Isolation of high-quality RNA from Platycladus orientalis and other Cupressaceae plants

Platycladus orientalis has a lifespan of several thousand years in China, making it a good plant in which to study aging at the molecular level, but this requires sufficient quantities of high-quality P. orientalis RNA. However, no appropriate methods have been reported for total RNA isolation from P. orientalis leaves. The TRIzol method did not extract RNA, while cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, sodium dodecyl sulfate-phenol, and plant RNAout kit (Tianz, Inc., China) protocols resulted in low yields of poor quality RNA. Isolating total RNA using the Spectrum™ Plant Total RNA Kit (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) resulted in a high-quality product but a low yield. However, the two-step removal of polyphenols and polysaccharides in the improved plant RNAout kit protocol resulted in the isolation of RNA with a 28S:18S rRNA ratio of band intensities that was ~2:1, the A260/A280 absorbance ratio was 2.03, and the total RNA yield from P. orientalis leaves was high. This protocol was tested on different P. orientalis tissues of different ages and on leaves of five other Cupressaceae plants. The total RNAs were successfully used in complementary DNA synthesis for transcriptome sequencing and would be suitable to use in additional experiments. The results of this study will benefit future studies in Cupressaceae plants.

Pharmacognostical standardization of leaves of Cupressus macrocarpa Hartweg. ex Gordon.

Cupressus macrocarpa Hartweg. ex Gordon belongs to family Cupressaceae. It is commonly known as Monterey Cypress. Traditionally the decoction of leaves is used in rheumatism. The species of genus Cupressus are used to improve bladder tone and coadjuvant in therapy of urinary incontinence and enuresis. The present study was carried out to establish the pharmacognostical study along with preliminary phytochemical screening of petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol and aqueous extracts of Cupressus macrocarpa. The macroscopical and microscopical characters of leaves were studied. The transverse section of leaves indicated the arrangement of various cells in epidermis, sunken stomata, hypodermis, spongy parenchyma and vascular bundles. The physicochemical parameters such as total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash and sulphated ash value, loss on drying, extractive values, fluorescence analysis of extracts and powder treated with different chemical reagents were studied under ordinary light, short and long UV light. The foaming and swelling index of leaves were also studied. Preliminary phytochemical screening of various extracts revealed the presence of glycosides, flavonoids, sterols, phenolic compounds, carbohydrates and amino acids. These studies will be helpful in developing standards for quality, purity and sample identification of this plant.

Antibacterial Activity of Essential oils of Juniperus phoenicea from Eastern Algeria.

The present study evaluates the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oils (EOs) of Juniperus Phoenicea of five localities from eastern Algeria. The analysis and identification of the components of the Eos was performed using the (GC-MS). The average yield of essential oil of the samples is 0.82%. The chemical composition of the EOs of J. Phoenicea is dominated by the presence of a major product, α-pinene (36.3-55.9%). Three components are represented with large concentrations, terpinolene (0-13%), Δ3-carene (0- 12.4%) and the β-phellandrene (0-7.3%). Our investigation allows us to support the species Juniperus phoenicea of eastern Algeria has several variability quantitative and qualitative. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of J. phoenicea was evaluated against nine bacteria. The results showed a variable degree of antibacterial activity being the population Elhadjaz most effective.

Investigation of antioxidant and anti-glycation properties of essential oils from fruits and branchlets of Juniperus oblonga

Plants represent the best and most extensively studied source of natural antioxidants. The present study investigated the antioxidant and anti-glycation properties of different concentrations of essential oils obtained from fruits and branchlets of Juniperus oblonga M. Bieb., Cupressaceae, using different assays. The essential oils were obtained by steam distillation of the branchlets of male tree (BMT), branchlets of female tree (BFT) and fruits of J. oblonga. Compositional analysis of oils was performed using a gas chromatography-mass method. Antioxidant activity was assessed using linoleic acid peroxidation, peroxyl radical mediated hemolysis of red blood cells (RBC) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation assays. Anti-glycation properties of oils were evaluated using hemoglobin and insulin glycation assays. Seventeen, eighteen and fifteen compounds were identified in the BMT, BFT and fruit oil, which represented 82.51, 55.69 and 96.89% of the total oils, respectively. α-Pinene was the major component of all three oils. All three oils possessed antioxidant effects against LDL oxidation, linoleic acid peroxidation and peroxyl radical mediated RBC hemolysis. Anti-glycation activities against hemoglobin and insulin glycation were also observed from all tested oils. Overall, there was no unique pattern of dose-dependence for the antioxidant properties of oils in different employed systems. The findings of this study suggest that essential oils from fruits and branchlets of J. oblonga possess antioxidant and anti-glycation properties. Therefore, these oils might be of therapeutic efficacy against diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Antioxidant activities of Juniperus foetidissima essential oils against several oxidative systems

The present study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of essential oils obtained from branchlets of male and female trees as well as fruits of Juniperus foetidissima Willd., Cupressaceae, from Iran. For this purpose, essential oils of J. foetidissima were phytochemically analyzed and different concentrations of them were tested in five oxidative systems: 1) low-density lipoprotein oxidation; 2) linoleic acid peroxidation; 3) red blood cell hemolysis; 4) hemoglobin glycation; and 5) insulin glycation assays. In all employed systems, antioxidant effects were observed from the three tested oils though in varying degrees. The most promising activities of the oils were observed against hemoglobin and insulin glycation. Antioxidant activities of the oils did not appear to be dose-dependent. In addition, no consistent superiority in antioxidant effects was observed from a single oil in different assays. In view of the current results, J. foetidissima branchlet and fruit oils could be regarded as effective natural products with anti-glycation activity.