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Background Cassia angustifolia Vahl. (commonly known as senna makkai or cassia senna), native to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and also extensively cultivated in Pakistan, is a medicinal herb used traditionally to cure number of diseases like liver diseases, constipation, typhoid, cholera etc. This study was conducted to evaluate the in-vitro antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer assays and phytochemical constituents of aqueous and organic extracts of C. angustifolia leaves.MethodsThe antimicrobial activities of C. angustifolia aqueous and organic (methanol, ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate) extracts were investigated by the disk diffusion method. These extracts were further evaluated for antioxidant potential by the DPPH radical scavenging assay. Anticancer activities of the extracts were determined by the MTT colorimetric assay. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents of C. angustifolia extracts were evaluated by the Folin-Ciocalteu method and aluminum chloride colorimetric assay, respectively. The structures of the bioactive compounds were elucidated by NMR and ESI-MS spectrometry.ResultsBioactivity-guided screening of C. angustifolia extracts, led to the isolation and identification of three flavonoids quercimeritrin (1), scutellarein (2), and rutin (3) reported for the first time from this plant, showed significant anticancer activity against MCF-7 (IC50, 4.0 μg/μL), HeLa (IC50, 5.45 μg/μL), Hep2 (IC50, 7.28 μg/μL) and low cytotoxicity against HCEC (IC50, 21.09 μg/μL). Significant antioxidant activity was observed with IC50 2.41 μg/mL against DPPH radical. Moreover, C. angustifolia extracts have the potential to inhibit microbial growth of E. cloacae, P. aeruginosa, S. mercescens and S. typhi.Conclusion C. angustifolia extracts revealed the presence of quercimeritrin (1), scutellarein (2), and rutin (3), all known to have useful bioactivities including antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activities.

Phylogenetic studies of Carex L. (Cyperaceae) have consistently demonstrated that most subgenera and sections are para-or polyphyletic. Yet, taxonomists continue to use subgenera and sections in Carex classification. Why? The Global Carex Group (GCG) here takes the position that the historical and continued use of subgenera and sections serves to (i) organize our understanding of lineages in Carex, (ii) create an identification mechanism to break the~2000 species of Carex into manageable groups and stimulate its study, and (iii) provide a

Post-burn trauma significantly raises tissue serotonin concentration at the initial stages of injury, which leads us to investigate its possible role in post burn wound healing. Therefore, we planned this study to examine the role of serotonin in wound healing through in vitro and in vivo models of burn injuries. Results from in vitro analysis revealed that serotonin decreased apoptosis and increased cell survival significantly in human fibroblasts and neonatal keratinocytes. Cellular proliferation also increased significantly in both cell types. Moreover, serotonin stimulation significantly accelerated the cell migration, resulting in narrowing of the scratch zone in human neonatal keratinocytes and fibroblasts cultures. Whereas, fluoxetine (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and ketanserin (serotonin receptor 2A inhibitor) reversed these effects. Scald burn mice model (20% total body surface area) showed that endogenous serotonin improved wound healing process in control group, whereas fluoxetine and ketanserin treatments (disruptors of endogenous serotonin stimulation), resulted in poor reepithelization, bigger wound size and high alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) count. All of these signs refer a prolonged differentiation state, which ultimately exhibits poor wound healing outcomes. Collectively, data showed that the endogenous serotonin pathway contributes to regulating the skin wound healing process. Hence, the results of this study signify the importance of serotonin as a potential therapeutic candidate for enhancing skin healing in burn patients.

Artemisia L. is among the most diverse and medicinally important genera of the plant family Asteraceae. Discrepancies arise in the taxonomic classification of Artemisia due to the occurrence of multiple polyploidy events in separate lineages and its complex morphology. The discrepancies could be resolved by increasing the genomic resources. A. scoparia is one of the most medicinally important species in Artemisia. In this paper, we report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of Artemisia scoparia. The genome was 151,060 bp (base pairs), comprising a large single copy (82,834 bp) and small single copy (18,282 bp), separated by a pair of long inverted repeats (IRa and IRb: 24,972 bp each). We identified 114 unique genes, including four ribosomal RNAs, 30 transfer RNAs, and 80 protein-coding genes. We analysed the chloroplast genome features, including oligonucleotide repeats, microsatellites, amino acid frequencies, RNA editing sites, and codon usage. Transversion substitutions were twice as frequent as transition substitutions. Mutational hotspot loci included ccsA-ndhD, trnH-psbA, ndhG-ndhI, rps18-rpl20, and rps15-ycf1. These loci can be used to develop cost-effective and robust molecular markers for resolving the taxonomic discrepancies. The reconstructed phylogenetic tree supported previous findings of Artemisia as a monophyletic genus, sister to the genus Chrysanthemum, whereby A. scoparia appeared as sister to A. capillaris.

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Artemisia subg. Seriphidium is one of the largest groups within Artemisia, encompassing more than one hundred spe cies, some of them having considerable ecological and economical importance. However, the evolution of subg. Seriphidium has received less attention in comparison to other subgenera of Artemisia, probably, apart from the difficulty of sampling throughout its very large distribution area, because of the low molecular and morphological variability observed in previous studies. Here, we use thorough taxonomic sampling within both Artemisia and subg. Seriphidium to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the subgenus, employing nuclear and plastid DNA sequences as well as various phylogenetic, biogeographic and diversification dynamics tools to analyse the data. Our results show that subg. Seriphidium is not monophyletic, but segregated into two main clades: one large monophyletic group corresponding to the formerly recognised sect. Seriphidium and a second, small clade, phylogenetically distant from the first. Biogeographic and diversification analyses indicate that a rapid radiation of species within sect. Seriphidium occurred in Central Asia during the Miocene-Pliocene transition. The results of our biogeographic analysis suggest that this diversification process started around the Tian-Shan, Pamir and Hindu Kush mountain ranges, subsequently expanding into the Eurasian continent. Finally, we uncovered numerous incongruences between taxonomic and genetic information in several sect. Seriphidium species, which could be explained by morphological uniformity, hybridisation and/or incomplete lineage sorting processes.

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