ABSTRACT
Arabian horse breeds (Equus caballus L.) are renowned for elegance, endurance and their contribution to Thoroughbreds. In heredity, the mitochondrial (mt) genome is maternally inherited and represents extensive genetic diversity. The mt genomes of Seglawi and Hadban horse breeds of Saudi Arabia were sequenced to decipher the genetic variations in the coding and non-coding regions. We observed that the coding region of mt genome has 11 and 34 amino acid variations in Seglawi and Hadban breeds, respectively. Sequencing analyses of COX1 gene indicated highest variations of which, 5 in Seglawi and 8 in Hadban followed by the NADH5 gene. The mitochondrial genes of respiratory chain showed positive selections with respect to different environments. Our data also highlighted that the Hadban breed had much higher nucleotide changes as compared to Seglawi and together they formed individual branches in phylogenetic tree. However, the tree shows that they were relatively branched to Arabian horse breeds. This study on two Arabian horses shed light on variations among mt genes and their phylogenetic relationship with other horse breeds.
ABSTRACT
Ricinus communis L. (R. communis), commonly known as castor oil plant, is used as a traditional natural remedy or folkloric herb for the control and treatment of a wide range of diseases around the globe. Various studies have revealed the presence of diverse phytochemicals such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, saponins, phenolic compounds such as kaempferol, gallic acid, ricin, rutin, lupeol, ricinoleic acid, pinene, thujone and gentisic acid. These phytochemicals have been responsible for pharmacological and therapeutic effects, including anticancer, antimicrobial, insecticidal, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, bone regenerative, analgesic, and anticonvulsant activity. R. communis harbours phytochemicals which have been shown to target peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR), nuclear factor NF- κ -B, cytochrome p450, P38 mitogen-activated protein kinases kinase (p38 MAPK), tumor protein P53, B-cell lymphoma-extra-large (Bcl-xL) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2). Considering its wide variety of phytochemicals, its pharmacological activity and the subsequent clinical trials, R. communis could be a good candidate for discovering novel complementary drugs. Further experimental and advanced clinical studies are required to explore the pharmaceutical, beneficial therapeutic and safety prospects of R. communis with its phytochemicals as a herbal and complementary medicine for combating various diseases and disorders.