Informatics Publishing Limited

Animesh Sinha ¹, Rameshwar Das ¹, Bibhuti Deka ¹, Syam Viswanath ¹, B. S. Chandrashekar ¹, Sandeep Chakraborty ¹

Affiliations
1 Institute of Forest Productivity, (Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education), Lalgutwa, Ranchi – 835 303, IN

Abstract

Embelia ribes Burm. f. is an important medicinal plant resource in Indian System of Medicine, Homeopathy and many other herbal products. It is mainly used as an anthelmintic, anti-diabetic, anti-fertilitic and antibacterial agent. Embelin is a characteristic chemical constituent of many species belong to the family Myrcinaceae. Among these species, seeds of Embelia ribes contain the highest content of embelin. Due to over exploitation of this species, the natural population is diminishing day by day and the adulteration has become a common feature. Hence, the problems in natural regeneration, adulteration, propagation and conservation efforts for this species are critically reviewed in the paper. Market survey revealed that E. tsjeriam-cottam was commonly sold as E. ribes. Molecular markers are being used for identification of E. ribes and to distinguish it from common substitutes and adulterants. Its natural regeneration is poor and artificial regeneration is difficult. It is a dioecious species with low male female ratio and bears short-lived male flowers as compared to female flowers. This may be the reason for less production of fruits. The in vitro technique is a promising area of research in the propagation as well as ex situ conservation of threatened plants. Very few reports are available on micropropagation of E. ribes. Again some doubts over previous report have also been observed. Therefore, the development and refinement of protocols for large scale micropropagation and conservation of authenticated plants of the species are greatly felt.

Keywords

Adulteration, Anthelmintic, Conservation, Embelin, In-vitro Propagation

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Rita Kundu ¹, Sandeep Chakraborty ¹, Soumya Chatterjee ¹, Debkumar Datta ²

Affiliations
1 Dept. of Botany, University of Calcutta, IN
2 RKMVC College, Rahara, Kolkata, IN

Abstract

Local lowland rice varieties are susceptible to cadmium stress. To address the impact of such stress, surface sterilized germinated lowland rice seedlings (Oryza sativa cv. Hazardus) were maintained in pots with autoclaved sand having Hoagland's solution in controls and 10 μM CdCl₂ solution (a moderate concentration) only in treated pots for 21 days in the laboratory net house of Calcutta University for the purpose of observing impact of exposure during October and December, 2013. Physiological parameters like biomass and length of ischolar_main and shoot are found to be decreased significantly in the treated plants. Cd-induced activation of antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase, APX), increase of lipid peroxidation (malonaldehyde level, MDA) and increase in biosynthesis of free proline take place in the process. Phytochelatin synthase (PCS) plays a vital role in intracellular sequestration and compartmentation of divalent cations, e.g., Cd²⁺ within the vacuoles, as assessed by PCR, showing amplification in the shoot sample, in contrast to that in ischolar_main, which is a transcript expression. The active uptake of Cd²⁺ by the ischolar_main was found by overexpression of divalent cation transporter gene, OsNramp³. Reduced Rubisco gene expression and chlorophyll pigments showed that Cd²⁺ is actively translocated from ischolar_main to shoot, leaves and in the grains. This local cultivar of West Bengal is a highly susceptible variety resulting in the accumulation of Cd in its grain making it unsuitable for direct human consumption or as feed for cattle.

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