The effects of temperature and exogenous auxin on cutting propagation of some junipers

From past to the present, cultural, medicinal, landscape and culinary use of junipers has contrib­uted to it being one of the most widely distributed woody plants in the world. Therefore, it is so important that finding appropriate production methods to obtain quality seedlings in line with the usage area. In the present study, it was tried to determine the best conditions and applications on propagation by cuttings of three juniper taxa including Juniperus communis L. ‘Hibernica’, Juniperus chinensis L. ‘Stricta’, and Juniperus chinensis L. ‘Stricta Variegata’. For this purpose, two different greenhouse treatments (Greenhouse-1 with the air temperature at 20±2°C, rooting table temperature at 25±2°C and humidity level at 70±2%; Green­house-2 with the air temperature at 20±2°C, rooting table temperature at 20±2°C and humidity level at 70±2%) and different auxin applications (Indole-3-Butyric Acid, Indole-3-Acetic Acid and α-Naphthalene Acetic Acid at concentrations of 3000 and 5000 ppm) were designed. The highest rooting percentages were generally achieved in Greenhouse-1. IAA 5000 ppm treatment for J. communis ‘Hibernica’ (93.33%) and J. chinensis ‘Stricta’ (66.67%, also in Greenhouse-2) and IBA 3000 ppm treatment for J. chinensis ‘Stricta Var­iegata’ (60.00%) showed the best rooting results. This study, in which the best production conditions are investigated in some juniper taxa, is a guiding feature for the producers to ensure the sustainable utilization of junipers.

Chemical and Antimicrobial Analyses of Juniperus chinensis and Juniperus seravschanica Essential Oils and Comparison with Their Methanolic Crude Extracts

Juniperus chinensis and Juniperus seravschanica are commonly used in the traditional folk medicine to treat microbial infection. In this study, the essential oils obtained from the leaves of J. chinensis growing in Malaysia and J. seravschanica growing in Oman were analysed by head space-solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) and screened for antimicrobial activities against Escherichia coli (NCTC 10418), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCTC 10662), Bacillus subtilis ATCC6059, Micrococcus luteus (ATCC 9341), Staphylococcus aureus (NCTC 6571), and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA; ATCC 33591). To compare the antimicrobial activities of extracts using different extraction methods, methanol extraction was performed to obtain crude extracts from the leaves of J. chinensis and J. seravschanica for antimicrobial analysis. The HS-SPME-GS-MS analysis of the essential oils from the leaves of J. chinensis and J. seravschanica identified 37 and 36 components, respectively. Essential oils from these two species had distinctive chemical component profiles, with α-pinene (27.2%) as the major component of J. chinensis essential oil, while dl-limonene (45.2%) constitutes the major component of J. seravschanica essential oil. Essential oils of these two species shared only six similar terpenoids compounds: α-pinene, β-pinene, γ-elemene, sabinene, elemol, and 3-cyclohexen-1-ol. Overall, the essential oils showed antimicrobial activities against all the six bacterial strains tested, with the highest antagonistic activity against M. luteus and B. cereus; while, methanolic crude extracts showed the highest activities against S. aureus and MRSA strains. The methanolic crude extracts demonstrated significantly higher antibacterial activity against the Gram-positive bacteria ( p < 0.005 ); while, the essential oils of Juniperus did not show significant differences between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Future studies are needed to investigate the active compounds present in the essential oils and methanolic crude extracts that confer the selectivity in the antimicrobial activity.

Anti-cancer & anti-metastasis properties of bioorganic-capped silver nanoparticles fabricated from Juniperus chinensis extract against lung cancer cells

The current study evaluated the anti-cancer properties of bio-functionalized silver nanoparticles fabricated by Juniperus chinensis leaf extracts. The nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, dynamic light scattering, Zeta potential and X-ray spectroscopy. Further, this study elucidated the cellular and molecular mechanisms of nanoparticles for anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on human lung cancer cells (A549) and compared them with commercial drug cisplatin. The size of the spherical nanoparticle was 12.96 nm with negative zeta potential. Up-regulation of caspase 3,9 and p53, Annexin V-FITC/PI, DAPI staining, and ROS production indicated the remarkable apoptotic effect of AgNPs compared to cisplatin. Moreover, down-regulation of MMP2/MMP9 scratch and matrigel assays revealed anti-metastatic properties of AgNPs. Cell cycle analysis and downregulation of cyclin D1 indicated cancer cell cessation in the G0/G1 phase. Overall, the results revealed that the green-synthetized AgNPs had anti-metastasis and anti-proliferation effects on lung cancer cells in comparison to cisplatin with lower side effects on the normal cell line.

The Effect of Different Cleaning Methods on Needles for Assessing the Atmospheric Heavy Metal Retention Capacity of Three Coniferous Trees

Urban air pollution has received increasing attention in recent years. To investigate the interaction between several heavy metal elements and the degree of atmospheric pollution, the leaves of three evergreen tree species—Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis L.), dragon juniper (Juniperus chinensis L. ‘Kaizuca’), and cedar (Cedrus deodara (Roxb. ex D.Don) G.Don)—were collected from main road intersections in the urban area of Tianjin, China. Two different treatments—water washing (WW) and ethanol washing (EW)—were used, and the contents of Cu, Mn, Cd, and Zn were measured in both washed and unwashed (UW) leaves. It was found that the heavy metal contents within Chinese juniper and dragon juniper were ranked as Mn > Zn > Cu > Cd, and the metal accumulation index (MAI) value was higher for dragon juniper. For the three plants, water washed off 5.36% to 58.58% of the total heavy metals in the needles, while ethanol washed off 16.08% to 71.60% of the total. Both washes were more effective for Cu, Zn, and Cd, and especially for the element Cd. Ethanol could clean off 38.64% to 71.60% of the total Cd from the leaves. Ethanol had a better elution effect compared to water, and the trend of the Cd content in the leaves of the three plants showed a change after the use of different washing methods, which suggests that the water washing may have masked the real difference.

Anti-cancer, Anti-invasiveness & Anti-metastasis of Green Engineered Bioorganic-Capped Silver Nanoparticles Fabricated from Juniperus chinensis Extract and Comparison to Cisplatin in Lung Cancer Cells (A549): In Vitro Assessment of Cellular and Molecular Pathways

The current study reveals anti-cancer properties of bio-functionalized silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) fabricated by Juniperus chinensis leaf extracts due to it’s easy, low cost, biological activity, eco-friendly and lower side effects. The characteristics of AgNPs were determined by scanning electron microscopy [1], transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Zeta potential and X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Further, this study highlights the cellular and molecular mechanisms of AgNPs involves in anti-proliferative and apoptotic effect on human lung cancer cells (A549) and compared to commercial drug cisplatin by various biological methods such as MTT, flow cytometery analysis, gene expression patterns, migration and invasion inhibition, ROS and caspase production and cell staining. The size of AgNPs fabricated in this study was 12.96 with spherical shape and negative zeta potential. Up-regulation of capase 3,9 and p53, Annexin V-FITC/PI, DAPI staining, ROS production indicated remarkable apoptotic effect of AgNPs than cisplatin. Also down-regulation of MMP2/MMP9 scratch and matrigel assays revealed anti-metastatic properties of AgNPs.cell cycle analysis and down regulation of cyclin D1 showed cancer cell cessation in the G0/G1 phase. Overall results in current experiment revealed AgNPs synthetized by biogreen method anti-metastasis and anti-proliferation effect on lung cancer cells comparison to cicplatin drug and also had lower side effect on normal cell line.

Growth features of grafted plants of Juniperus Chinensis‘Blaauw’

Juniperus chinensis‘Blaauw’ is difficult to propagate by rooting stem cuttings why the aim of the research was assessing the possibility of obtaining the progeny of this cultivar by grafting. Experiments conducted in 2012 on grafting with various methods of the cultivar on 2-year-old Juniperus virginiana‘Grey Owl’ seedlings of rooted cuttings origin have made it possible to achieve a survival rate of about 80 %, however, the final conclusions on the success of transplantation can be made only on the basis of further long-term observations of grafted plants. It is shown that the plants of the Juniperus chinensis ‘Blaauw’, grafted by veneer side grafting, are more viable than the plants grafted by side grafting. During the observation period 2012–2018 years in the latter case, 75 % of the grafted seedlings died, and only 38.5 % of the veneer side grafted plants fell out. Grafted seedlings are characterized by more powerful growth in comparison with seedlings of rooted cuttings origin. The annual increment of the first is 2–2.5 times higher, which is explained by the influence of the stock. The site of grafting becomes difficult to discern over time, which indicates a good compatibility of grafted components and a suitable way of carrying it out. Thus, veneer side grafting is a promising way to multiply the hard-to-root Juniperus chinensis‘Blaauw’.