Universal Rice Primer (URP) and Start Codon Target (SCoT) Markers in Studying Population Structures and Genetic Variation in Ferula AssafoetidaL. Accessions

Ferula assafoetidais an herbaceous, annual and monocarpic genus of the Apiaceae family. So far, there has been common usage of Ferula oleo resinous gum in food and herbal medicines.The origin of F.assafoetidais can be traced back into the steppes of Iran and some reigns of Afghanistan with an extended distribution. Despite the economic value and therapeutic importance of F.assafoetida, only a few studies have reported on the genetic capacity of this herb.The present study was carried out on a set of 90 individual plants belonging to different populations of Ferula assafoetida L. via the start codon target marker (SCoT) and the universal rice primer (URP) markers. Twelve SCoT and twelve URP primers generated 192 and 149 polymorphic fragments, while having 16 and 12.41 fragments respectively on average per primer. The Polymorphism information content (PIC) for URP primers and ScoT ranged from 0.31 to 0.43 and 0.34 to 0.44 respectively, which indicated a good efficiency forboth markers. The diversity indices including heterozygosity (He), percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB), Shannon’s information index (I) and marker index (MI) were calculated based on the SCoT and URP data.The results revealed that SCoT primers were more efficient than URP primers in identifying genetic diversity within populations. Neighbor joining (Nj), as a base for clustering, classified 90 accessions into 5 and 6 groups using SCoT and URP data respectively. Moreover, the combined data (SCoT+URP) succeeded in classifying all accessions into 6 groups, although this did not correspond with the geographical distribution of accessions. Structure analysis divided 90 genotypesinto 5 subpopulations using SCoT and URP markers, whereas the combined data (SCoT+URP) divided the accessions into 6 subpopulations, which confirmed the classification achieved by the Nj method. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) corroborated these conclusions. According to the analysis of molecular variance) AMOVA(, a high percentage of genetic diversity was found within the species, suggesting a rich diversity of germplasm for breeding plans. The assessment of population structure demonstrated a high rate of gene flow and the mixture of populations. Taken together, our findings suggest SCoT markers are more efficient than URP markers in assessing genetic diversity among F.assafoetida genotypes. All in all, genetic diversity could help the selection of appropriate markers and special genotypes for breeding plans.

Inhibitory Potential of Ferula assafoetida Extract on L-type Calcium Channel Protein Revealed by Zebrafish Studies and Molecular Docking

Ferula assafoetida is a part of many herbal formulations and hence it is pertinent to check the safety of its components specially to growing embryos. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is considered to be one of the best models to study human embryonic development and metabolic pathways as its genome is fully sequenced and it possesses easily detectable developmental properties. In present study, the embryos of Danio rerio were treated with different concentrations of methanolic extract of Ferula assafoetida (MEFA) and its effects were checked at different post fertilization periods. Decreased heart beat rates, shrinkage of the chorion wall and other developmental abnormalities leading to the death of the embryos were observed. The methanolic extract of Ferula assafoetida was subjected to GC-MS to determine the different compounds present. Cardiotoxicity of these compounds were studied as it is one of the important factors for the retraction of a drug from the market. Molecular docking studies with L-type calcium channel (LTCC), a protein important for cardiac functioning, showed strong binding to the phytochemicals in the extract, with the maximum binding affinity observed with 26-hydroxycholesterol. The study proves that the methanolic extract of Ferula assafoetida contains phytochemicals which have the potential to cause cardiotoxicity in zebrafish embryos by interfering with the functions of LTCC possibly leading to arrhythmia. Altogether, our data suggest that the usage of these extracts in drug formulations should be done with caution. This is also indicative of the possible cytotoxic effect of the extract which could be tapped in the search for anticancer drugs.

Insecticidal Efficacy of Essential Oils from Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Thymus vulgaris, Ferula assafoetida L on Callosobruchus maculatus F

Introduction: The plants have well-developed defense mechanisms against pests and are excellent sources of new insecticidal substances. Materials and methods: An experiment was conducted on Hamedan Agricultural Research Center, as factorial based on completely randomized blocks in 3 replications during 2009. Experimental treatments included 10 levels concentration with Cinnamomum zeylanicum (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 75, 100, 200, 300) µl, 7 levels concentration with Thymus vulgaris (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 10, 20, 30) µl, 6 levels concentration with Ferula assafoetida L (0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150) µl as the time at 3 levels (8, 24, 48) hours as the second factor. 1 ml of solutiones were applied on filter papers with Whatman No. 1. Then each dried paper was placed and 10 C. maculatus adults was placed. Each set of treatment was repeated 3 times and number of dead insects in was counted at an interval of 8, 24, 48 hours respectively. Conclusion: Percentage mortality was calculated. It has been results that the C. zeylanicum, T. vulgaris, F. assafoetida L essential oils showed 13%, 56%, 10% mortality adult of C. maculatus at dose of 5 µl of C. zeylanicum, 0.25 µl of T. vulgaris, 30 µl of F. assafoetida L respectively. Further concentration increase to 300 µl of C. zeylanicum oil, 30 µl of T. vulgaris, 150 µl F. assafoetida L yielded mortality of 100% against adult C. maculatus respectively.