Conservation of plant species plays a vital role in preventing the loss of valuable plant resources. The success of conservation depends on the correct identification and characterization of plant species. Bamboo is one of the most important plants with multiple uses that have contributed to the economy and socio-economy of many people in rural areas. It is under the subfamily of Bambusoideae that includes both woody and herbaceous bamboo. Conventionally, like other plants, bamboo has been classified dependently based on morphological characteristics. However, morphological identification leads to difficulties and misclassification of bamboo species due to their infrequent flowering behaviour and peculiar reproductive biology. Since then, molecular markers have been introduced to overcome the problems associated with bamboo taxonomy and phylogeny. This paper provides an overview of the diverse, predominantly molecular techniques used to assess and determine the genetic diversity of bamboo species.
A review of the current literature indicates that natural seaweeds are an excellent source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant, antimicrobial and antitumor properties. In the present study, 90% methanolic, 70% acetonic and aqueous extracts from Kappaphycus alvarezii (strains Crocodile, Giant and Brown) and Kappaphycus striatum were used to inhibit the growth of HeLa cell lines. MTS assay was carried out to determine the proliferation of HeLa cells in the presence of different seaweed extracts. Both 500 μg/mL of aqueous and methanolic extracts from K. striatum demonstrated highest anti-proliferative activity against HeLa cells with cell growth inhibition of 53.5 and 43.7%, respectively. Treatment with the aqueous extracts from three strains of K. alvarezii did not show any growth inhibition against HeLa cell lines. The acetonic extract of Kappaphycus seaweeds exhibited a very poor cell growth inhibition with inhibitory activity observed under the treatment of 300 to 500 μg/mL of K. alvarezii strain Brown only. Further studies are suggested to identify and purify the specific anti-tumoral compounds for potential use in cancer therapy.