ABSTRACT
Gloriosa superba is an economical source of pharmaceutical colchicine, which is a mitotic poison used to treat gout, cancer and inflammatory diseases. It is important to study the genetic variations in this plant, but the progress is impeded due to limited number of molecular markers. In this study, we developed the expressed sequence tag-derived simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers from the transcriptome sequence of the leaf samples of three different ecotypes of G. superba. De novo assembly was performed on these sequencing data to generate a total of 65,579 unigenes and 38,200 coding sequences (CDSs). These CDSs were annotated using NCBI Nr protein database, gene ontology terms and KEGG pathways. Differential gene expression was studied to yield differences in these ecotypes at the molecular level. Finally, a total of 14,672 potential EST-SSRs were identified from these unigenes, among which the dinucleotide (5754, 39.22%) and trinucleotide (5421, 36.95%) repeats were most abundant types followed by mononucleotides (3213, 21.83%). The most frequent motifs were CT/GA (1392, 9.48%), AG/TC (1219, 8.31%), and GA/CT (1146, 7.82%) among the dinucleotide repeats and CCG/ CGG (1487, 10.13%), AGG/CCT (1421, 9.68%), AGC/CTG (697, 4.75%) and AAG/CTT (621, 4.23%) among the trinucleotide repeats. Polymorphism study using a random set of 20 newly developed EST-SSRs revealed polymorphic information content value ranging from 0 to 0.5926 with an average of 0.4021. The large-scale ESTs developed in the current study will be useful as a genomic resource for further investigation of the genetic variations in this species
ABSTRACT
Anagen effluvium, the shedding of anagen hair, leads to diffuse non-scarring alopecia. We report two cases of anagen effluvium in the same family secondary to the ingestion of tubers of Gloriosa superba, which contains the antimitotic alkaloid colchicine. Both patients developed anagen effluvium and gastroenteritis 1–2 weeks after consuming the tubers. In addition, one of them had bicytopenia, pleural effusion, hematuria and altered liver function tests. Both were managed conservatively and counseled regarding the reversible nature of the hair loss. Follow‑up at 3 months showed regrowth of hair in both the cases.
ABSTRACT
To quantify the colchicine (alkaloid) present in Gloriosa superba by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. Gloriosa superba species are known for their content of colchicine, a valuable alkaloid in the seeds and tubers (corms). HPLC analysis was carried out to confirm the presence of colchicine in Gloriosa superba. Treatment of gibberellic acid and Psedomonas aerugenosa improved the content of colchicine in seeds and tubers. Seeds of Gloriosa superba were rich in colchicines content than the tubers sample.
ABSTRACT
People from rural areas who are less accessible to medical health care facilities or those who are ignorant of the facilities, sometimes prefer local hakims for treatment of common ailments. But due to their ignorance of the fact that such practitioners lack scientific expertise, they suffer dire consequences from such primitive therapies. This person who availed therapeutic services from a hakim, ended fatally as a result of overdoses of a root preparation obtained from Glory Lily plant. This paper also outlines the Clinico-Pathological aspects of poisoning by Glory Lily.