SELAGINELLA BRYOPTERIS (L.): A WONDER HERB

Plants have been the foundation of several traditional medicinal systems all over the world to provide mankind with new remedies for thousands of years and still continue. In the ancient times human understanding about medicine was always near to some plant. It was the time when medicinal system was entirely based on plants. Among different medicinally useful plants one such plant is called Selaginella bryopteris L. in the botanical world and also known as Sanjeevani due to its magical medicinal properties. It is an herb which is traditionally used in many health-related problems like bacterial, viral, fungal infections, allergy, curing wounds, irregular menstruations and uterine disorders. According to some reports it is also used for fitness and better life span by the tribal communities of India. Different researchers across the country investigated and came up with its unique different properties and new possibilities every time. Apart from these Hindu mythological evidences are there which tells about its extraordinary potential of infuses life to dead. So, it is certainly a matter of more and more research to find out its ever-new hidden capabilities

Corrigendum to: Ammonium metabolism in Selaginella bryopteris in response to dehydration-rehydration and characterisation of desiccation tolerant, thermostable, cytosolic glutamine synthetase from plant

Water deficit (WD) has adverse effects on plant growth, and acclimation requires responses allowing primary metabolism to continue. Resurrection plants can serve as model system to gain insight into metabolic regulation during WD. We herein report the response of a resurrection lycophyte, Selaginella bryopteris, to dehydration-rehydration cycle with emphasis on ammonium metabolism. Dehydration of S. bryopteris fronds resulted in decrease of total protein and increase of free ammonium levels and the effect was reversed on rehydration. The proline content increased twice after 24 h of dehydration, which again recovered to background levels comparable to that at full turgor state. The specific activity of glutamine synthetase (GS) didn’t change significantly till 6 h and then declined by 21% after 24 h of dehydration, whereas specific activities of glutamate synthase (GOGAT) and aminating glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) were enhanced significantly during dehydration. The deaminating activity of GDH also increased during dehydration albeit at a slower rate. Immunoblot analysis indicated overexpression of GS and GDH polypeptides during dehydration and their levels declined on rehydration. The results suggested significant role of GDH along with GS/GOGAT in production of nitrogen-rich amino acids for desiccation tolerance. Unlike higher plants S. bryopteris expressed GS only in cytosol. The enzyme had pH and temperature optima of 5.5 and 60°C, respectively, and it retained 96% activity on preincubation at 60°C for 30 min indicating thermostability. Hence, like higher plants the cytosolic GS from S. bryopteris has a conserved role in stress tolerance.

Isolation and Characterization of Bioactive Components Derived from Whole Plant of Selaginella bryopteris

Natural products and herbal remedies used in traditional folklore medicine have been the source of many medically beneficial drugs because they elicit fewer side effects, relatively cheap, affordable and claimed to be effective. However, in order to make these remedies acceptable to modern medicine, there is a need to scientifically evaluate them to identify the active principles and to understand their mechanism of action. Selaginella bryopteris (S. bryopteris) is a pteridophytic plant belongs to the family selaginellaceae. Its familiar name is sanjeevani booti. The aim of the present investigation was isolation and characterization of active components derived from whole plant of S. bryopteris. The plant was extracted with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanol solvent. The preliminary phytochemical results revealed that alkaloids, carbohydrates, reducing sugar, flavonoids, protein, amino acid, tannin and phenolic compound as active constituents in methanolic extract of S. bryopteris. The total phenolics content of whole plant of methanolic extract was (184.13±0.416 mg/gm), followed by flavonoids (89.67±2.516mg/gm). The quantification and the identification of compounds in the crude extract and active bands isolated by preparative TLC were accomplished using spectroscopic analysis. The most important compounds amentoflavone identified in the crude extract appreciable amounts may account for its various biological activities. Keywords: Selaginella bryopteris, Isolation, Plant extraction, Phytochemical

Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles from Aqueous Leaf Extract of 'Selaginella bryopteris' and Elucidation of its Antimicrobial Activity

Background: Biosynthesis of nanoparticles from aqueous leaf extract of ‘Selaginella bryopteris’ is a green chemistry approach and is considered to be one of the most efficient methods as it is devoid of toxic chemicals as well as provides natural capping agents for the stabilization of synthesized nanoparticles. ‘S.bryopteris’ also known as ‘Sanjeevani’ (in India), is thought to be prospective natural resource that possesses extraordinary pharmaceutical potential. Objective: S. bryopteris is exclusively native to India and has already been known for its expression of stress-associated genes and high levels of protective metabolites of sugars, phenolic compounds, and polyols. Its potential as an antibacterial agent is being elucidated. Methods: Different leaf extract volumes, silver nitrate (AgNO3) concentrations, and reaction time were investigated separately and the optimal conditions for the synthesis of AgNPs were suggested. The resulting AgNPs were characterized by various techniques like Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and XRay Diffraction (XRD). Antibacterial assays were carried out by using both agar disk and well diffusion method. Results: The AgNPs synthesized in this process were found to have efficient antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative bacteria. The antibacterial efficacy of S. bryopteris was consciously tried on uropathogenic Escherichia coli (Gram-negative bacteria) and Bacillus megaterium (Gram-positive bacteria) which have the self-limiting food poisoning potential along with opportunistic uropathogenic bacterial strains namely Proteus mirabilis (Gram-negative bacteria) and a non-pathogenic Micrococcus luteus (Gram-positive bacteria) for comparison. Conclusion: S. bryopteris mediated silver nanoparticles’ synthesis is attempted for being cost-effective, eco-friendly and safe for human therapeutics.