A droplet vitrification cryopreservation protocol for conservation of hops (Humulus lupulus) genetic resources.

Hops (Humulus lupulus L.) is essentially used in the brewing industry as it contributes to flavor, and aroma of beer. However, the genetic diversity of hops is increasingly threatened by diseases, environmental changes, and urbanization. Cryopreservation has emerged as a pivotal strategy for safeguarding and maintaining the genetic diversity of hops. The present work presents a comprehensive study on the cryopreservation of hops, focusing on the development and optimization of a droplet vitrification based cryopreservation protocol. Shoot tips excised from one month old in vitro cultures were precultured on 0.3 M sucrose, dehydrated in a loading solution followed by treatment with PVS2 solution for different durations. Significant effect of PVS2 dehydration was observed on post-thaw survival and regeneration after cryoconservation with maximum 50% post-thaw regeneration observed in shoot tips dehydrated in PVS2 for 30 min. Genetic fidelity of the regenerated plants was confirmed using 30 ISSR markers. Reproducibility of the developed protocol was tested on seven other accessions and post thaw regeneration ranging from 43 to 70% was observed across the accessions. The present study reports a highly efficient protocol for conservation of hops germplasm. The results indicate that droplet vitrification can be used as a reliable and sustainable approach for hop genetic preservation, with high survival rates and minimal genetic alterations observed in cryopreserved samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on DV based cryopreservation of hops germplasm.

Phyto-fabrication of silver nanoparticles and their catalytic dye degradation and antifungal efficacy.

The biogenic synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their potent application against dye degradation and phytopathogens are attracting many scientists to nanotechnology. An attempt was made to synthesize silver nanoparticles using Plantago ovata leaf extract and test their effectiveness in removing organic dyes and antifungal activity. In the present study, stable AgNPs were synthesized from 0.1 mM AgNO3 and authenticated by observing the color change from yellow to red-brown, which was confirmed with wavelength UV-Vis spectrophotometer detection. The crystalline nature of the particles was characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. Furthermore, the AgNPs were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope investigations. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectra were also used to confirm the size and structure of the synthesized AgNPs. The elemental analysis and functional groups responsible for the reduction of AgNPs were analyzed by electron dispersive spectroscopy and fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy Fourier transforms infrared, respectively. A new biological approach was taken by breaking down organic dyes such as methylene blue and congo red. The AgNPs effectively inhibit the fungal growth of Alternaria alternata. This could be a significant achievement in the fight against many dynamic pathogens and reduce dye contamination from waste water.

Development of a new set of genic SSR markers in the genus Gentiana: in silico mining, characterization and validation.

Gentiana is an important genus of around 360 medicinally important species, majority of which are not well characterized. Despite its importance, very few genomic resources are available for Gentiana L. Till date, the number of informative and robust simple sequence repeat (SSR)-based markers is limited and very few efforts have been made for their development. A set of robust, freely accessible and informative SSR markers for Gentiana is a pre-requisite for any molecular systematic as well as improvement studies in this group of pharmacologically valuable plants. In view of the importance of these plants, Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) sequences of 18 Gentiana species were surveyed for the development of a large set of non-redundant SSR markers. A total of 5808 perfect SSR with an average length of 17 bp and relative abundance of 214 loci/Mb were identified in the analysed 47,487 EST sequences using Krait software. Mapping of the ESTs resulted in gene ontology annotations of 49.14% of the sequences. Based on these perfect SSRs, 2902 primer pairs were designed, and 60 markers were randomly selected and validated on a set of Gentiana kurroo Royle accessions. Among the screened markers, 39 (65%) were found to be cross-species transferable. This is the first report of the largest set of functional, novel genic SSR markers in Gentiana, which will be a valuable resource for future characterization, genotype identification, conservation and genomic studies in the various species of this group of important medicinal plants. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-02969-4.

Green synthesis of copper nanoparticles using Celastrus paniculatus Willd. leaf extract and their photocatalytic and antifungal properties.

This research aimed to explore the eco-friendly green synthesis of copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) using Celastrus paniculatus leaves extract. Primarily, the biosynthesized CuNPs characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy showed an absorption peak at 269 nm. Further, The SEM and TEM studies revealed the spherical shape of particles with size ranged between 2-10 nm with an average particle diameter of 5 nm. FT-IR analysis confirmed the presence of functional groups -OH, C[bond, double bond]C and C-H triggers the synthesis of CuNPs. The negative zeta potential -22.2 mV indicated the stability of CuNPs was confirmed by DLS and the composition and purity by EDS studies. Further, the photocatalytic property of the CuNPs was divulged by their methylene blue dye degradation potential. The reaction kinetics followed pseudo-first-order with k-values (rate constant) 0.0172 min-1. In addition, this material was found to be a good antifungal agent against plant pathogenic fungi Fusarium oxysporum showed 76.29 ±â€¯1.52 maximum mycelial inhibition.