AIM The aim was to investigate antibacterial activity of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha), an Indian traditional medicinal plant against Escherichia coli O78, a pathogenic strain. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two-fold serial dilutions of 20% aqueous W. somnifera root (WSR) extract were inoculated with E. coli O78 @ 1*10(7) colony forming units grown in nutrient broth. Following inoculation, turbidit...

Withania somnifera is one of the most valuable medicinal plants synthesizing secondary metabolites known as withanolides. Despite pharmaceutical importance, limited information is available about the biosynthesis of withanolides. Chemo-profiling of leaf and root tissues of Withania suggest differences in the content and/or nature of withanolides in different chemotypes. To identify genes involv...

Sterol glycosyltransferases (SGTs) catalyse transfer of glycon moiety to sterols and their related compounds to produce diverse glyco-conjugates or steryl glycosides with different biological and pharmacological activities. Functional studies of SGTs from Withania somnifera indicated their role in abiotic stresses but details about role under biotic stress are still unknown. Here, we have eluci...

Withania somnifera is a medicinal plant extends over a large area, from the Atlantic ocean to South East Asia and from the Mediterranean region to South Africa. The medicinal plants are widely used by the traditional medical practitioners for curing various diseases in their day to day practice. In traditional systems of medicine, different parts (leaves, stem, flower, root, seeds, bark and eve...

Withania somnifera (Ashawagandha) is very revered herb of the Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine as a Rasayana (tonic). It is used for various kinds of disease processes and specially as a nervine tonic. Considering these facts many scientific studies were carried out and its adaptogenic / anti-stress activities were studied in detail. In experimental models it increases the stamina of rats du...

An improved Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated genetic transformation of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal was developed using the bacterial strain R1000 with leaf segment explants of in vitro raised plantlets. Out of the three strains used (R1000, MTCC 2364 and MTCC 532), the strain R1000 proved to be more efficient than others. Among the different conditions tested, the highest (93.3 %) transforma...

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is high demanding valuable medicinal plants which have pharmaceuticals properties, known for its with anolides. Nodal segment explants of W. somnifera when cultured on MS (Murashige and skoog’s, 1969) medium horizontally containing different concentration(1-3mg/l) of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), kinetin (Kn) and thidiazuron (TDZ) produced multiple shoots on both axil...

The study was planned to evaluate the efficacy of Withania somnifera (WS) root extract in preventing lead induced oxidative stress in liver tissue of mice. Mice randomly divided into 6 groups were treated with and without lead nitrate and WS alone or in combination for 42 days. The oxidative stress was measured by LPO level, reduced glutathione content, total protein level and by enzymatic acti...