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The genus Jasminum L., of the family Oleaceae, includes many species occurring in the wild, or cultivated worldwide. A preliminary investigation based on inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) was performed to assess the genetic diversity among 28 accessions, representing nine species of Jasminum from various regions, representing a range of altitudes in Pakistan. A total of 21 ISSR primers were used, which produced 570 amplified bands of different sizes, with a mean polymorphic band percentage of 98.26%. The maximum resolving power, polymorphism information content, and index values of the ISSR markers recorded for primers 6, 16, and 19 were 0.40, 12.32, and 24.21, respectively. Based on the data of the ISSR markers, the resulting UPGMA dendrogram with the Jaccard coefficient divided the 28 accessions into two main clades. At the species level, the highest values for Shannon's information index, polymorphism percentage, effective allele number, Nei's genetic variations, and genetic unbiased diversity were found in Jasminum sambac L. and J. humile L., while the lowest were observed in J. mesnyi Hance and J. nitidum Skan. Based on Nei's unbiased genetic identity pairwise population matrix, the maximum identity (0.804) was observed between J. elongatum Willd and J. multiflorum (Burm. f.) Andrews, and the lowest (0.566) between J. nitidum Skan. and J. azoricum L. Molecular variance analysis displayed a genetic variation of 79% among the nine populations. The study was aimed to established genetic diversity in Jasminum species using ISSR markers. With the help of this technique, we were able to establish immense intra- and interspecific diversity across the Jasminum species.

BACKGROUND: Mulberry (Morus) from the Moraceae family is distributed widely in tropical to temperate regions of the world having economic and medicinal significance with exceptional nutritional characteristics. OBJECTIVES: Assessment of variations in sugars, acidity, minerals, total phenolics, anthocyanins and antioxidant potentials of three black mulberry (Morrus serrata, M. nigra and M. macroura black) and two white mulberry cultivars (M. alba and M. macroura white) during development stages. METHODS: Total sugars and acidity were evaluated with AOAC methods and total phenolic content was estimated with folin-ciocalteau method. Antioxidant activity was evaluated with DPPH assay, minerals were quantified with atomic absorption spectroscopy and anthocyanins were assessed and identified with high performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy. RESULTS: Over all, M. alba (white cultivar) displayed maximum sugar (1.35%) at fruit development stage 3 (FDS-3) following M. serrata (black cultivar) at FDS-5 (1.1%) and M. macroura white (white cultivar) at FDS-4 (0.9%). Acidity decreased in M. alba (0.8–0.09%), M. nigra (0.8–0.03%) and M. macroura white (0.6–0.04%) during development. Total phenolic content was maximum (590 GAE/100 g) in M. nigra at FDS-6 and M. serrata (450 GAE/100 g) at FDS-7. Two black cultivars (M. serrata and M. nigra) showed significant increase in total anthocyanins (14.57–100.06 and 14.13–201.87 CGE/100 g FW) from FDS-1 to FDS-7 while decrease in M. macroura black and M. macroura white (17.07–11.79 and 9.03–2.68) from FDS-1 to FDS-7. The DPPH inhibition of black mulberries was pointedly greater with significant levels of iron, copper, zinc, calcium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus and potassium than white cultivars during maturity. HPLC and LC-MS procedures identified various anthocyanins in all cultivars including cyanidin, malvidin, pelargonidin and delphinidin. CONCLUSIONS: Mulberries with improved nutrition, acceptable range of metals, bioactive compounds and higher antioxidant potentials could be significant against various diseases like cancer, cardiovascular problems, neurodegenerative disorders, obesity, diabetes and other metabolic syndromes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jasminum L. is the largest genus containing ~200 species found wild mostly in the tropical regions of the world. The comparative palynological study of nine Pakistani Jasminum species with SEM showed zonocolpus, trilobate, and tricolpus pollen types with simple endocolpus apertures which are plesiomorphic and conserved in the Jasminum species. The equatorial pollen view was prolate, subprolate, and perprolate with elliptic, lobate, subcircular whereas polar view was subtriangular in all species. Few characters were specific to some species like heteropolarity in Jasminum grandiflorum and foveolate exine ornamentation with rounded heterobrochate in Jasminum angulare whereas reticulate and angular homobrochate character was common in other species. The UPGMA dendrogram based on qualitative characters did not support the phylogenetic classification of the genus Jasminum as these are highly conserved. The quantitative data showed more variation in some characters whereas few characters showed little or no variation. A greater variation in pollen size was observed among the variants of same species, for example, Jasminum humile showed highly variable polar length and equatorial diameter as compared to other species. Minimum variation was observed in colpus length which divided all species in to two groups. The large lumina were specific to Jasminum nitidum and broader muri was the prominent characteristic of Jasminum angulare. Some species like Jasminum sambac and Jasminum azoricum were unable to develop true pollen due to structural or functional disabilities. So, the quantitative characters of pollen are only suitable for palynological based grouping of Jasminum species but less suitable to infer their evolutionary relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asteraceae is the largest flowering plant family with ∼19 11 genera and ∼32 913 species worldwide used in medicine and diet. Data on Asteraceae flora was assembled from Google Scholar, PubMed, Medline, SciELO, Science Direct, Web of Science, books, and dissertations using specific keywords. Overall, 198 species from 78 genera of Asteraceae with traditional uses have been reported in Pakistan with Artemisia (16.6%), Launea (4%), Sassurea (4%), Conyza (3.5%), Lactuca , and Taraxacum (3%) being widely used genera. Maximum studies were reported for Artemisia from Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) following Sonchus from Punjab, Taraxamum and Xanthium from KPK. Herb was the dominant life form (86.88%) following shrubs (9.59%) and subshrubs (3.53%). Highly used plant parts include whole plant (46.96%), leaves (46.46%), and flowers (23.23%) with 12 preparation methods including decoction (64.64%), powder (29.79%), and paste (25.25%) maximally consumed orally (55%). The ethnomedicinal uses of Asteraceae were reported against ∼126 diseases specifically against gastrointestinal problems (70 species), fever (63 species), and skin diseases (50 species). The baseline data from Pakistan provide comprehensive indigenous knowledge about Asteracea species against different diseases. The documentation of ethnobotany of rare species from unexplored areas of Pakistan is recommended to avoid the loss of traditional knowledge. Further toxicologic evaluation of Asteraceae species with emphasis on heavy metals profile could be a possible research line. [Display omitted] • Asteraceae is the largest plant family used in diet and medicine for centuries. • This review provides repository data on ethnobotany ofAsteraceae in Pakistan. • Ethnobotany of198 species from 78 Asteraceae genera was reported in Pakistan. • Artemisia , Launea , Sassurea , and Conyza were the highly used genera. • Ethnomedicinal uses of Asteraceae were reported against 126 diseases in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artemisia verlotiorum Lamotte (Asteraceae) is a species of Artemisia described from Europe but native to East Asia. It is an alien and/or invasive species that has become naturalized in many European regions, Australia, South America, New Zealand, North and South Africa and Western Asia.In continuation of our work on Northeastern Pakistani Artemisia, we report the first local occurrence of Artemisia verlotorum Lamotte from Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan by investigating its geographical distribution and phylogenetic analysis. To date, we have observed this species in stony landscapes of Ghizer district of Gilgit-Baltistan. Phylogenetic analysis of A. verlotiorum with maximum likelihood approach using its ETS (External transcribed spacer)and ITS (Internal transcribed spacer) of nrDNA sequences showed its resemblance with other Artemisia species reported from the world. This species needs to be included in the rare plant species list in the flora of Pakistan following the criteria of IUCN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background - Gilgit-Baltistan, the Northeast region of Pakistan, is well known for its floristic diversity, including members of the genus Artemisia. Artemisia is a large, taxonomically complex genus including ~500 species of both herbs and shrubs. This study was conducted to determine the phylogenetic position of ten undescribed Artemisia taxa from northern Pakistan, using nrDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), external transcribed spacer (ETS) and cpDNA intergenic spacer (psbA-trnH) regions. Methods - The phylogenetic relationships of 28 taxa of Artemisia using separate and combined data sets of sequences of three markers (ITS, ETS and psbA-trnH) were analysed with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches. Key results - The results resolve northeastern Pakistani Artemisia, which represent five morphologically defined subgenera, into ten major clades. Subgenera Artemisia and Absinthium are shown to be polyphyletic, while Dracunculus, Pacifica and Tridentatae appear monophyletic. All species of subgenus Seriphidium are retrieved in a single clade that also includes annual species from subgenus Artemisia. In the Flora of Pakistan, Seriphidium is described as a separate genus but in this study, Seriphidium fell within the genus Artemisia. In addition, on the basis of phylogenetic analysis, we present evidence that ten as-yet undescribed taxa are present in northeastern Pakistan based on newly recognized three groups (Groups I, II and III) of taxa within the genus Artemisia. One undescribed taxon from group I was placed within the subgenus Dracunculus clade and the remaining nine taxa from groups II and III were placed in the subgenus Absinthium clade. Morphological studies coupled with modern molecular techniques may lead to a new infrageneric classification of the genus Artemisia. It will also clarify and characterize the undescribed taxa reported in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was accomplished to scrutinize the pollen morphology of 15 species of the genus Artemisia of the family Asteraceae from Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results revealed pollen grains of Artemisia species with tricolporate shape, and characterized by globular symmetry (ellipsoid ball shaped from equatorial side and three lobed rounds from polar view) with few exceptions. Additionally, the pollens are marked with reduced spinules on their surfaces which are diagnostic character for the genus Artemisia. In this study, seven micromorphological characters of pollen grains of 15 Artemisia species viz. shape of pollen, arrangement of spinules, exine sculpture, spinules base, equatorial width and polar length, were employed to construct a dendrogram following the consequential cluster analyses. In the dentrogram, four groups within the studied Artemisia species have been recognized. The pollen morphology of Artemisia could be a good taxonomic marker to cope with its taxonomic delimitations in combination with other floral and molecular attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Jasminum L., of the family Oleaceae, includes many species occurring in the wild, or cultivated worldwide. A preliminary investigation based on inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) was performed to assess the genetic diversity among 28 accessions, representing nine species of Jasminum from various regions, representing a range of altitudes in Pakistan. A total of 21 ISSR primers were used, which produced 570 amplified bands of different sizes, with a mean polymorphic band percentage of 98.26%. The maximum resolving power, polymorphism information content, and index values of the ISSR markers recorded for primers 6, 16, and 19 were 0.40, 12.32, and 24.21, respectively. Based on the data of the ISSR markers, the resulting UPGMA dendrogram with the Jaccard coefficient divided the 28 accessions into two main clades. At the species level, the highest values for Shannon's information index, polymorphism percentage, effective allele number, Nei's genetic variations, and genetic unbiased diversity were found in Jasminum sambac L. and J. humile L., while the lowest were observed in J. mesnyi Hance and J. nitidum Skan. Based on Nei's unbiased genetic identity pairwise population matrix, the maximum identity (0.804) was observed between J. elongatum Willd and J. multiflorum (Burm. f.) Andrews, and the lowest (0.566) between J. nitidum Skan. and J. azoricum L. Molecular variance analysis displayed a genetic variation of 79% among the nine populations. The study was aimed to established genetic diversity in Jasminum species using ISSR markers. With the help of this technique, we were able to establish immense intra- and interspecific diversity across the Jasminum species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Taxonomy and evolution of Jasminum species were highlighted by analyzing foliar epidermal attributes with LM and SM. • Irregular cells, anomocytic, cyclocytic, and anisocytic stomata, peltate glands, and unicellular or uniseriate trichomes were found in Jasminum. • Domatia, glabrous to hairy, or spiny leaf margin, midrib, cells anticlinal view, cuticular folds and striations are diagnostic characters in Jasminum. • Cluster analysis divided Jasminum into two major groups; C1 with four white flower-bearing and, C2 = five white and yellow flower-bearing species. • Foliar epidermal attributes are crucial to infer relationships indicating the direction of character evolution from yellow to white flowering Jasminum. Jasminum L. is an important genus of the Oleaceae family with nearly 200 species cultivated or distributed wild in almost all parts of the world. A comparative taxonomy and evolutionary relationship on the basis of foliar epidermal quantitative and qualitative micro-morphological characters of nine species of the genus Jasminum were assessed using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Foliar epidermal anatomical attributes like number and size of cells, stomata, stomata complex, granular and non-granular trichomes along with the abaxial to adaxial cell ratio and stomata index were assessed as distinguished characters of the Jasminum foliar epidermis. Results displayed irregular types of cells, anomocytic, cyclocytic, anisocytic and giant stomata, peltate glands and unicellular or uniseriate trichomes in Jasminum species. The presence of domatia at the vein axil, glabrous, hairy, or spiny leaf margin, midrib, anticlinal view of the cells, cuticular folds and striations appeared as valuable micro-morphological attributes in Jasminum. The cluster analysis based on micro-morphology divided Jasminum species into two major clusters. The first cluster (C1) displayed four white flowering Jasminum species from section Unifoliolata with shared characters like simple opposite leaves with spinose and cuticular striations. The second cluster (C2) showed five white and yellow flower-bearing Jasminum species having compound leaves with cuticular folds or striations and spinose at their leaf margins. Conclusively, micro-morphological attributes are crucial to characterize and infer evolutionary relationships and the direction of character evolution from yellow to white flowering Jasminum. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]