Medicinal plant

Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for the Chinese endangered medicinal plant Tetrastigma hemsleyanum

Y. H. Wang, Chen, N., Zhang, Y. C., and Fu, C. X., “Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for the Chinese endangered medicinal plant Tetrastigma hemsleyanum”, vol. 13, pp. 9062-9067, 2014.

Tetrastigma hemsleyanum (Vitaceae) is an endangered medicinal plant endemic to China. Because of its widely known efficacy for treating many health problems, wild resources of this species are currently undergoing a rapid decline. Few studies have been conducted examining the population genetics or development of microsatellite loci for this plant. In this study, 14 microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized for T. hemsleyanum using a double-suppression PCR method. Polymorphisms were tested with a total of 50 individuals from 2 natural populations.

New loci of Lychnophora ericoides and transferability to Lychnophora pinaster, endangered medicinal species from Brazil

M. A. R. Vieira, Marques, M. O. M., Haber, L. L., Vigna, B. B. Z., Bajay, M. M., Pinheiro, J. B., Souza, A. P., Semir, J., and Zucchi, M. I., “New loci of Lychnophora ericoides and transferability to Lychnophora pinaster, endangered medicinal species from Brazil”, vol. 13. pp. 10878-10882, 2014.

Lychnophora ericoides and Lychnophora pinaster are species used in popular medicine as analgesic or anti-inflammatory agents to treat contusions, rheumatism, and insect bites. In this study, 21 simple sequence repeat loci of L. ericoides were developed and transferred to L. pinaster. Three populations of L. ericoides and 2 populations of L. pinaster were evaluated; they were collected in the State of Minas Gerais.

Genomic DNA extraction from medicinal plants available in Malaysia using a TriOmicTM improved extraction kit

A. R. Mohd-Hairul, Sade, A. B., Yiap, B. C., and Raha, A. R., “Genomic DNA extraction from medicinal plants available in Malaysia using a TriOmicTM improved extraction kit”, vol. 10. pp. 2757-2764, 2011.

DNA extraction was carried out on 32 medicinal plant samples available in Malaysia using the TriOmicTM extraction kit. Amounts of 0.1 g flowers or young leaves were ground with liquid nitrogen, lysed at 65°C in RY1plus buffer and followed by RNAse treatment. Then, RY2 buffer was added to the samples and mixed completely by vortexing before removal of cell debris by centrifugation. Supernatants were transferred to fresh microcentrifuge tubes and 0.1 volume RY3 buffer was added to each of the transferred supernatant.

Genetic diversity of natural populations of Anemopaegma arvense (Bignoniaceae) in the Cerrado of São Paulo State, Brazil

A. P. Batistini, Telles, M. P. C., Bertoni, B. W., J. Coppede, daS., Môro, F. V., S. França, deC., and Pereira, A. M. S., “Genetic diversity of natural populations of Anemopaegma arvense (Bignoniaceae) in the Cerrado of São Paulo State, Brazil”, vol. 8, pp. 52-63, 2009.

Catuaba (Anemopaegma arvense), a Bignoniaceae species endemic to Cerrado regions, shows anticancer properties and is widely used as a stimulant in traditional medicine. We evaluated the genetic diversity of seven populations found in the State of São Paulo, using random amplified polymorphic DNA markers. After optimization of the amplification reaction, 10 selected primers produced 70 reproducible bands, with 72.8% polymorphism. The greatest genetic diversity was observed within populations (71.72%).

Assessment of the potential genotoxic risk of medicinal Tamarindus indica fruit pulp extract using in vivo assays

F. M. V. Silva, Leite, M. F., Spadaro, A. C. C., Uyemura, S. A., and Maistro, E. L., “Assessment of the potential genotoxic risk of medicinal Tamarindus indica fruit pulp extract using in vivo assays”, vol. 8, pp. 1085-1092, 2009.

Tamarindus indica has been used in folk medicine as an antidiabetic, a digestive aid, and a carminative, among other uses. Currently, there is no information in the toxicology literature concerning the safety of T. indica extract. We evaluated the clastogenic and/or genotoxic potential of fruit pulp extract of this plant in vivo in peripheral blood and liver cells of Wistar rats, using the comet assay, and in bone marrow cells of Swiss mice, using the micronucleus test.

Subscribe to Medicinal plant