The embodiments herein generally relate to a method for development of an
efficient and cost-effective kit and, more particularly, relates to the method for development
of an efficient and cost-effective kit for isolation and purification of calcium oxalate crystals
from plant tissues.
Description of the Related Art
[002] The calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals exhibit their occurrence in nearly all
taxonomic echelons of the photosynthetic organisms from simple algal forms to the most
advanced angiosperms. The calcium oxalate crystals besides serving as calcium and oxalate
sink in plants, they play major role in heavy-metal/oxalate detoxification, bulk calcium
regulation, light reflectance and photosynthesis, parthenocarpy, and protection against
grazing and herbivory. One of the pre-requisites for the assessment of their biology and
functionality needs their extraction from the plant samples clean from any impurity that may
result in faulty assessments. Although there are certain laborious protocols available but one
of the biggest issues in these protocols is that they fail to completely isolate plant cell debris
from the crystals. This association with impurities ultimately lacks the pure raw materials for
x-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform raman infrared spectroscopy (FTR), and electron
dispersion spectroscopy (EDS) examinations to elucidate their structure, heavy metal
concentration, calcium and oxalate content, number of crystals per gram of weight, and size
of each crystal.
3
[003] Since the advent of microscopy, human curiosity has been challenged by the
form, nature, peculiar biosynthesis, and characteristic and evolving functions of
carbon–calcium inclusions (CCaI) either as calcium oxalate crystals (CaOx) or amorphous
calcium carbonate cystoliths. The CaOx crystals exhibit wide diversity and distribution from
simple algal forms to the most advanced photosynthetic organisms. Studies have
demonstrated that this biomineralization is not a simple/random event, instead, a genetically
regulated coordination between calcium-uptake/oxalate-synthesis and sometimes
environmental stresses as well. Besides serving as calcium and oxalate sink in plants, these
CaOx crystals play major role in bulk calcium regulation, heavy-metal/oxalate detoxification,
light reflectance and photosynthesis, parthenocarpy, and protection against grazing and
herbivory. However, from synthesis to degradation, the evolving multifunctionality of CaOx
crystals and mechanisms involved need to be reassessed to understand their overall biology
and reconstruct the future perspectives. One of the pre-requisites for the assessment of their
biology and functionality needs their extraction from the plant samples clean from any
impurity that may otherwise result in faulty assessments.
[004] The occurrence of CaOx crystals is historic and their formation, structure,
shape, function exhibit robust evolution. So far, negligible work has been done to unravel the
structure and biology of these fascinating assemblies for real understanding of calcium
regulation and associated functionalities except from the last decade. After the advent of
“Alarm photosynthesis pathway” and revelation of the function of these plant gemstones in
“protection against herbivory and grazing” among others, the CaOx crystals have gained
much attention from researches around the world. However, no protocol has been established
to isolate these crystals from plant tissues in their pure and solitary form. Many researchers
4
have tried to establish protocols and include the works of [Schweiggert et al., 2009, Vinas M
et al. 2016], but these protocols are not only time consuming and costly but also fail to
extract the total crystal content from plant samples in the purest form. One of the biggest
issues in these protocols is that they fail to completely isolate plant cell debris from the
crystals that eventually does not provide material for downstream analysis used to unravel
their structure and composition.
[005] A need exists, therefore, for a method for isolation of crystal content form
plant sample and development of low cost, efficient, and reliable calcium oxalate crystal kit.