Denni Mammen, Deepak Malviya, Parth Pandya and Mammen Daniel

Background: The present research work has been undertaken to identify key identification characters of Vincetoxicum indicum, a medicinal twiner with potency to expel mucus from the lungs. Leaf constants were calculated during micromorphological studies. 
Methods: Transverse sections of leaf, stem and root were studied in detail to identify key characters that could help in proper identification of the plant. DNA was isolated from the plant in good purity and amplified using PCR, using RUBISCO gene as a phylogenetic marker. The gene was subjected to sequencing for identification of plant species, for which the sequences for both forward and reverse primers were obtained based on the electropherograms obtained. 
Results: Uniseriate multicellular trichomes on both surfaces as well as sphaeraphides in ground tissue were important features in the leaf. Stem showed lignified metaxylem tracheids with ray cells. Sphaeraphides and sclereids were observed in the cortex, while starch grain laden parenchyma cells were observed in the pith region. Trichomes like those in leaf were also observed in the stem. The stele in root was tetrarch in nature, with large xylem vessels interspersed with tracheid elements. Cortex showed sphaeraphides and parenchyma with starch grains. The forward and reverse DNA sequences when uploaded to the NCBI BLAST database, showed similarity index above 99% which proved that the species is indeed Vincetoxicum indicum. 
Conclusion: This work puts forth important microscopic features for proper identification of the plant, as well as species confirmation using DNA barcoding.
 

DOI: 10.22271/phyto.2024.v13.i2d.14909

Pages: 662-669  |  157 Views  81 Downloads