జర్నల్ ఆఫ్ బయోడైవర్సిటీ, బయోప్రోస్పెక్టింగ్ అండ్ డెవలప్‌మెంట్

The resolution of the SSU rRNA gene for phylogenetic analysis in the diatoms has been evaluated by Theriot et al. who claimed that the SSU rRNA gene could not be used to resolve the monophyly of the three diatoms classes described by Medlin and Kaczmarska. Although they used both only bolidomonads and heterokonts as outgroups, they did not explore outgroups further away than the heterokonts. In this study, the use of the multiple outgroups inside and outside the heterokonts with the rRNA gene for recovering the three monophyletic clades at the class level is evaluated. Trees with multiple outgroups ranging from only bolidophytes to Bacteria and Archea were analyzed with Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood analyses and two data sets were recovered with the classes being monophyletic. Other data sets were analyzed with non-weighted and weighted maximum parsimony. The latter reduced the number of clades and lengthened branch lengths between the clades. One data set using a weighted analysis recovered the three classes as monophyletic. Taking only bolidophytes as the only outgroup never produced monophyletic clades. Multiple outgroups including many heterokonts and certain members of the crown group radiation recovered monophyletic clades. The three classes can be defined by clear morphological differences primarily based on auxospore ontogeny and envelope structure, the presence or absence of a structure (tube process or sternum) associated with the annulus and the presence of the cribrum in those genera with loculate areolae. A cladistic analysis of some of these features is presented and recovers the three classes.

Background: Israel has a large variety of indigenous plants due to its unique geography, connecting three continents with different climate zones; however, local species have not been systematically screened.

Methods: Plant samples were collected during/immediately after the rainy season from eight climate zones. Following collection, extracts were created within 24 h. Field-deployable bioassays assessing 12 types of antidisease/health protection activity were performed within 48 hours using a rapid, accurate paradigm for bioexploration based on the Screen to Nature (STN) technique developed by the Global Institute of BioExploration (GIBEX). Plant extracts were assessed for medicinal activity on a scale of 0 (no activity) to 3 (most potent).

Results: More than 1,100 plant samples derived from 614 plants belonging to 85 families were screened. Approximately 60% belonged to 12 families, notably the Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceaen and Brassicaceae families. About 60% of samples showed at least one high-potency bioactivity (3/3); 20 plants exhibited 3–4 anti-disease/health protection activities. Plants growing in areas with more extreme conditions showed more bioactivity compared to those in less harsh climates. Antibacterial and antifungal activity, capacity for glucosidase detection and inhibition, and antioxidant activity were most common; protozoa, roundworm, and flat worm lethality, activity for planaria regeneration, protease detection and inhibition, and anthocyanin were also seen. There were sixteen plant samples that exhibited activity in a dose response manner using the STN assays as well as in using the Minimum Inhibitory concentration tests.

Conclusions: The Screen to Nature (STN) technique enables rapid, accurate field-deployable screening of diverse plant species for multiple anti-infectious/health protection activities. By using this technique at least 16 plant samples were identified as plants with potential to serve as a source of biological material for medicinal purposes.

Bioprospecting  involves the search of biodiversity for valuable genetic or biochemical resources/information or both for purely scientific or commercial purposes.

Objective:The aim of the study was to identify potential genetic resources for bioprospecting and assess opportunities for future bioprospecting in Ethiopia.

Methods: Ethno-biological data and sector-based data were collected from the local and scientific community respectively by using preference ranking, direct matrix ranking, paired comparison, semi-structured interviews and field observations.

Results: Local people obtained medicinal plant species more from wild vegetation (52.5%) than homegardens (40%) and market (7.5%). Stephania abyssinica, Ensete ventricosum and Urtica simensis were ranked as priority species among the potential genetic resources which were identified by the key informants. Arundinaria alpine (94), Hypericumre volutum (85) and Ensete ventricosum (102) were ranked first as multi-purpose genetic resources from each study area. Yushania alpine, Urtica simensis, Thymus schimperi and some mushrooms were identified with bioprospecting potential for commercialization by the key informants.

Conclusion: The results in the present study indicate that the studied woredas (districts) in Ethiopia possess rich medicinal plant species, and the local people have rich ethno-biological knowledge. The results can be used as opportunities for bioprospecting.

The survey was conducted from March 2012 to March 2013 based on field observations and samples. Shesher is natural reservoir of Lake Tana found at coordinates of 0350300 and 1322162 UTM and at altitudes 1805 a.s.l. Welala natural reservoir is found at UTM coordinates of 0348348 and 1326081 with altitude of 1804 a.s.l. The area of Sheshe and Welala was estimated about 500 ha and 110 ha respectively, which are impounded by open water for extended period of a year and both with maximum depth of 3 m during rainy season. Both reservoirs filled their capacity during the rainy season through the inflow river of Ribb and the surrounding flood plain. But during pick dry season of March, 2012 and March 2013 the survey showed unexpected, amazing and sudden death of a home for many biodiversity that both Shesher and Welala natural reservoirs dried up totally. Birds fetch their food from remnants small shrink wet mud spot and it is not uncommon to see remnant dead fishes eaten by birds. This is due to several and unlimited human encroachments mainly for crop cultivation, without any rules and regulations. Major crops cultivated by drained two reservoirs using gravitational force were Eragrastis teff, Cheak pea, Grass pea, Lentils and Safflower. During dry season no one could be able found drinking water even for their animals and humans, inhabitants started digging well to fetch water from the middle of Shesher and Welala reservoirs. The drainage system was carried out at every 50 m intervals by making large furrows in both sides of two reservoirs until their water totally vanished. These reservoirs should be properly and sustainably exploited by designing appropriate interventions without land use change, for instance it could be serve for fisheries, ecotourism and livestock sectors.

Objective:Traditional medicinal plants have long been used to treat various ailments in Keiyo district. However to date there are no records on medicinal plants used by the Keiyo despite threats of rapid disappearance of indigenous knowledge from deforestation, overexploitation among other factors. The purpose of the study was to document medicinal plants used by the Keiyo community in order to preserve traditional medical knowledge for future research and potential development of new drugs.

Methods: The research team comprised of professionals from the fields of medicine and botany. Local leaders, community elders, church leaders and other stakeholders were used to identify herbalists and convince them to provide information. Semi structured interviews, group discussions and observations were used to collect information on traditional knowledge from herbalists. Details of the medical conditions treated, herbal preparations used, treatment methods, local plant names and methods of collection of herbs were recorded.

Results: A total of 73 medicinal plant species belonging to 33 families were identified, used to treat 46 common human and three veterinary diseases. Leucas calostachys was the most widely used (17 medicinal uses) followed by Vachelia xanthophloea (10), Carissa edulis (9), Trimeria grandifolia (8), Terminalia brownii (7) and Rhamnus prinoides (6). Heartburn was treated using the largest number of plants (17) followed by cancer (9). Eight plants were used to either treat infertility in women or arthritis, whereas peptic ulcers, hypertension, headache, chest congestion and colic pains were each treated using seven plants.

Conclusions: The study provides information on medicinal and healing methods used by the Keiyo community. It also revealed that traditional medicines are still widely used in Keiyo district. Some of the identified plants have been demonstrated to possess pharmacological activities related to those mentioned by the herbalists.

There are several crucial fermentation parameters including carbon source, temperature, pH medium and agitation speed used to elucidate and optimise the production of xylanase in submerged fermentation (SmF) and solid state fermentation (SsF). These parameters are determined by the types of microorganism that yield xylanase. Precisely, suitable parameters allow the proper proliferation of microorganisms to produce high concentration of xylanase. Carbon source provides prerequisite nutrients for growth of microorganisms in SmF and SsF. In order to enhance the xylanase production, cheap but effective carbon source such as agricultural extracts is generally added to supply as the prime nutrient. SsF has become a known interest to produce xylanase because of its economical process of using agricultural extracts. Thus, lower cost production of xylanase is easily achieved. Therefore, proper optimisation of fermentation parameters would able to produce the desirable xylanase at the maximum level. Additionally, optimum pH medium and temperature possess huge positive impact on the growth of microorganisms and xylanase production. Indeed, optimal pH and temperature in agitated culture show greater xylanase activity compared to non-agitated culture. Nonetheless, further increase of the optimum agitation speed would cause irregular morphology of microorganisms that ultimately lead to xylanase interference. In the present day, the demand for xylanase is rising because of its remarkable usages in vast industries. The foremost industrial application of xylanase is involved in chlorine-free bleaching process in pulp and paper industry whereby xylanase is added into the pulp to degrade xylan found within the lignin residuals. Increasing applications of xylanase in various industries have developed xylanase to become more valuable. As a result, there are continuously endeavors to transform xylanase industry into a profitable market with lower costs of production using different types of agricultural extracts at the optimal growth conditions. All these aspects are reviewed in this article.

The culturable bacterial diversity of four hot springs of India was analysed, employing different media and screened for temperature tolerance (40°C - 70°C). Sixty morphotypes from Bakreshwar, 48 from Balrampur, 46 from Chumathang and 52 from Vashist were obtained. A set of 112 isolates, tolerant to 45°C and above, were analysed employing Amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). Sequencing of 16S rRNA gene of the representative isolates revealed that 86%, 93%, 44% and 44% of the isolates respectively from Bakreshwar, Balrampur, Chumathang and Vashist, belonged to Firmicutes. Members of Actinobacteria were present in all the four hot springs, while Proteobacteria were present only in Chumathang and Vashist and Bacteroidetes found only in Bakreshwar. This is the first report of Aurantimonas and Brevundimonas in hot springs. Biolog analyses of three isolates, growing at or above 60°C revealed unique abilities, in terms of utilization of substrates and resistance patterns.

In Morocco, date palm is the most important arboricultural crop and little is known about its germplasm. Thus, this work aimed at analyzing genetic diversity among 200 date palms sampled from three oases (Figuig, Tata and Zagora) of Morocco using microsatellite markers. Among these palms, 191 were females, belonging to 26 cultivars, and 9 were males. Eighteen primers were used for the analysis of their genetic diversity. Only 15 primers amplified successfully all the samples. The total number of alleles was 116 and the percentage of polymorphic loci was high and ranged between 60 and 100% with an average of 93.33%. The genetic similarity values ranged from 0.146 to 0.745. The molecular variance analysis showed 64% of variability among cultivars. The obtained dendrogram showed three groups and generally, a good structuring of cultivars. However, we noticed one case of homonymy among cultivars. In fact “Tadmant” cultivar of Figuig was different from “Tadmant” of Tata and Zagora. Males were clustered in two main subgroups.

Objective: Xylanase has been involved in many industrial applications especially in the pulp and paper, baking, detergent as well as food and beverage industries. This enzyme is produced by various microorganisms, mainly from fungal species. Therefore, in this study, Aspergillus brasiliensis ATCC 16404 was investigated for the optimum xylanase production under agitated solid state fermentation (SsF) using different agricultural wastes as alternative inexpensive carbon source.

Methods: A. brasiliensis was cultured in 10 g agricultural waste with addition of 2% yeast extract as the nitrogen source up to 120 h of SsF to elucidate xylanase production. Effect of various agricultural wastes such as wheat bran, rice bran, soybean hulls, barley husk, maize and palm kernel cake (PKC) on xylanase activity were enumerated in a stepwise manner, where one parameter was investigated at a time approach to obtain the optimum carbon source for the maximum xylanase production by A. brasiliensis. Thereafter, growth temperatures from 25 to 45°C, initial medium pH from 4 to 10 and agitation speeds of 50 to 200 rpm were also elucidated to determine the optimum growth conditions for the maximum production of xylanase by A. brasiliensis.

Results: Based on our results, the highest xylanase activity of 7.30 ± 1.93 U/mL was obtained using wheat bran as the prime carbon source with the initial medium pH 6.5 at 30°C at the agitation speed of 150 rpm.

Conclusion: Thus, in our study, the maximum xylanase production by A. brasiliensis using solid state bioprocessing of wheat bran as the carbon source was achieved with the addition of 2% yeast extract as the nitrogen source under the optimum growth conditions of 30°C with medium pH 6.5 at 150 rpm.

Insects, a traditional food in many parts of the world, are highly nutritious and especially rich in proteins and these represent a potential food and protein source. The ethnic people of India also consume insects as food. A review on the practices of entomophagy in India revealed that about 255 species of insects are taken as food by different tribes of India. Among these edible species of insects, consumption of coleopteran species was highest constituting about 34%; followed by Orthoptera (24%); Hemiptera (17%); Hymanoptera (10%); Odonatae (8%); Lepidoptera (4%); Isoptera (2%) and the least was Ephimeroptera (1%). Food insects are chosen by members of various tribes according to their traditional beliefs, taste, regional and seasonal availability of the edible insects. Depending on the species, only certain, but sometimes all, developmental stages are consumed. Preparation of the edible insects for consumption involves mainly roasting or boiling. Sometimes spices are added to enhance the taste. Practice of entomophagy is quite common among the ethnic people of North East India particularly among the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland and to a lesser extent by the tribes of Meghalaya and Mizoram. Comparatively this practice is much lower (constituting about one to five insect species) among the ethnic people of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha of South and Central part of India. Therefore, there is an urgent need to focus on the studies related to entomophagy, and to promote entomophagy/ethno-entomological research to document all edible insects and their mode of consumption by various tribal communities in India.

The San Ignacio Lagoon is part of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, a location that has been declared a critical area for the conservation of marine mammals and fish that use it for breeding, feeding and refuge. The present paper has as its main focus to determine the impact of a large-scale oceanographic phenomenon (El Niño/La Niña) on the zoogeographic composition of the community of soft-bottom fish of the San Ignacio Lagoon.

During the warm El Niño period of spring and fall 1998, the average water temperatures in San Ignacio Lagoon were between 20.9 and 21.1°C (± 0.2°C), while during the summer of 1998 average temperatures were higher (24.3°C), and during the cold La Niña period of the 1999 winter a 13.4°C average temperature was recorded. Eight species were present during all seasons: Eucinostomus dowii, Hippocampus ingens, Hypsopsetta guttulata, Paralabrax maculatofasciatus, Paralichthys californicus, Sphoeroides annulatus, Sphoeroides lispus and Urobatis halleri. The species with the highest abundance during El Niño were: Paralabrax maculatofasciatus, Eucinostomus dowii; whereas during La Niña the most abundant species were: Sphoeroides lispus, Paralabrax auroguttatus and Sphoeroides annulatus. The recorded fishes had zoogeographic affinity for the following provinces: Panamic (36%), Californian (32%), Eastern Pacific (18%) and Mexican (11%). Eleven fish species of tropical affinity that were recorded during El Niño event of 1997-1998.