Delving into the Therapeutic Potential of Carica papaya Leaf against Thrombocytopenia.

Thrombocytopenia is a clinical manifestation that refers to the low platelet count, i.e., <150 × 103/µL, of blood, resulting in imbalanced hemostasis, which leads to several fatal complications. The causative factors vary greatly, but, as a consequence, they interfere with platelet production and promote destruction, leading to death. Carica papaya leaf has unique therapeutic and medicinal characteristics against thrombocytopenia, and this is supported by scientific studies. Secondary metabolites and minerals in the leaf, such as carpaine and quercetin, promote platelet production, inhibit platelet destruction, and maintain platelet membrane through gene expression activity and the ceasing of viral proteases, respectively. This review explores the scientific studies that support the role of papaya leaf in the form of juice, extract, or powder against thrombocytopenia through animal modeling and clinical trials. Phytochemical profiles of C. papaya leaf revealed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, cardiac glycosides, tannins, terpenes, and saponins, which impart therapeutic potential to the leaf. The therapeutic benefits of the leaf include immunomodulatory, antiviral, antidiabetic, anticancer, antimalarial, antiangiogenic, antibacterial, and antioxidant activities. Several conducted scientific research studies have proved the efficacy of C. papaya leaf against thrombocytopenia, expanding the implication of natural sources to eradicate numerous ailments.

Thermal treatment alternatives for enzymes inactivation in fruit juices: Recent breakthroughs and advancements.

Fruit juices (FJs) are frequently taken owing to their nutritious benefits, appealing flavour, and vibrant colour. The colours of the FJs are critical indicators of the qualitative features that influence the consumer's attention. Although FJs' intrinsic acidity serves as a barrier to bacterial growth, their enzymatic stability remains an issue for their shelf life. Inactivation of enzymes is critical during FJ processing, and selective inactivation is the primary focus of enzyme inactivation. The merchants, on the other hand, want the FJs to stay stable. The most prevalent technique of processing FJ is by conventional heat treatment, which degrades its nutritive value and appearance. The FJ processing industry has undergone a dramatic transformation from thermal treatments to nonthermal treatments (NTTs) during the past two decades to meet the requirements for microbiological and enzymatic stability. The manufacturers want safe and stable FJs, while buyers want high-quality FJs. According to the past investigation, NTTs have the potential to manufacture microbiologically safe and enzymatically stable FJs with low loss of bioactive components. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that different NTTs combined with or without other NTTs or mild heating as a hurdle technology increase the synergistic effect for microbiological safety and stability of FJs. Concise information about the variables that affect NTTs' action mode has also been addressed. Primary inactivates enzymes by modifying the protein structure and active site conformation. NTTs may increase enzyme activity depending on the nature of the enzyme contained in FJs, the applied pressure, pH, temperature, and treatment period. This is due to the release of membrane-bound enzymes as well as changes in protein structure and active sites that allow substrate interaction. Additionally, the combination of several NTTs as a hurdle technology, as well as temperature and treatment periods, resulted in increased enzyme inactivation in FJs. Therefore, a combination of thermal and non-thermal technologies is suggested to increase the effectiveness of the process as well as preserve the juice quality.

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria alleviates drought stress in potato in response to suppressive oxidative stress and antioxidant enzymes activities.

Maintenance of plant physiological functions under drought stress is normally considered a positive feature as it indicates sustained plant health and growth. This study was conducted to investigate whether plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) Bacillus subtilis HAS31 has potential to maintain potato growth and yield under drought stress. We analyzed trends of chlorophyll concentration, photosynthesis process, relative water content, osmolytes, antioxidants enzymes and oxidative stress, relative growth rate, tuber and aboveground biomass production in two potato varieties, Santae (drought-tolerant) and PRI-Red (drought-sensitive). Plants of both genotypes were treated with 100 g of HAS31 inoculant at 10 days after germination and exposed to different soil relative water contents (SRWC), including 80 ± 5% (well watered), 60 ± 5% (moderate stress) and 40 ± 5% SRWC (severe stress) for 7 days at tuber initiation stage (30 days after germination). The drought stress reduced plant relative growth rate, biomass production, leaf area, number of leaves and tubers, tuber weight, and final yield. The drought-stressed plants showed decline in chlorophyll contents, membrane stability, leaf relative water contents and photosynthetic rate. Under drought stress, enzymatic activity of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), contents of total soluble sugars, soluble proteins and proline increased. The application of PGPR reduced the impact of drought and maintained higher growth and physio-chemical traits of the plants. The plants with PGPR application showed higher relative growth rate, dry matter production, leaf area, number of tubers, tuber weight and yield as compared to plants without PGPR. The PGPR-HAS31 treated plants maintained higher photosynthetic process, contents of chlorophyll, soluble proteins, total soluble sugars, and enzymatic activities of CAT, POD and SOD as compared to plants without PGPR. The results of the study suggest that plant growth regulators have ability to sustain growth and yield of potato under drought stress by maintaining physiological functions of the plants.

Novel Pollen Magnetofection System for Transformation of Cotton Plant with Magnetic Nanoparticles as Gene Carriers.

Plant genetic transformation systems have facilitated insights into molecular plant biology and revolutionized commercial agriculture. Unfortunately, agrobacterium-mediated transformation was still the main method although its subsequent regeneration process from tissue culture in cotton remained arduous even after 30 years of technological advances. At the same time, a number of transformation methods based on pollen grains have been developed, such as electroporation, biolistic bombardment, ultra-sonication, and Agrobacterium incubation in plant pollens. But these pollen-based techniques have not been widely adopted. In this chapter, we have presented a protocol of pollen-based transformation technology in cotton, "pollen magnetofection," to directly produce transgenic seeds without tissue culturing. In this system, magnetic nanoparticles loaded with pure plasmid DNA carrying functional genes were delivered into pollens via pollen apertures in the presence of a magnetic field. Afterward, these magnetofected pollens were used for pollination, to produce transformed seeds. Pollen magnetofection is a genotype-independent transformation system; in addition, exogenous DNA was successfully integrated into the genome and stably expressed in the successive generations. We emphasize that pollen magnetofection is a most efficient platform for genetic transformation of cotton and other crops with high-throughput and efficient potential infield operation.

Comparative orchestrating response of four oilseed rape (Brassica napus) cultivars against the selenium stress as revealed by physio-chemical, ultrastructural and molecular profiling.

Selenium (Se) is an essential micro-element for human and animals. In higher plants, Se essentiality or phyto-toxicity is less explored. Therefore, we aimed to examine the effects of Se (0, 25, 50, and 100 µM) as sodium selenite on the physio-chemical, cell ultra-structural and genomic alterations in hydroponically grown seedlings of four cultivars of B. napus (cvs. Zheda 619, Zheda 622, ZS 758, and ZY 50). Results showed that excessive (100 µM) Se (IV) exhibited significant reduction in plant growth parameters, declined pigment contents, lower water-soluble protein levels, and overproduction of H2O2 and MDA contents. A significant increase in antioxidant enzyme activities and transcript levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR), except catalase (CAT) were noticed in the leaves and roots. Non-enzymatic antioxidants including glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG), except GSSG in roots were enhanced under higher Se (IV) levels. Transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed the ultrastructural damages in leaf mesophyll and root tip cells induced by excessive Se (IV). Less-significant phytotoxic effects were observed in above-mentioned parameters at 50 µM Se (IV). Overall, Se (IV) supplementation at 25 µM displayed marginal beneficial effect by enhancing plant growth, pigment contents, protein levels and restrict H2O2 and MDA overproduction. A marginal increase/decrease in ROS-detoxifying enzymes (except CAT activity) and elevated GSH and GSSG levels were noticed. The accumulation of Se (IV) was much higher in roots as compared to leaves. This accumulation was maximum in Zheda 622 and minimum in ZS 758, followed by Zheda 619 and ZY 50. Overall findings showed that Zheda 622 was the most sensitive and ZS 758 as most tolerant to Se (IV) phyto-toxicity. In addition, Se (IV) was found beneficial until 25 µM Se (IV) but phytotoxic at higher Se levels especially at 100 µM Se (IV).

Title: Potassium application regulates nitrogen metabolism and osmotic adjustment in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) functional leaf under drought stress.

To evaluate the role of potassium (K) in maintaining nitrogen metabolism and osmotic adjustment development of cotton functional leaves to sustain growth under soil drought and rewatering conditions, the plants of two cotton cultivars Siza 3 (low-K sensitive) and Simian 3 (low-K tolerant), were grown under three different K rates (K0, K1, and K2; 0, 150, and 300kgK2Oha-1, respectively) and exposed to drought stress with 40±5% soil relative water content (SRWC). The drought stress was applied at flowering stage by withholding water for eight days followed by rewatering to a well-watered level (75±5% SRWC). The results showed that drought-stressed plants of both cultivars showed a decrease in leaf relative water content (RWC) and osmotic potential in the functional leaves and developed osmotic adjustment with an increase in the contents of free amino acids, soluble sugars, inorganic K, and nitrate as compared to well-watered plants. In drought-stressed plants, nitrogen-metabolizing enzyme activities of nitrogen reductase (NR), glutamine synthetase (GS), and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) were diminished significantly (P≤0.05) along with decreased chlorophyll content and soluble proteins. However, drought-stressed plants under K application not only exhibited higher osmotic adjustment with greater accumulation of osmolytes but also regulated nitrogen metabolism by maintaining higher enzyme activities, soluble proteins, and chlorophyll content in functional leaves as compared to the plants without K application. Siza 3 showed better stability in enzyme activities and resulted in 89% higher seed cotton yield under K2 as compared to K0 in drought-stressed plants, whereas this increase was 53% in the case of Simian 3. The results of the study suggested that K application enhances cotton plants' potential for sustaining high nitrogen-metabolizing enzyme activities and related components to supplement osmotic adjustment under soil drought conditions.

Antifungal Potential of Indigenous Medicinal Plants against Myrothecium Leaf Spot of Bitter Gourd ( Momordica charantia L.)

ABSTRACT Bitter gourd is of great importance due to its usage against the treatment of numerous ailments in human beings. A comprehensive survey at four localities of Southern Punjab, Pakistan was carried out to determine the severity of Myrothecium leaf spot. Maximum disease severity was at C1 (Chak 11/NP) and least at C2 (Kot Mehtab). Among isolated species Myrothecium roridum was found more prevalent and pathogenic as compared to M. verrucaria. Antifungal activity using solvent extracts of five medicinal plants (Mangifera indica, Melia azedarach, Nicotiana tabacum, Moringa oleifera and Eucalyptus globosum) were evaluated against isolated species by agar well diffusion method at various concentrations (0.01, 0.10, 1.0 and 10.0 µg / mL). N. tabacum revealed maximum zone size (13.40 mm and 8.28 mm) with ethanol and chloroform solvents respectively followed by M. azedarach (9.00mm and 6.48mm). However, least inhibition was observed with ethanol and chloroform extracts of E. globosum (6.04mm and 3.88mm zone size respectively). Ethanol extracts showed highest activity when compared to chloroform extracts. Qualitative phytochemical analysis showed that all the selected plants are rich in chemical compounds such as alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids and phenols whereas Saponins was only present in N. tabacum while absent in rest of the extracts.

Anthocyanins abrogate glutamate-induced AMPK activation, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration in postnatal rat brain.

BACKGROUND: Glutamate-induced excitotoxicity, oxidative damage, and neuroinflammation are believed to play an important role in the development of a number of CNS disorders. We recently reported that a high dose of glutamate could induce AMPK-mediated neurodegeneration in the postnatal day 7 (PND7) rat brain. Yet, the mechanism of glutamate-induced oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in the postnatal brain is not well understood. Here, we report for the first time the mechanism of glutamate-induced oxidative damage, neuroinflammation, and neuroprotection by polyphenolic anthocyanins in PND7. METHODS: PND7 rat brains, SH-SY5Y, and BV2 cells treated either alone with glutamate or in combination with anthocyanins and compound C were examined with Western blot and immunofluorescence techniques. Additionally, reactive oxygen species (ROS) assay and other ELISA kit assays were employed to know the therapeutic efficacy of anthocyanins against glutamate. RESULTS: A single injection of glutamate to developing rats significantly increased brain glutamate levels, activated and phosphorylated AMPK induction, and inhibited nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) after 2, 3, and 4 h in a time-dependent manner. In contrast, anthocyanin co-treatment significantly reduced glutamate-induced AMPK induction, ROS production, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration in the developing rat brain. Most importantly, anthocyanins increased glutathione (GSH and GSSG) levels and stimulated the endogenous antioxidant system, including Nrf2 and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), against glutamate-induced oxidative stress. Interestingly, blocking AMPK with compound C in young rats abolished glutamate-induced neurotoxicity. Similarly, all these experiments were replicated in SH-SY5Y cells by silencing AMPK with siRNA, which suggests that AMPK is the key mediator in glutamate-induced neurotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Here, we report for the first time that anthocyanins can potentially decrease glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in young rats. Our work demonstrates that glutamate is toxic to the developing rat brain and that anthocyanins can minimize the severity of glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in an AMPK-dependent manner.

Optimization for production of exopolysaccharides with antitumor activity in vitro from Paecilomyces hepiali.

In the present study, optimal medium for the growth of mycelia and the production of exopolysaccharides from Paecilomyces hepiali HN1 (PHEPS) in submerged culture was investigated. As a result, the maximum production of mycelia (12.98 ± 0.14 g/L) and PHEPS (5.33 ± 0.11 g/L) were achieved under the optimal medium of sucrose 46.08 g/L, yeast extract 4.71 g/L, (NH4)2SO4 5.72 g/L, KH2PO4 1.70 g/L, CaCl2 0.50 g/L, MgSO4 0.50 g/L, potato extract 1% and malt extract 1%. Furthermore, the antitumor activity of PHEPS in vitro was evaluated by using three cell lines of human liver tumor HepG2 cells, breast cancer MCF-7 cells and cervical cancer Hela cells. It was found that PHEPS exhibited relative higher anti-proliferative activity against HepG2 cells than MCF-7 cells and Hela cells. At a concentration of 500 µg/mL and 72 h treatment, the inhibition rate of PHEPS on HepG2 cells reached to 62.58%. All these results suggested that PHEPS could be explored as novel natural antitumor agent with great potential application.