Efficacy of chitosan nanoparticles and wax coatings on maintaining post-harvest quality of "Murcott" mandarins.

Because of its high degree of biodegradability, chitosan is widely used as a component in food packaging. However, its poor physical properties, such as permeability, limit its applicability. Consequently, applying nano chitosan is regarded as the most effective solution to this issue. In the current study, we studied the effect of using different materials in the coating process on the quality of "Murcott" mandarin during cold storage. We used different concentrations of nano chitosan (50 and 100 ppm) without wax and 100 ppm nano chitosan with wax. We investigated the impact of these compounds on the chemical composition and quality of fruits. The most successful treatment for preventing weight loss from discarded fresh fruit was a combination of wax and 100 ppm nano chitosan. This combination also prevented the deterioration of vitamin C, maintained the fruit pulp, and preserved the fruit's superior taste during cold storage and shelf life. It also maintains a better total soluble solids and total acidity level than other treatments. In addition, the activity of antioxidant enzymes and the total number of antioxidants indicates no degradation of plant tissues compared to those not coated with nano chitosan. It also reduces the microbial load on the coated fruits. Consequently, this coating combination could suggest prolonging post-harvest life and increasing the marketing period of mandarin fruits.

The neuroprotective effect of quercetin nanoparticles in the therapy of neuronal damage stimulated by acrolein.

A gradual loss of neuronal function or structure causes neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Neurological damage might cause cell death. Acrolein is a high-risk air and water contaminant that causes neurodegenerative disorders. Quercetin has several strategies for treating neurodegenerative disorders but has limited bioavailability inside the body. One of the hypotheses offered to improve quercetin's bioavailability is to convert it into quercetin nanoparticles. This study aims to comprehend the immunohistochemical devastation that might arise in the cerebellum because of acrolein treatment. Furthermore, the protective and ameliorative roles of quercetin nanoparticles against oxidative stress and neurotoxicity induced in mice by acrolein were assessed. Ninety male albino rats weighing 120 to 200 g were used in the present investigation. The animals were split up into the following six groups: the control group, the acrolein-treated group: animals were given acrolein (3 mg/kg) for 30 days, quercetin nanoparticles treated group: animals were given quercetin nanoparticles (30 mg/kg) for 30 days. The administration of acrolein was found to be connected to immunohistochemical abnormalities in the cerebellum. Marked differences were observed in Bax, Bcl-2, TNF-α, and GFAP expressions in the cerebellum. Treatment of rats with quercetin nanoparticles either before or after treatment with acrolein has been found to preserve the cerebellum tissues from the toxic impacts and oxidative stress induced by acrolein. This may open the door to more nanomedicine studies and a new avenue for employing nanoparticles as a therapeutic intervention in neurodegenerative illnesses.

Heat stress interferes with chromosome segregation and cytokinesis during male meiosis in Arabidopsis thaliana.

In higher plants, male meiosis is a key process of microsporogenesis and is crucial for plant fertility. Male meiosis programs are prone to be influenced by altered temperature conditions. Studies have reported that an increased temperature (28°C) within a fertile threshold can affect the frequency of meiotic recombination in Arabidopsis. However, not much has been known how male meiosis responses to an extremely high temperature beyond the fertile threshold. To understand the impact of extremely high temperature on male meiosis in Arabidopsis, we treated flowering Arabidopsis plants with 36-38°C and found that the high-temperature condition significantly reduced pollen shed and plant fertility, and led to formation of pollen grains with varied sizes. The heat stress-induced unbalanced tetrads, polyad and meiotic restitution, suggesting that male meiosis was interfered. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay confirmed that both homologous chromosome separation and sister chromatids cohesion were influenced. Aniline blue staining of tetrad-stage pollen mother cells (PMCs) revealed that meiotic cytokinesis was severely disrupted by the heat stress. Supportively, immunolocalization of ɑ-tubulin showed that the construction of spindle and phragmoplast at both meiosis I and II were interfered. Overall, our findings demonstrate that an extremely high-temperature stress over the fertile threshold affects both chromosome segregation and cytokinesis during male meiosis by disturbing microtubular cytoskeleton in Arabidopsis.