Plant–plant interactions are among the fundamental processes that shape structure and functioning of arid and semi‐arid plant communities. Despite the large amount of studies that have assessed the ...relationship between plant–plant interactions (i.e., facilitation and competition) and diversity, often researchers forget a third kind of interaction, known as allelopathy. We examined the effect of plant–plant interactions of three dominant species: the perennial grass Lygeum spartum, the allelopathic dwarf shrub Artemisia herba‐alba, and the nurse shrub Salsola vermiculata, on plant diversity and species composition in a semi‐arid ecosystem in NE Spain. Specifically, we quantified the interaction outcome (IO) based on species co‐occurrence, we analyzed diversity by calculation of the individual species–area relationship (ISAR), and compositional changes by calculation of the Chao‐Jaccard similarity index. We found that S. vermiculata had more positive IO values than L. spartum, and A. herba‐alba had values between them. Lygeum spartum and A. herba‐alba acted as diversity repellers, whereas S. vermiculata acted as a diversity accumulator. As aridity increased, A. herba‐alba transitioned from diversity repeller to neutral and S. vermiculata transitioned from neutral to diversity accumulator, while L. spartum remained as diversity repeller. Artemisia herba‐alba had more perennial grass species in its local neighborhood than expected by the null model, suggesting some tolerance of this group to its “chemical neighbor”. Consequently, species that coexist with A. herba‐alba were very similar among different A. herba‐alba individuals. Our findings highlight the role of the nurse shrub S. vermiculata as ecosystem engineer, creating and maintaining patches of diversity, as well as the complex mechanism that an allelopathic plant may have on diversity and species assemblage. Further research is needed to determine the relative importance of allelopathy and competition in the overall interference of allelopathic plants.
We included an allelopathic species and its complex effects on diversity and species assemblage (which have been largely overlooked), in a study of the net effects of plant‐plant interactions in a multispecies semi‐arid ecosystem. Allelopathic plant had mostly negative interactions and acted as a biotic filter that reduced the pool of coexisting species.
blanche « Artemisia herba alba ». L'huile essentielle des parties aériennes de l’armoise blanche a été isolée par la méthode d'hydrodistillation. Différentes doses de cette huile ont été ajoutées à ...l’huile de tournesol. La stabilité de l’huile à l’oxydation a été évaluée après un traitement thermique à 180 °C/heure et pendant 15 jours de stockage à température ambiante en analysant l’indice de peroxyde, les diènes conjugués et les triènes conjugués. Les résultats obtenus ont montré que l’huile essentielle étudiée inhibe la formation de produits d’oxydation après le traitement thermique et pendant le stockage de l’huile de tournesol. Donc, d’après les résultats de cette recherche, l’huile essentielle de l’armoise blanche peut être utilisée pour augmenter la stabilité oxydative des huiles végétales.
blanche « Artemisia herba alba ». L'huile essentielle des parties aériennes de l’armoise blanche a été isolée par la méthode d'hydrodistillation. Différentes doses de cette huile ont été ajoutées à ...l’huile de tournesol. La stabilité de l’huile à l’oxydation a été évaluée après un traitement thermique à 180 °C/heure et pendant 15 jours de stockage à température ambiante en analysant l’indice de peroxyde, les diènes conjugués et les triènes conjugués. Les résultats obtenus ont montré que l’huile essentielle étudiée inhibe la formation de produits d’oxydation après le traitement thermique et pendant le stockage de l’huile de tournesol. Donc, d’après les résultats de cette recherche, l’huile essentielle de l’armoise blanche peut être utilisée pour augmenter la stabilité oxydative des huiles végétales.
blanche « Artemisia herba alba ». L'huile essentielle des parties aériennes de l’armoise blanche a été isolée par la méthode d'hydrodistillation. Différentes doses de cette huile ont été ajoutées à ...l’huile de tournesol. La stabilité de l’huile à l’oxydation a été évaluée après un traitement thermique à 180 °C/heure et pendant 15 jours de stockage à température ambiante en analysant l’indice de peroxyde, les diènes conjugués et les triènes conjugués. Les résultats obtenus ont montré que l’huile essentielle étudiée inhibe la formation de produits d’oxydation après le traitement thermique et pendant le stockage de l’huile de tournesol. Donc, d’après les résultats de cette recherche, l’huile essentielle de l’armoise blanche peut être utilisée pour augmenter la stabilité oxydative des huiles végétales.
blanche « Artemisia herba alba ». L'huile essentielle des parties aériennes de l’armoise blanche a été isolée par la méthode d'hydrodistillation. Différentes doses de cette huile ont été ajoutées à ...l’huile de tournesol. La stabilité de l’huile à l’oxydation a été évaluée après un traitement thermique à 180 °C/heure et pendant 15 jours de stockage à température ambiante en analysant l’indice de peroxyde, les diènes conjugués et les triènes conjugués. Les résultats obtenus ont montré que l’huile essentielle étudiée inhibe la formation de produits d’oxydation après le traitement thermique et pendant le stockage de l’huile de tournesol. Donc, d’après les résultats de cette recherche, l’huile essentielle de l’armoise blanche peut être utilisée pour augmenter la stabilité oxydative des huiles végétales.
Recently, pharmaceutical scientists' interest has increased to find novel pharmaceutical natural substances with potent antioxidant capacity and very low side effects to be used safely in preventive ...medicine. One of the most common types of diseases with a large spread globally is cardiovascular diseases, which cause a high rate of deaths annually. The present study evaluated the use of Artemisia herba alba leaves’ extract (AHALE) and AHALE zinc oxide nanoparticles (AHALE–ZnONPs) against isoproterenol (ISO) inducing myocardial infarction (MI) in male rats. Several groups of Wistar male rats fed a high-fat diet (HFD) were pretreated with several doses of AHALE or AHALE–ZnONPs for one month followed by exposure to ISO for two days. After treatment, samples of the rats’ heart tissues and blood were collected for several molecular biological and biochemical analyses. Heart enzymes, antioxidant enzymes, lipid peroxidation compounds, lipid markers, activities, ROS generation, apoptosis, DNA damage and expression of lipid metabolism genes were analyzed in rats pretreated with AHALE or AHALE–ZnONPs followed by exposure to ISO. The results showed an increase in the levels of AST, ALT, LDH, CK, CK-MB, and cTnT (heart markers), elevation in TG, TC, and LDL levels (lipid profile markers), levels of TBARS and LOOH (lipid peroxidation products), ROS generation, DNA damage, apoptosis, and upregulation of PPAR-α, ADD1, FASN, and ACC genes in animals exposed to ISO in comparison with the control animals. Moreover, a decrease in antioxidant enzyme activities, including GPx, GRx, and GST, was observed in animals exposed to ISO in comparison with control rats. In male rats pretreated with AHALE or AHALE–ZnONPs followed by exposure to ISO, the oxidative stress induced by ISO was prevented. The results suggest that Artemisia extract could be considered for use as one of the natural compounds for prevention of atherosclerosis and heart diseases due to its high antioxidant and hypolipidemic activities. The reduced oxidative stress of Artemisia extract may be a result of the existence of flavonoids and phenolic substances.
This research work focused on the study of morphological diversity in 270 types of
known as “white wormwood,” from different bioclimatic stages and its relationship with the distribution and ...adaptation of the species. The phenotypic parameters studied include the aerial vegetative part of the leaves and the flowers. The existing relationships between the ecological conditions and the genetic dynamics expressed by the morphological polymorphism of the populations concerned have been established. Results obtained allowed us to admit that we have two ecotypes in Algeria: the first one has five flowers per capitulum and can be found at the level of the three bioclimatic floors studied; whereas the second one has eight flowers per capitulum occupying only the territories with a Saharan climate. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) and UPGMA dendrogram allowed us to observe a very significant intra- and inter-population morphological polymorphism at the level of each site and between the different sites. This wide variability thus observed for
could help research on a large collection of individuals and therefore to choose the most effective ecotypes in order to reintroduce this species in the steppe areas of Algeria.
Artemisia alba
Turra is an essential oil bearing plant, with Euro-Mediterranean and Southeastern European distribution. One of the distinctive characteristics of its essential oil is the ...variability of its terpenoid profile due to environmental, genetic and other factors. In the present work, tissue culture experiment has provided a model system of
in vitro
morphogenesis alteration
.
Auxin and cytokinin treatments were applied alone or in different combinations, leading to the development of directly rooting and root suppressed
in vitro
plantlets. Direct
in vitro
rooting was definitely related to obtaining biomass richest in flavonoid compounds (irrespectively of the PGR combination leading to obtaining this morphotype). The directly rooting morphotype was also distinguished by the highest flavones/flavonoles ratio as compared with the
in situ
and the rest of the
in vitro
samples. Underground parts of
in vitro
samples were shown to be significantly richer in caffeoylquinic acids as compared with aerial parts. An elevation of DCQA/CQA ratios in PGR treated plants as compared with the non-treated control could be estimated as an indication of stimulation of the esterification process with the purpose of coping with the stress of the impairment of the physiological state of normal shoot-to-root tissue formation. It was shown that
in vitro
morphogenesis moderation could be applied as a simple and reproducible protocol to alter polyphenolics production in tissue cultures of this plant species.
Key message
in vitro
culture system of
Artemisia alba
Turra allowed for its morphogenesis modification. Changes in root system development and callusogenesis were related to targeted alterations of flavones/flavonols ratios and esterification degree of caffeoylquinic acids.
Graphical Abstract
The codling moth Cydia pomonella L. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a destructive pest of apples and pears worldwide. Due to the phytotoxic effect of chemical fumigant on postharvest apple, botanical ...insecticides are an interesting alternative to synthetic chemical insecticides regarding their low environmental impact. Hence, in the present study, we investigated the chemical composition and fumigant toxicity of Artemisia herba-alba essential oil against the fifth-instar codling moth, under laboratory conditions. In total, 49 compounds were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The major constituents determined were dextro-camphor (30.60%), 2,6-dimethyl-1,3,6-heptatriene (26.71%), safranal (7.04%), borneol (3.94%) and eucalyptol (3.47%). A. herba-alba essential oil showed strong larvicidal activity, with minimum lethal concentration LC50 values of 13.49 and 04.45 μl L-1 air at 24 h and 48 h, respectively. The LT50 values at the lowest (1.81 μl L-1 air) and highest oil concentrations (18.18 μl L-1 air) were, in turn, 59.35 to 19.52 h. The obtained results indicated that essential oil of A. herba-alba may have a potential to be developed as a botanical fumigant against the fifth-instar codling moth.
•The essential oil of Artemisia herba-alba from Algeria was analyzed by GC-MS.•Hydrocarbon and oxygenated monoterpenes were the predominant class of the total A. herba-alba EO.•A. herba-alba essential oil may be a source of new botanical fumigants against the fifth-instar codling moth.
Aromatic and medicinal plants are large producers of secondary metabolites. Drylands of North Africa are characterized by high species richness of aromatic and medicinal plants which are still used ...by local populations in traditional medicine and culinary. The study aimed at characterizing the volatile organic compounds (VOC) of six wild plant species (Thymus algeriensis L., Artemisia campestris L., Juniperus phoenicea L., Teucrium polium L., Artemisia herba-alba Asso. and Rosmarinus officinalis L.) growing in arid regions of Algeria. This survey compared VOC composition between plants through the analysis of quantitative and qualitative similarity in order to detect the species that have more VOC, and also uncover the dominant VOC of each species for subsequent potential use in various fields such as the industry of food, cosmetics, therapeutics, etc. The micro-extraction of VOC was carried out using headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) method whereas Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) identified a total of 91 VOC: 39 VOC were identified in T. algeriensis (with dominance of β-myrcene = 13.78%, camphor = 12.29%, linalyl acetate = 9.11%); 37 VOC in A. campestris (β-farnesene = 14.17%, β-myrcene = 13.84%); 50 VOC in J. phoenicea (α-pinene = 27.18%); 42 VOC in T. polium (α-guaiene = 11.33%, trans-caryophyllene = 9.49%, γ-elemene = 9.25%), 45 VOC in R. officinalis (camphor = 17.46%, trans-caryophyllene = 14.83%); and 41 in A. herba-alba (α-thujone = 24.59%, β-thujone = 13.73%). The analysis of similarity revealed three different groups of species: the first group comprised T. algeriensis, R. officinalis, J. phoenicea and A. campestris, the second and third groups included one species, T. polium and A. herba-alba, respectively. VOC composition in A. herba-alba largely differed of other species. The screened species presented high VOC diversity, which indicates that ecological conditions of drylands incite plants to produce secondary metabolites that can be exploited for various purposes.
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•Volatile organic compounds (VOC) of six wild plants from N African drylands were characterized.•Using HS-SPME and GC–MS, 91 VOC were identified from stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of the 6 plants species.•Nº of VOC: T. algeriensis = 39, A. campestris = 37, J. phoenicea = 50, T. polium = 42, R. officinalis = 35, A. herba-alba = 41.•T. algeriensis, R. officinalis, J. phoenicea and A. campestris have similar VOC composition.•A. herba-alba, inversely to T. algeriensis, recorded the lowest levels of similarities with other plants.
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