Morphological studies and meiotic chromosome analysis of Epimedium elatum (Morr & Decne) - Rare endemic medicinal plant of Northwestern Himalayas in India.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19071/cb.2017.v8.3152Abstract
Epimedium elatum (Berberidaceace) is a rare endemic medicinal herb of Northwestern Himalayas in India. Recent ethnopharmacological reports have demonstrated its traditional medicinal use against various bone related diseases in the Kashmir Himalayas. It owes its pharmaceutical importance due to high concentration of flavonoid glycosides like Epimedin A, B, C and Icariin which are known mainly for aphrodisiac, antiosteoporosis, anticancer, antioxidant, antiaging, antifatigue and antiviral activities. It is a neglected medicinal plant in Northwestern Himalayan region and may fall in the list of endangered species due to continuous anthropogenic pressures in its native habitats. In this study, we investigated distributional and altitudinal range of this prized species from twenty diverse eco-geographical zones of Kashmir Himalayas for the first time. We also report here its diversity in morphological attributes both in wild and captive cultivation. The species has a very small population size in most of the surveyed habitats with no natural protection. Under cultivation it showed increased plant height (63.09±4.9cm), more number of leaves (95.53±11cm) and flowers (160.76±20cm), indicating importance of high altitude medicinal garden for its immediate ex situ conservation. Further, the acetocarmine staining and squashing of young anthers confirmed it as a diploid species (2n=12) like other Epimedium species. Chromosome number and meiotic abnormalities are also reported for the first time in the species. Finally, constant anthropogenic pressures in Northwestern Himalayas demand immediate in situ and ex situ conservation programmes for E.elatum.
Downloads
References
References
Alam J, Ali SI. Contribution to the red list of the plants of Pakistan. Pak J Bot 2010;42:2967-2967.
Ali SI. Significance of flora with special reference to Pakistan. Pak J Bot 2008:40;67-971.
Arief ZM, Munshi AH, Shawl AS. Evaluation of medicinal value of Epimedium elatum on the basis of pharmacologically active constituents, Icariin and Icariside-II. Pak J Pharm Sci 2015;28:1665-1669.
Arief ZM, Shawl AS, Munshi AH. Altitudinal variation in pharmacologically active compounds of wild and cultivated populations of Epimedium elatum. Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 2016;3:48-51.
Badola HK, Aitken S. The Himalayas of India: A treasury of medicinal plants under siege. Biodiversity 2003;4:3-13.
Baptista-Giacomelli FR, Pagliarini MS, Almeida JLD. Meiotic behavior in several Brazilian oat cultivars (Avena sativa L.). Cytologia 2000;65:371-378.
Bhattacharjee SK. Cytogenetics of Lens Esculenta Moench: (With Plate XIV and 11 figures). Caryologia 1953;5:159-166.
Chen J, Xu Y, Wei G, Liao S, Zhang Y, Huang W, Wang Y. Chemotypic and genetic diversity in Epimedium sagittatum from different geographical regions of China. Phytochemistry 2015;116:180-187.
Clausen J, Keck DD, Hiesey WM. Experimental studies on the nature of species. III. Environ responses of climatic races of Achillea. Experimental studies on the nature of species. III. Environ responses of climatic races of Achillea., 1948: Publ. 581.
Consolaro MEL, Pagliarini MS. Spontaneous Chromosome Stickiness in Microsporocytes of Centella asiatica (L.) Urban (Umbelliferae). Cytologia 1996;61:57-61.
Cunningham WP, Cunningham MA, Saigo BW. Environmental science: A global concern Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill 2001 (Vol. 412).
Guo W, Li B, Zhang X, Wang R. Architectural plasticity and growth responses of Hippophae rhamnoides and Caragana intermedia seedlings to simulated water stress. J Arid Environ 2007;69:385-399.
Jeelani SM, Kumari S, Gupta RC, Siddique MAA. Detailed cytomorphological investigations through male meiosis of polypetalous plants from the Kashmir Himalaya. Plant Syst Evol 2014;300:1175-1198.
Jiang Y, Ding C, Yue H,Yang R. Meiotic behavior and pollen fertility of five species in the genus Epimedium. Afr J Biotechnol 2011;10:16189-16192.
Kumar G, Tripathi R. Anomalous nucleolar and chromosomal organization in induced phenodeviants of grasspea. Cytologia 2007;72:345-350.
Kuroki Y. Chromosome study in four species of Berberdaceae. Memoir Ehime Uni Sec II 1970;6:215-221.
Kuroki Y. Chromosome study in seven species of Berberdaceae. Memoir Ehime Uni Sec II 1967;5:175-181.
Lone SA, Kushwaha M, Wani A, Kumar A, Gupta AP, Hassan QP, Chandra S, Gupta S. Genetic diversity, LCMS based chemical fingerprinting and antioxidant activity of Epimedium elatum Morr & Decne. Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. 2016 Dec 15.
Ma H, He X, Yang Y, Li M, Hao D, Jia Z.. The genus Epimedium: an ethnopharmacological and phytochemical review. J Ethnopharmacol 2011;134:519-541.
Mills MH, Schwartz MW. Rare plants at the extremes of distribution: broadly and narrowly distributed rare species. Biodivers Conserv 2005;14:1401-1420.
Naseer S, Lone, SH Lone, JA, Khuroo MA, Bhat KA. LC–MS guided isolation, quantification and antioxidant evaluation of bioactive principles from Epimedium elatum. J Chromatogr B 2015;989:62-70.
Nasir E, Ali SI. Fl. Pakistan. Berberidacecace 87, 1-31. University of Karachi, Karachi 1980-2005.
Nirmala A, Rao PN. Genesis of chromosome numerical mosaicism in higher plants. Nucleus-Calcutta-International Journal of Cytology 1996:39;151-175.
Palacioâ€López K, Beckage B, Scheiner S, Molofsky J. The ubiquity of phenotypic plasticity in plants: a synthesis. Ecol. Evol. 2015;5:3389-3400.
Pan J, Guo B. Effects of Light Intensity on the Growth, Photosynthetic Characteristics, and Flavonoid Content of Epimedium pseudowushanense BL Guo. Molecules, 2016:21;1475.
Perveen A, Qaiser M. Pollen flora of Pakistan–LXV. berberidaceae. Pak J Bot 2010;42:1-6.
Petit C, Thompson JD. Phenotypic selection and population differentiation in relation to habitat heterogeneity in Arrhenatherum elatius (Poaceae). J Ecol 1998;86:829-840.
Quan QM, Fang ZL, Wu W, Li YX. Comparative analysis of morphological characteristics and effective composition content of wild and cultivated Epimedium pubescens and Epimedium wushanense (Berberidaceae). J Med Plants Res 2011;5:6523-6527.
Rabinowitz D. Seven forms of rarity. In H. Synge (Ed.), The biological aspects of rare plant conservation New York: Wiley 1981 (pp. 205–217).
Rao PN, Ranganadham P, Nirmala A. Behaviour of a ‘sticky-desynaptic’mutant in pearl millet. Genetica. 1990;81:221-227.
Ricketts TH, Dinerstein E, Boucher T, Brooks TM, Butchart SH, Hoffmann M, Lamoreux JF, Morrison J, Parr M, Pilgrim JD, Rodrigues AS. Pinpointing and preventing imminent extinctions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2005;102:18497-501.
Samant SS, Dhar U, Rawal RS. Conservation of rare endangered plants: The context of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. Conservation and Management of Biological Resources in Himalaya. Oxford & IBH, New Delhi. 1996:521-546.
Sharma BM, Jamwal PS. Flora of Upper Liddar valleys of Kashmir Himalaya: vol. 2. Jodhpur: Scientific Publishers 247p.-. ISBN 8172331797 En Icones, Anatomy and morphology, Keys. Geog. 1998;6.
Sheng M, Chen Q, Wang L, Tian X. Hybridization among Epimedium (Berberidaceae) species native to China. Sci Hort 2011;128:342-351.
Sheng MY, Chen QF, Yang QX. Variation in icariin and flavonoid contents of barrenwort accessions native to Guizhou, China. Biochem Syst Ecol 2008;36:719-723.
Sheng MY, Wang LJ, Tian XJ. Karyomorphology of eighteen species of genus Epimedium (Berberidaceae) and its phylogenetic implications. Genet Resour Crop Evol 2010;57:1165-1176.
Singh, G., & Kachroo, P. Forest flora of Srinagar and plants of neighbourhood. Delhi: Periodical Expert Book Agency x 1987 p. 278;-illus., map. En Plant records Geog, 6.
Sinha SS, Godward MB. Radiation studies in Lens culinaris meiosis: Abnormalities induced due to gamma radiation and its consequences. Cytologia. 1972;37:685-695.
Sofi SN, Shakeel-u-Rehman, Qazi PH, Lone SH, Bhat HM, Bhat KA. Isolation, identification, and simultaneous quantification of five major flavonoids in Epimedium elatum by high performance liquid chromatography. J Liq Chromatogr Relat Technol 2014;37:1104-1113.
Tali BA, Ganie AH, Nawchoo IA, Wani AA, Reshi ZA. Assessment of threat status of selected endemic medicinal plants using IUCN regional guidelines: A case study from Kashmir Himalaya. J Nat Conserv 2015;23:80-99.
Tantry MA, Dar JA, Idris A, Akbar S, Shawl AS. Acylated flavonol glycosides from Epimedium elatum, a plant endemic to the Western Himalayas. Fitoterapia. 2012;83:665-670.
Tarar JL, Dnyansagar VR. Comparison of ethyl methanesulfonate and radiation induced meiotic abnormalities in Turnera ulmifolia Linn. var. angustifolia Willd. Cytologia. 1980;45:221-231.
The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
Xu YQ, Cai WZ, Hu SF, Huang XH, Ge F, Wang Y. Morphological variation of non-glandular hairs in cultivated Epimedium sagittatum (Berberidaceae) populations and implications for taxonomy. Biodiv Sci 2013;21:185-196.
XU YQ, XU Y, SHI HJ, HU SF, GE F. Taxonomic research on Epimedium sagittatum species complex and discussion. Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs. 2014;22:029.
Xuemei Z, Zengli F, Qiumei Q. Impact of Simulated Warming on Growth and Floral Characteristics of Two Varieties of Medicinal Epimedium. Braz Arch Biol Technol. 2016;59(SPE).
Ying JS, Chen DZ. Republican Popularize Sinicae, vol. 29. Science Press, Beijing 2001; pp. 272 (in Chinese).
Zhang Y, Du L, Liu A, Chen J, Wu L, Hu W, Zhang W, Kim K, Lee SC, Yang TJ, Wang Y. The complete chloroplast genome sequences of five Epimedium species: lights into phylogenetic and taxonomic analyses. Front Plant Sci 2016;7.
.