Rainfall amount determines annual herb controls over soil seed bank and its similarity with vegetation in the Tengger Desert

Background Soil seed banks may offer great potential for maintaining and restoring desert ecosystems that have been degraded by climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. However, few studies have explored the year-to-year dynamics in the species composition (richness and abundance) of these desert soil seed banks. Thus, we conducted a 4-year study to assess the effects of environmental factors (meteorology and microtopography) and aboveground vegetation on the soil seed bank of the Tengger Desert, China. Results We found the seed bank was dominated by annual herb species both in species richness and abundance. More rainfall in the growing season increased the number of seeds in the soil seed bank, and quadrat micro-elevation had a negative effect on soil seed bank size. The species composition in the seed bank had significantly larger between-year similarity than that in the aboveground vegetation due to the dominance of annual herb species. For different life forms, the species composition of annual herbs showed distinctly larger temporal similarity between the aboveground vegetation and the seed bank compared with perennial herbs and shrubs. Conclusions Our findings highlight that the combined effects of environmental factors and plant life forms determine the species composition (especially the abundance) of soil seed banks in deserts. However, if degraded desert ecosystems are left to regenerate naturally, the lack of shrub and perennial herb seeds could crucially limit their restoration. Human intervention and management may have to be applied to enhance the seed abundance of perennial lifeforms in degraded deserts.

The complete chloroplast genome of Diarthron linifolium (Thymelaeaceae), a species found on a limestone outcrop in eastern Asia

Diarthron linifolium Turcz. is an annual herb usually found in sandy soil or limestone areas. Plants in the genus Diarthron are known to have toxic chemicals that may, however, be potentially useful as an anticancer treatment. Diarthron linifolium is a unique species among the species of the genus distributed in Korea. Here, we determine the genetic variation of D. linifolium collected in Korea with a full chloroplast genome and investigate its evolutionary status by means of a phylogenetic analysis. The chloroplast genome of Korean D. linifolium has a total length of 172,644 bp with four subregions; 86,158 bp of large single copy and 2,858 bp of small single copy (SSC) regions are separated by 41,814 bp of inverted repeat (IR) regions. We found that the SSC region of D. linifolium is considerably short but that IRs are relatively long in comparison with other chloroplast genomes. Various simple sequence repeats were identified, and our nucleotide diversity analysis suggested potential marker regions near ndhF. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that D. linifolium from Korea is a sister to the group of Daphne species.

In vitro Microrhizome Induction and Essential Oil Production from Aromatic Ginger Kaempferia galanga : An Economically Important Medicinal Herb

Kaempferia galanga L. or ‘aromatic ginger’ is a stem-less herb in Zingiberaceae having different pharmacological properties like antioxidant, antimicrobial, nemeticidal, vasorelaxant and wound healing activity. The plant is generally a vegetatively propagated annual herb; its conservation using conventional methods takes more time to get sufficient amount of planting materials for commercial cultivation. Micropropagation by in vitro methods helps to overcome the present demand for this high sought medicinal and aromatic species. At present the concern on in vitro propagation is directed to rhizome or storage organ induction for productive acclimatization and to reduce the injury during transportation. Microrhizomes are the small rhizomes developed in in vitro conditions and its induction is an effective biotechnological tool for the production of quality planting materials as they are genetically stable and disease free. The present study is discussing the role of silver nitrate (AgNO3) along with sucrose in in vitro microrhizome induction in K. galanga for the first time. MS medium fortified with 2.0 mgl-1 AgNO3 along with 6% (w/v) sucrose produced maximum amount of microrhizomes i.e., 4.52±0.11 g after 3 months that increased to 5.70±0.20 g in six months of harvesting. Here we also reports the comparative analysis of chemical constituents in the essential oil of in vivo rhizomes and in vitro microrhizome through GC-MS analysis that further reveals the superior characteristics of the microrhizomes in terms of the bioactive components ethyl p-methoxy cinnamate and ethyl cinnamate, the esters that contribute the nematicidal, antituberculosis, anti-inflammatory, antifungal and larvicidal properties to the oil. This protocol for in vitro microrhizome induction can be used for the commercial production of rhizomes and essential oil in K. galanga and the outcome of this study can be further used for mass production of pathogen-free microrhizomes and conservation for its sustainable utilization of the species.

A Comprehensive Review on Therapeutic Potential on Euphorbia hirta Lin

Euphorbia hirta Linn, a representative of the Euphorbiaceae family, is a widespread annual herb found in wastelands in humid conditions. The plant is high in phytochemicals such as tannin, quercetin, and phytosterol, however there are few phytopharmacological investigations on it. Plant components are normally employed in traditional medicine to treat respiratory problems, gastrointestinal issues, wound healing, and other ailments. The steroid of E. hirta was found to have CNS depressive and muscle relaxant effects, as well as a sub-maximal anti-stress and anxiolytic impact.

Morphological and Phytochemical Studies on Xanthium strumarium L.

Xanthium strumarium L. belonging to family Asteraceae is an annual herb with abundance occurring in India. This plant has been used in the indigenous system of medicine for a long time in India as well as other countries. The morphological studies reveal that there is notable difference in the plant habit, leaves, stem, root and flowers among this plant. Morphological study also helps for correct identification and nomenclature of plant. The chemicals present in root, stem and leaves drugs are analyzed physically as well as chemically by qualitative and quantitative parameters. In present study reveals morphology, medicinal properties and phytochemical studies of plants for correct identification authenticity of drugs. The details are presented in the present paper.

Machine Learning Undercounts Reproductive Organs on Herbarium Specimens but Accurately Derives Their Quantitative Phenological Status: A Case Study of Streptanthus tortuosus

Machine learning (ML) can accelerate the extraction of phenological data from herbarium specimens; however, no studies have assessed whether ML-derived phenological data can be used reliably to evaluate ecological patterns. In this study, 709 herbarium specimens representing a widespread annual herb, Streptanthus tortuosus, were scored both manually by human observers and by a mask R-CNN object detection model to (1) evaluate the concordance between ML and manually-derived phenological data and (2) determine whether ML-derived data can be used to reliably assess phenological patterns. The ML model generally underestimated the number of reproductive structures present on each specimen; however, when these counts were used to provide a quantitative estimate of the phenological stage of plants on a given sheet (i.e., the phenological index or PI), the ML and manually-derived PI’s were highly concordant. Moreover, herbarium specimen age had no effect on the estimated PI of a given sheet. Finally, including ML-derived PIs as predictor variables in phenological models produced estimates of the phenological sensitivity of this species to climate, temporal shifts in flowering time, and the rate of phenological progression that are indistinguishable from those produced by models based on data provided by human observers. This study demonstrates that phenological data extracted using machine learning can be used reliably to estimate the phenological stage of herbarium specimens and to detect phenological patterns.

Notes on the extended distribution of Impatiens megamalayana, a recently described balsam in Western Ghats, India

Impatiens megamalayana is a recently described balsam from the Megamalai hills of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu state. This is a small, annual herb with ridged stem, often distributed in open, wet, rocky grasslands above 1,000 m elevation. The plant considered endemic to the Megamalai hills of Tamil Nadu is recently located in the Urumbikkara hills of Idukki district in Kerala state, which is about 120 km away from its original locality. Urumbikkara is an emerging tourist destination in central Kerala and the newly located populations of the plant are outside protected forest areas and are facing severe threat due to anthrapogenic activities. A detailed description, photographs and distribution maps are provided to facilitate easy identification of the plant in the field. An updated checklist of the genus Impatiens in Kerala state is also furnished for future reference.

Compartment Niche Shapes the Assembly and Network of Cannabis sativa-Associated Microbiome

Interactions between plants and microbes may promote the growth of plants and regulate the production of secondary metabolites. Hemp (Cannabis sativa) is an annual herb and an important commercial crop. However, the assembly and network of hemp-associated microbiomes inhabiting in soil and plant compartments have not been comprehensively understood. This work investigated the assembly and network of bacterial and fungal communities living in soils (bulk and rhizosphere) and plant compartments (root, stem, leaf, and flower) of four hemp ecotypes cultivated in the same habitat. Microbiome assembly was predominantly shaped by compartment niche. Microbial alpha diversity was the highest in soil, continually decreased from root to flower. Core bacterial genera Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Rhizobium, Planococcus, and Sphingomonas were mostly enriched in aerial endosphere niches; Clitopilus, Plectosphaerella, and Mortierella were enriched in belowground endosphere. Microbial network complexity and connectivity decreased from root to flower. According to source tracking analysis, hemp microbiota primarily originated from soil and were subsequently filtered in different plant compartments. This work provides details on hemp-associated microbiome along the soil–plant continuum and a comprehensive understanding of the origin and transmission mode of endophytes in hemp.

Pharmacological evaluation of Vrishya karma (Aphrodisiac activity) of Whole plant of Lavandula bipinnata (Roth) Kuntze

Background: Lavandula bipinnata Roth. of family Lamiaceae known as Kamaraja in Odisha is an erect, strongly fragrant, annual herb with multifaceted ethno medicinal claims to treat, poisons, tooth ache, anxiety, depression, headache, cold and sexual disorder etc. Aim: To study the effect of whole plant of Lavandula bipinnata for its aphrodisiac activity in albino rats. Material Methods: The sexually active male rats were chosen separately and divided into 2 groups; each group consisting of 6 animals and the study was carried by using the suitable animal experimental model. The data generated during the study were analyzed by employing Student’s‘t’ test for paired and unpaired data as applicable to determine significant difference between groups at P<0.05. Results: Lavandula bipinnata showed significant increase in weight of rats in comparison with initial weight. Test drug provided significant increase in mounting frequency, licking, chasing, genital sniffing, in comparison to control group and non-significant increase in mounting latency and serum testosterone level. Conclusion: Lavandula bipinnata whole plant possess significant aphrodisiac activity in test rat model and confirms its traditional claim as an aphrodisiac.