Commiphora gileadensis and C. foliacea (family Burseraceae) are pantropical in nature and known for producing fragrant resin (myrrh). Both the tree species are economically and medicinally important however, least genomic understanding is available for this genus. Herein, we report the complete chloroplast genome sequences of C. gileadensis and C. foliacea and comparative analysis with related species (C. wightii and Boswellia sacra). A modified chloroplast DNA extraction method was adopted, followed with next generation sequencing, detailed bioinformatics and PCR analyses. The results revealed that the cp genome sizes of C. gileadensis and C. foliacea, are 160,268 and 160,249 bp, respectively, with classic quadripartite structures that comprises of inverted repeat’s pair. Overall, the organization of these cp genomes, GC contents, gene order, and codon usage were comparable to other cp genomes in angiosperm. Approximately, 198 and 175 perfect simple sequence repeats were detected in C. gileadensis and C. foliacea genomes, respectively. Similarly, 30 and 25 palindromic, 15 and 25 forward, and 20 and 25 tandem repeats were determined in both the cp genomes, respectively. Comparison of these complete cp genomes with C. wightii and B. sacra revealed significant sequence resemblance and comparatively highest deviation in intergenic spacers. The phylo-genomic comparison showed that C. gileadensis and C. foliacea form a single clade with previously reported C. wightii and B. sacra from family Burseraceae. Current study reports for the first time the cp genomics of species from Commiphora, which could be helpful in understanding genetic diversity and phylogeny of this myrrh producing species.

Bioassay guided isolation of the methanolic extract of marine macro brown alga Dictyopteris hoytii afforded one new metabolite (ethyl methyl 2-bromobenzene 1,4-dioate, 1), one new natural metabolite (diethyl-2-bromobenzene 1,4-dioate, 2) along with six known metabolites (3–8) reported for the first time from this source. The structure elucidation of all these compounds was achieved by extensive spectroscopic techniques including 1D (1H and 13C) and 2D (NOESY, COSY, HMBC and HSQC) NMR and mass spectrometry and comparison of the spectral data of known compounds with those reported in literature. The in vitro α-glucosidase inhibition studies confirmed compound 7 to be the most active against α-glucosidase enzyme with IC50 value of 30.5 ± 0.41 μM. Compounds 2 and 3 demonstrated good inhibition with IC50 values of 234.2 ± 4.18 and 289.4 ± 4.91 μM, respectively, while compounds 1, 5, and 6 showed moderate to low inhibition. Furthermore, the molecular docking studies of the active compounds were performed to examine their mode of inhibition in the binding site of the α-glucosidase enzyme.

Banana is an important crop grown in Oman and there is a dearth of information on its genetic diversity to assist in crop breeding and improvement programs. This study employed amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) to investigate the genetic variation in local banana cultivars from the southern region of Oman. Using 12 primer combinations, a total of 1094 bands were scored, of which 1012 were polymorphic. Eighty-two unique markers were identified, which revealed the distinct separation of the seven cultivars. The results obtained show that AFLP can be used to differentiate the banana cultivars. Further classification by phylogenetic, hierarchical clustering and principal component analyses showed significant differences between the clusters found with molecular markers and those clusters created by previous studies using morphological analysis. Based on the analytical results, a consensus dendrogram of the banana cultivars is presented.

Samples from plants of Cassia italica exhibiting typical witches'-broom symptoms (Cassia witches'-broom; CWB) were examined for the presence of plant pathogenic phytoplasmas by PCR amplification using universal phytoplasma primers. All affected plants yielded positive results. RFLP analyses of rRNA gene products indicated that the phytoplasmas detected were different from those described previously. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences confirmed that CWB represents a distinct lineage and shares a common ancestor with 'Candidatus Phytoplasma phoenicium'. Molecular comparison revealed that the 16S rRNA gene sequences of the four CWB strains (IM-1, IM-2, IM-3 and IM-4) identified in symptomatic C. italica samples were nearly identical (99.6-100 % similarity). The closest relatives were members of the pigeon pea witches'-broom phytoplasma ribosomal group (16SrIX; 95-97 % sequence similarity). On the basis of unique 16S rRNA gene sequences and biological properties, the phytoplasma associated with witches

Sesame is the major oil seed crop in Oman. During 2004, disease symptoms were observed at Nizwa, 175 km south of Muscat. Symptoms included phyllody and excessive development of short shoots and internodes resulting in little leaves. Total genomic DNA was extracted from healthy and symptomatic plants with a modified cetyltrimethylammoniumbromide (CTAB) buffer method (2). DNA samples were assayed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), with the 16S rDNA amplified using primers P1 and P7. Direct PCR products were used as template DNA for nested PCR with primers R16F2n and R16R2. Direct PCR products were analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) with four restriction enzymes, Tru9I, HaeIII, HhaI, and RsaI. DNAs from alfalfa and lime plants infected by witches'-broom phytoplasmas were used as positive controls and DNA from healthy plants and water were negative controls. The results showed the presence of a 1.8-kb product amplified with the direct PCR and a 1.2-kb product of the nested PCR from infected sesame and the positive controls. No PCR product was observed in the negative control. The PCR assay confirmed the presence of phytoplasma causing witches'-broom disease in sesame. The RFLP results showed the sesame phytoplasma to be most similar to the alfalfa phytoplasma, a member of 16SrII group (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of a phytoplasma of the 16Sr II group causing witches'-broom disease on sesame in the Sultanate of Oman. References: (1) A. J. Khan et al. Phytopathology 92:1038, 2002. (2) M. A. Saghai-Maroof et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 81:8014, 1984.