Enhancement of Growth and Secondary Metabolites by the Combined Treatment of Trace Elements and Hydrogen Water in Wheat Sprouts.

This study aimed to evaluate the response of Triticum aestivum to hydrogen water (HW) and trace elements treated with HW. A pot experiment was conducted to assess the growth indices, secondary metabolites, and antioxidant levels. The response surface methodology (RSM) approach was used to ascertain the concentrations and significant interaction between treatments. The outcomes demonstrated that the combined treatment of Se acid and Mo oxide exhibited a notable positive effect on the growth and secondary metabolites, when treated with HW as compared to distilled water (DW). Notably, the interaction between these two treatments is significant, and the higher response was observed at the optimal concentration of 0.000005% for Se acid and 0.06% for Mo oxide. Additionally, an in vitro experiment revealed that the mixture treatment inhibits the accumulation of lipids in HepG2 hepatocytes cells. Moreover, metabolic analysis revealed that upregulated metabolites are linked to the inhibition of lipid accumulation. In addition, the analysis emphasizes that the continued benefits of higher plants as a renewable supply for chemicals compounds, especially therapeutic agents, are being expanded and amplified by these state-of-the-art technologies.

Comparative Analysis of the Chloroplast Genome of Sicyos angulatus with Other Seven Species of Cucurbitaceae Family.

Sicyos angulatus (SA) is an annual plant from the Cucurbitaceae family that is native to the eastern part of North America. This study aims to assemble and annotate the chloroplast genome of S. angulatus, and then compare it with plastomes of the other species representing the Cucurbitaceae family. The chloroplast genome size of S. angulatus is 154,986 bp, including a pair of inverted repeats (IR) of 26,276 bp, and small single-copy region (SSC) of 18,079 bp and large single-copy region (LSC) of 84,355 bp. Compared to other Cucurbitaceae species, the chloroplast genome of S. angulatus is almost 4222 bp smaller than the plastome Gynostemma pentaphyllum. All other seven species have an identical set of tRNA (37), except Citrullus laevigata, which contains 36 tRNA. The IRa/LSC junction in all eight species is located upstream of rpl2 and downstream of trnH gene. Moreover, variation in the size of the gene and the presence of pseudogene ycf1 has been seen because of the IR contraction and expansion. The highest number of tandem repeats was seen in G. pentaphyllum, and then Corynocarpus leavigata. The sequence divergence analysis and topology of the phylogenetic tree indicate that S. angulatus is more similar to genus Citrullus as compared to genus Gynostemma. These findings contribute to developing the genomic marker for the purpose of future genetic studies.

Comparative Analysis of Chloroplast Genome of Desmodium stryacifolium with Closely Related Legume Genome from the Phaseoloid Clade.

Desmodium styracifolium is a medicinal plant from the Desmodieae tribe, also known as Grona styracifolia. Its role in the treatment of urolithiasis, urinary infections, and cholelithiasis has previously been widely documented. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of D. Styracifolium is 149,155 bp in length with a GC content of 35.2%. It is composed of a large single copy (LSC) of 82,476 bp and a small single copy (SSC) of 18,439 bp, which are separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IR) of 24,120 bp each and has 128 genes. We performed a comparative analysis of the D. styracifolium cpDNA with the genome of previously investigated members of the Sesamoidea tribe and on the outgroup from its Phaseolinae sister tribe. The size of all seven cpDNAs ranged from 148,814 bp to 151,217 bp in length due to the contraction and expansion of the IR/SC boundaries. The gene orientation of the SSC region in D. styracifolium was inverted in comparison with the other six studied species. Furthermore, the sequence divergence of the IR regions was significantly lower than that of the LSC and the SSC, and five highly divergent regions, trnL-UAA-trnT-UGU, psaJ-ycf4, psbE-petL, rpl36-rps8, and rpl32-trnL-UGA, were identified that could be used as valuable molecular markers in future taxonomic studies and phylogenetic constructions.