Exploitation of neighbouring subsoil for nutrient acquisition under annual-perennial strip intercropping systems

Little is known of how the deep root systems of perennial crops contribute to deeper and better resource use when intercropped with annuals in arable fields. Therefore, we aimed at measuring the capacity of perennial deep roots, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and curly dock (Rumex crispus L.) to access the nutrient source located under the neighboring annuals at 1.0 and 2.5 m of soil depth. Alfalfa and curly dock were able to access the tracer-labelled source placed at a distance under the annual crop strips. As a result, the reliance on deeper soil layer for nutrient uptake under intercroppings became greater compared with sole-croppings. Combination of an annual cereal (winter rye) and a perennial legume (alfalfa) with contrasting root systems exhibited higher resource complementarity compared with intercroppings having similar root systems or absence of legumes. Our results demonstrated that the deep-rooted perennials when intercropped with annuals can induce vertical niche complementarity, especially at deeper soil layers. This was assumed to be due to the vertically stratified root activity between the crop components, however, the magnitude of the effects depended on choice of crop combinations, and on types of tracers. Future studies should include estimates such as relative yield total and land equivalent ratio to quantitatively determine the effects of resource acquisition under annual-perennial intercropping in arable fields.

More Than Just a Weed: An Exploration of the Antimicrobial Activity of Rumex crispus using a Multivariate Data Analysis Approach

Plants have a long history of use for their medicinal properties. The complexity of botanical extracts presents unique challenges and necessitates the application of innovative approaches to correctly identify and quantify bioactive compounds. For this study, we used untargeted metabolomics to explore the antimicrobial activity of Rumex crispus (yellow dock), a member of the Polygonaceae family used as an herbal remedy for bacterial infections. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high resolution mass-spectrometry (UPLC-MS) was used to identify and quantify the known antimicrobial compound emodin. In addition, we used biochemometric approaches to integrate data measuring antimicrobial activity from R. crispus root starting material and fractions against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with UPLC-MS data. Our results support the hypothesis that multiple constituents, including the anthraquinone emodin, contribute to the antimicrobial activity of R. crispus against MRSA.

SOIL WEED SEED BANK STATUS IN THE AGROECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF CHITRAL, PAKISTAN

A greenhouse experiment was carried out at the Agricultural Research Station (ARS), Shen Lasht, Chitral during 2016-17. There were five different locations in district Chitral from where the soil samples were collected which included Drosh, Shen Lasht, Garam Chashma, Ayun and BoonyLasht. A total of 300 samples were collected from all locations with 60 samples from each location. The 300 soil samples collected were placed in trays of medium sizes i.e. 27 cm x 21 cm x 4 cm = 2268 cm3. The trays were arranged in three repetitions having 100 samples in each repetition. Each repetition of 100 samples contained samples from 5 locations, in each location 4 sites (east, west, north and south each at 100 m distance from each other) and at each site samples were collected from 5 different depths, making a total of 100 samples in one repetition i.e. 5 x 4 x 5 = 100 and with repetitions making a total of 300 samples in one district. The results indicated that in the soil samples of district Chitral a total of 31 noxious weeds were recorded. Out of the 31 different weeds, 23 were broad leaves, eight were grasses and one was sedge. In another angle, 24 weeds were annuals while the rest were perennials out of the 31 weeds identified. A total of 17 different plant families were represented by the weeds recorded in the soil samples of Chitral region. Among the different locations of Chitral, the highest weed seed bank was recorded in the soil samples of ARS Shen Lasht area. Weed seed banks have always been higher in areas with mild winters, where the Shen lasht area is having milder winters as compared to the other areas in Chitral. The lowest seed bank was recorded in the soil samples of Garam Chashma, which was however statistically at par with the rest of the locations studied in Chitral. As far as the seed banks in the depths are concerned, largest weed seed bank was observed in the depth of 6 to 12 cm. The smallest seed bank was at the depth of 30 cm followed by the depth of 24 and 18 cm. Therefore, it is evident that the major weed seed bank lies in the upper 6-12 cm depth of the soil. In case of the interaction, the largest weed seed bank was recorded at ARS Sheen lasht at the depth of upper 6 cm of the soil profile whereas the weed seed bank was very low below the 12cm depth of soil upto 30 cm in the Garam Chashma area of Chitral. Out of the total 31 weeds recorded in soil samples of Chitral, the top 10 weeds in terms of the relative weed densities, relative weed frequencies and importance value indices were Convolvulus arvensis, Rumex crispus, Poa annua, Galium aparine, Avenafatua, Trianthemaportulacastrum, Silybum marianum, Sorghumhalepense, Euphorbia helioscopia, and Loliumtenulentumspecies. The IVI values for these weeds were 14.01, 13.96, 13.07, 11.83, 11.57, 11.12, 10.35, 10.09, 10.02, and 9.99, respectively. Moreover, these IVIs indicate that out of the topmost 10 problematic weeds eight weeds are broad leaved and two are grassy weeds.

Evaluación preliminar de 10 plantas medicinales del Valle del Mantaro mediante el método cualitativo (fitoquímico) para uso farmacéutico

Objetivo: Determinar preliminarmente 10 plantas medicinales del Valle del Mantaro mediante el método cualitativo (fitoquímico) para uso farmacéutico. Material y Métodos: Cualitativo (fitoquímico) para uso farmacéutico. Resultados: La actividad farmacognósicas de las plantas medicinales son utilizadas en el Valle del Mantaro: Xanthium spinosum (Juan alonso) como antitumoral y anticancerígena, Equisetum arvense (Cola de caballo) como osteoporosis, coagulación sanguínea Mentha sativa L (Hierba buena) para el nerviosismo, Rumex crispus L. (Cuturrumasa) como antiinflamatorio, Piper aduncum (Matico) como antiviral, Centauriun erythraea Rafn. (Canchalagua) como antitumorales, antidiabéticas, Schinus molle (Molle) como antirreumático, Psoralea glandulosaxonomía (Culen) como hipoglucemiente, Minthostachys mollis (Inca muña) como antireumático y acción carminativa, Taraxacum officinale (Diente de león) como hipoglucemiante. Conclusiones: De acuerdo al análisis fitoquímico de las plantas, confirman la actividad farmacológica para el uso medicinal: Xanthium spinosum (Juan Alonso), Equisetum arvense (Cola de caballo), Mentha sativa L. (Hierba buena), Rumex crispus L. (Cuturrumasa), Piper aduncum (Matico), Centauriun erythraea Rafn (Canchalagua), Schinus molle (Molle), Psoralea glandulosaxonomía (Culen), Minthostachys mollis (Inca Muña) y Taraxacum officinale (Diente de León). El uso de las plantas medicinales en el Valle del Mantaro por sus metabolitos secundarios pueden asociarse a prometedoras actividades medicinales como: antitumorales, anticancerígenos, osteoporosis, antiviral, antidiabéticas, antirreumático; siendo candidatos para estudios con mayor profundidad fitoquímica y farmacobiólogica.

Phytopathogenic fungi with potential as biocontrol agents for weeds of importance in crops of Antioquia, Colombia

Background Use of phytopathogenic fungi for the biocontrol of weeds represents a promising path in the search for new management alternatives that allow reducing negative effects on the environment and the generation of biotypes having resistance to herbicides. The first step in developing weed biological control programs is to determine the plants and their natural enemies with the highest affinity and potential to achieve effective biocontrol. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the phytopathogenic potential of fungal isolates on four economically important weeds including: Rumex crispus L., Digitaria horizontalis Willd, Persicaria nepalensis (Meisn.) Miyabe, and Thunbergia alata Bojer ex Sims, as a possible biocontrol agent. Results Morphological and molecular identification of nine phytopathogenic isolates of weeds was achieved, according to the sequencing of the ITS, β-Tub2, and TEF1-α regions. Pathogenicity of the following species on original hosts was confirmed: Colletotrichum cigarro, Epicoccum draconis, and Didymella rumicicola on R. crispus; Bipolaris sp., on D. horizontalis; Bipolaris zeicola, Phialemoniopsis curvata, and Stemphylium beticola on P. nepalensis and, Alternaria thunbergiae and Nigrospora sphaerica on T. alata. These could be, fairly, considered the first worldwide reports of such interactions, except for A. thunbergiae and Bipolaris sp. The most virulent interactions according to the AUDPC value corresponded to (R. crispus × D. rumicicola), (D. horizontalis × Bipolaris sp.), (P. nepalensis × S. beticola) and (T. alata × A. thunbergiae), with an incidence of 100%. Conclusion These strains were proposed for future research as potential biocontrol agents, which represented a great resource for the possible generation of new bio-herbicides.

Phytochemical Composition, Antioxidant, Antiacetylcholinesterase, and Cytotoxic Activities of Rumex crispus L.

Rumex crispus L. (R. crispus) is regarded as an aromatic plant. It was used for its excellent biological properties in traditional medicine. The aerial part was extracted successively by maceration with three solvents increasing polarity (cyclohexane (CYH), dichloromethane (DCM), and methanol (MeOH)) to evaluate their chemical compositions and biological activities. The extracts were rich in phenolic compounds (13.0 to 249.8 mg GAE/g of dry weight (dw)). The MeOH extract has presented remarkable IC50 = 6.2 μg/mL for anti-DPPH and 31.6 μg/mL for anti-AChE. However, the DCM extract has the highest cytotoxic activity against the two cancer cells (HCT-116 and MCF-7) (69.2 and 77.2% inhibition at 50 μg/mL, respectively). Interestingly, GC-MS analysis enabled to identify three new compounds in R. crispus extracts, such as L-(−)-arabitol (5), D-(−) fructopyranose (7) detected only in MeOH extract, and 2, 5-dihydroxyacetophenone (3) detected in all extracts. For HPLC chromatograms, cardamonin (8), 5-hydroxy-3′-methoxyflavone (17), and 3′-hydroxy-b-naphthoflavone (18) showed the highest concentrations of 74.0, 55.5, and 50.4 mg/g of dw, respectively, among others who are identified. Some phenolic compounds were identified and quantified by HPLC in more than one organic extract, such as 4′, 5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone (13), 4′, 5-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavone (14), 5-hydroxy-3′-methoxyflavone (17), and 3′-hydroxy-b-naphthoflavone (18), were found for the first time in the R. crispus extracts. Our results showed that the biological activities of this plant might be linked to their phenolic compounds and that the polar extracts could be considered as new natural supplements to be used in food and pharmaceuticals.

Avaliação medicinal e nutricional de três espécies de Plantas Alimentícias Não convencionais (PANCs): Uma revisão de literatura

Nos últimos anos, o aumento da busca por alternativas medicinais e nutricionais para introdução no campo da saúde das pessoas ocasionou a utilização de plantas no cotidiano da população. Consequentemente, diversas pesquisas almejavam avaliar o potencial uso de tais plantas e seus benefícios para a saúde. Portanto, o objetivo do estudo é realizar uma revisão de literatura sobre a potencial utilização medicinal e nutricional de três espécies presentes na região Sul do Brasil, sendo elas Rumex crispus, Conyza bonariensis e Taraxacum officinale. Foram realizadas pesquisas nas bases de dados PubMed, EMBASE, Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde (BVS) e Repositório digital da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, utilizando os descritores anteriormente selecionados das plataformas MeSh e DeCs. As buscas foram realizadas no período de dezembro de 2020. O critério de inclusão utilizado englobava artigos dos últimos 20 anos, porém foram excluídas revisões de literatura. Após as buscas foram selecionados 27 artigos para compor a revisão de literatura. As plantas são ricas em diferentes fitoquímicos, que garantem às espécies diferentes usos em potencial, como antioxidantes, anti-inflamatórios, anti-diabéticos, antimicrobianos e anticancerígenos. Além disso, seus usos na alimentação são abrangentes, sendo encontrados em saladas, molhos, geleias ou chás. A maioria das plantas apresentou atividade citotóxica contra células tumorais, porém a toxicidade contra células saudáveis não foi observada pelos estudos. Portanto, observa-se o potencial medicinal e nutricional das espécies analisadas, sendo necessários mais estudos para a sua elucidação na prática clínica.