Decalepis arayalpathra: Ethnobotany, Scientific Interventions and Prospects

Authors: Srivastava S*

DOI: DOI: 10.23880/oajbi-16000112

Volume 2, Issue 1

Abstract

Decalepis arayalpathra (J. Joseph & V. Chandrasekharan) Venter, (Syn. Janakia arayalpathra J. Joseph & V. Chandrasekharan), belonging to the family Apocynaceae, is a chasmophytic plant which grows in the crevices of rocks. Due to overuse of this species the number of plants has been decreased in the native habitats and is enlisted as a critically endangered plant. The in vitro established plantlets of Decalepis arayalpathra i.e., KMA 05 was obtained from CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow. One of the samples of the KMA 05 clone was dried and submitted to Herbarium of Department of Botany, University of Delhi. The KMA 05 clones were multiplied, and acclimatization experimentations were performed. Phytochemical investigations of the root extract of in-vitro grown metabolites were done and elicitation experiment was performed using one of the phyllospheric bacterium, Methylobacterium sp. VP103. Biopriming experiments using Methylobacterium sp. VP103. On in vitro established plantlets was also performed. The successful establishment in green house conditions indicated that the silent growing harmless bacterium provided some internal strength to the plant in terms of balancing the endogenous auxin to cytokinin ratio which is important for the plants to grow in outer environments. The Methylobacterium sp. VP103 can be explored in future on molecular levels for its plant hormone production. The whole genome sequencing of these bacteria can be done to check for the presence of genes for cytokinin and auxin production.

Keywords: Apocynaceae; Chasmophytic; Alpha Amyrin; Elicitation; Methylobacterium; Biopriming

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