Distribution of some important honey plants visited by honey bees for feeding purposes in Narman (Erzurum, Turkey) natural pasture vegetation

Narman district is located at Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Average altitude is 1650 m, annual total precipitation is about 420 mm. In study area main economic activity is animal husbandry and animal production has made traditional practices, based on rangelands. This study carried out to determine honey plants, frequently visited by honey bees in 20 different locations of Narman. Total 56 plant species were determined and half of these plant species determined as visited plant species by honey bees. Most of honey plant species, determined in locations were wide leafy forbs and some of them were legume species. To determine botanical composition of rangeland vegetation in different locations line intercept method was used. The percentage of all plant species was calculated and each individual honey plant species percentages were determined. Some Alfalfa, Sainfoin, Lotus, Melilotus, Coronilla and Trifolium species were determined in locations. Thymus, Stachys, Centaurea and Campanula species were determined common plant species visited by honey bees.

Evaluation of in-Vitro antioxidant and antidiarrheal activities of Peperomia Pellucida methanol extracts on Albino mice

Peperomia pellucida also known as shiny bush is a common plant wildly distributed in the tropical regions of the world including Nigeria. In ethnomedicine, it is used to treat hemorrhages, fevers, lower cholesterol levels and serves as a cough suppressant, emollient, and diuretic. This study evaluated the in vitro and antidiarrhea activities of Peperomia pellucida. For the in vitro antioxidant assay the following methods were used: 2-diphenyl-2-pierylhydrazylhydrate (DPPH) scavenging activity, Superoxide scavenging activity, Hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity, Lipid Peroxidation Assay, Total Antioxidant Capacity, 2,2’-Azinobis (3-Ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic Acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity and Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. Antidiarrheal activities were studied using Castor Oil-Induced and Intestinal Transit in Mice models. Methanol and aqueous plant extract of Peperomia pellucida at various concentration demonstrated impressive in vitro antioxidant scavenging activities. The onset of diarrheal (**P<0.01) and the % of charcoal travel (*P<0.05) in the mice was reduced at 200 mg/kg compared to the control. Conclusively, this study showed that the aqueous and methanol extract of Peperomia pellucida has in vitro free radical scavenging activities. The plant demonstrated antidiarrheal activities.

Chlorophyllase, a Common Plant Hydrolase Enzyme with a Long History, Is Still a Puzzle

Chlorophyllase (Chlase, CLH) is one of the earliest discovered enzymes present in plants and green algae. It was long considered to be the first enzyme involved in chlorophyll (Chl) degradation, while strong evidence showed that it is not involved in Chl breakdown during leaf senescence. On the other hand, it is possible that CLH is involved in Chl breakdown during fruit ripening. Recently, it was discovered that Arabidopsis CLH1 is located in developing chloroplasts but not in mature chloroplasts, and it plays a role in protecting young leaves from long-term photodamage by catalysing Chl turnover in the photosystem II (PSII) repair cycle. However, there remain other important questions related to CLH. In this article, we briefly reviewed the research progress on CLH and listed the main unanswered questions related to CLH for further study.

Vitrification Ability of Combined and Single Cryoprotective Agents

Cryoprotective agents (CPA) are an important part of many current vitrification methods. The vitrification ability of CPAs influences the probability of the glass transition and water crystallization occurrence. Thermal characteristics and the vitrification ability of two combined CPAs (PVS2 and PVS3), common plant vitrification solutions, and four single CPAs (ethylene glycol, DMSO, glycerol, and sucrose), the components of the mentioned PVSs, were evaluated utilizing a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) during standard cooling/warming rates of 10 °C min−1. The effect of solute concentration on their vitrification ability was shown in the CPAs tested. Four typical concentration regions at which the glassy state and/or crystallization occurred were defined. We suggest the solute concentration of 0.7 g g−1 as the universal vitrification concentration, characterized by an actual Tg of CPA solution and limited water crystallization. Knowledge of the thermal properties of CPAs allows the design of new combined CPAs with the required vitrification ability respecting the cryopreservation method used and the characteristics of the cryopreserved sample.

Efficacy of Ethanolic plant extracts of Zingiber officinale, Raphanus sativus, Rosa indica and Aloe vera against Heterotermes indicola

Present study was performed to evaluate the anti-termitic potential of four common plant species of Zingiber officinale, Raphanus sativus, Rosa indica and Aloe vera. During laboratory bioassay, the biological activity of ethanolic extracts of these plants was evaluated. The ethanol extract of Z. officinale caused highest mortality (100%) while least mortality (68%) was observed in R. indica extract. The LT50 for Z. officinale were 24.34, 40.40 and 64.7 h for concentrations of 10%, 5% and 3% respectively. Present findings suggested that these plant extracts can provide environmental friendly management of H. indicola. In A. vera, also resulted in significant mortality against H. indicola i.e. 94%, 64% and 44% on exposure of 10%, 5% and 3% concentraions. While LT50 were 34.66, 65.59, and 100.1 hours against 10%, 5% and 3% concentrations. In R. sativus, mortality of H. indicola was 76%, 50% and 30% while LT50 against were 59.10, 86.20, and 127.3 h, against concentration of 10%, 5% and 3%. Least mortality was observed in R. indica i.e. 68%, 44% and 30% while LT50 were 64.17, 94.58 and 125.5 h at 10%, 5% and 3% respectively. This study revealed that the extracts of Z. officinale, A.vera and R. Sativus have a potential to be used for termite control especially Heterotermes indicola to minimize the damage. Copyright(c) The Author

Dispersal Patterns, Mating Strategy and Genetic Diversity in the Short Nosed Fruit Bat Cynopterus sphinx (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) in Southern India

The short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx is a common plant-visiting bat that is widely distributed throughout the Indo-Malayan region. In this chapter, we discuss the dispersal patterns, mating strategy and genetic diversity in the short-nosed fruit bat C. sphinx. We used a broad-range of techniques, including mark-recapture, radio-telemetry and molecular biology analyses. Our studies uncovered unique aspects of the dispersal, mating system and genetic diversity of these bats. Both the sexes of C. sphinx were found to disperse completely from the natal harems before subadult stage and young female C. sphinx become members of a harem much earlier than their male counterparts. The nonharem males are reproductively active, gain access to harem females and sire more offspring in July–August breeding season than March–April breeding season and presumably obtain some reproductive success. Our molecular study shows that considerable genetic diversity was observed in this species from different zonal populations, possibly due to complete dispersal of juveniles of both the sexes from their natal groups and gene flow between the zones. All these studies suggest not only a predictive framework for future studies, but also the use of these data in the management and meaningful conservation of this species.