RESUMO
20-Hydroxyecdysone is one of the most common ecdysteroids in plants with potential therapeutic applications. In this study, cell suspension cultures of Achyranthes aspera were raised in shake flasks to investigate the production of 20-hydroxyecdysone. The quantification and characterization of 20-hydroxyecdysone in the cultures were done by High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Liquid Chromatography-quadrupole time-of- flight mass spectrometry (LC-Q-TOF) analyses. For raising the suspension, calli initiated from in vitro grown leaf explants were cultured in liquid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium augmented with combinations of 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (1 mg L-1) and α-naphthaleneacetic acid (1 mg L-1). Maximum growth index of the cell suspension was 9.9, which was achieved during 20th day of culture (final phase of exponential growth). At this stage, the biomass accumulated was 1.09 ± 0.09 g dry weight (DW) and the 20-hydroxyecdysone concentration was 0.24 mg g-1 DW. Eliciting the cultures with 0.6 mM Methyl jasmonate for 6 days; enhanced the production of 20-hydroxyecdysone production to 0.35 mg g-1 DW. By augmenting the cultures with the precursors namely cholesterol (10 mg L-1) and 7-dehydrocholesterol (10 mg L-1), production of 20-hydroxyecdysone was boosted to 0.31 mg g-1 DW and 0.28 mg g-1 DW respectively.
RESUMO
Only a few Impatiens spp. from South India (one of the five centers of diversity for Impatiens species) were included in the published datum of molecular phylogeny of the family Balsaminaceae. The present investigation is a novel attempt to reveal the phylogenetic association of Impatiens species of South India, by placing them in the global phylogeny of Impatiens based on a combined analysis of two chloroplast genes. Thirty species of genus Impatiens were collected from different locations of South India. Total genomic DNA was extracted from fresh plant leaf, and polymerase chain reaction was carried out using atpB-rbcL and trnL-F intergenic spacer-specific forward and reverse primers. Thirteen sequences of Impatiens species from three centers of diversity were obtained from GenBank for reconstructing the evolutionary relationships within the genus Impatiens. Bayesian inference analysis was carried out in MrBayes v.3.2.2. This analysis supported Southeast Asia as the ancestral place of origin of extant Impatiens species. Molecular phylogeny of South Indian Impatiens spp. based on combined chloroplast sequences showed the same association as that of morphological taxonomy. Sections Scapigerae, Tomentosae, Sub-Umbellatae, and Racemosae showed Southeast Asian relationship, while sections Annuae and Microsepalae showed African affinity.
RESUMO
Mitochondrial cytochrome C Oxidase I (COI) sequence variation among the clariid fishes of India (Clarias magur, C. dussumieri and C. gariepinus) and their relationship with other representative clariids was studied in this work. Three species were sampled and together with 23 COI sequences from GenBank were used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships in the family Clariidae. The study revealed two clades: one consisting of the African species with C. dussumieri, and the other of Asian species suggesting the prevalence of intra-continental diversification of catfishes. This study further revealed that the genus Clarias is monophyletic. For the COI gene, the interspecies genetic divergence ranged from 0.056 to 0.182. The mean genetic difference between C. dussumieri and other selected African species in this study is 12.1%. It was also observed that the morphological similarity of C. dussumieri and C. magur was not replicated in the genetic level. Clarias dussumieri was more close to African catfish C. gariepinus thus indicating the utility of COI phylogeny to identify the well-known African-Asian relationships within catfishes. The results also showed that C. magur and C. batrachus are genetically distinct from each other.