ubaid yaqoob | University of Kashmir, Srinagar, J&K, India (original) (raw)

Papers by ubaid yaqoob

The information regarding chromosome counts and meiotic behavior is important to understand the p... more The information regarding chromosome counts
and meiotic behavior is important to understand the plant
evolution and diversification. Keeping in view the importance
of such studies the present investigation has been
carried out. During the present study four populations of
Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke have been investigated in terms
of chromosome count, meiotic behaviour, pollen fertility
and seed set. The present study revealed that the species is
diploid with chromosome number of 2n = 2x = 26, which
differed from the earlier records reported in the species,
depicting that two cytotypes are present in species. During
the present investigation translocation heterozygosity and
chromosome bridges were observed. Chromosomal stickiness,
cytomixis, univalent and multivalent formation, lagging
chromosomes, polysporad formation and formation of
micronuclei were also observed which results in abnormal
microsporogenesis, reduced pollen fertility and seed set in
the species.

Rice is a staple food whose productivity is affected by multiple environmental stresses. The use ... more Rice is a staple food whose productivity is
affected by multiple environmental stresses. The use of
biotechnological tools is the best possibility to develop rice
varieties with increased productivity, exceptional grain
quality and resistance to various stress. Several parameters
in the genetic transformation (co-cultivation period, acetosyringone
concentration, temperature of the co-cultivation
medium, antibiotic concentration etc.) of rice
varieties—Shalimar Rice 1, Jhelum and K 332 were optimized
for the first time using b-glucuronidase (GUS) gene
as a reporter. The GUS expression in presence of 100 lM
acetosyringone at pH 5.2 was more at 22 C as compared
to 28 C in all the rice varieties. The selection medium
containing 250 mg l-1 of cefotaxime and carbenicillin
prevented Agrobacterium overgrowth and the use of
50 mg l-1 hygromycin resulted in killing of the untransformed
calli. The regeneration medium containing MS B5
medium supplemented with 4% sucrose, 3 g l-1 phytagel,
2.5 mg l-1 BAP, 1 mg l-1 zeatin, 0.2 mg l-1 NAA and
0.5 mg l-1 TDZ allowed efficient regeneration of the rice
calli. The overall regeneration frequency of Shalimar Rice
1, Jhelum and K 332 were 64, 75 and 77% respectively.Putative transformed plants were analyzed for the presence
of the transgenes through GUS histochemical analyses and
southern blotting. The present protocol provides an efficient
and rapid embryogenic callus induction, transformation
and regeneration system, which could be conveniently
used for producing genetically modified plants and might
help in the transformation of other related rice genotypes.

This review is an attempt to evaluate the phytochemical potential of the Paeonia emodi and covers... more This review is an attempt to evaluate the phytochemical potential of the Paeonia emodi and covers the pharmacological and ethnopharmacological activities of its chemical constituents, newly isolated chemical compounds and their medicinal importance. P. emodi is used in several traditional medicinal systems in China, Korea, Pakistan, India and Thailand. Different isolated natural products like anthraquinones, terpenoids, tannins, carbohydrates, phenolics and tannins, glycosides, paeoniflorin, lactiflorin, oxypaeoniflorin, cycloartenol, cholesterol, sitosterol, campesterol, emodinol, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, benzoic acid, anthraquinones, terpenoids, tannins, decanoic, lauric, myristic, myristoleic, palmitic and linoleic acids etc. have been found in P. emodi. It is commonly used as an antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory agent. It has been used for the treatment of diarrhoea, whooping cough, haemorrhoids, backbone ache, dropsy, headache, dizziness, vomiting, cholera, tuberculosis, eye diseases, atopic eczema, anti-coagulant, analgesic, internal diseases, pains, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and for sedative purposes. The collected information is an attempt to cover recent developments in the ethnopharmacology, pharmacology and phytochemistry of this species so as to lend a hand base for further research works of the plant.

A bstract Wheat is an important source of protein and energy. Modern wheat is deprived of essenti... more A bstract Wheat is an important source of protein and energy. Modern wheat is deprived of essential micronutrients which lead to mal nutrition in the world. About 2 billion of world population is affected by mal nutrition. The main micro nutrients which are not present in modern hexaploid are iron and zinc. Both of two micronutrients are essential in human physiology, the deficiency of iron and zinc leads to different diseases like anemia, Anorexia, lethargy and diarrhea respectively. Mal nutrition mainly affects children, pregnant women and old ages peoples. So researchers are now mainly focused on biofortification of wheat for improving nutrition value of wheat. Different approaches were used for this purpose like foliar application of fertilizers, but this method is short term method for increasing iron and zinc in wheat. Breeding is another method but it requires a lot of funds, time and resources. Wild emmer wheat was rich in these micronutrients because the genes responsible for enhancing iron and zinc is GPC 1 (NAM B1) was functional but in Triticum Avestium it became non functional due to domestication or frame shift etc. so scientists used positional cloning to transfer these genes into modern wheat. In this review we identified that this transgenic method is most reliable and cost less method for improving nutrition content of wheat by conducting feed trail to mice with transgenic wheat containing NAM B1 gene. There is immensely enhancement of these micronutrient or iron and zinc.

Ajuga is a medicinally important genus of the Himalayan region. This study was carried out on the... more Ajuga is a medicinally important genus of the Himalayan region. This study was carried out on the phenotypic variability and reproductive allocation in two species of genus Ajuga, A. bracteosa and A. parviflora growing in variable habitats of Kashmir valley. Our findings clearly displayed significant divergence among sites which reveals a definite impact of altitude on morphological and reproductive features of the species under study. In A. bracteosa the plants growing at low altitudes are comparatively taller and produce more number of leaves, greater leaf dimensions and inflorescence number. But in case of A. parviflora a more or less reverse trend was seen. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the habitat of Kangan and Dachigam proved relatively better for the growth of A. bracteosa and Brinal 2 and Gogaldara for A. parviflora. Maximum resources were allocated to the growth and development of the leaves followed by stem, root tubers and inflorescence in both the species. The reproductive effort was higher (40.48 ± 1.59) for the high altitude Betab valley population in case of A. bracteosa and was lowest for the high altitude Brinal 2 population (45.88 ± 1.37) in case of A. parviflora. The regression analysis revealed a positive correlation between branch length and root length, branch length and apical leaf length in both the species and a negative correlation between branch length and number of branches per plant in both the species. Our results are very useful to introduce the species into cultivation and developing strategies for conservation.

The present study was aimed to assess the variation in the phytochemical constituents with altitu... more The present study was aimed to assess the variation in the phytochemical constituents with altitude and the antibacterial
potency of two medicinally important species, Ajuga bracteosa and Ajuga parviflora, growing in Kashmir valley. The
methanolic extracts of both the species from different populations with varying altitudes were subjected to quantitative
estimation of various phytochemicals by using various spectrophotometric techniques. It was observed that mean values of the
analyzed phytochemical constituents varied significantly (p≤0.05) across the populations. Phytochemicals such as phenols,
flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids and alkaloids were present in all the sampled populations but their quantity varied
significantly across the populations. With the decrease in altitude the content of various phytochemicals gets reduced. The high
altitude plants exposed to the extreme environmental conditions possess a good content of secondary metabolites altering their
stress tolerance and thus enhancing their medicinal activity. The present study further revealed that the methanolic and ethyl
acetate extracts of the two medicinal plant species under study; A. bracteosa and A. parviflora plant extracts possess potent
antibacterial activity against two gram positive bacterial strains (B. subtilis, S. aureus) and two gram negative bacterial strains
(E. coli, P. vulgaris). Therefore, these plants may prove as source of certain potent antibacterial molecules.

The study of phenological aspects of Paeonia emodi involves the observation, recording and interp... more The study of phenological aspects of Paeonia emodi involves the observation, recording and interpretation of the timing of their life history events. An understanding of the phenology of plants is crucial to the understanding of community function and diversity. The phenological behaviour of P. emodi, being unclear, was investigated for the first time with a conservation perspective. Plant sprouts in the last week of March, senescence of aerial shoot starts in 3 rd week of August and lasts upto 1 st week of October in natural populations; overall the species exhibits a life span of 135–197 days. The present study revealed that at lower altitudes the plants enter into vegetative and reproductive phases comparatively earlier than the plants growing at higher altitudes. This information is valuable for understanding ecological features, phenological behaviour and developing strategies for effective conservation of the wild populations.

Paeonia emodi, an endangered species, was examined for pollen mother cell (PMC) meiosis from both... more Paeonia emodi, an endangered species, was examined for pollen mother cell (PMC) meiosis from both wild and transplanted populations. Buds of suitable size were collected from all the three study sites and fixed in ethanol:acetic acid (1:3) for 24 h and stored in 70% alcohol under refrigeration. For slide preparation, the anthers were squashed in 2% acetocarmine. The results revealed the mean meiotic chromosome configurations of the species as 2n = 10. The chromosomal abnormalities observed include chromatin stickiness, univalent formation, heterozygosity, unequal distribution of chromosomes at poles, laggards and chromatin bridges. Pollen fertility test showed that pollen fertility turned out to be 70–75%. The seed set across different sites came out to be 30–45% resulting in reduced seed set in the species. These results clearly indicate that meiotic abnormalities in turn result in the decreased seed set in the species. However, further evidence is necessary to understand extensively whether polyploidy exists widely in this species and frequent abnormalities in wild as well as transplanted populations.

The present study was carried out to determine the impact of habitat variability and altitude on ... more The present study was carried out to determine the impact of habitat variability and altitude on the morphoreproductive features of Paeonia emodi—an important medicinal plant of Kashmir Himalaya. The species exhibited great variability in its morphological traits under different environmental conditions. The plants were more vigorous and taller at a low altitude site, Kashmir University Botanical Garden (KUBG) while the plants of the high altitude site, Jawahar Tunnel were shorter. Maximum resources were allocated towards the development of rhizomes followed by leaves, shoot and inflorescence. The current study gives a comprehensive account on the variation of growth characteristics in different ecological environment and reproductive success and changes in allocation patterns in this species.

The Acetohydroxyacid synthase (EC 2.2.1.6) or Acetolactate synthase (ALS) belongs to a family of ... more The Acetohydroxyacid synthase (EC 2.2.1.6) or Acetolactate synthase (ALS) belongs to a family of thiamine diphosphate (TPP) dependent enzymes which catalyzes the first reaction in the biosynthesis of essential amino acids -isoleucine, leucine and valine. Acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS) is present in plants, algae, fungi and bacteria and is found to be a vital target of multiple herbicides. We revealed the homology model of OsAHAS protein using the structure of Arabidopsis thaliana AHAS (PDB ID: 3E9Y) as template. The resulting model structure was refined by PROCHECK, ProSA, RMSD and Verify3D that indicated the model structure is reliable with 76% amino acid sequence identity with template. RMSD (1.75Å), Verify3D (86.02%), Z-score (-9.55) and Ramachandran plot analysis showed that conformations for 81.6% of amino acid residues are within the most favoured regions. The phylogenetic tree constructed revealed different clusters based on AHAS in respect of bacteria, fungi, algae and plants. The multiple sequence alignment of these AHAS protein sequences from different organisms showed conserved regions at different stretches with homology in amino acid residues. Through motif analysis, it was revealed that conserved AHAS domain are found in all AHAS proteins suggesting its possible role in cellular and metabolic functions.

The 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) is one of the vital enzymes of the shikim... more The 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) is one of the vital enzymes of the shikimate pathway which is involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and several amino acids. The multiple sequence alignment of these EPSPS protein sequences from different plants showed conserved regions at different stretches with maximum homology in amino acid residues. We revealed the homology model of Oryza sativa EPSPS (OsEPSPS) protein using the structure of E. coli EPSPS as template. The resulting model structure was refined by PROCHECK, RAMPAGE server, ProSA, Verify3D etc. that indicated the model structure is reliable. Ramachandran plot analysis showed that conformations for 94.3% of amino acid residues are within the most favoured regions. Through motif analysis, it was revealed that a conserved EPSPS domain is uniformly found in all EPSPS proteins irrespective of variable plant species suggesting its possible role in cellular and metabolic functions. The phylogenetic tree constructed revealed different clusters based on EPSPS in respect of bacteria, monocot and dicot plants. The interacting partners of the gene shows the importance of this gene family in regulating developmental and metabolic functions. The two conserved motifs LP(G/S)KSLSNRILLLAAL and LFLGNAGTAMRPL present in almost all EPSPS plant species may function as the catalytic domains of EPSPS enzymes and are supposed to contribute in the glyphosate binding site.

Medicinal plants contain bioactive compounds which are used for the treatment various ailments. P... more Medicinal plants contain bioactive compounds which are used for the treatment various ailments. Phytochemicals have been categorized in two categories, primary and secondary metabolites. Primary include chlorophyll, proteins, sugar and amino acids. Secondary constituents include terpenoids and alkaloids. The present study involves the phytochemical screening of endemic perennial medicinal herb-Aquilegia nivalis which is reported from Kashmir Himalaya. The aerial parts and rhizomes of the selected medicinal plant were washed, air dried and then powdered for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Different extracts of aerial parts and rhizomes were used to find out the phytochemical constituents in the A. nivalis. The main objective of this work was to check the presence or absence of the phytochemical constituents and quantitative analysis of alkaloids, phenols and saponin in methanolic extracts of aerial parts and rhizomes of A. nivalis. The results of the phytochemical analysis of A. nivalis showed that the terpenoids, phlobatannins, flavonoids and alkaloids were present. The phytochemical analysis of medicinal plants is very important commercially and has great interest in pharmaceutical companies for the production of the new drugs for curing various diseases. It is expected that the important phytochemical constituents detected in A. nivalis found in Kashmir Himalaya may prove as important source of novel phytochemicals.

This review is an attempt to assess the phytochemical potential of the genus Euphorbia and covers... more This review is an attempt to assess the phytochemical potential of the genus Euphorbia and covers the pharmacological and ethnopharmacological activities of some isolated chemical constituents with a special emphasis on E. wallichii. The present work is an extensive review of literature in relation to the phytochemistry of the genus and reveals the literature up to date review on the newly isolated chemical compounds, their medicinal importance and preclinical studies on some crude extracts to explore novel bioactive compounds for therapeutic application. Plants of the genus Euphorbia are known to possess considerable medicinal and economic importance being used to treat inflammatory disorders, bronchitis and rheumatism, asthma, gonorrhoea, migraine, skin irritation, warts and are also used as anti-cancer. Euphorbia species also possess cytotoxicity, antipyretic-analgesic activity; inhibit HIV-1 viral infection, and have antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Terpenes including diterpenes and triterpenes, steroids, cerebrosides, glycerols, phenolics and flavonoids have been frequently found in Euphorbia species. The extracts of the plant species, the newly isolated compounds and their medicinal importance may be helpful in pharmacological investigation and in depth chemical elucidation. The collected information reviewed here provides a resource for future ethnopharmacological, pharmacological and phytochemical studies of the medicinally important genus.

The genus Ferula L. (Apiaceae) from Latin ferula, "rod" comprises of 180–185 species of flowering... more The genus Ferula L. (Apiaceae) from Latin ferula, "rod" comprises of 180–185 species of flowering plants distributed in central and southwest Asia, far east, north India and the Mediterranean basin. The species of genus Ferula mostly grows in mountainous regions and some are distributed in arid climates. Various species of Ferula have been reported from USSR, Pakistan, India and western Himalayas. Some species of the genus are commonly used as spices. Some of species of genus Ferula are used in the preparation of local drugs. These plants are also known to be a rich source of gum-resin used in folklore medicine. The genus Ferula is mostly characterized by the presence of sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpene coumarins. The genus Ferula has long been regarded as a monophyletic genus because its members are similar in habit and morphology but recent molecular studies stated that there is a controversy on both upper and lower level classification of the genus Ferula. The molecular studies concluded that Ferula group including Dorema, Leutea and Ferula is in the tribe Scandiceae, based on ITS sequence analysis. It was found that Dorema and Leutea arise from within a paraphyletic Ferula and suggested nomenclatural changes. This review mainly focuses on the distribution and taxonomy of the medicinally economic important genus Ferula.

The phenological behaviour of Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke, being unclear, was investigated for the f... more The phenological behaviour of Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke, being unclear, was investigated for the first time with a conservation perspective. The present study revealed that at lower altitudes the plants enter into vegetative and reproductive phases comparatively earlier than the plants growing at higher altitudes. The plants overwinter in the form of underground root tubers which remain dormant throughout the chilling winter months. The plants sprout at the return of the favorable season in the 2 nd week of March in natural populations and the process of sprouting lasts over a period of nearly 14-25 days. After 2-3 weeks of active vegetative period, the reproductive phase initiates with the production of floral buds. A decreasing trend was observed in the phenological variables along the altitude. The flowering phenology indices showed an increasing trend along the altitude. The value of flowering phenology index of Mahoro (R i) was highest (13.07 ± 1.0) in Gulmarg population and was found to be least (6.39 ± 0.53) in the transplanted population. The overall flowering synchrony (Z) peaked at 0.65 ± 0.04 in the transplanted population and was found to be highest 0.84 ± 0.12 in Gulmarg population. The value of flowering synchrony index of Marquis (S) peaked at 9.46 ± 0.44 in Gulmarg population and was minimum in transplanted population (4.40 ± 0.60). Our regression analysis showed a significant correlation and predicts that number of umbels per branch has a positive effect on the umbellules per umbel and flowers per umbellule in this plant species.

The genus Ferula possess strong aromatic smell due to the presence of essential oil or oleoresin ... more The genus Ferula possess strong aromatic smell due to the presence of essential oil or oleoresin and is well-known in folk medicine for the treatment of various disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the presence of phytochemicals in various solvent extracts of leaves, fruits and shoots of Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke. This study investigates the effects of ethanol, methanol, chloroform, petroleum ether and aqueous extracts of leaves, fruits and shoots. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of various phytochemical constituents in the extracts of leaves, fruits and shoots. Phytochemical analysis of extracts of leaves confirmed the presence of flavonoids, gave the negative results for cardiac glycosides, amino acids, phlobotannins and oxalates. Phytochemical analysis of extracts of fruits revealed the presence of all phytochemicals except anthraquinone glycosides, phlobotannins and xanthoproteins. Phytochemical analysis of extracts of shoots confirmed the presence of all phytochemicals except phlobotannins and oxalates. The presence of a several phytochemicals in Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke may serve as a possible source for the development of plant based novel drugs.

Due to growing population, there is an increasing demand of rice production. The rice productivit... more Due to growing population, there is an increasing demand of rice production. The rice productivity is affected by various environmental stresses. Further the nutritional improvement of rice can help in decreasing the evil of malnutrition. The use of biotechnological tools is the most workable option to develop such rice varieties. However, the lack of a simple and efficient protocol for embryogenic callus induction and quick plant regeneration in this cereal crop is a major constraint and there is substantial genotype-dependence. Several studies on different rice varieties have been carried out by various workers so as to optimize the conditions to achieve good results. Likely a significant progress has been made in the past few decades. The objective of this article is to review the currently used technique in a full detail. This work gives an in depth idea about the critical requirements in the tissue culture of rice varieties which positively contribute to the biotechnological breeding programs of rice.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of phytochemicals in the root tuber ... more The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of phytochemicals in the root
tuber extracts of Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke. Phytochemical screening of the root tuber extracts was done to
determine the phytochemical constituents in the various solvents studied using standard procedures. Our
results confirm the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides, saponins, phenolic
compounds, proteins, amino acids, anthraquinone glycosides, phytosterols, tannins, steroids, coumarins,
quinones, carbohydrates, resins, triterpenoids and xanthoproteins. The phlobotannins and oxalates were
absent in the root tubers. The presence of a large number of phytochemicals in Ferula jaeschkeana makes it
to serve as a potential source for the development of plant based novel drugs.

For successful cultivation and conservation of valuable medicinal plants, a detailed knowledge of... more For successful cultivation and conservation of valuable medicinal plants, a
detailed knowledge of their reproductive biology is essential. The floral organization, breeding
system and pollination ecology of Ferula jaeschkeana Vatke, being unclear, were investigated
for the first time with a conservation perspective. Our investigation revealed the andromonoecious
nature of Ferula jaeschkeana. The pollen-ovule ratio of the species suggests that the
species is an outbreeder. The pollen grains were prolate in shape with few striations. A bagging
experiment designed to check the nature of the breeding system and mode of pollination
revealed the occurrence of a mixed-mating system with both xenogamous and geitonogamous
modes of pollination with no indication of agamospermy. The self-incompatibility rate values
suggested that the species is self-compatible. Our observations also indicate the occurrence of
ambophily in the species, with both insects (entomophily) and wind (anemophily) acting as the
agents of pollination. The formation of aborted ovules resulted in poor fruit set in upper
branches. Some of these fruits were hollow or with aborted seeds. In lower branches, completely
nonfunctional female structures were present and thus no fruit set was observed. The
endangered status and restricted distribution of this species may be partly due to the
monocarpy, abortion of ovules, formation of lower nonfunctional central umbels, low seed
viability and harsh environmental conditions negatively impacting reproduction in natural
populations. Our results present a detailed account on reproductive biology of this valuable
medicinal plant species, which may in turn help in its conservation and management.

Medicinal plants are essential natural resources which constitutes one of the potential sources o... more Medicinal plants are essential natural resources which constitutes one of the potential sources of new products and bioactive compounds for drug development. The two plants from Kashmir Himalaya have been selected for study on ethno-botanical importance. Achillea millefolium L. is recommended for the treatment of many different ailments because of its astringent effects. The herb is purported to be a diaphoretic, astringent, tonic. Euphorbia helioscopia L. has been widely used for centuries to treat different disease conditions such as ascites, edema, tuberculosis, dysentery, scabies, lung cancer, cervical carcinoma and esophageal cancer. The main aim of this review is to provide the overview of morphological traits viz a viz their medicinal utility to explore the new dimensions. The complete sketch of these aforementioned species has been carried out based on self-observations and secondary sources to enumerate the scientists and researchers about the basic facts and also provide vital basis for future research proposals.