Tetrascera scandens, a member of Dilleniaceae, is used for traditional medicine; the stem is utilized by the Anak Dalam tribe of Jambi Province, Sumatera island, Indonesia, to treat diarrhea symptoms. The aims of this study were to identify the secretory structures, histochemical aspects, and the antibacterial potency of T. scandens stem. Histological study of the secretory structures of T. scandens stem was carried out. The species has idioblast cells and trichomes as its secretory structures. Histochemical analysis indicated the substance secreted by T. scandens idioblast cells mainly contains alkaloids, terpenoids, and phenols. Trichomes of T. scandens only contain flavonoids. The antibacterial activity of methanol extracts was tested against Staphyllococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Different concentration of extracts was tested using the well diffusion method. According to the results, 100 mg/mL T. scandens extract showed the best inhibitory activity with a maximum inhibition zone of 17.7 mm against S. aureus and of 12.5 mm against E. coli. This study provides scientific evidence that the stem of T. scandens has antibacterial activity and justifies its use by the local community.

Situ Gintung merupakan danau buatan yang memiliki ruang terbuka hijau, berpotensi menyimpan keanekaragaman hayati tinggi. Studi mengenai potensi keanekaragaman hayati di area Situ Gintung masih sangat terbatas, terutama tumbuhan tingkat rendah seperti paku-pakuan. Tumbuhan paku (Pteridophyta) tergolong jenis tumbuhan berspora, bersifat homospor, tidak berbiji, tidak berbunga sehingga persebarannya cukup luas Penelitian ini bertujuan mengidentifikasi keberadaan dan keanekaragaman tumbuhan paku di kawasan Situ Gintung, Kota Tangerang Selatan. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui metode eksplorasi atau jelajah secara langsung (Cruise Method). Hasil identifikasi keanekaragaman tumbuhan paku yang ada di Kawasan Situ Gintung diperoleh sebanyak 6 jenis suku dan 10 spesies, yaitu Adiantum capillus-veneris, Asplenium nidus L., Nephrolepis biserrata, Phymatosorus scolopendria, Lepisorus sp., Phlebodium aureum, Pyrrosia piloselloides L., Pteris cretica L., Pteris vittata, Phegopteris connectilis. Habitat tumbuhan ditemukan di terrestrial dan epifit pada batu atau pohon lain. Parameter fisik lingkungan di kawasan Situ Gintung menunjukkan suhu udara berkisar 33,2oC – 28,3oC, kelembaban udara sebesar 70 – 80%, dan intensitas cahaya sebesar 494 – 572 Lux. Indeks keanekaragaman jenis Pteridophyta yaitu sebesar 2.08 dan berada pada kategori sedang.

Drought leads to deficit water availability and its detrimental effects seriously threaten plant growth. This study assessed the physiological, biochemical, and antioxidant adjustments in different types of photosynthetic plants between Zea mays L. (C4) and Cucumis sativus L. (C3 plant) under response to short-term drought stress. Analyses of relative water content (RWC), proline, and ascorbic acid (AsA) were performed to explore how these plants react to drought. Fifteen-day-old plants were subjected to full irrigation or gradual drought periods for 2-d, 4-d, 6-d, and 8-d following by recovery for 7-d. The results revealed that drought significantly reduces leaf RCW in both plants. Re-watered Z. mays after 8-d drought was higher than C. sativus and reestablished RCW by 23% of stressed plant although remained lower by 9% of the well-watered plant. While, proline and AsA contents in Z. mays were higher than those in C. sativus in drought treatment at 8-d (2.05 µmol/g FW) and 6-d (3174.60 AsA/100 g FW), respectively, that could demonstrate osmotic adjustment ability in this C4 species. The increased proline in both plants also indicates a good strategy for plants to recover. Rewatering gave a decrease AsA and could be expected that plants restore cellular activity after oxidative injury. Based on our study, proline is the most informative biochemical marker to differentiate plant response to drought and Z. mays adjusted defense mechanism to drought rather than C. sativus due to higher accumulation of proline, better antioxidant activity, and improved RCW after recovery.

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Aglaonema simplex (Selimpot pati) merupakan suku Araceae yang digunakan untuk pengobatan tradisional. Batang dan akar tumbuhan A. simplex dimanfaatkan oleh Suku Anak Dalam di Provinsi Jambi, Indonesia, untuk mengobati gejala diare. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi struktur sekretori batang dan akar A. simplex. Studi histologi struktur sekretori batang dan akar A. simplex telah dilakukan. Spesies ini memiliki struktur sekretori berupa sel idioblas. Sel idioblas pada akar tersebar di korteks. Pada batang, sel idioblasnya tersebar pada epidermis, korteks, dan empulur. Sel idioblas pada A. simplex memiliki bentuk silindris. Ukuran sel idioblas terbesar ditemukan pada bagian empulur batang. Kerapatan sel idioblas tertinggi ditemukan pada epidermis batang.