Phytochemical and Molecular Characterization of Tylophora indica Burm F Merrill

Abstract

In India, primary health care mainly depends on traditional system of medicine. As per WHO estimation, 80% of people worldwide rely on herbal medicine. Centuries ago Ayurveda was only accepted by India but now it is globally accepted, so the demand of medicinal plants has increased. Tylophora indica (Burm.F.) Merr. is commonly known as arkaparni, Indian-Ipecacuanha and ananthamul. It plays an important role in ethnomedicine, and has long been used by Asian people to treat a wide range of illnesses, including cough, bronchitis, diarrhoea, dysentery, cancer, arthritis, and microbiological infections. Leaves of T. indica are utilized in the Indian Ayurvedic medical system to treat bronchitis and asthma. T. indica contains very extensive phytochemical constituents, such as saponins, alkaloids, terpenoids and tannins. In the present study, GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of bioactive compounds which could be involved in various biological activities. The genes and enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites were analyzed through metagenomic and transcriptomic approaches. DNA from plant rhizospheric soil was isolated and subjected to metagenomics analysis, which revealed the presence of phylum Proteobacteria. It is the major phylum, found in soil microbial community and involved in nitrogen, carbon and sulphur cycle. The identified microbes might be involved in plant growth, disease resistance, nutrient availability, biotic and abiotic stress response. Transcriptomics analysis of leaves and root was also conducted for identification of genes which might be involved in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. The differential expression analysis indicated that genes are highly expressed in roots as compared to leaves. Our study also revealed the putative enzymes derived from the present study might be involved in tylophorine biosynthesis and needs to be further explored. The obtained data may facilitate the understanding of biosynthesis pathway related to secondary metabolites. newline