Sea buckthorn and its microsymbiont-a review

Abstract

Hippophae sp. is a versatile plant restricted in distribution to the Himalayas having multipurpose usage including food, fodder, medicine, and controlling soil erosion. Besides, it plays a huge role in increasing the fertility of the soil by harboring symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacteria called Frankia. In this review we have looked into two main aspects of this symbiosis. First we have made a detailed account of the macrosymbiont i.e. Hippophae. Since Hippophae has food and medicinal properties and are widely used in cosmetic production, we excavated the antioxidant activity of various parts of Hippophae including fruits, seeds, bark and leaf. People of Indo-Tibetan plateau adapt a special agro-technique to cultivate Hippophae. The technique has been discussed here. A detail report of this plant including their distribution and various ecological parameters has also been done. On the other hand we have also elucidate about the microsymbiont present in root nodule of Hippophae i.e. Frankia. Frankia is filamentous actinomycetes which fix atmospheric nitrogen to the soil and therefore increase the soil-fertility. A detailed account of morphology. anatomy, phylogeny and ecology of Frankia has been illustrated here. The diversity of Frankia in soil is another interesting topic and the speciation of this bacterium is an everlasting controversy. We have given a closer look to the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of Frankia at intra and inter generic level.