Study on the correlation between soil microbial diversity and ambient environmental factors influencing the safflower distribution in Xinjiang.

The effects of soil microbial properties and physiographical factors on safflower distributions in the main safflower plantations of Xinjiang province in China were studied. This study may help determine the basis of the environmental factors for evaluating the geoherbalism of this medicinal plant. The soil microbial biodiversity in the bulk soil and rhizosphere of safflower at different growth stages and from different sampling plots were characterized by analyzing the environmental DNAs in the samples. With general primers targeting the 16S ribosomal DNA for bacteria and the internal transcribed spacer 1 gene for fungi, the study was performed using marker gene amplification coupled with Illumina HiSeq high-throughput sequencing technologies. Correlation analysis and a distance-based redundancy analysis were performed to determine the dominant factors affecting the distribution of the microorganism in safflower soils. A total of 16517 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained from all the 108 soil samples of nine safflower sampling plots. At the phylum level, 48 phyla have been identified with Actinobacteria (32.9%) and proteobacteria (28.7%) being predominant. For fungi, 8746 OTUs were obtained, which belonged to seven phyla with Ascomycota overwhelmingly superior in relative abundance. A significant positive correlation was found between soil microbe quantity and ASL (above sea level). Safflower was sensitive to changes in elevation, growing more abundantly in the mountainous regions at heights of around 1,200 m above sea level. It is concluded that the dominant factors affecting the distribution of microorganisms in safflower soils were soil moisture, available N, and ASL.

Improvement of safflower oil quality for biodiesel production by integrated application of PGPR under reduced amount of NP fertilizers.

Safflower is an important industrial oil seed and bioenergy crop in semi-arid subtropical regions due to its potential to grow on marginal land and having good percentage of seed oil contents which is an important parameter for biofuel production. However, it is an ignored crop in Pakistan. In order to improve the crop productivity and reduce the use of agrochemicals for sustainable biodiesel feedstock production, an experiment was conducted for two years to improve the fatty acid composition and oil quality of Carthamus tinctorius L. (safflower) by the inoculation of Azospirillum and Azotobacter alone as well as in combined application with nitrogen and phosphate (NP) fertilizers on cultivars Thori and Saif-32 under field conditions. Separation and quantification of fatty acids were done on precise comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC). The results showed that fatty acid profile specifically monounsaturated fatty acids i-e oleic acid (C18:1) was significantly improved by Azospirillum supplemented with the quarter dose of NP fertilizers (SPQ) with concomitant decrease in polyunsaturated fatty acids by the respective treatment. Oil quality attributes such as acid value, saponification number, iodine value, refractive index and free fatty acid contents were reduced by the application of Azotobacter and Azospirillum in combination with half and quarter doses of NP fertilizers treatments (BTH, SPH, BTQ and SPQ). The reduction in these variables is positively linked with improved biodiesel yield and quality. It can be concluded that application of Azospirillum and Azotobacter not only reduced the use of NP fertilizers up to 50%-75% but also improved the oil quality in order to obtain environment friendly, sustainable and green fuel.

[Enhancement of thrombolytic activities of Carthamus tinctorius processed with fermentation with a bacillus sp. C2-13].

A processing method to enhance thrombolytic effect of Carthamus tinctorius using a fermentation technology with bacillus sp. C2-13 was investigated. The fibrinolysis and anticoagulation activity of thrombolytic extracts from an optimized fermentation process was studied using a carrageenan induced mice model. The fermented extracts resulted in significantly better thrombolytic activity, suggesting that the process was promising for use in the study and preparation of nature medicines.