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Panax ginseng Meyer is one of Asia's most popular medicinal plants, with triterpene saponins as principal bioactive compounds. The present study investigates the possibility of ginseng cultivation in Lahaul & Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India in the Western Himalayas focusing on growth characteristics, and ginsenoside content in the roots. Plant growth parameters increased with an increase in the crop age and reached maximum maturity at the age of five years along with the production of a good amount of seeds and roots. Root fresh and dry weight of the five-year-old plant was 142.6 g and 45.5 g, respectively, which almost doubled as compared with the four-year-old plant. The HPLC analysis of P. ginseng roots leads to the identification of 14 compounds representing 31.81 ± 2.89 mg/g of total ginsenoside contents, where Rb1, Rg2 and Re were found to be major ginsenosides with 7.53 ± 0.37, 7.04 ± 0.61 and 3.77 ± 0.26 mg/g content. Protopanaxadiol (PPD) and protopanaxatriol (PPT) represent the major classes of ginsenosides present in the ginseng roots with a 0.98 ratio of PPD/PPT. Our studies revealed that the soil and climate of the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh State in the Western Himalayas are suitable for the cultivation of P. ginseng with good content of ginsenosides in five-year-old roots.

The bioecological characteristics of plants determine their status and role in the community. The advantages of dominant species in the community compared with companion species in terms of physiological and ecological characteristics remain unclear. When both dominant and companion species in grassland plant communities are clonal, these plants are able to share resources within clones (physiological integration). However, it is unclear how the clonal dominant and companion species differ in the effect of their physiological integration on sexual reproduction. We chose Leymus chinensis, the dominant species of the most widespread meadow plant communities in the semiarid and arid regions of northern China, and its main companion species L. secalinus, Calamagrostis ripidula, C. pseudophragmites, and C. epigeios and conducted a series of in situ field experiments in a homogeneous environment, including the determination of the phenotypic characteristics of reproductive ramets with connected (allowing physiological integration) and disconnected (preventing integration) tillering nodes for each species, as well as 15N leaf labeling of ramet pairs at the milk-ripe stage. In the clonal populations of the five grasses, physiological integration between vegetative ramets and reproductive ramets interconnected by tillering nodes significantly increased the leaf, stem, inflorescence and ramet biomasses of reproductive ramets, and relative changes in ramet biomass were greatest in L. chinensis. 15N labeling showed that vegetative ramets supplied nutrients to reproductive ramets through tillering nodes; the amount of translocated 15N per unit of reproductive ramet biomass was highest in L. chinensis. Overall, our results indicate that in the five clonal grasses, physiological integration between functionally different ramets under tillering node connections had a significant positive effect on sexual reproduction, indicating interspecific consistency in the contribution of physiological integration to sexual reproduction between the dominant and companion species, but this positive effect was greater in the dominant species L. chinensis than in the four main companion species. Therefore, differences in the physiological integration ability between the dominant and main companion species, identified for the first time in this study, may explain, at least partly, the dominance of L. chinensis in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the effect of turmeric extract (TE) on the growth, feed and nutrient utilization, coloration, hematology, and expression of immunity genes in goldfish (Carassius auratus), a 10-week feeding trial was conducted. Goldfish (7.56 ± 0.01 g/fish) were subjected to four feeding treatments using diets containing 0 (control group, TE0), 1, 2, and 3 g/kg (TE1 – TE3, respectively) of TE. Dietary TE supplementation did not significantly affect growth performance measured every two weeks (∼ 1 g/week weight gain), feed intake, or nutrient utilization but significantly increased the value of a* in the head, abdominal, and tail regions. The TE3 group had significantly higher total carotenoids in serum compared to other groups. Also, TE supplementation increased the total carotenoid content in the fin, skin, and liver with significant differences between TE0 vs. TE3 and TE2 groups. Moreover, dietary supplementation of TE increased white and red blood cells, total protein, albumin, and globulin with linear and/or quadratic effects. LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly decreased by increasing TE supplementation with the opposite tendencies in HDL-cholesterol levels. Lysozyme and IL-10 transcripts were significantly increased in the TE supplemented groups. Conversely, IL-1β transcript levels were significantly decreased in the liver by TE supplementation, and no significant differences were observed for HSP70 gene expression among all tested groups. Plasma glucose and cortisol levels were linearly decreased in all TE groups, and a quadratic effect was observed for plasma glucose levels. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that supplementing 2–3 g/kg of TE in diets could improve coloration, strengthen immunity, and alleviate stress in goldfish.

Panax ginseng Meyer is one of Asia's most popular medicinal plants, with triterpene saponins as principal bioactive compounds. The present study investigates the possibility of ginseng cultivation in Lahaul & Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India in the Western Himalayas focusing on growth characteristics, and ginsenoside content in the roots. Plant growth parameters increased with an increase in the crop age and reached maximum maturity at the age of five years along with the production of a good amount of seeds and roots. Root fresh and dry weight of the five-year-old plant was 142.6 g and 45.5 g, respectively, which almost doubled as compared with the four-year-old plant. The HPLC analysis of P. ginseng roots leads to the identification of 14 compounds representing 31.81 ± 2.89 mg/g of total ginsenoside contents, where Rb1, Rg2 and Re were found to be major ginsenosides with 7.53 ± 0.37, 7.04 ± 0.61 and 3.77 ± 0.26 mg/g content. Protopanaxadiol (PPD) and protopanaxatriol (PPT) represent the major classes of ginsenosides present in the ginseng roots with a 0.98 ratio of PPD/PPT. Our studies revealed that the soil and climate of the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh State in the Western Himalayas are suitable for the cultivation of P. ginseng with good content of ginsenosides in five-year-old roots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hordeum jubatum is a salt tolerant forage, which plays an important role in improving saline-alkali land and animal husbandry alkali-saline grassland. Hordeum jubatum has been gradually domesticated as an ornamental grass due to its special flower color. However, no domesticated varieties of H. jubatum plant have been reported worldwide. This study reported the complete chloroplast genome of wild H. jubatum, which was 136,871 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeats (IRA/IRB) of 21,608 bp separated by a small single-copy (SSC) area region of 12,799 bp and the large single-copy (LSC) region of 80,856 bp. A total of 133 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes (79 PCG species), 40 transfer RNA genes (32 tRNA species), and eight ribosomal RNA genes (four rRNA species) were predicted from the chloroplast genomes. The overall GC content was 38.25%, and the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC, and IR were 36.22%, 32.15%, and 43.85%, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis showed that wild H. jubatum was clustered closely with Hordeum bogdanii.

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Ophiorrhiza caudata is a creeping, perennial herb distributed along wet and shady areas. The species is distylous with two distinct floral morphs: pin and thrum. Flowering usually occurs during the monsoon season. No particular difference was noticed in the flowering phenology of the two morphs. Presently the species is self-incompatible, however, it shows a tendency towards intramorph compatibility. Fruit set is above 60% in open pollination and intermorph pollination. Bees and butterflies are the major pollinators. The pollen flow between the two floral morphs varies depending upon floral morphology and pollinators. Fruit is a bi-valved capsule which dehisces by a splashing drop mechanism. The seeds are very minute. The rate of seed germination and seedling establishment in the wild condition is very poor due to adverse climatic factors. Ophiorrhiza caudata is struggling for survival in its natural habitat, where habitat fragmentation, climatic factors and poor seedling establishment could account for its narrow distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual reproduction is vital for population adaptation in clonal plants. The flag leaf is considered to be the primary contributor to sexual reproduction in cereal crops, and there is no unified conclusion on the effect of the number of vegetative ramets on grain yield. However, what effects of the flag leaf and the number of vegetative ramets on sexual reproductive performance of clonal grasses are largely unknown. To test this, under field natural conditions, we grew the rhizomatous grass Leymus chinensis in a homogeneous environment and conducted studies concerning the growth, reproduction and physiology of reproductive ramets in clonal populations. We measured the growth characteristics of different aged leaves, dynamically measured the net photosynthetic rate of different aged leaves and organ biomass, measured the sexual reproductive characteristics of reproductive ramets that had different numbers of connecting vegetative ramets, and performed isotope (15N) labeling of ramet pairs at the seed-filling stage. In L. chinensis clonal populations, from the heading stage, the photosynthetic contribution of the functional leaves to seed production was much greater than that of the flag leaf; the photosynthetic capacity of both the functional leaves and the flag leaf all gradually declined. Vegetative ramets translocated their own resources to the connected reproductive ramets, and a large proportion of translocated resources were allocated to the leaf and stem to sustain life activities; increase in the number of connecting vegetative ramets increased floret number, seed number, seed-setting rate, inflorescence biomass, seed biomass, and reproductive allocation of reproductive ramets, and these parameters significantly and positively correlated with the biomass of connecting vegetative ramets. We conclude that the functional leaf rather than the flag leaf of L. chinensis is the primary contributor to seed production. Reproductive ramets adopt a strategy of growth first and reproduction later to allocate the translocated resources between the organs, but vegetative ramets are very advantageous for sexual reproduction under the tillering node connection form in L. chinensis. Overall, our study implies that vegetative ramets not only play an important role in the spatial expansion but also in the sexual reproduction of clonal plant populations.

Fungal pathogens can regulate the abundance and distribution of natural plant populations by inhibiting the growth, survival, and reproduction of their hosts. The abiotic environment is a crucial component in host–pathogen interactions in natural plant populations as favorable conditions drive pathogen development, reproduction, and persistence. Foliar plant pathogens, such as fungal lesions referred to generically as “leaf spot disease,” are particularly responsive to increased moisture levels, but the manner in which the abiotic environment drives disease dynamics, and how these diseases regulate natural plant populations, is not fully understood. We investigate (1) the impact of ambient soil moisture and diffuse light on the prevalence of a leaf spot pathogen (Phyllosticta sp.) in a natural population of Polygonatum biflorum, an understory herb native to deciduous forest understories in the eastern US, and (2) the effects of the fungal pathogen on the survival, growth, and abundance of the plants. We tracked six P. biflorum populations and disease incidence, as well as soil moisture and diffuse light, between 2003 and 2005 in the understory deciduous forest of the southern Appalachian Mountains, North Carolina, USA. Results show that both the occurrence of P. biflorum and the prevalence of P. biflorum leaf spot disease are highest where soil moisture is intermediate and diffuse light is lowest. Disease occurrence depends upon plant presence, but it also adversely impacts plant survival, abundance, and growth. These results suggest that leaf spot disease is likely to impact population dynamics, which in turn vary as a function of environmental drivers.

To understand how the environment drives spatial variation in population dynamics, we need to assess the effects of a large number of potential drivers on vital rates (survival, growth, and reproduction) and explore these relationships over large geographical areas and broad environmental gradients. In this study, we examined the effects of a wide variety of abiotic and biotic environmental factors on the demography of the forest understory herb Actaea spicata between 2017 and 2019 at 40 sites across Sweden, including the northern range margin of its distribution. We assessed the effects of potential environmental drivers on vital rates using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) and then quantified the impact of each important driver on population growth rate (λ) using integral projection models (IPMs). Population dynamics of A. spicata were mostly driven by environmental factors affecting survival and growth, such as air humidity, soil depth, and forest tree species composition, and thus, those drivers jointly determined the realized niche of the species. Soil pH had a strong effect on the flowering probability, while the effect on λ was relatively small. In addition to identifying specific drivers for A. spicata's population dynamics, our study illustrates the impact that spatial variation in environmental conditions can have on λ. Assessing the effects of a broad range of potential drivers, as done in this study, is important not only to quantify the relative importance of different drivers for population dynamics but also to understand species distributions and abundance patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual reproduction is vital for population adaptation in clonal plants. The flag leaf is considered to be the primary contributor to sexual reproduction in cereal crops, and there is no unified conclusion on the effect of the number of vegetative ramets on grain yield. However, what effects of the flag leaf and the number of vegetative ramets on sexual reproductive performance of clonal grasses are largely unknown. To test this, under field natural conditions, we grew the rhizomatous grass Leymus chinensis in a homogeneous environment and conducted studies concerning the growth, reproduction and physiology of reproductive ramets in clonal populations. We measured the growth characteristics of different aged leaves, dynamically measured the net photosynthetic rate of different aged leaves and organ biomass, measured the sexual reproductive characteristics of reproductive ramets that had different numbers of connecting vegetative ramets, and performed isotope (15N) labeling of ramet pairs at the seed-filling stage. In L. chinensis clonal populations, from the heading stage, the photosynthetic contribution of the functional leaves to seed production was much greater than that of the flag leaf; the photosynthetic capacity of both the functional leaves and the flag leaf all gradually declined. Vegetative ramets translocated their own resources to the connected reproductive ramets, and a large proportion of translocated resources were allocated to the leaf and stem to sustain life activities; increase in the number of connecting vegetative ramets increased floret number, seed number, seed-setting rate, inflorescence biomass, seed biomass, and reproductive allocation of reproductive ramets, and these parameters significantly and positively correlated with the biomass of connecting vegetative ramets. We conclude that the functional leaf rather than the flag leaf of L. chinensis is the primary contributor to seed production. Reproductive ramets adopt a strategy of growth first and reproduction later to allocate the translocated resources between the organs, but vegetative ramets are very advantageous for sexual reproduction under the tillering node connection form in L. chinensis. Overall, our study implies that vegetative ramets not only play an important role in the spatial expansion but also in the sexual reproduction of clonal plant populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endophytes are unknown symbionts that live in plant tissues without indicating their presence. The association of endophytes with plants is well established. They not only help in water and mineral uptake but also play an important role in metabolic activities of certain plants. Other nature of endophytes is to ensure defense mechanism in plants from external forces such as mammals and birds. In present investigation about endophytes in plants, Alternanthera pungens Kunth a prostrate perennial herb commonly available along the road side forming mat like appearance was selected. It belongs to family Amarathaceae of angiosperm. Traditionally the herb is used to cure measles, headache and abdominal pain. Isolates from root, stem and leaves showed the presence of endophytes. Fungal strains like Aspergillus spp, Colletorichum spp, Alternaria spp, Fusarium spp was isolated from leaf and stem region of the herb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hordeum jubatum is a salt tolerant forage, which plays an important role in improving saline-alkali land and animal husbandry alkali-saline grassland. Hordeum jubatum has been gradually domesticated as an ornamental grass due to its special flower color. However, no domesticated varieties of H. jubatum plant have been reported worldwide. This study reported the complete chloroplast genome of wild H. jubatum, which was 136,871 bp in length, containing a pair of inverted repeats (IRA/IRB) of 21,608 bp separated by a small single-copy (SSC) area region of 12,799 bp and the large single-copy (LSC) region of 80,856 bp. A total of 133 genes, including 85 protein-coding genes (79 PCG species), 40 transfer RNA genes (32 tRNA species), and eight ribosomal RNA genes (four rRNA species) were predicted from the chloroplast genomes. The overall GC content was 38.25%, and the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC, and IR were 36.22%, 32.15%, and 43.85%, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis showed that wild H. jubatum was clustered closely with Hordeum bogdanii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premise Polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed as a tool for genetic investigations of Filipendula vulgaris (Rosaceae) and related species. Methods and Results Seventeen new polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed for F. vulgaris using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Polymorphism of the 17 loci was tested in three populations. We identified a total of 203 alleles, ranging from four to 19 per locus, with levels of observed and expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.267 to 1.000 and 0.461 to 0.899, respectively. Primers were also tested for cross‐amplification in three related species. Seven loci successfully cross‐amplified in F. camtschatica and F. ulmaria, whereas we detected positive cross‐amplification in only three loci in Geum urbanum. Conclusions The newly developed microsatellite primers will serve as useful genetic tools for further population genetic studies on F. vulgaris and related species.

Premise Microsatellite markers were developed in the federally endangered species Liatris helleri (Asteraceae) to evaluate species boundaries with closely related congeners within the genus. Methods and Results Using Illumina data, 17 primer pairs were developed in populations of L. helleri. The primers amplified motifs from tri‐ to hexanucleotide repeats with one to 17 alleles per locus. Primers were also tested for cross‐amplification in L. aspera, L. microcephala, and L. pycnostachya. Conclusions The developed primers for L. helleri serve as a novel genetic tool for future investigations in this genus, allowing for more explicit species delineation as well as population genetic analyses.

Background and Aims Monocarpic plants are those that flower, produce seeds and then die. Although most monocarpic plants are annual or biennial, some of them are perennial. However, relatively little is known regarding the biology of monocarpic perennials. Pyrenean saxifrage (Saxifraga longifolia) is a monocarpic perennial that is well adapted to high-mountain ecosystems. Here, we evaluated altitudinal changes in clonality in various populations growing in their natural habitat with particular emphasis on the physiological costs of clonal growth. Methods We assessed the percentage of clonal plants in nine populations growing in their natural habitat, as well as the plant stress response of clonal and non-clonal plants, in terms of photoprotection and accumulation of stress-related phytohormones, in a 3-year study at Las Blancas (2100 m a.s.l.). We also evaluated the influence of plant size on the activation of defensive responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Key Results We found that 12 % of Pyrenean saxifrage plants growing at the highest altitudes (2100 m a.s.l.) produced lateral rosettes which survived the flowering of the main rosette and shared the same axonomorphic root, thus escaping monocarpic senescence. This clonal growth did not worsen the physiological performance of plants growing at this altitude. Furthermore, increased plant size did not negatively affect the physiology of plants, despite adjustments in endogenous stress-related phytohormones. In contrast, maturity led to rapid physiological deterioration of the rosette, which was associated with monocarpic senescence. Conclusions This study shows that the evolution of clonality has allowed Pyrenean saxifrage to survive harsh environmental conditions and it provides evidence that harsh environments push plant species to their limits in terms of life form and longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clonal plants usually reproduce asexually through vegetative propagation and sexually by producing seeds. Physiological integration, the translocation of essential resources between ramets, usually improves vegetative reproduction. However, how physiological integration affects sexual reproduction has been less studied in clonal grasses. Here, we chose Hierochloe glabra, a major early spring forage of the eastern Eurasian steppe, and conducted a series of field experiments, including sampling reproductive ramets connected by tillering nodes to different numbers of vegetative ramets and 15N leaf labeling of ramet pairs at the seed-filling stage. In the natural populations of H. glabra, vegetative ramets were taller, had more and larger leaves, and greater biomass than reproductive ramets. Except for reproductive ramet biomass, sexual reproductive characteristics significantly increased with an increase in the number and biomass of vegetative ramets connected to tillering nodes. 15N labeling showed that vegetative ramets supplied nutrients to reproductive ramets through tillering nodes. Overall, our results indicate that significant differences in morphological characteristics and biomass allocation underlie resources translocation from vegetative ramets towards reproductive ramets. Physiological integration between different functional ramets can increase sexual reproductive performance, which will be beneficial to population persistence in H. glabra.