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Conservation of plant species plays a vital role in preventing the loss of valuable plant resources. The success of conservation depends on the correct identification and characterization of plant species. Bamboo is one of the most important plants with multiple uses that have contributed to the economy and socio-economy of many people in rural areas. It is under the subfamily of Bambusoideae that includes both woody and herbaceous bamboo. Conventionally, like other plants, bamboo has been classified dependently based on morphological characteristics. However, morphological identification leads to difficulties and misclassification of bamboo species due to their infrequent flowering behaviour and peculiar reproductive biology. Since then, molecular markers have been introduced to overcome the problems associated with bamboo taxonomy and phylogeny. This paper provides an overview of the diverse, predominantly molecular techniques used to assess and determine the genetic diversity of bamboo species.

The antifungal activity of two Bornean medicinal wild gingers Plagiostachys megacarpa and Zingiber phillippsiae were examined against Lagenidium thermophilum. The most active extract was P. megacarpa at concentration of 320 µg/mL inhibiting both hyphal growth and zoospore production of L. thermophilum in 24 h. Toxicity tests were conducted using mud crab (Scylla tranquebarica) larva. Bath treatment of P. megacarpa at concentrations of 320 and 640 µg/mL for 24 h were highly effective against hyphae and zoospores of the strain and it is non-toxic to mud crab larva. Therefore, crude extracts P. megacarpa may be used as alternative treatment for marine Oomycete infection of mud crab.

The ethnobotanical studies of the Dusun people in Tikolod village, Tambunan district, Sabah, Malaysia were conducted from July 25th to 30th, 2011 and from March 9th to 10th, 2012. The result shows that there were 160 species in 62 families of plants used. Among them, there were 83 species (in 36 families) of edible plants, 75 species (in 44 families) were medicines, 12 species (in nine families) were used for constructions and handicraft and eight species (in six families) were used for musical instruments and animal traps. There were 24 species of plants that have two or more uses. Of the total, 87 species or 54% were native or collected from the natural forest nearby and 73 species or 45% of these plants were exotic (introduced plants). The most commonly used of plant families were Poaceae (Gramineae) with 14 species, followed by Moraceae and Zingiberaceae, with eight species each and Arecaceae (Palmae), Cucurbitaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rutaceae and Solanaceae, with seven species each.

The essential oil composition of six species of wild Cinnamomum found in Borneo was investigated. The oils were obtained from bark by hydrodistillation and the volatile chemical profile was obtained via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS). A total of 65 volatile constituents were identified, where the essential oils of the studied specimens contained high contents of oxygenated monoterpenes. Eucalyptol (1.2~31.1 %), terpinen-4-ol (7.9~22.1 %), eugenol (0.4~37.9 %) and α-cadinol (0.4~1.8 %) were detected consistently in the specimens studied. The oils of C. cuspidatum and C. crassinervium exhibited significant inhibition against Listeria monocytogenes, specifically the latter, which displayed a lower minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) value against Staphylococcus aereus and L. monocytogenes. This result had highlighted the possible usage of the essential oil derived from wild cinnamom species against food borne pathogens.