Asian Journal of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering

Aim: Cynodon dactylon is a grass variety of the tropical and sub-tropical region belonging to the family Poaceae. In this study genetic profiling of 3 different varieties of Cynodon dactylon were done using ISSR primers.

Methodology: Polymorphism patterns were observed by amplifying DNA with 8 sets of primers such as OPA16, OPB11, OPC06 etc. PyElph tool was used to understand the genetic similarity of the samples and accordingly the relatedness was shown by dendrogram construction by DendroUPGMA. The grass samples were also used to check their antibacterial activity against potential pathogenic bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Chrysobacterium gleum etc. The plant species had showed a very satisfactory inhibition against the bacteria. In vitro anti-diabetic activity of Cynodon dactylon was checked by calculating its ability to inhibit the enzyme alpha-amylase and the anti-inflammatory activity was carried out by calculating the inhibition percentage of albumin degradation.

Outcome: All these experiments were done to study the pharmacological property as well as to gather knowledge on the genetic make-up of Cynodon dactylon. Overall, the final outcome supports the ethanobotanical claim of this plant.