The current study determined the cytotoxic and apoptotic potential of the polyphenol-rich methanol extract of Chnoospora minima (C. minima) and its fractions against human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) and rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) cells. MTT and neutral red assays were used to determine cytotoxicity. The clonogenic assay evaluated the antineoplastic activity, while the apoptotic activity was determined by cellular morphological changes, caspase 3/7 activity, and DNA fragmentation. Morphological alterations in apoptosis were observed by an inverted phase-contrast microscope and Hoechst 33342 staining methods. The total phenolic, flavonoids, alkaloids, and antioxidant activity in the hexane and chloroform fractions were determined, based on their cytotoxic activity. The hexane fraction of C. minima effectively reduced the cell growth that is concentration-dependent in human RMS and MCF-7 cell lines. It also exhibited low cytotoxicity on Vero cells. The characteristic cellular and nuclear apoptotic morphological features were observed. A noticeable caspase 3/7 activation and the fragmented DNA were detected only in the hexane fraction treated RMS cells, whereas MCF-7 cells showed low caspase 3/7 activation due to a lack of caspase 3 and no evidence of having a typical ladder pattern of apoptosis. Further analysis revealed that the hexane fraction-treated RMS cells upregulated the p53 gene twofold (2.72) compared to the p21 (0.77) gene, whereas in the MCF-7 cells, a 2.21-fold upregulation of p53 was observed compared to the p21 (0.64) gene. The hexane fraction exhibited moderate total phenolics, flavonoids, alkaloids content, and antioxidant activity. According to the different antioxidant mechanisms, hexane and chloroform fractions showed the highest antioxidant activities by FRAP and ORAC assays, respectively. GC-MS analysis of hexane fraction revealed the presence of methyl tetradecanoate (38.314%) as the most abundant compound. The study’s findings highlighted that the non-polar compounds present in the hexane fraction of C. minima suppressed cell proliferation and induced apoptosis-mediated cell death in RMS and MCF-7 cells, mainly via the activation of the p53 gene. Hence, the isolation of compounds is warranted. However, more studies are required to understand the mechanistic insights of these observations.
Maduru Oya National Park (MONP) including its largest reservoir, Maduru Oya Reservoir (MOR), has been identified with a high waterbird density. However, a limited number of researches have been conducted on waterbirds in MONP. In this study, diversity, habitat use of waterbirds at MOR and their nesting characteristics were analyzed. Bird survey was carried out using the point count method and block count method. A common ethogram was constructed to identify the behavior categories. Percentage cover of habitat types was estimated by quadrat method. A total of 30 species belonging to 15 families were recorded, including two globally threatened species and three winter visitors. Year around Shannon-Weiner index for MOR was 1.491. Little Cormorant had the highest relative abundance. Percentage coverage of grass had increased gradually from March to September with the highest in September (69.27%) while open water had the highest coverage in the other months. Significantly high number of individuals used areas of grass, open water and mud for feeding and exposed rocks, dead trees/logs for resting (One-way ANOVA, p ≤ 0.05). Four waterbird species were observed building nests. Occupied nesting tree species were Senna spectabilis (Kaha Kona), Dymorphocalyx glabellus (Weliwanna) and Alstonia scholaris (RukAththana). The number of nests observed in three layers of canopy was significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). The highest average number of nests was observed in middle layer (8.90 ± 2.67). Black-headed Ibises had high preference to nest in Dymorphocalyx glabellus (p ≤ 0.05, 3.30 ± 1.32) while Great Cormorants (p ≤ 0.05, 2.38 ± 0.74) and Grey Herons (p ≤ 0.05, 4.27 ± 2.12) in Alstonia scholaris. Little Cormorants had no significant difference in their preference for nesting trees. As a preliminary study, this can be used for future research on
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