Restricts Sugar Loss to a Colonizing Strain by Downregulating and and Upregulation of and in the Roots.

Phosphate (Pi) availability has a strong influence on the symbiotic interaction between and a recently described root-colonizing beneficial strain. When transferred to media with insoluble Ca(PO) as a sole Pi source, seedlings died after 10 days. grew on the medium containing Ca(PO) and the fungus did colonize in roots, stems, and shoots of the host.

An Endophytic Strain Promotes Growth of Its Hosts and Defends Against Pathogen Attack.

Plants host numerous endophytic microbes which promote plant performance, in particular under stress. A new endophytic fungus was isolated from the leaves of a deciduous wood tree Morphological inspection and multilocus phylogeny identified the fungus as a new strain. If applied to and , it mainly colonizes their roots and strongly promotes initial growth of the plants on soil.

Evaluating realized seed dispersal across fragmented tropical landscapes: a two-fold approach using parentage analysis and the neighbourhood model.

Despite the importance of seed dispersal for survival of plant species in fragmented landscapes, data on seed dispersal at landscape scales remain sparse. Effective seed dispersal among fragments determines recolonization and plant species persistence in such landscapes. We present the first large-scale (216-km ) direct estimates of realized seed dispersal of a high-value timber tree (Dysoxylum malabaricum) across an agro-forest landscape in the Western Ghats, India.

DNA barcoding and NMR spectroscopy-based assessment of species adulteration in the raw herbal trade of Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd, an important medicinal plant.

Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd, commonly known as "Asoka" or "Ashoka," is one of the most important medicinal plants used in raw herbal trade in India. The bark extracts of the tree are used in the treatment of leucorrhea and other uterine disorders besides also having anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-pyretic, anti-helminthic, and analgesic activity.

Desorption Electrospray Ionization (DESI) Mass Spectrometric Imaging of the Distribution of Rohitukine in the Seedling of Dysoxylum binectariferum Hook. F.

Ambient ionization mass spectrometric imaging of all parts of the seedling of Dysoxylum binectariferum Hook. f (Meliaceae) was performed to reconstruct the molecular distribution of rohitukine (Rh) and related compounds. The species accumulates Rh, a prominent chromone alkaloid, in its seeds, fruits, and stem bark.

Genetic Structure, Diversity and Long Term Viability of a Medicinal Plant, Nothapodytes nimmoniana Graham. (Icacinaceae), in Protected and Non-Protected Areas in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot.

Background And Question: The harvesting of medicinal plants from wild sources is escalating in many parts of the world, compromising the long-term survival of natural populations of medicinally important plants and sustainability of sources of raw material to meet pharmaceutical industry needs. Although protected areas are considered to play a central role in conservation of plant genetic resources, the effectiveness of protected areas for maintaining medicinal plant populations subject to intense harvesting pressure remain largely unknown. We conducted genetic and demographic studies of Nothapodytes nimmoniana Graham, one of the extensively harvested medicinal plant species in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India to assess the effectiveness of protected areas in long-term maintenance of economically important plant species.

Assessing product adulteration in natural health products for laxative yielding plants, Cassia, Senna, and Chamaecrista, in Southern India using DNA barcoding.

Medicinal plants such as Cassia, Senna, and Chamaecrista (belonging to the family Fabaceae) are well known for their laxative properties. They are extensively used within indigenous health care systems in India and several other countries. India exports over 5000 metric tonnes per year of these specific herbal products, and the demand for natural health product market is growing at approximately 10-15% annually.

Forest trees in human modified landscapes: ecological and genetic drivers of recruitment failure in Dysoxylum malabaricum (Meliaceae).

Tropical agro-forest landscapes are global priority areas for biodiversity conservation. Little is known about the ability of these landscapes to sustain large late successional forest trees upon which much forest biodiversity depends. These landscapes are subject to fragmentation and additional habitat degradation which may limit tree recruitment and thus compromise numerous ecosystem services including carbon storage and timber production.

Do ecological niche model predictions reflect the adaptive landscape of species?: a test using Myristica malabarica Lam., an endemic tree in the Western Ghats, India.

Ecological niche models (ENM) have become a popular tool to define and predict the "ecological niche" of a species. An implicit assumption of the ENMs is that the predicted ecological niche of a species actually reflects the adaptive landscape of the species. Thus in sites predicted to be highly suitable, species would have maximum fitness compared to in sites predicted to be poorly suitable.

Genetic structure and demographic history of the endangered tree species Dysoxylum malabaricum (Meliaceae) in Western Ghats, India: implications for conservation in a biodiversity hotspot.

The impact of fragmentation by human activities on genetic diversity of forest trees is an important concern in forest conservation, especially in tropical forests. Dysoxylum malabaricum (white cedar) is an economically important tree species, endemic to the Western Ghats, India, one of the world's eight most important biodiversity hotspots. As D.

Endophytic fungi from Miquelia dentata Bedd., produce the anti-cancer alkaloid, camptothecine.

Camptothecine (Campothecin, CPT), a quinoline alkaloid, is a potent inhibitor of eukaryotic topoisomerase I. Several semi-synthetic derivatives of CPT are in clinical use against ovarian, small lung and refractory ovarian cancers. While CPT is produced by several plant species belonging to the Asterid clade, in recent years, efforts have been made to isolate endophytic fungi from some of these plants as possible alternative sources of CPT.

Fusarium proliferatum, an endophytic fungus from Dysoxylum binectariferum Hook.f, produces rohitukine, a chromane alkaloid possessing anti-cancer activity.

Rohitukine is a chromane alkaloid possessing anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and immuno-modulatory properties. The compound was first reported from Amoora rohituka (Meliaceae) and later from Dysoxylum binectariferum (Meliaceae) and Schumanniophyton problematicum (Rubiaceae). Flavopiridol, a semi-synthetic derivative of rohitukine is a potent CDK inhibitor and is currently in Phase III clinical trials.