ. Here, through screening, we identified alborixin, an ionophore, as a potent inducer of autophagy. We found that autophagy induced by alborixin substantially cleared Aβ in microglia and primary neuronal cells. Induction of autophagy was accompanied by up regulation of autophagy proteins BECN1/Beclin 1, ATG5, ATG7 and increased lysosomal activities. Autophagy induced by alborixin was associated with inhibition of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT pathway. A knock down of PTEN and consistent, constitutive activation of AKT inhibited alborixin-induced autophagy and consequent clearance of Aβ. Furthermore, clearance of Aβ by alborixin led to significant reduction of Aβ-mediated cytotoxicity in primary neurons and differentiated N2a cells. Thus, our findings put forward alborixin as a potential anti-Alzheimer therapeutic lead. Abbreviations: Aβ: amyloid beta; ALB: alborixin; ATG: autophagy-related; BECN1: beclin 1; DAPI: 4, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; DCFH-DA: 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate; fAβ: fibrillary form of amyloid beta; GFAP: glial fibrillary acidic protein; MAP1LC3B/LC3B: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta; MAP2: microtubule-associated protein 2; MTOR: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase; PTEN: phosphatase and tensin homolog; ROS: reactive oxygen species; SQSTM1: sequestosome 1; TMRE: tetramethylrhodamine, ethyl ester.

Isolation and characterization of three benzylisoquinoline alkaloids from Thalictrum minus L. and their antibacterial activity against bovine mastitis

ETHNO-PHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The roots of Thalictrum minus are traditionally used in the treatment of inflammation and infectious diseases such as bovine mastitis. However, there are no reports available in literature till date regarding the antibacterial studies of T. minus against bovine mastitis.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the antibacterial potential of crude extract of T. minus (root) and some of its isolated constituents against bovine mastitis in order to scientifically validate its traditional use.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of three alkaloid compounds were isolated from the DCM: MeOH extract of roots of T. minus using silica gel column chromatography. Structural elucidation of the isolated compounds was done by using spectroscopic techniques like mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. Pathogens were isolated from cases of bovine mastitis and identified by using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The broth micro-dilution method was used to evaluate the antibacterial activities of DCM: MeOH extract and isolated compounds against mastitis pathogens.

RESULTS

The three isolated compounds were identified as benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (1) 5'-Hydroxythalidasine, (2) Thalrugosaminine and (3) O-Methylthalicberine. Compounds (2) and (3) are reported for the first time from the roots of T. minus. Five mastitis pathogens viz., Staphylococcus xylosus, Staphylococcus lentus, Staphylococcus equorum, Enterococcus faecalis and Pantoea agglomerans were identified on the basis of sequence analysis of isolates using the nucleotide BLAST algorithm. This study reports for the first time the isolation and molecular characterization of mastitis pathogens from Kashmir valley, India. The DCM: MeOH extract exhibited broad spectrum antibacterial activities that varied between the bacterial species (MIC=250-500µg/ml). 5'-Hydroxythalidasine and Thalrugosaminine showed promising antibacterial activity with MIC values of 64-128µg/ml while Staphylococcus species were found to be the most sensitive strains.

CONCLUSIONS

The antibacterial activities of the DCM: MeOH extract and isolated compounds support the traditional use of T. minus in the treatment of bovine mastitis.

Isolation, characterization and HPLC quantification of compounds from Aquilegia fragrans Benth: Their in vitro antibacterial activities against bovine mastitis pathogens

ETHNO-PHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The underground parts of Aquilegia fragrans are traditionally used for the treatment of wounds and various inflammatory diseases like bovine mastitis. However, there are no reports on the phytochemical characterization and antibacterial studies of A. fragrans.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To isolate compounds from the methanol extract of the underground parts of A. fragrans and determine their antibacterial activity against the pathogens of bovine mastitis. The study was undertaken in order to scientifically validate the traditional use of A. fragrans.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Five compounds were isolated from the methanol extract of the underground parts of A. fragrans using silica gel column chromatography. Structural elucidation of the isolated compounds was done using spectral data analysis and comparison with literature. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for the qualitative and quantitative determination of isolated compounds in the crude methanol extract. The methanol extract and isolated compounds were evaluated for antibacterial activities against mastitis pathogens using broth micro-dilution technique.

RESULTS

The five isolated compounds were identified as (1) 2, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid methyl ester (2) β-sitosterol (3) Aquilegiolide (4) Glochidionolactone-A and (5) Magnoflorine. A quick and sensitive HPLC method was developed for the first time for qualitative and quantitative determination of four isolated marker compounds from A. fragrans. The crude methanol extract and compound 5 exhibited weak antibacterial activities that varied between the bacterial species (MIC=500-3000 µg/ml).

CONCLUSIONS

The above results show that the crude methanol extract and isolated compounds from A. fragrans exhibit weak antibacterial activities. Further phytochemical and pharmacological studies are required for proper scientific validation of the folk use of this plant species in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases like bovine mastitis.

Cytotoxic Potential and Molecular Characterization of Fungal Endophytes from Selected High Value Medicinal Plants of the Kashmir Valley - India

The present study explores the fungal endophytes from selected high value medicinal plants to check their activities at in-vitro and in-vivo level. The in-vitro cytotoxicity of selected endophytes revealed potent growth inhibition against human cancer cell lines of leukemia (THP-1), lung (A549), prostate (PC-3), colon (Caco-2), neuroblastoma (IMR-32) and breast (MCF-7) at a concentration of 100 µg/ml. Among them the endophytic strains I. e., IIIM2, IIIM3, IIIM7 and IIIM8 showed most significant growth inhibition against colon (Caco-2), prostate (PC-3), lung (A549) and leukemia (THP-1) cancer cell lines. At the in-vivo level maximum (58.95%) tumor growth inhibition was documented with the extract of IIIM2 against Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma mouse modal. All the potent fungal endophytic strains were characterized using ITS 4 and ITS 5 region sequencing and phylogenetic analysis was ascertained among them. This paper confirms the 2 elite endophytic fungal strains, IIIM2 and IIIM8, have the potential to act as a source of new anticancer compounds.

Cloning, sequencing and partial characterisation of sorbitol transporter (srlT) gene encoding phosphotransferase system, glucitol/sorbitol-specific IIBC components of Erwinia herbicola ATCC 21998

A DNA fragment of approximately 1500 bp, harbouring the sorbitol transport gene (srlT), was amplified from the chromosomal DNA of Erwinia herbicola ATCC 21998 by PCR and cloned in Escherichia coli JM109. Degenerate oligonucleotide primers used were designed based on the conserved regions in the gene sequences within the gut operon of E. coli (Gene Bank accession no. J02708) and the srl operon of Erwinia amylovora (Gene Bank accession no. Y14603). The cloned DNA fragment was sequenced and found to contain an open reading frame of 1473 nucleotides coding for a protein of 491 amino acids, corresponding to a mass of 52410 Da. The nucleotide sequence of this ORF was highly homologous to that of the gutA gene of Escherichia coli gut operon, the srlE gene of Shigella flexrni and the sorbitol transporter gene sequence of Escherichia coli K12 (Gene Bank accession nos. J02708, AE016987 and D90892 respectively). The protein sequence showed significant homology to that of the phosphotransferase system i.e. the glucitol/sorbitol-specific IIBC components of Escherichia coli and Erwinia amylovora (P56580, O32522). The cloned DNA fragment was introduced into a pRA90 vector and the recombinant was used for developing srlT mutants of Erwinia herbicola, by homologous recombination. Mutants obtained were unable to grow on minimal medium with sorbitol. The insertion of the pRA90 vector inside the srlT gene sequence of the mutants was confirmed by DNA-DNA hybridisation.