Abstract Detail

Ethnobotany

Nelson, Dillon [1], Pradhan, Bijaya [1], Nepal, Madhav [2].

Phylogenetic and Metabolomic Analyses of Lygodesmia Species (Asteraceae) Used by Native Americans to Treat Diabetes Mellitus.

Indigenous traditional knowledge is instrumental in confronting public health disparities in Native American reservations. Diabetes mellitus affects Native American populations at twice the rate of the national average according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The expensive care of treating diabetes is staggering when compared to people with no medical expenditures and considering the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation being among the poorest places in the United States. Therefore, treatment is non-economical and unsustainable. Medicinal plants offer sustainable solutions that are relatively less expensive and safer to the on-going public health crisis in the reservations.   The plant genus Lygodesmia consists of five species native to the United States, and are used to treat Diabetes Mellitus. In this study, we are sequencing chloroplast genomes of plants representing all five species, and profile metabolites of the varieties commonly used by Native Americans. Chloroplast genome sequencing and metabolite profiling are under progress. In our presentation, we will focus on the traditional uses of the    Lygodesmia   species and discuss how simlar and variable are the genomes and metabolites across the species. Ethnobotanical knowledge coupled with advanced molecular phylogenetic exploratory analysis and metabolomics profiling is expected to yield better understanding of biosynthesis of active metabolites for treating diabetes.

Related Links:
Nepal Lab at South Dakota State University

1 - South Dakota State University, McFadden Biostress Laboratory, Room 213, Brookings, SD, 57007, United States
2 - South Dakota State University, Biology And Microbiology, McFadden Biostress Laboratory, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, 57007, United States

Keywords:
Ethnobotany  
Native American
Traditional knowledge
Diabetes
whole genome sequencing
chloroplast genome
Metabolite profiling.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: ETH, Ethnobotany
Location: /
Date: Wednesday, July 21st, 2021
Time: 10:45 AM(EDT)
Number: ETH001
Abstract ID:843
Candidate for Awards:Economic Botany Section best student paper