Genotoxic and Molecular Evaluation of Genetic Effects of Rhazya Stricta (Decne) Leaf Extract on Aspergillus terreus
Abstract
Rhazya stricta plant (Decne), a member of the Apocynaceae family, is widely distributed in Saudi Arabia. Extract of its leaves is prescribed in folkloric medicine for the treatment of various disorders such as diabetes, sore throat, helminthiasis, inflammatory conditions and rheumatism (Ageel et al., 1987; Ali et al., 1995; Ali et al., 1998). The plant extract contains mainly alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoides, tannins and triterpenes (Ahmad et al., 1983; Al- Yahya et al., 1990). Several studies on rats and mice reported that the leaf extract caused sedation, analgesia, decrease motor activity and have anti-depressant, anti-oxidant activities, complex effects on brain endogenous monoamine oxidase activity and centrally-mediated hypotension (Ali et al., 1998; Tanira et al., 2000; Ali et al., 2000). Another study has described the anticancer effects of the indole alkaloids of Rhazya stricta (Mukhopadhyay et al., 1981). Moreover, the genotoxicity of Rhazya stricta leaf aqueous extract was demonstrated for the first time by Baeshin et al. (2005), against Saccharomyces cerevicae auxotrophic mutant. However, more investigations are required to establish its genotoxic effects.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the genotoxic effects of the aqueous leaf extract of Rhazya stricta following the Aspergillus terreus auxotrophic mutant test and detect polymorphism across mutants and their wild type counterpart strain of Aspergillus terreus on the molecular (RAPD and SDS-PAGE) levels.
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