Evaluation of Anti-oxidant and Anti-pyretic Activity of Leaf of Dendrobium chrysanthum

This investigation is based on a very remarkable and interesting orchid of the genus Dendrobium widely available in Meghalaya (India) and it is the world second largest orchid genus. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the anti-oxidant and anti-pyretic activity of leaf of Dendrobium chrysanthum. As the plants believed traditionally to have some anti-inflammatory activity used by the rural people of Meghalaya, use of medicinal plants and plants extract for the health procurement has always remain a common choice for the North- eastern people of India since ancient time. The leaf of Dendrobium c. was collected from Shillong, Meghalaya and extraction is done by using methanol as a solvent. The methanol extract found to have the constituents such as carbohydrate, glycoside, alkaloids, phenol and flavonoids. Acute anti-pyretic activity for the extract was investigated in pyrexia rat. Temperature level was determined after 1hours, 2 hours, 4 hours and 6 hours after giving the extract dose of 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg body weight, and it was found to show potent anti-pyretic activity by reducing the temperature in rat. In-vitro anti-oxidant activity was studied by DPPH radical scavenging method of methanolic extract which shows 36.20 as IC50 (µg/ml) whereas the standard Ascorbic acid in the same concentration shows 32.81 IC50 (µg/ml). The obtained result justified the traditional use of Dendrobium c. as anti-pyretic and antioxidant purpose.

Three new host records of endophytic Neofusicoccum species reported from Dendrobium orchid

Neofusicoccum species are endophytes, saprobes and opportunistic pathogens of many economic and ornamental plants. There are few reports of Neofusicoccum species are available to be associated with orchids worldwide. In this study, five endophytic Neofusicoccum strains were isolated from Dendrobium orchid leaves and stems in southwestern China and northern Thailand. Morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the combined partial nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), partial RNA polymerase Ⅱ second largest subunit (RPB2), part of the translation elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1α) and beta-tubulin (TUB2) dataset revealed that these isolates belong to two species Neofusicoccum occulatum and N. parvum. This is the first record of Neofusicoccum occulatum associated with Dendrobium chrysanthum while N. parvum associated with D. harveyanum and D. moschatum.

Morphological Type Identification of Self-Incompatibility in Dendrobium and Its Phylogenetic Evolution Pattern

Self-incompatibility (SI) is a type of reproductive barrier within plant species and is one of the mechanisms for the formation and maintenance of the high diversity and adaptation of angiosperm species. Approximately 40% of flowering plants are SI species, while only 10% of orchid species are self-incompatible. Intriguingly, as one of the largest genera in Orchidaceae, 72% of Dendrobium species are self-incompatible, accounting for nearly half of the reported SI species in orchids, suggesting that SI contributes to the high diversity of orchid species. However, few studies investigating SI in Dendrobium have been published. This study aimed to address the following questions: (1) How many SI phenotypes are in Dendrobium, and what are they? (2) What is their distribution pattern in the Dendrobium phylogenetic tree? We investigated the flowering time, the capsule set rate, and the pollen tube growth from the representative species of Dendrobium after artificial pollination and analysed their distribution in the Asian Dendrobium clade phylogenetic tree. The number of SI phenotypes exceeded our expectations. The SI type of Dendrobium chrysanthum was the primary type in the Dendrobium SI species. We speculate that there are many different SI determinants in Dendrobium that have evolved recently and might be specific to Dendrobium or Orchidaceae. Overall, this work provides new insights and a comprehensive understanding of Dendrobium SI.

Dendrobium chrysanthum ethanolic extract induces apoptosis via p53 up-regulation in HeLa cells and inhibits tumor progression in mice

Backgroundis one of the diverse genus of orchid plants. It possesses a number of pharmacological activities and has long been used in traditional system of medicine. The goal of this study was to investigate the apoptosis inducing property of the ethanolic extract from the leaves ofMethodsTo evaluate the anticancer activity of the ethanolic extract ofResultsOur study demonstrated that the ethanolic extract showed dose-dependent cytotoxicity against HeLa cells. The extract exhibited dose-dependent increase in ROS production as well as apoptotic cell death which was further confirmed through presence of DNA fragmentation. Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry suggests that the ethanolic extract perturbed cell cycle progression and leads to the delay of the cells in S phase. Further, the real-time PCR studies also showed up-regulation of apoptotic genes p53 and Bax. TheConclusionsThese observations demonstrate the anticancer potential of the