Application of chitosan nanopriming on plant growth and secondary metabolites of Pancratium maritimum L.

BACKGROUND: Nanotechnology has demonstrated its vital significance in all aspects of daily life. Our research was conducted to estimate the potential of primed seed with chitosan nanoparticles in seed growth and yield by inducing plant secondary metabolism of Pancratium maritimum L. one of the important medicinal plants. Petri dish and pot experiments were carried out. Seeds of Pancratium maritimum L. were soaked in Nano solution (0.1, 0.5, 1 mg/ ml) for 4, 8, 12 h. Germination parameters (germination percentage, germination velocity, speed of germination, germination energy, germination index, mean germination time, seedling shoot and root length, shoot root ratio, seedling vigor index, plant biomass and water content), alkaloids and antioxidant activity of Pancratium maritimum L. were recorded and compared between coated and uncoated seeds. RESULTS: Our results exhibited that chitosan nanopriming had a positive effect on some growth parameters, while it fluctuated on others. However, the data showed that most germination parameters were significantly affected in coated seeds compared to uncoated seeds. GC-MS analysis of Pancratium maritimum L. with different nanopriming treatments showed that the quantity of alkaloids decreased, but the amount of pancratistatin, lycorine and antioxidant content increased compared with the control. CONCLUSIONS: Applying chitosan nanoparticles in priming seeds might be a simple and effective way to improve the quantity of secondary metabolites of Pancratium maritimum L. valuable medicinal plant.

Management of Rumex dentatus L. in Vicia faba L. cultivations via Ononis vaginalis Vahl. As a potential bioherbicide.

Biological control of undesirable weeds associated with crop cultivation is a sustainable approach that can reduce chemical herbicide dependence. The current study aimed to assess the bio-herbicidal potential of the donor species Ononis vaginalis Vahl. on germination efficiency as well as various growth and physiological parameters of the recipient species Rumex dentatus L., a major broad bean pest (Vicia faba L.). To assess the greatest inhibitory allelopathic effect on the recipient species in mixed (Rumex dentatus L. and Vicia faba L.) and pure cultures (each one separately), two experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions. A Petri dish experiment using O. vaginalis shoot aqueous extract (5%, 10%, 20%, and 40%) and a pot experiment using O. vaginalis shoot crude powder (1%, 2%, 5%, and 10%) were conducted to investigate its biological activity on some growth and physiological parameters of both crop and weed species. O. vaginalis underwent a general phytochemical screening that revealed a high production of allelochemicals, which are secondary metabolites and may have a function like that of natural herbicides. The result showed that the germination of V. faba seeds in both pure and mixed cultures was not significantly affected by low levels of O. vaginalis shoot aqueous extract treatments in pure and mixed cultures, in contrast, those recorded for R. dentatus gradually dropped as levels of O. vaginalis increased in both cultures. Results recorded a significant increase in total phenolics of V. faba shoots and roots under different treatments, except at the high concentrations of crude powder at the donor species level (5 and10%). A reduction in the total phenolic and flavonoid fractions was observed in R. dentatus roots under varying concentration treatments. Conversely, under high concentration treatments, flavonoids decreased in the roots of the mixed culture of R. dentatus but increased in the shoots. In conclusion, allelopathy can be used to suppress weeds in field crops. The study confirmed the use of O. vaginalis into current weed control techniques. O. vaginalis could be explored further for weed suppression in the field.

Chemotherapeutic Potential of Epimedium brevicornum Extract: The cGMP-Specific PDE5 Inhibitor as Anti-Infertility Agent Following Long-Term Administration of Tramadol in Male Rats.

Epimedium brevicornum Maxim (EbM) is a well-known Chinese herb that has been widely used for the treatment of several diseases. The main purpose of this study is to examine the role of Epimedium brevicornum extract in certain andrological parameters in rats as a natural modulator for adverse viewpoints associated with chronic administration of tramadol (TAM). Fifty rats were categorized into five groups. Untreated rats were known as Group I, whereas rats in Groups II and III were administered 2.43 g/kg/day of E. brevicornum extract and 50 mg/kg/day of TAM for 130 consecutive days, respectively. Both of Groups IV and V were administered TAM for 65 successive days, followed by concomitant use of both drugs for another 65 days, with the E. brevicornum extract at doses of 0.81 and 2.43 g/kg/day, respectively. TAM showed an injurious effect on sperm attributes, serum hormones, tissue malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, and nitric oxide. Elevation of the apoptotic marker Bax and a reduction of Bcl2 were recorded. Histopathological abnormalities have been reported in rat testicles. Rats treated with E. brevicornum extract with TAM showed an improvement in all the parameters tested. It could be presumed that E. brevicornum extract plus TAM exhibits a promising effect on the enhancement of male anti-infertility effects.

Management of the noxious weed; Medicago polymorpha L. via allelopathy of some medicinal plants from Taif region, Saudi Arabia.

Germination bioassay was carried out to test the biological activity of Achillea santolina L. (ASAE), Artemisia monosperma Del. (AMAE), Pituranthus tortuosus L. (PTAE) and Thymus capitatus L. (TCAE) aqueous extracts (collected from Taif region, KSA) on germination percentage (GP), plumule (PL) and radicle (RL) lengths (mm) besides seedling dry weight (SDW) (mg/seedlings) of Medicago polymorpha L. The inhibitory effect of P. tortuosus was insignificant compared to the other three donor species which attained the strongest allelopathic potential in the following order: A. santolina > A. monosperma > T. capitatus. Growth experiment using crude powder of the four donor species was conducted to examine their effects on leaf area index (LAI), photosynthetic pigments, total available carbohydrates (TAC) and total protein (TP). It is worth mentioning that each of the four donor species crude powders mixed with clay loam soil appeared to have a great inhibitory allelopathic effect on LAI, total photosynthetic pigment and chlorophyll a (Chl a) while carotenoids exhibited a slight increase with the application of the four donor species crude powders. TAC and TP were significantly decreased with increasing the crude powder concentrations while a slight decrease was recorded for carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio. There is possibility of using these allelochemicals directly or as structural leads for the discovery and development of environmentally friendly herbicides to control weeds. The study recommended that these species must be phytochemically examined in future for their allelochemicals in order to provide information on the possibilities of using one or more of these species as bioherbicides.