Search

Hottentota tamulus (Fabricius, 1798) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) is among the most common venomous species of scorpions in Punjab, Pakistan. The venom of this species has high risk of morbidity and mortality. Several medicinal plants have been reported to have anti-scorpion venom potential. However, there is scarcity of scientific evidences that could prove the anti-scorpion venom potential of plant extracts. The aim of present study was to evaluate the anti-venom activity of four native plants extracts, i.e. Mangifera indica L., Achyranthes aspera L., Allium cepa L. and Ginkgo biloba L. using Swiss albino mice as model. The Methanolic/aqueous extracts of plants were mixed with LD99 of Hottenota tamulus and injected intraperitoneally. The response was recorded till 7th day of treatment. Moreover, hematological and serological analyses were performed after administration of LD50 and LD99 doses of venom. The extracts of A. aspera and A. cepa completely neutralized (100%) the effect of scorpion venom, but neutralization effect of G. biloba was comparatively less (83.3%). However, M. indica (leaves and flowers) did not neutralize the effect scorpion venom. The extracts of plants were analyzed by GC-MS for the compositional analysis. The major compounds found in A. aspera, A. cepa and G. biloba were Oleanolic acid, cyclopropane, Lupeol acetate, a cholesterol, palmitic acid and Stearic acid respectively. It is concluded that A. aspera and A. cepa completely neutralize the effect of venom and could be used in future to design anti-scorpion venom agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silk, a natural compound of silkworm contains two proteins, sericin and fibroin. These proteins can be conjugated with other compounds to form silk-derived nanoparticles. The biomedical applications of silk-based nanoparticles for drug delivery and cancer treatment are arising as they are biocompatible, biodegradable, have enhanced permeability and retention effect and less toxicity. Nevertheless, not a single review of literature is present that could describe the anticancer potential of silk derived nanoparticles. In this review, we describe the (i) comprehensive note on fibroin and sericin based nanoparticles (ii) anticancer mechanistic accompanied by biomedical applications in diagnosis, imaging, and drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scorpionism (scorpion sting) is a major public health issue in many regions of the world. Globally, 1.2 million scorpion stings happen annually, specifically in the tropical regions. Mortality due to these venomous stings is serious health problem in absence of suitable medication. Awareness of this problem is fundamental for preventive measures. Scorpion venom is composed of water, mucosa, enzymes, free amino acids, biogenic amines, neurotoxins, low molecular weight peptides, and proteins having maximum molecular activities. Neurotoxins are potent and are highly selective ligands for voltage-gated sodium, potassium, chloride, and calcium ion channels. Therefore, they depict interesting compounds for the development of novel drugs, for example, drugs for cancer, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and analgesics. Scorpion venom has apoptogenic, cytotoxic, immunosuppressive, and antiproliferative effects. Therefore, scorpion venom can be utilized against various cancers like glioma, leukemia, human neuroblastoma, brain tumor, melanoma, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. This review explains the details of toxin receptor interactions and provides details about opportunities for the development of peptide-based therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, DNA barcoding was used to assess the percentage accuracy of morphological base identification of spiders from the agriculture fields of district Layyah, Punjab, Pakistan. A total of 872 spiders were captured from June to August of 2017. All the collected spiders were brought to molecular laboratory at GC University Lahore, preserved in 95% ethanol and stored at −20 °C until the DNA extraction. Spiders were evaluated morphologically on the basis of different identification Keys and Catalogs. Morphological identification revealed the presence of 12 families, 29 genra and 49 species. To evaluate the authenticity of morphological identification, tissue samples of 96 specimens were sent to Canadian Center for Biodiversity and Genomics, University of Guelph, Canada. A 658-base pair sequence of COI (Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit I) of 90 specimens was retrieved successfully, which confirmed the presence of 11 families, 25 genra and 47 species. On the basis of molecular results, all the misidentified specimens were then allotted the correct taxon. Overall accuracy of morphological based identification was 88%. It is concluded from the present study that morphological investigations to identify a spider, are satisfactory but to enhance the accuracy, pace and credibility of results, molecular technique like DNA barcoding is considerable. Furthermore, to magnify authenticity of evaluation of spiders, integrated barcoding- combination of molecular methods and conventional taxonomy- is compulsory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate identification of agricultural pests is key requirement for the successful integrated pest management (IPM) program. However, due to limitations of conventional morphological methods, other molecular method like DNA barcoding is used. The current study was designed to evaluate the accuracy of morphological identification of insect pests using DNA barcoding. Morphologically, a total of 247 insect pests, representing 10 families, 18 genera, 22 species were identified. However, molecular identifications confirmed the presence of 11 families, 16 genera, and 20 species of agricultural pests. A total of 59 specimens were processed for DNA barcoding but genomic sequences of mt COI gene up to 600 bp were revived from 48 samples. Specimens that were misidentified through morphological studies were placed to their appropriate taxon, using this molecular approach. Results revealed the existence of clear barcode gap for different pest species. Moreover, the values of distance with the nearest neighbour recorded were higher than the maximum intra-sequence divergences for all species. It is concluded that DNA barcoding is a reliable technique for identification of agricultural pests, especially for immature stages when morphometric studies are ambiguous and will be helpful in the development of more effective pest management options for regulating pest species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, DNA barcoding has become quite popular for molecular identification of species because it is simple, quick and an affordable method. Present study was conducted to identify spiders of most abundant families, i.e. Salticidae and Lycosidae from citrus orchards in Sargodha district using DNA barcoding. A total of 160 specimens were subjected to DNA barcoding but, sequences up to 600 bp were recovered for 156 specimens. This molecular approach proved helpful to assign the exact taxon to those specimens which were misidentified through morphological characters in the study. We were succeeded to discriminate six species of Lycosidae and nine species of Salticidae through DNA barcoding. Results revealed the presence of clear barcode gap (discontinuity in intra- and inter-specific divergences) for members of both families. Furthermore, the maximum intra-specific divergence was less than NN (nearest neighbour) distance for all species. This suggested the reliability of DNA barcoding for spider’s identification up to species level. We got 98% success in our study. It is concluded from present study that DNA barcoding is more reliable tool especially for immature spiders, when morphological characters are ambiguous. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Genetic diversity in cytochrome c oxidase I (coxI) among 7 species ofAnophelesmosquitoes from Pakistan, and 37 species from different geographical regions of the world, was recorded. Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) analysis revealed a clear gap between intraspecific and interspecific distances of 7 species from Pakistan. However, genetic distances of 37Anophelesspecies failed to adequately differentiate species in a global context. Intraspecific and interspecific divergences for 7Anophelesspecies of Pakistan varied from 0.0% to 2.5% (mean = 0.49%) and 8% to 22.3% (mean = 12.77%), respectively. Similarly, intraspecific distances for 37 species from different parts of world ranged from 0.0% to 11.2% (mean = 0.65%) while values of interspecific divergences ranged from 3.4% to 35% (mean = 11.75%). Although phylogenetic tree revealed separate clades for 7Anophelesspecies of Pakistan, it failed to produce separate clades for 37 species of the world. It is concluded that although standard barcode region is helpful for identifyingAnophelesmosquitoes, combination of multi-locus approaches and morphology may be required to accurately identify species in this genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genetic diversity ofCulex quinquefasciatusmosquito based on the standard barcode region of cytochrome C oxidase I (COI) gene fragment was studied in the present study. TheCOIgene sequences ofCx. quinquefasciatuswere also compared with four other species of GenusCulex(i.e.Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, Cx. fuscocephala, Cx. pipiens, andCx. theileri). Our data set included sequences of Culex mosquitoes from 16 different countries of world. The average intraspecific and interspecific divergences recorded were 0.67% and 8.27%, respectively. The clades for five species were clearly separated exceptCx. quinquefasciatusandCx. pipiens. It is concluded that the DNA barcoding is effective and reliable tool for the identification of selectedCulexspecies but create little problem in case of sister species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research was conducted in district Jhang, Pakistan, to evaluate the concentration of metals/metalloids in soil and pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) irrigated with domestic wastewater. Data revealed that the levels of metals and metalloids in soil samples from two different sites were below the safe limits except Cd, whereas, in the vegetable, the concentrations of As, Se, Ni, Mo, Pb, Mn, and Cu were above the safe limits. The levels of 12 metals and metalloids in the soil were ranged between 0.14 to 22.76 mg/kg at site-I and 0.16 to 22.13 mg/kg at site-II. The levels of these metals in the vegetable were found 0.35 to 61.13 mg/kg at site-I and 0.31 to 53.63 mg/kg at site-II. The transfer factor at both sites was highest for As and Co. The pollution load index recorded for Se, Cu, Cd, Mo, Pb, and Co was greater than 1. The daily intake of As, Mn, and Mo was above the oral reference dose, which reflects that the intake of pumpkin is not safe for the inhabitants of the selected sites. The control measures should be taken to phytoextract heavy metals and metalloids from polluted sites so as to reduce the health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]