Use of Stem Implanted Bioherbicide Capsules to Manage an Infestation of Parkinsonia aculeata in Northern Australia

An infestation of parkinsonia (Parkinsonia aculeata) located on Alexandria Station, Northern Territory, Australia, was successfully treated with a bioherbicide using stem-implanted capsules. The bioherbicide (Di-Bak Parkinsonia®), containing three endemic endophytic fungi (Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae, Macrophomina phaseolina and Neoscytalidium novaehollandiae), is the first Australian registered woody weed bioherbicide. The product was effectively administered to the plant stems using a mechanical device, resulting in the subsequent development of a dieback event. After a period of establishment, it progressed through an adjacent untreated population, resulting in a significant decline in infestation vigour and preventing recruitment from the seedbank. This is the first report of large-scale management of parkinsonia by this method.

Use of Stem Implanted Bioherbicide Capsules to Manage an Infestation of Parkinsonia aculeata in Northern Australia

An infestation of parkinsonia (Parkinsonia aculeata) located on Alexandria Station, Northern Territory, Australia was successfully treated with a bioherbicide using stem implanted capsules. The bioherbicide containing three endemic endophytic fungi (Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae, Macrophomina phaseolina and Neoscytalidium novaehollan-diae) is the first Australian registered woody weed bioherbicide. The product was effectively administered to the plant stems using a mechanical device, resulting in subsequent development of a dieback event, which, after a period of establishment, has moved through the adjacent untreated plant population resulting in significant decline in infestation vigour and reduced recruitment. This is the first report of large-scale management of parkinsonia by this method.

Endorsement and Phylogenetic Analysis of some Fabaceae Plants based on DNA Barcoding gene MatK

DNA barcodes have been considered as a tool to facilitate species identification based on their simplicity and high-level accuracy compression to the complexity and subjective biases linked to morphological identification of taxa. MaturaseK gene “ MatK” of the chloroplast is very crucial in the plant system which is involved in the group II intron splicing. The main objective of this current study is determining the relative utility of the “ MatK” chloroplast gene for barcoding in fifteen legume trees by both single region and multiregional approaches. The chloroplast “ MatK” gene sequences were submitted to GenBank and accession numbers (GenBank: LC602060, LC602154, LC602263, LC603347, LC603655, LC603845, LC603846, LC603847, LC604717, LC604718, LC605994, LC604799, LC605995, LC606468, LC606469) were obtained with sequence length ranging from 730 to 1545 nucleotides. These DNA sequences were aligned with database sequence using PROMALS server , Clustal Omega server and Bioedit program. Also, the maximum likelihood and neighbor-joining algorithms for phylogenetic reconstruction using the MEGA-X program were employed. Overall, these results indicated that the phylogenetic tree analysis and the evolutionary distances of an individual dataset of each species were agreed with a phylogenetic tree of all each other consisting of two clades, the first clade comprising (Enterolobium contortisiliquum, Albizia lebbek), Acacia saligna , Leucaena leucocephala, Dichrostachys Cinerea, (Delonix regia, Parkinsonia aculeata), (Senna surattensis, Cassia fistula, Cassia javanica) and Schotia brachypetala were more closely to each other, respectively. The remaining four species of Erythrina humeana, (Sophora secundiflora, Dalbergia Sissoo, Tipuana Tipu) constituted the second clade. Therefore, MatK gene is considered promising a candidate for DNA barcoding in plant family Fabaceae and providing a clear relationship between the families. Moreover, their sequences could be successfully utilized in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) or part of the sequence as DNA fragment analysis utilizing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in plant systematic.

Toxicidad del plomo en la germinación y el crecimiento de plántulas de Parkinsonia aculeata L.

Las elevadas concentraciones de plomo (Pb) en el suelo limitan el establecimiento de las plantas, por lo que es importante identificar especies tolerantes. El objetivo del presente estudio consistió en determinar el efecto de PbCl2 y Pb(NO3)2 en la germinación y crecimiento temprano de Parkinsonia aculeata. En laboratorio se imbibieron las semillas en soluciones de PbCl2 y Pb(NO3)2 a concentraciones de 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0 y 2.0 mM. Las semillas se pesaron al inicio y al final (48 h); posteriormente, se incubaron y regaron con sus respectivas soluciones (7 días). En invernadero, las semillas se sembraron en arena y se regaron (15 días) para determinar el porcentaje de germinación (laboratorio) y emergencia (invernadero); las variables consideradas fueron: longitud de vástago, radícula y peso seco (ambas condiciones). Bajo condiciones controladas, PbCl2 y Pb(NO3)2 no afectaron la imbibición, pero al aumentar sus concentraciones, redujeron significativamente la germinación en 18 y 26 %, respectivamente, así como el peso seco del vástago (40 y 49 %), y radícula (40 y 57 %). En invernadero, los compuestos de Pb no redujeron la emergencia, pero inhibieron el crecimiento de radícula; mientras que el Pb(NO3)2 inhibió en mayor proporción su peso seco. El efecto del Pb puede diferir en función del compuesto de Pb utilizado. El Pb(NO3)2 presenta una mayor toxicidad.

Brúquidos (Insecta: Coleoptera) asociados a semillas de fabáceas en el Norte de Sinaloa, México

Las fabáceas representan una importante fuente de recursos al ser utilizadas en la producción de carbón, alimentación del ganado y personas, además de evitar erosiones del suelo; estas plantas se encuentran amenazadas en su producción por la presencia de brúquidos o gorgojos (Insecta: Coleoptera), quienes se alimentan de sus semillas para sobrevivir, causando pérdidas económicas en la región. En 2017 se realizaron recolectas de semillas en cuatro municipios del norte de Sinaloa, con el objetivo de identificar las especies de brúquidos asociados a fabaceas y evaluar sus daños sobre la germinación de semillas. Se identificaron 25 especies de fabáceas: Ahome (7), El Fuerte (6), Guasave (6) y Choix (6). Del total de 68,340 semillas, emergieron 19,396 gorgojos adultos, agrupados en siete géneros y 14 especies, con dominancias en las especies de Mimosestes (3), Acanthoscelides (3), Merobruchus (3) y Stator (2). De las especies vegetales, 17 fueron atacadas por una sola especie de brúquido, y seis por dos; en Ahome la especie plaga más perjudicial fue Merobruchus santarosae, con 43.9% y 33.1% de daños a Mariosouza coultieri y M. acatlensis, respectivamente; en El Fuerte, Acanthoscelides desmanthi causó daños del 38.95% a Sesvania herbaceae y del 29.48% a S. occidentalis; en Guasave, los mayores daños correspondieron a Callosobruchus maculatus sobre Cicer arietinum (41.3%), Mimosestes ulkei sobre Parkinsonia aculeata (40.6%) y M. mimosae sobre P. florida (37.7%); en Choix los mayores daños correspondieron a Merobruchus insolitus sobre Albizia sinaloensis (34.7%) y Amblycerus acapulcencis sobre Caesalpinia cacalaco (29.1%).

PARKINSONIA ACULEATA AS A POTENTIAL PHYTOTHERAPIC FACTOR IN THE INFLAMMATORY AND DYSLIPIDEMIC CONTROL OF WISTAR RATS

Objective: The study evaluated the hypolipidemic and anti-inflammatory potential of the hydroalcoholic extract of P. Aculeata (HEPa/EtOAC) in Wistar rats fed with Westernized diet. Methods: The experiment was approved by the Ethics Committee (Federal University of Pernambuco-23076.027165 / 2010-21). The hydroalcoholic extract (HEPa/EtOAc) was obtained from the aerial parts of P. Aculeata and portioned by acetate/ethanol in different concentrations. 36 male Wistar rats were initially divided into two groups: Control (C, n = 6), fed a commercial diet (26g / 100g of protein; 63g / 100g of carbohydrates; 11g / 100g of lipids) and Westernized (W; n = 30) – fed an experimental diet (15g / 100g of protein; 51g / 100g of carbohydrates; 34 g/100g of lipids) receving water ad libitum. After 4 months of diet, W group was arbitrarily redistributed into six subgroups according to water supplementation, or different extracts concentrations: (n = 6 animals/group): W- distilled water (1mL/kg; po); WG – genfibrozil (140 mg/kg; p.o.); W35- 35 mg/kg; W70 – 70 mg /kg; p.o. and W140- 140 mg/kg; p.o for 30 days. The lipid profile and pro-inflammatory cytokines were analyzed. Results: The westernized diet caused dyslipidemia and the treatment with HEPa-EtOAc (140mg / kg), promoted a significant reduction in the concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines, in total cholesterol, in the LDLc and serum triglycerides. Conclusion: The reduction of dyslipidemia and pro-inflammatory cytokines from the of P. Aculeata extract corroborate the ethnopharmacological potential of the plant, already used by the population for hypoglycemic purposes.