Annual Research & Review in Biology

Aims: This experiment was conducted to investigate and distinguish the relationships in the production of total phenolics, total flavonoids, chlorophyll content, total biomass, leaf area, leaf nitrate, proline, net photosynthesis and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters under three levels of cadmium application (0, 3,6 mg/kg) and three concentration of humic acid (HA) (0, 50, 100 mg/L) for 12 weeks in Orthosiphon stamineus Benth.

Study Design: Stem cuttings of O. staminues were propagated for two weeks in small pots and then transferred to pots filled with a soilless mixture of burnt rice husk and coco peat (ratio 3:1). Orthosiphon stamineus seedlings were exposed to three levels of Cd (0, 3 and 6 mg/kg in the form of CdCl2) during media preparation and three levels of humic acid (HA) (0, 50 and 100 mg/ L). Soluble humic acid as potassium-humate (90% humic acid, 11–13% K2O) was used. This factorial experiment was organized in a randomized complete block (RCBD) design with three replications.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science Universiti Putra Malaysia between August 2013 to September 2013.

Methodology: The experiment was performed for 12 weeks using 135 plants. The measurement of photosynthesis was obtained from a closed infra-red gas analyzer LICOR 6400XT Portable Photosynthesis System (IRGA, Licor Inc., USA). Total phenolics and flavonoid was determined using Follin–Ciocalteau reagent, Nitrate using Cardy nitrate meter, Chlorophyll fluorescence was measured using a portable chlorophyll fluorescence meter (Handy PEA, Hansatech Instruments Ltd., Norwich, UK) and Proline was determined by using Glacial acetic acid and ninhydrin reagent.

Results: It was found that all parameters except chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were influenced by interaction effects between cadmium and humid acid (P≤ 0.05). As the concentration of cadmium increased (0 > 6 mg/kg) the production of plant total phenolics, flavonoids and proline increased but the production of total biomass, leaf area, net photosynthesis, total chlorophyll content and nitrate uptake was reduced. The application of humid acid can reduce negative effects of cadmium. As humid acid level increases from 0 to 100 mg/L the negative effects of cadmium on total biomass, leaf area, net photosynthesis and total chlorophyll were decreased.

Conclusion: This work reveals that the use of cadmium can enhance the production of secondary metabolites in O. stamineus (total phenolics and flavonoids). The study showed the negative effects of cadmium on plant growth, Gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence can be reduced by enhancing application of humic acid. The application of humic acid also was found to reduce the cadmium uptake of this herb. Present study showed that high levels of cadmium can lowered the nitrate concentration in this plant. This showed that application of cadmium and humic acid can serve to be a useful tool to enhance secondary metabolites properties of this plant.

Aims: To understand the potential use of adult Zebrafish as a wound inflammation model to screen phytocompounds and chemically synthesized subjects.

Study Design: The experiment was designed to use healthy adult Zebrafish wound models, each group containing 30 fishes. One group was used as a control and others were the experimental groups. These were treated with the Curcuma longa extracts at various concentrations. The wound inflammation was studied in the treatment groups in terms of tissue regeneration and neutrophil migration.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, during May 2015- August 2015.

Methodology: Caudal fin transection technique was used to establish the adult Zebrafish wound inflammation model. The study involved fin regeneration measurement and determination of neutrophil population at the wound site by performing histopathological staining of the tissue sections

Results: The fishes treated with aqueous extract had better wound healing compared to ethanol extract. The fishes treated with 500 µg of the aqueous extract showed maximum fin regeneration on day 5 compared to the control fishes. The same treatment also showed good neutrophil population at the wound site at 24 hrs post wounding and maximum resolution of inflammation after 24 hrs. The fishes treated with 500μg concentration of the aqueous extract showed twice the neutrophil population at 24 hrs and less than half of the neutrophil population at day 5pt compared with the untreated control group. The values were statistically analyzed using SPSS 17.0 version; for multivariate analysis Kruskal Wallis test was used. The values were highly significant at P<.01. 

Conclusion: The study experimentally concludes the potential usage of adult Zebrafish as a model of wound inflammation to screen various bioactive fractions from plants or from synthetic origin for their wound healing abilities.

Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the protective effect of Artemisia Judaica (A. Judaica) against doxorubicin (DOX)-induced toxicity in male mice.  

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Cell Biology, Genetic engineering and biotechnology division, National research centre, Egypt, between March 2016 and February 2017.

Methodology: Male mice were divided into 7 groups (n=10) and treated as follow: the control group, the group treated with DMSO, the group injected (i.p.) with DOX , the groups treated  with low and high dose of A. judaica extract and the groups injected (i.p.) with DOX and treated with low and high dose of A. judaica extract. Femur, testes and liver samples were collected for different analyses.

Results: Our data showed that A. judaica significantly reversed the DOX-induced elevation of DNA fragmentation rate and MDA level in liver tissue, as well as declined chromosomal aberrations (CAs) either in the bone marrow cells or in the spermatocyte cells. Meanwhile, the expression of apoptosis-related genes (Bax and Caspase-3) in liver tissues was analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and results revealed that genes expression were up-regulated in DOX treated mice however; the administration of A. judaica didn’t alter such increase.

Conclusion: Overall, the findings indicated that A. judaica may attenuate the DOX-induced toxicity. However; further studies are required to confirm the protective effect of A. judaica extract against toxicity caused by DOX drug.

Objective: The study is aimed at investigating the effects of oral administration of aqueous and methanol extract of the root of Sphenocentrum jollyanum on testicular size, testosterone, follicle- stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and prolactin levels in male Wistar albino rats.

Methods: A total of 24 Wistar albino rats of equal sexes were randomly distributed into three groups having 4-rats each of both sexes. Group 1 served as the control and was administered distilled water ad libitum while groups 2 and 3 were administered 400 mg/kg body weight methanol and aqueous extracts respectively. Oral administration lasted for 14 days at the end of which animals were sacrificed and blood samples were collected from all the groups through ocular puncture into plain sample bottles for hormonal assay. The serum level of progesterone, estradiol, testosterone, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and prolactin were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. The testicular weight of the animals was equally determined.

Results: There was a non-significant (p˃ 0.05) variation in the mean testicular size of the treated and control rats, although the testicular size of the treated rats increased within the period when compared with the control group. Furthermore the administration of both aqueous and methanol root extracts of S. jollyanum caused non-significant (p>0.05) decrease in estradiol concentration when compared to the control. The levels of progesterone, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and prolactin significantly (p<0.05) decreased when compared to the control in the aqueous-treated group while the methanol extract-treated group showed a non-significant (p>0.05) difference in the luteinizing hormone and prolactin levels while follicle stimulating hormone was significantly (p<0.05) decreased. All comparisons were made against the control group. A significant (p<0.05) decrease in testosterone concentration of the aqueous group and a non-significant (p>0.05) decrease in the methanol extract group was seen in male rats. The result of follicle stimulating hormone level showed a significant (p<0.05) decrease in both aqueous and methanol extracts treated groups while a non-significant (p>0.05) reduction in luteinizing hormone was observed in both extract administered rats.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the aqueous and methanol root extracts of the S. jollyanum may possess anti-fertility properties in both sexes and can have some implications for fertility and contraception.

Poor fruit set in mango is consider the main problem that reduces the production. This study aims to raise fruit set, minimize the percentage of fruit drop, increase tree yield and improve fruit quality by providing the trees with biosimulated nano materials (calcium/yeast nanocomposite) as foliar application. Nanotechnology is generally used when referring to materials with the size of 0.1 to 100 nanometres (nm= 10^-9). The chemically modified nano-materials (CMNM) such as Sol-gels was used in this study due to their unique stability in a pure form that characterize with strong position in nanotechnology. In this respect, 'Ewais' mango trees were treated with yeast and calcium / yeast nanoparticles as foliar application three times (at full bloom, two weeks after fruit set and one month after the second application). The treatments were as follows: (1) Yeast 1%. (2) Yeast 2%. (3) Yeast 3%. (4) Calcium / yeast nanoparticles 1%. (5) Calcium / yeast nanoparticles 2%. (6) Calcium / yeast nanoparticles 3%. (7) Control (spray water only). Where, the results of 2 on-year seasons were recorded. Results show that foliar application of calcium / yeast nanoparticles 1, 2 and 3% had a positive effect on growth, leaf mineral content, yield and fruit quality of 'Ewais' mango trees comparing with traditional yeast at the same concentration. The foliar application of calcium / yeast nanoparticles 3% three times is the promising treatment for increasing fruit set, reducing fruit drop, raising fruit retention, maximizing the yield and improving fruit physical properties (fruit weight, length, width, peel and pulp weight, and pulp/seed ratio) as well as chemical properties of mango fruits by increasing TSS. All of them achieve the highest marketing value.