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The New Phytologist Aug 2014Pollen grains are microscopic so their identification and quantification has, for decades, depended upon human observers using light microscopes: a labour-intensive... (Review)
Review
Pollen grains are microscopic so their identification and quantification has, for decades, depended upon human observers using light microscopes: a labour-intensive approach. Modern improvements in computing and imaging hardware and software now bring automation of pollen analyses within reach. In this paper, we provide the first review in over 15 yr of progress towards automation of the part of palynology concerned with counting and classifying pollen, bringing together literature published from a wide spectrum of sources. We consider which attempts offer the most potential for an automated palynology system for universal application across all fields of research concerned with pollen classification and counting. We discuss what is required to make the datasets of these automated systems as acceptable as those produced by human palynologists, and present suggestions for how automation will generate novel approaches to counting and classifying pollen that have hitherto been unthinkable.
Topics: Automation; Botany; Pollen; Reference Standards
PubMed: 25180326
DOI: 10.1111/nph.12848 -
International Journal of Molecular... Feb 2024Food shortages are one of the most serious problems caused by global warming and population growth in this century [...].
Food shortages are one of the most serious problems caused by global warming and population growth in this century [...].
Topics: Japan; Botany; Agriculture; Crops, Agricultural
PubMed: 38397042
DOI: 10.3390/ijms25042365 -
Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy =... Jan 2023Fructus Meliae Toosendan (FMT) is the dried and mature fruit of MeLia toosendan Sieb.et Zucc. It contains a variety of chemical constituents and reported to possess a... (Review)
Review
Fructus Meliae Toosendan (FMT) is the dried and mature fruit of MeLia toosendan Sieb.et Zucc. It contains a variety of chemical constituents and reported to possess a variety of pharmacological activities. This review aims to provide a thorough and organized summary of botany, traditional uses, chemical ingredients, pharmacological actions, toxicity, quality control, and uses. In this review, we have compiled the data regarding FMT from 1994 to 2022 in the databases: Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, CNKI, and Baidu Scholar. The keywords: "Fructus Meliae Toosendan", "botany", "traditional uses","chemical components", "pharmacological activity", "toxicity", "quality control" and "clinical application" have been used to collected the literature published in the online bibliographic databases. Based on the correlation of these documents and FMT, 126 articles were finally selected as references. This paper provides a reasonable summary of the 190 chemical components of FMT and its pharmacological effects and toxicity. Moreover, this paper also compiled the quality control studies and clinical applications. In the future, more experimental studies on FMT are needed to achieve the purpose of toxicity reducing and efficacy enhancing. This comprehensive review of FMT can provide a reference for subsequent relevant studies.
Topics: Fruit; Quality Control; Botany; Phytochemicals; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Plant Extracts; Phytotherapy
PubMed: 36395606
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.113795 -
Phytochemical Analysis : PCA Mar 2018Herbal medicines play an important role globally in the health care sector and in industrialised countries they are often considered as an alternative to mono-substance... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Herbal medicines play an important role globally in the health care sector and in industrialised countries they are often considered as an alternative to mono-substance medicines. Current quality and authentication assessment methods rely mainly on morphology and analytical phytochemistry-based methods detailed in pharmacopoeias. Herbal products however are often highly processed with numerous ingredients, and even if these analytical methods are accurate for quality control of specific lead or marker compounds, they are of limited suitability for the authentication of biological ingredients.
OBJECTIVE
To review the benefits and limitations of DNA barcoding and metabarcoding in complementing current herbal product authentication.
METHOD
Recent literature relating to DNA based authentication of medicinal plants, herbal medicines and products are summarised to provide a basic understanding of how DNA barcoding and metabarcoding can be applied to this field.
RESULTS
Different methods of quality control and authentication have varying resolution and usefulness along the value chain of these products. DNA barcoding can be used for authenticating products based on single herbal ingredients and DNA metabarcoding for assessment of species diversity in processed products, and both methods should be used in combination with appropriate hyphenated chemical methods for quality control.
CONCLUSIONS
DNA barcoding and metabarcoding have potential in the context of quality control of both well and poorly regulated supply systems. Standardisation of protocols for DNA barcoding and DNA sequence-based identification are necessary before DNA-based biological methods can be implemented as routine analytical approaches and approved by the competent authorities for use in regulated procedures. © 2017 The Authors. Phytochemical Analysis Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Topics: DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; European Union; Herbal Medicine; Quality Control; Reference Standards
PubMed: 28906059
DOI: 10.1002/pca.2732 -
Monaldi Archives For Chest Disease =... Sep 2019Biological systems ubiquitously and inevitably exhibit stochasticity in traits from the molecular level to the multicellular and morphological level. However, there are...
Biological systems ubiquitously and inevitably exhibit stochasticity in traits from the molecular level to the multicellular and morphological level. However, there are several examples of natural events that might be described in mathematical terms. Plants grow in a structured and geometric way to maximize their sun exposure for photosynthesis while reducing the stress. The 'Fibonacci sequence' and its 'golden ratio' are considered a mathematical regularity and model that is one of the corner-stone of the 'phyllotaxis', the part of the botany that studies how plants branch. Nevertheless, we currently do not know if such mathematical model can be applied to humans. Different authors have hypothesized that 'fractal' might be identified along with the 'golden-ratio' in the human body (coronary artery, heart valves etc.). The aortic valve and the aortic root might represent an interesting model of human fractal geometry, where the phyllotactic rules can be reasonably applied, and where deviation from normality might results in dysfunction. However, in the absence of scientific validations, such report represents only the authors' perceptions of a beautiful shape.
Topics: Aortic Valve; Botany; Fractals; History, 16th Century; History, Ancient; Humans; Plant Leaves
PubMed: 31505914
DOI: 10.4081/monaldi.2019.1139 -
Journal of Experimental Botany Jan 2017
Topics: Botany; Editorial Policies; Periodicals as Topic
PubMed: 28201652
DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erw504 -
Journal of Experimental Botany Aug 2019Nitric oxide (NO) is now established as an important signalling molecule in plants where it influences growth, development, and responses to stress. Despite extensive... (Review)
Review
Nitric oxide (NO) is now established as an important signalling molecule in plants where it influences growth, development, and responses to stress. Despite extensive research, the most appropriate methods to measure and localize these signalling radicals are debated and still need investigation. Many confounding factors such as the presence of other reactive intermediates, scavenging enzymes, and compartmentation influence how accurately each can be measured. Further, these signalling radicals have short half-lives ranging from seconds to minutes based on the cellular redox condition. Hence, it is necessary to use sensitive and specific methods in order to understand the contribution of each signalling molecule to various biological processes. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on NO measurement in plant samples, via various methods. We also discuss advantages, limitations, and wider applications of each method.
Topics: Botany; Nitric Oxide; Plants; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 31106826
DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erz242 -
Plant Physiology Mar 2019
Topics: Botany; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plants; Synthetic Biology
PubMed: 30808713
DOI: 10.1104/pp.19.00074 -
The New Phytologist Jul 2019
Topics: Botany; Ecosystem; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century
PubMed: 31231871
DOI: 10.1111/nph.15830 -
The New Phytologist Jan 2019
Topics: Biological Evolution; Botany; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century
PubMed: 30569610
DOI: 10.1111/nph.15577