Sativum

About: Sativum is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4100 publications have been published within this topic receiving 55332 citations. The topic is also known as: Weed.

Anti-tuberculosis activity of selected medicinal plants against multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates.

Abstract: Background & objectives Emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively-drug resistant (XDR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has further complicated the problem of tuberculosis (TB) control. Medicinal plants offer a hope for developing alternate medicines for the treatment of TB. The present study was done to evaluate in vitro anti-tubercular activity of five medicinal plants viz., Acalypha indica, Adhatoda vasica, Allium cepa, Allium sativum and Aloe vera. Methods Aqueous extracts of leaves of A. indica, A. vasica, bulbs of A. cepa, cloves of A. sativum and pure gel of A. vera leaves, were tested in vitro for their activity against two MDR isolates (DKU-156 and JAL-1236), reference susceptible strain M. tuberculosis H37Rv as well as rapid grower mycobacterial pathogen M. fortuitum (TMC-1529) using Lowenstein Jensen (L-J) medium and colorimetric BacT/ ALERT 3D system. Activity in L-J medium was evaluated by percentage inhibition which was calculated by mean reduction in number of colonies on extract containing as compared to extract free controls. Results Extracts of all the five plants A. indica, A. vasica, A. cepa, A. sativum and A. vera exhibited anti-tuberculosis activity in L-J medium, the proportion of inhibition of these plants extract in respect mentioned above is 95, 32, 37, 72, 32 per cent, respectively for MDR isolate DKU-156 and 68, 86, 79, 72, 85 per cent, respectively for another MDR isolate JAL-1236, while for sensitive M. tuberculosis H37Rv, inhibition was found to be 68, 70, 35, 63 and 41 per cent, at 4 per cent v/v concentration in L-J medium. There was no inhibition against rapid grower M. fortuitum (TMC-1529). In BacT/ALERT also, extracts of these plants showed significant inhibition against M. tuberculosis. Interpretation & conclusion Our findings showed that all these plants exhibited activity against MDR isolates of M. tuberculosis. While the anti-TB activity of A. vera, A. vasica and A. sativum against MDR isolates confirm earlier results, activity of the extracts of A. indica and A. cepa is reported for the first time. Further studies aimed at isolation and identification of active substances from the extracts which exhibited promising activities, need to be carried out.

Using selective food plants to maximize biological control of vineyard pests

Abstract: Summary 1. Habitat manipulation is important for enhancing biological control of arthropod pests, but identification of selective food plants that benefit only natural enemies is required in order to avoid inadvertently exacerbating pest damage. 2. Greenhouse experiments were conducted to identify potential ground-cover plant species that would improve performance of the egg parasitoid Trichogramma carverae when mass released in vineyards to control the leafroller pest Epiphyas postvittana. Further experiments determined which plants increased immature survival and adult longevity of E. postvittana and a field experiment investigated field enhancement of biological control. 3. Greenhouse survival of T. carverae was greater in the presence of flowering shoots of Lobularia maritima than with flowering shoots of either Brassica juncea or Coriandrum sativum, or with shoots of any species from which flowers had been removed or a control with no shoots. Similar experiments with Fagopyrum esculentum and Borage officinalis showed survival was higher in the presence of shoots with flowers than in without-flower and control treatments. 4. Daily fecundity of T. carverae was greater in the presence of flowering shoots of L. maritima than F. esculentum and with treatments without flowers. There was no significant enhancement of fecundity with Brassica juncea and Borage officinalis flowers. 5. Adult longevity of male and female E. postvittana was as long in the presence of Borage officinalis and F. esculentum flowers as when fed a honey-based artificial diet but longevity was significantly lower than in the artificial diet treatment when caged with C. sativum and L. maritima, irrespective of whether flowers were present or not. 6. Larval development of E. postvittana on intact potted plants was lower on C. sativum and L. maritima than on Brassica juncea, Borage officinalis, F. esculentum and Trifolium repens (a known host of E. postvittana). 7. In the first and second 48-h periods after release of T. carverae in a field experiment, parasitism was significantly higher in pooled treatments with flowers (C. sativum, F. esculentum and L. maritima) than in pooled treatments without flowers (conventional ground-cover or bare earth). 8. Lobularia maritima provided clear benefit to T. carverae but was not used by adult and larval E. postvittana. 9. Synthesis and applications. Lobularia maritima is recommended as the selective food plant best suited to this system and its use beneath vines offers the additional advantage of suppressing weeds, so avoiding the need for herbicide applications and mechanical control.

Genetic diversity within Pisum sativum using protein- and PCR-based markers

Abstract: A collection of 148 Pisum accessions, mostly from Western Europe, and including both primitive germplasm and cultivated types, was structured using 121 protein- and PCR-based markers. This molecular marker-based classification allowed us to trace back major lineages of pea breeding in Western Europe over the last decades, and to follow the main breeding objectives: increase of seed weight, introduction of the afila foliage type and white flowers, and improvement of frost tolerance for winter-sown peas. The classification was largely consistent with the available pedigree data, and clearly resolved the different main varietal types according to their end-uses (fodder, food and feed peas) from exotic types and wild forms. Fodder types were further separated into two sub-groups. Feed peas, corresponding to either spring-sown or winter-sown types, were also separated, with two apparently different gene pools for winter-sown peas. The garden pea group was the most difficult to structure, probably due to a continuum in breeding of feed peas from garden types. The classification also stressed the paradox between the narrowness of the genetic basis of recent cultivars and the very large diversity available within P. sativum. A sub-collection of 43 accessions representing 96% of the whole allelic variability is proposed as a starting point for the construction of a core collection.