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Withania somnifera

About: Withania somnifera is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2116 publications have been published within this topic receiving 43404 citations. The topic is also known as: Ashwaganda & Indian ginseng.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Novel insights are provided into the underlying mechanisms behind the tripartite interaction of endophyte-A.
Abstract: Endophytes have been explored and found to perform an important role in plant health. However, their effects on the host physiological function and disease management remain elusive. The present study aimed to assess the potential effects of endophytes, singly as well as in combination, in Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, on various physiological parameters and systemic defense mechanisms against Alternaria alternata Seeds primed with the endophytic bacteria Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Pseudomonas fluorescens individually and in combination demonstrated an enhanced vigor index and germination rate. Interestingly, plants treated with the two-microbe combination showed the lowest plant mortality rate (28%) under A. alternata stress. Physiological profiling of treated plants showed improved photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, and stomatal conductance under pathogenic stress. Additionally, these endophytes not only augmented defense enzymes and antioxidant activity in treated plants but also enhanced the expression of salicylic acid- and jasmonic acid-responsive genes in the stressed plants. Reductions in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) along with enhanced callose deposition in host plant leaves corroborated well with the above findings. Altogether, the study provides novel insights into the underlying mechanisms behind the tripartite interaction of endophyte-A. alternata-W. somnifera and underscores their ability to boost plant health under pathogen stress.IMPORTANCEW. somnifera is well known for producing several medicinally important secondary metabolites. These secondary metabolites are required by various pharmaceutical sectors to produce life-saving drugs. However, the cultivation of W. somnifera faces severe challenge from leaf spot disease caused by A. alternata To keep pace with the rising demand for this plant and considering its capacity for cultivation under field conditions, the present study was undertaken to develop approaches to enhance production of W. somnifera through intervention using endophytes. Application of bacterial endophytes not only suppresses the pathogenicity of A. alternata but also mitigates excessive ROS/RNS generation via enhanced physiological processes and antioxidant machinery. Expression profiling of plant defense-related genes further validates the efficacy of bacterial endophytes against leaf spot disease.

53 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence is provided for the first evidence for the upregulation of human MGMT by plant constituents and the possibility of rational dietary approaches for attenuating alkylation-induced carcinogenesis is raised.
Abstract: O6-alkylguanines are potent mutagenic, pro-carcinogenic and cytotoxic lesions induced by exogenous and endogenous alkylating agents. A facilitated elimination of these lesions by increasing the activity of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is likely to be a beneficial chemoprevention strategy, which, however, has not been examined. Because, a marginal enhancement of this protein may be adequate for genomic protection, we studied alterations in MGMT activity and expression in human peripheral blood lymphocytes and cancer cell lines induced by water-soluble and alcohol-soluble constituents of several plants with established antioxidant and medicinal properties. Both the ethanolic and aqueous extracts from neem (Azadirachta indica), holy basil (Ocimum sanctum), winter cherry (Withania somnifera), and oregano (Origanum majorana) increased the levels of MGMT protein and its demethylation activity in a time-dependent manner with a maximum of 3-fold increase after 72-h treatment. The extracts from gooseberry (Emblica officinalis), common basil (Ocimum basilicum), and spearmint (Mentha viridis) were relatively less efficient in raising MGMT levels. Increased levels of MGMT mRNA accounted at least, in part, for the increased activity of the DNA repair protein. The herbal treatments also increased glutathione S-transferase-pi (GSTP1) expression, albeit to a lesser extent than MGMT. These data provide the first evidence for the upregulation of human MGMT by plant constituents and raise the possibility of rational dietary approaches for attenuating alkylation-induced carcinogenesis. Further, they reveal the putative antioxidant responsiveness of the MGMT gene in human cells.

53 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
21 Feb 2013-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: High performance liquid chromatography of withanolides extracted from elicitor-treated samples showed a significant increase in two of the key withanolide A and withaferin A, possibly indicating the role of WsCPR2 in withanolid biosynthesis.
Abstract: Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, a highly reputed medicinal plant, synthesizes a large array of steroidal lactone triterpenoids called withanolides. Although its chemical profile and pharmacological activities have been studied extensively during the last two decades, limited attempts have been made to decipher the biosynthetic route and identification of key regulatory genes involved in withanolide biosynthesis. Cytochrome P450 reductase is the most imperative redox partner of multiple P450s involved in primary and secondary metabolite biosynthesis. We describe here the cloning and characterization of two paralogs of cytochrome P450 reductase from W. somnifera. The full length paralogs of WsCPR1 and WsCPR2 have open reading frames of 2058 and 2142 bp encoding 685 and 713 amino acid residues, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that grouping of dual CPRs was in accordance with class I and class II of eudicotyledon CPRs. The corresponding coding sequences were expressed in Escherichia coli as glutathione-S-transferase fusion proteins, purified and characterized. Recombinant proteins of both the paralogs were purified with their intact membrane anchor regions and it is hitherto unreported for other CPRs which have been purified from microsomal fraction. Southern blot analysis suggested that two divergent isoforms of CPR exist independently in Withania genome. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis indicated that both genes were widely expressed in leaves, stalks, roots, flowers and berries with higher expression level of WsCPR2 in comparison to WsCPR1. Similar to CPRs of other plant species, WsCPR1 was un-inducible while WsCPR2 transcript level increased in a time-dependent manner after elicitor treatments. High performance liquid chromatography of withanolides extracted from elicitor-treated samples showed a significant increase in two of the key withanolides, withanolide A and withaferin A, possibly indicating the role of WsCPR2 in withanolide biosynthesis. Present investigation so far is the only report of characterization of CPR paralogs from W. somnifera.

53 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It can be concluded that ashwagandha possessed marked anti-inflammatory effect against denaturation of protein in vitro, plausibly due to the alkaloid and withanolide contents of ashwageandha.

53 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023114
2022265
202188
2020124
201995
2018111