Biotechnological strategies for the conservation of medicinal and ornamental climbers

504 Pages·2016·7.36 MB·English

by  Anwar Shahzad

Anwar Shahzad · Shiwali Sharma
Saeed A. Siddiqui Editors
Biotechnological
strategies for the
conservation of
medicinal and
ornamental climbers
Biotechnological strategies for the conservation
of medicinal and ornamental climbers

Anwar Shahzad (cid:129) Shiwali Sharma
Saeed A. Siddiqui
Editors
Biotechnological strategies
for the conservation of
medicinal and ornamental
climbers
Editors
Anwar Shahzad Shiwali Sharma
Plant Biotechnology Section Plant Biotechnology Section
Department of Botany Department of Botany
Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh , UP , India Aligarh , UP , India
Saeed A. Siddiqui
Plant Biotechnology Section
Department of Botany
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh , UP , India
ISBN 978-3-319-19287-1 ISBN 978-3-319-19288-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-19288-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015959029
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
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Plants become climbers, in order, it may be
presumed, to reach the light, and to expose a
large surface of leaves to its action and to
that of the free air. This is affected by
climbers with wonderfully little expenditure
of organized matter, in comparison with
trees, which have to support a load of heavy
branches by a massive trunk.
– Darwin (1865)

Pref ace
C limbers (lianas and vines) are one of the most interesting, but much-neglected,
groups of plants. They occur in all woody ecosystems of the world. High climbers
play an important ecological role in forest ecosystem dynamics and functioning,
exhibiting a wonderful example of economy of nature. It allows a plant to attain
maximum exposure to sunlight, water, and nutrients with minimum expense in veg-
etation support. Phylogenetically, climbers are found in over 125 families of fl ower-
ing plants as well as among several fern groups and even in one signifi cant
gymnosperm genus, G entum .
Though a climber is a straggling plant, it plays vital roles in horticulture, medi-
cine, and agriculture. Some climbing species are grown for ornamental purpose
also. The most commonly used medicinal climbers, viz., A brus precatorious ,
Aristolochia indica , Cissus quadriangulairs , Coccinia inidca , G loriosa superba ,
Gymnema sylvestre , H emidesmus indicus , T inospora cordifolia , Tylophora indica ,
and Decalepis hamiltonii, play an important role to cure ailments related to skin,
cough, fever, headache, diabetes, rheumatism, asthma, dysentery, and poison bites.
Bougainvillea spp., G loriosa superba, Ceropegia spp. , Allamanda, Passifl ora spp.,
etc. are some common ornamental climbers.
This book has been written in the vicinity of the books on climbing plant species.
As there is no recent book on climbers, the aim of this book is to gather up-to-date
information on recent trends of biotechnology and research in light of the surge in
the demand for climber-based medicine. The chapters are focused on eight different
themes. The book begins with a discussion on the evolution of a climbing habit and
their diversifi cation in angiosperms, the second theme highlights the use of some
important climbers as medicine, while the rest of the themes (third to eighth)
describe biotechnological interventions for conservation and the qualitative and
quantitative improvement of climbers (both medicinal and ornamental). Authors
have tried to collect the protocols for in vitro propagation and synthetic seed pro-
duction of most of the studied climbers, including threatened and rare species.
During the past few decades, the development and use of molecular markers for the
detection and exploitation of DNA polymorphism is one of the most signifi cant
vii
viii Preface
progresses in the fi eld of plant biotechnology and their genetic studies. This book
has a separate theme on “Molecular marker approaches: quality assessment and
authentication for medicinal value.” Chapters in this theme provide a general
account on various molecular markers and their applications in quality assessments
and improvement of medicinal and ornamental climbers.
During preparation of this book, we made our sincere efforts to provide good
scientifi c information on climbers. We hope the book will be useful for researchers
in academia, industry, and agriculture planning. We also hope that our earnest
endeavor will have a great reception by graduate students and teachers.
A s editors, we would like to thank all the authors and coauthors for their timely
submissions and cooperation during the compilation of the book. We also gratefully
acknowledge permission from many authors and journals to include previously pub-
lished data. The editors deeply appreciate the time-to-time assistance provided by
the Springer book editorial team, especially by Mariska van der Stigchel, whose
enthusiastic guidance throughout the period of compilation helped us to complete
the task smoothly.
T he task of completing this book could not have been accomplished without the
patience and understanding of our family members, dear friends, postdocs, and
research scientists. Finally, we sincerely acknowledge the blessings from the
Almighty God, who provided us the boost for completing this energetic task.
Aligarh, India Anwar Shahzad
6 April 2015 Shiwali Sharma
Saeed A. Siddiqui
Contents
Part I Origin, Evolution and Diversifi cation of Climbers
1 Climbers: Evolution and Diversification in Angiosperm .................... 3
Shiwali Sharma and Anwar Shahzad
Part II Climbers as Medicine and Conservation Challenges
2 Biodiversity Conservation with Special Reference to Medicinal
Climbers: Present Scenario, Challenges, Strategies, and Policies ...... 23
Shiwali Sharma and Rekha Arya
3 Medicinal Importance of Climbers Used in Unani
System of Medicine ................................................................................. 65
M. A. Kalam and Ghufran Ahmad
4 Climber Plants: Medicinal Importance and Conservation
Strategies .................................................................................................. 101
Muzamil Ali , Tasiu Isah , Dipti , and A. Mujib
Part III Plant Tissue Culture: A Rapid and Most Reliable
Approach for Plant Diversity Conservation
5 Plant Tissue Culture: Profile of Pioneers .............................................. 141
Anwar Shahzad , Vikas Yadav , and Zishan Ahmad
6 Micropropagation: A Boon for Conservation
of Valuable Vines and Lianas ................................................................. 163
Shiwali Sharma , Anwar Shahzad , Rakhshanda Akhtar ,
and Anamica Upadhyay
7 Somatic Embryogenesis: A Valuable Strategy
for Phyto-Climbing Diversity Conservation ......................................... 195
Anwar Shahzad , Shiwali Sharma , and Saeed A. Siddiqui
ix