Medicinal Plant Biodiversity used among the rural communities of Arid Regions of Northern Punjab, Pakistan

226-241One-third of the earth’s surface is categorized as arid. Arid regions throughout the world having unique biodiversity comprising of different climatic conditions. The current study focused on Medicinal Plant Biodiversity used among the rural communities of Arid regions of Northern Punjab, Pakistan. Total 225 households were interviewed by using a semi-structured questionnaire. By using different quantitative indices, results were analyzed that includes frequency of citation (FC), the relative frequency of citation (RFC), fidelity level (FL), Informant consensus factor (ICF) and use value (UV). In this study 98 plants, species were reported, used for medicinal purposes. Asteraceae was found to be a dominant family. The most frequently used parts were leaves (46%) as compared to other plants parts. The mostly used herbal medicinal preparation method was a powder (44%) as compared to decoction (43%), paste (20%). The highest ICF was reported for respiratory system disorders (Asthma, cold, chest problems, flue, and cough). The fidelity level varies from 50% to 96%. Species having the highest use value was Ficus benghalensis (0.16) while the plant species with the highest RFC was Ficus palmate (0.42). The findings exposed that medicinal plants are the main source of medicines for primary health care. Medicinal plants having high used value help to identify a phytochemical compound that are bio-active that are essential for the synthesis of new drugs for various diseases

Genetic dissection of Ni toxicity in a spring wheat diversity panel by using 90 K SNP array

Excess Ni intake has harmful implications on human health, which include chronic bronchitis, reduced lung function, and cancer of lung and nasal sinuses. Like other toxic metals, higher Ni accumulation in grains leads to excess intake by humans when the contaminated grains are consumed as food. There is little information about the genetic factors that regulate Ni uptake in plants. To investigate genetic architecture of Ni uptake in leaf and translocation to grain, we performed a genome-wide association study with genotyping from 90 K array in a historical bread wheat diversity panel from Pakistan. We observed that Ni toxicity caused more than 50 % reductions in biological yield and grain yield, other agronomic traits were also partly or severely affected. Genetic association study helped identify 23 SNP-trait associations involved in Ni uptake in leaf and translocation to grains. These 23 SNPs covered 15 genomic loci at chromosomes 1A, 2D, 3B, 4A and 4B of wheat. The favorable alleles of these SNPs were randomly distributed in subpopulations indicating no selection pressure for this trait during breeding improvement. These regions had 283 low-confidence and 248 high-confidence protein coding genes. Among these, 156 were annotated using databases of wheat and closely related grass species. Since there is no previous report on genetic information of Ni uptake and translocation, these results provide sufficient grounds for further research of candidate genes and varietal development.Peer reviewe

ANTAGONISTIC SCREENING AND CONFRONTING POTENTIAL OF TRICHODERMA VIRIDE AGAINST PAKISTANI AND AMERICAN SOIL BORNE-PATHOGENS (PYTHIUM APHENIDERMATUM, FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM AND PHYTOPHTHORA CAPSICI) IN CONTROLLED CONDITIONS

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Identification of monocot flora using pollen features through scanning electron microscopy

Pollen used to track structural and functional evolution in plants as well as to investigate the problems relative to plant classification. Pollen characters including ornamentation, shape, apertural pattern, pollen symmetry, colpus length, width, and margins used to detect the similarities and dissimilarities between genera and also species of the same genus. In this study pollen features of 20 monocot species belonging to 15 genera of the Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae, Iridaceae, Ixioliriaceae, Liliaceae, and Xanthorrhoeaceae were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and light microscopy (LM). In this study two species that is Zephyranthes citrina and Tulbaghia violacea were reported for the first time from Pakistan. Pollen grains were visualized with LM. Non-acetolyzed and acetolyzed pollen were examined using SEM. A taxonomic key was developed to highlight the variation in pollen features in order to make their systematic application for correct species identification

Morpho-Molecular Characterization of Trichoderma Isolates from Rhizospheric Soils of Vegetables in Pakistan

Trichoderma, a major fungal genus attaining importance due to its diverse application in biological control programs and is considered a substitute for chemical pesticides. This research was conducted to characterize various Trichoderma species isolated from rhizospheric soil samples morphologically followed by its confirmation using molecular tools. A systematic survey of Trichoderma populations associated with soils of different vegetable hosts would enable a clear picture of the distribution of species in the region. Samples were collected from the rhizospheres of a variety of vegetable hosts and obtained numerous Trichoderma isolates (T. harzianum, T. viride, T. hamatum, T. longibrachiatum, T. asperellum, T. koningii and T. longipile). Morphological characteristics revealed that T. harzianum resembles T. viride but is more pigmented with confined rings than T. viride and other associated species. T. viride sporulation was more rapid than other species, producing a soft mat on PDA media. T. viride produces a sweet smell of coconut; T. asperellum produces a misty odour while T. longibrachiatum produces a yellow pigmentation in the media. Fifty out of 200 morphologically identified species were genetically characterized using universal primers (ITS-1 and ITS-4). ITS-based sequencing resulted in a product of 650 bp in all the isolates. The sequencing of these isolates showed five different species. As per rDNA, the species identified are: T. harzianum, T. hamatum, T. longibrachiatum, T. asperellum and T. viride with 98-100% sequence similarities to other related Trichoderma isolates reported from China, India, Mexico, USA, Portugal, Germany, Spain and Brazil. Bioinformatics analysis was conducted using maximum parsimony (MP) that supports the resemblance of the present study Trichoderma species with species reported from other countries. It is concluded that Trichoderma strains with biocontrol activity are genetically different compared to the pathogenic ones. The findings of this study help in providing an opportunity to test these isolates against different plant pathogens and ultimately leads to the development of bio-pesticides that could be eco-friendly and cost-effective with no chance of resistance development</jats:p