Endophytic fungi live inside plants or any part of them without creating any visible pathogenic signs. Endophytic fungi are found within medicinal plants and have shown strong biologic activity, such as anticancer and antioxidant activities, as well as producing extracellular enzymes. In this study, different fungal strains were isolated from the leaves of the medicinal plant Ziziphus spina, including Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Cladosporium sp., Rhizopus sp., and Mucor sp. Extracellular enzymes have been quantified using agar plate-based methods in which fungi were grown in specified growth media to detect the enzymes produced. The results showed that A. niger has the highest ability to produce amylase, Cladosporium sp. has the highest ability to produce protease and pectinase, Rhizopus and Mucor sp. have the highest ability to produce cellulase, and A. niger and Cladosporium sp. have the same ability to produce lipase and laccase. The ability of medicinal plant endophytic fungi to produce extracellular enzymes has great therapeutic potential in clinical microbiology. Some of the isolates showed great activity in secreting particular enzymes, indicating that the enzymes of these fungi could be used in a variety of applications.
The current study was conducted to test the efficiency of the vegetative part (plant leaves) of plant species of shrubs and trees involved in forming semi-artificial vegetation in the city of Baghdad, Karkh, in the uptake and accumulating the lead element that pollutes the air in the city atmosphere. Five plant sampling sites were selected: Al-Kadhimiyah, Al-Mansour, Al-Ma'aml (Al-Salam district), Al-Adl, and Al-Ameriya district intersections (Al-Seklat), and symbols were given (A, B, C, D, E) respectively. The spread and distribution of plants vary in terms of human activities and pollution levels, affecting the five sites that recorded more than 20 species. For a real comparison between plant efficiency and the effect of the nature of
... Show MoreSixty albino female mice were used in this experiment to study the possible effect of the crude alcoholic extract of the celery leaves on their fertility. These animals were randomly and equally divided into three experimental groups (20 females/group). The first and second groups were orally given a daily dose of 500 and 1000 mg/kg body weight, respectively, of the crude alcoholic extract, while the third group (control) was similarly treated, at the same time, with 0.1 ml/gm body weight of physiological saline for comparison. The treatment, however, lasted for 25 consecutive days. On day 26, after treatment was stopped, the life body weight of all animals was recorded before sacrificing the animals. Thereafter blood
... Show MoreSpinach, Spinacia oleracea L is a popular vegetable belonging to the family Chenopodiaceae. This study was concerned with extraction of compounds in Iraqi spinach leaves, preliminary phytochemical evaluation, identification of two biological important flavonols, quercetin and kaempferol in spinach leaves and evaluation of the protective effect of aqueous spinach extract on methotrexate (MTX) induced hepatotoxicity in rats. The percentage yield of extraction procedure, identification of spinach by chemical tests and identification of flavonols by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were fully described in this study. The results indicate that the percentage of quarce
... Show MoreDermatophytes are species with slight genetic variation, and are yet several uncertainties about the differences among species. This study aims to isolate and diagnose the Trichophyton interdigitale by molecular technique and to reveal the phylogenetic distance and similarity of the Iraqi isolates to other isolates from the globe, in addition, to submit the obtained sequences to the NCBI database. This study included 86 with multiple lesions on different parts of the body. The results showed different variations within the ITS gene between the isolates. It was concluded that Trichophyton interdigitale in Iraqi isolates had two types of substitution variations (Transition and Transversion) different than global isolates. Moreover, it
... Show MoreBackground: Periodontal disease is a chronic bacterial infection that affects the gingiva and bone supporting the teeth. Smoking, which is an important risk factor for periodontitis, induce oxidative stress in the body and cause an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD). This study aimed to evaluate the influence of smoking on periodontal health status by estimating the levels of salivary SOD level in non-smokers (controls) and light and heavy smokers and to test the correlation between the SOD enzyme level and the clinical periodontal parameters in each group. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 75 male, with age ranged from 35 to 50 years. Clinically, the perio
... Show More120 samples were collected from children (ages between new born and 10 years) who infected with oral thrush. The results revealed that the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Fungicidal Concentration (MFC) of extracted oil of lemon grass against C.albicans, C.tropicalis, C.keyfr, C.glabrata and C.guilliermondii were 1.25,1.25,1.25,2.5 and 2.5µl/ml and 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 5 and 5 µl /ml respectively. while the (MIC) and (MFC) for the extraction oil of thyme against C.albicans, C.tropicalis, C.keyfr, C.glabrata and C.guilliermondii were 0.6, 0.6, 1.25, 1.25, and 1.25µl/ml and 1.25, 1.25, 2.5, 2.5, and 2.5µl/ml respectively . While the value of (MIC) and (MFC) for Nystatin against Candida species were 32 and 64 µg
... Show MoreThe experimental was carried out to study the effect of Mentha viridis and Apium graveolensleaves by 5, 10 gm/kg soil that added then to soil alone and 5, 10 gm/kg soil together on growth of Beta vulgaris plants. The results showed that increased significantly germination accelerator, plant height leaves number fresh and dry maters, chlorophyll content, absolute growth rate, inflorescence number, fertilizer efficiency while the N, P, K and Fe increased in all the treatment plants compared with control plants.
Abstract: Coriandrum sativum leaves are used in folk medicine to treat several diseases such as digestive system disorder, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. This study was designed to investigate the effect of aqueous extract of Coriandrum sativum on the structure and function of kidney, 30 males of white Swiss mice Mus musculus were divided randomly to three groups with 10 mice in each group. Animals of first group (control group) had been given orally 0.1 ml of tap water, animals in the second group had been treated orally with 0.1 of single dose (125 mg/Kg b. w./day) of C. sativum leaves extract and animals in the third group has been treated orally with 0.1 ml (250mg/Kg. b. w./day) of the same extract for 30 days. At the end of experiment,
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