JNTBGRI Bambusetum: State of the art

Bambusetum at Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) maintains diverse bamboo species and their different hereditary lines along with records of their pheno-events such as growth, flowering, fruiting, death and details on progenies. This paper concerns to bambusetum history and an inventory of its collections (68 spp. and 1 variety under 15 genera and 12 hybrids).

                    Koshy, K C.  2017. Bambusetum at Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute: State of the art. In P Singh and S S Dash (Eds) Indian Botanic Gardens:Role in Conservation, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkatta. pp 361-378.

Read article at: 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320557807_Bambusetum_at_Jawaharlal_Nehru_Tropical_Botanic_Garden_and_Research_Institute_State_of_the_art

27 secondary metabolites from Melocanna baccifera!

Secondary metabolites from the unique bamboo, Melocanna baccifera

Phytochemistry of fruits and leaves of the unique bamboo Melocanna
baccifera resulted in the isolation of 27 secondary metabolites,
including 4-Oxabicyclo[3.2.2]nona-1(7),5,8-triene and Verbacine.
Biological activity studies of Verbacine revealed it as an inhibitor of
acetylcholinesterase and as cytotoxic against C6 cancer cells.

Balaji Govindan, Anil John Johnson, Gayathri Viswanathan,Venkataraman Ramaswamy, Konnath Chacko Koshy & Sabulal Baby. 2018.  Secondary metabolites from the unique bamboo, Melocanna baccifera, Natural Product Research, DOI:10.1080/14786419.2018.1434647

Read the article at :DOI:10.1080/14786419.2018.1434647

Full text:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322695720_Secondary_metabolites_from_the_unique_bamboo_Melocanna_baccifera

Largest bamboo fruit Melocanna baccifera-Nutritional properties and ecological significance

Melocanna baccifera is a unique bamboo which produces the largest fruits in the grass family. Its gregarious flowering once in 45–50 years in north east India and adjacent regions is a botanical enigma,resulting in a glut of fruits. Proper utilization of M. baccifera fruits is not extant, and huge quantities of fruits are left underexploited due to lack of scientific information on their chemical composition and nutritional potential. Here we report the nutritional properties of M. baccifera fruits, and the ecological significance of its fruiting. This pear-shaped, fleshy bamboo fruit is rich in amino acids (lysine, glutamic acid), sugars (sucrose, glucose, fructose) and phenolics (ferulic acid). Protein content (free, bound) in M. baccifera fruits is very low. Fruits are rich in saturated fatty acids (palmitic acid), minerals (potassium), and only B series vitamins (B3) are detected in them. Rat feeding experiments showed that M. baccifera fruit alone is not a complete food, but with other protein supplements, it is a valuable food additive.This study could lead to better utilization of M. baccifera fruits during future flowering/fruiting events.These results could also help in the successful management of rodent outbreaks and other ecological problems associated with M. baccifera fruiting.

Read the article at:http://www.nature.com/articles/srep26135

Highest chromosome number in bamboos

We  studied the cytology of the genus Pseudoxytenanthera Soderstr. & R. p. Ellis occurring in the Western Ghats. In this genus one unnamed species (P. sp.) recorded 2n=192 which is the highest chromosome number in woody bamboos and is reported here for the first time.

Read the publications at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303287424_HIGHEST_CHROMOSOME_NUMBER_IN_BAMBOOS
http://socg.in/jrnls/2015/part9.pdf

Documentation in botanic gardens/conservatories- a new method

Documentation in botanic gardens/conservatories is an important matter. We propose a mehod using Total Station.

Total Station, commonly used in modern surveying, is a useful tool to document live collections in a garden. Total Station survey conducted at the Bambusetum of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, India and the contour map thus prepared is a permanent documentation of the bamboo live collections. This is found very convenient for research data collection, proper maintenance, further enrichment and future development planning of this Bambusetum. The advantage in this method is that it is easy to locate any individual tree or species in the area even if display labels are lost or the custodians of the collection are left.  This method is cheap and the work can be completed in a few days. It is desired that all botanic gardens and arboreta have a Total Station survey map of their collections.

  Koshy K. C., B. Gopakumar and K. P. Dintu. 2015. Total Station - A tool to map live plant collections. Indian Forester 141(4):473-474.

 read the article:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275954491_

or

http://www.indianforester.co.in/index.php/indianforester/article/view/68943/54107

World bamboo day 2014 celebrated at JNTBGRI

World bamboo day celebrated at Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, India on 18 September 2014

This year the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) at Palode, Trivandrum, Kerala, India celebrated the World bamboo day on 18 September in a simple way. Three staff members of the Bamboo Biology group, Mr B. Gopakumar, Technical Officer, Mr N Salahudeen, Garden Maistry and Mr A Asokachandran Nair, Gardener jointly planted a sapling of Neololeba atra (Lindl.) Widjaja, received from Singapore. This species, distributed in C. Malesia to N. & NE. Queensland, is a new addition to the Bambusetum of JNTBGRI.

Following the planting ceremony, Dr K C Koshy, leader of the group, inaugurated the distribution of seedlings of Bambusa tulda Roxb. generated through seeds obtained from a flowering clump of the species grown in the Bambusetum.

K C Koshy

Bamboo Biology Group, JNTBGRI

How Wonderfully Grasses are Created !!

 UV induced visual cues in grasses 

"yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" MATTHEW 6:29-30.

Read article in the link: http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130924/srep02738/full/srep02738.html