Cimicifugin, a broad-spectrum inhibitor of Theileria annulata and Plasmodium falciparum CDK7.

Cyclin-dependent kinase 7 is an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of cancers, and a previous report suggested that Plasmodium falciparum CDK7 is a potential drug target for developing new anti-malarial drugs. In this study, we aimed to characterize and evaluate the drug target potential of Theileria annulata CDK7. Theileria annulata is responsible for tropical theileriosis, which induces a phenotype similar to cancerous cells like immortalization, hyperproliferation, and dissemination. Virtual screening of the MyriaScreen II library predicted 14 compounds with high binding energies to the ATP-binding pocket of TaCDK7. Three compounds (cimicifugin, ST092793, and ST026925) of these 14 compounds were non-cytotoxic to the uninfected bovine cells (BoMac cells). Cimicifugin treatment led to the activation of the extrinsic apoptosis pathway and induced autophagy in T. annulata-infected cells. Furthermore, cimicifugin also inhibited the growth of P. falciparum, indicating that it has both anti-theilerial and anti-malarial activities and that TaCDK7 and PfCDK7 are promising drug targets.

Potentiality of actinobacteria to combat against biotic and abiotic stresses in tea [Camellia sinensis (L) O. Kuntze].

Tea (Camellia sinensis (L) O. Kuntze) is a long-duration monoculture crop prone to several biotic (fungal diseases and insect pest) and abiotic (nutrient deficiency, drought and salinity) stress that eventually result in extensive annual crop loss. The specific climatic conditions and the perennial nature of the tea crop favour growth limiting abiotic factors, numerous plant pathogenic fungi (PPF) and insect pests. The review focuses on the susceptibility of tea crops to PPF/pests, drought, salinity and nutrient constraints and the potential role of beneficial actinobacteria in promoting tea crop health. The review also focuses on some of the major PPF associated with tea, such as Exobasidium vexans, Pestalotiopsis theae, Colletotrichum acutatum, and pests (Helopeltis theivora). The phylum actinobacteria own a remarkable place in agriculture due to the biosynthesis of bioactive metabolites that assist plant growth by direct nutrient assimilation, phytohormone production, and by indirect aid in plant defence against PPF and pests. The chemical diversity and bioactive significance of actinobacterial metabolites (antibiotics, siderophore, volatile organic compounds, phytohormones) are valuable in the agro-economy. This review explores the recent history of investigations in the role of actinobacteria and its secondary metabolites as a biocontrol agent and proposes a commercial application in tea cultivation.

Prospecting Endophytic Bacteria Endowed With Plant Growth Promoting Potential Isolated From Camellia sinensis.

Endophytes are well-acknowledged inoculants to promote plant growth, and extensive research has been done in different plants. However, there is a lacuna about the endophytes associated with tea clones and their benefit to promote plant growth. The present study focuses on isolating and characterizing the beneficial endophytic bacteria (EnB) prevalent in commercially important tea clones cultivated in North Eastern India as plant growth promoters. Diversity of culturable EnB microbiome, in vitro traits for plant growth promotion (PGP), and applicability of potent isolates as bioinoculant for in vivo PGP abilities have been assessed in the present study. A total of 106 EnB identified as members of phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria were related to 22 different genera and six major clusters. Regarding PGP traits, the percentage of isolates positive for the production of indole acetic acid, phosphate solubilization, nitrogen fixation siderophore, ammonia, and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase production were 86.8, 28.3, 78.3, 30.2, 95.3, and 87.7, respectively. In total, 34.0, 52.8, and 17.0% of EnB showed notable production of hydrolytic enzymes like cellulase, protease, and amylase, respectively. Additionally, based on the bonitur score, the top two isolates K96 identified as Stenotrophomonas sp. and M45 identified as Pseudomonas sp. were evaluated for biofilm formation, motility, and in vivo plant growth promoting activity. Results suggested strong biofilm formation and motility in K96 and M45 which may attribute to the colonization of the strains in the plants. Further in vivo plant growth promotion experiment suggested sturdy efficacy of the K96 and M45 as plant growth promoters in nursery condition in commercial tea clones Tocklai vegetative (TV) TV22 and TV26. Thus, this study emphasizes the opportunity of commercialization of the selected isolates for sustainable development of tea and other crops.

Phylogenetic and Functional Characterization of Culturable Endophytic Actinobacteria Associated With Camellia spp. for Growth Promotion in Commercial Tea Cultivars.

Plant associated endophytic actinobacteria may contribute to plant growth and defense by direct or indirect methods. Our aim was to evaluate the plant growth promoting and antifungal activities of endophytic actinobacteria associated with Camellia spp. and related genera, Eurya to find potent plant growth promoting strains that could be applied in future microbe based bioformulations. We isolated 46 endophytic actinobacteria based on morphological characteristics of the isolates. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the strains represented nine actinobacterial genera, Nocardia, Amycolatopsis, Streptomyces, Pseudonocardia, Kribbella, Actinomadura, Microbispora, Rothia and Saccharomonospora. In vitro functional characterization of the isolates for plant growth promoting (PGP) traits revealed many potent PGP isolates such as, SA1 and S43 which showed all the tested PGP traits, i.e., phosphate solubilization, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), ammonia, siderophore and chitinase production. Out of the 46 endophytic actinobacteria isolates, 21 showed inhibition against atleast one test fungal phytopathogen and, isolates SA25 and SA29 exhibited broad spectrum antifungal activity against all the tested phytopathogens. Most of the endophytic actinobacteria isolates having antifungal activity were positive for the presence of chitinase, NRPS (Non-ribosomal peptides synthetase) or PKS-1 (Polyketide Synthase) gene, suggesting the presence of distinctive mechanisms to inhibit the growth of pathogenic plant fungi. ARDRA (Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction analysis) and BOX-PCR fingerprinting analysis of the potent isolates with antagonistic activity grouped the isolates into 5 and 4 separate clusters, respectively. In addition, an assessment using bonitur scale revealed the top ranked isolates based on their PGP and biocontrol traits. Further detection of IAA production by the top ranked actinobacterial isolates namely, SA1, T1LA3 and S85 by using thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was done. Endophytic actinobacteria isolates, namely, SA1, T1LA3, and SA14 were further tested for their efficacy in promoting the growth of commercial tea clones, namely, TV1, TV9, TV18, and TV22 in nursery conditions. All the endophytic isolates tested showed significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in terms of plant growth promoting parameters in the treated plants compared to untreated control and may, thus be, deemed as potential candidates for application in bioformulations for tea growth.