Using HPLC-DAD and GC-MS Analysis Isolation and Identification of Anticandida Compounds from Gui Zhen Cao Herbs (Genus Bidens): An Important Chinese Medicinal Formulation.

Gui Zhen Cao is an herbal formulation that has been documented in Chinese traditional medicine as a remedy for diarrhea, dysentery, inflammation, and toxicity. The sources of this formulation (Bidens pilosa L., Bidens biternata (Lour.) Merr. & Sherff, Bidens bipinnata L.) are also listed in ethnomedicinal reports all over the world. In this study, all these plants are tested for in vitro anticandida activity. A quantitative evaluation of the phytochemicals in all these plants indicated that their vegetative parts are rich in tannins, saponins, oxalates, cyanogenic glycoside and lipids; moreover, the roots have high percentages of alkaloids, flavonoids, and phenols. The results indicated significant anticandida activity, especially for the hexane extract of B. bipinnata leaves which inhibited C. albicans (42.54%), C. glabrata (46.98%), C. tropicalis (50.89%), C. krusei (40.56%), and C. orthopsilosis (50.24%). The extract was subjected to silica gel chromatography and 220 fractions were obtained. Purification by High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection (HPLC-DAD) and Gas Chromatography tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) analysis led to the identification of two anticandida compounds: dehydroabietic and linoleic acid having an inhibition of 85 and 92%, respectively.

Correction: Mahmoud et al. Application of Silicon, Zinc, and Zeolite Nanoparticles-A Tool to Enhance Drought Stress Tolerance in Coriander Plants for Better Growth Performance and Productivity. Plants 2023, 12, 2838.

In the original publication [...].

Residual efficiency of iron-nanoparticles and different iron sources on growth, and antioxidants in maize plants under salts stress: life cycle study.

Exogenous application of iron (Fe) may alleviate salinity stress in plants growing in saline soils. This comparative study evaluated the comparative residual effects of iron nanoparticles (FNp) with two other Fe sources including iron-sulphate (FS) and iron-chelate (FC) on maize (Zea mays L.) crop grown under salt stress. All three Fe sources were applied at the rate of 15 and 25 mg/kg of soil before the sowing of wheat (an earlier crop; following the sequence of crop rotation) and no further Fe amendments were added later for the maize crop. Results revealed that FNp application at 25 mg/kg (FNp-2) substantially increased maize height, root length, root dry weight, shoot dry weight, and grain weightby 80.7%, 111.1%, 45.7%, 59.5%, and 77.2% respectively, as compared to the normal controls; and 62.6%, 81.3%, 65.1%, 78%, and 61.2% as compared to salt-stressed controls, respectively. The FNp-2 treatment gave higher activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase compared to salt stressed control (50.6%, 51%, 48.5%, and 49.2%, respectively). The FNp-2 treatment also produced more photosynthetic pigments and better physiological markers: higher chlorophyll a contents by 49.9%, chlorophyll b contents by 67.2%, carotenoids by 62.5%, total chlorophyll contents by 50.3%, membrane stability index by 59.1%, leaf water relative contents by 60.3% as compared to salt stressed control. The highest Fe and Zn concentrations in maize roots, shoots, and grains were observed in FNp treatment as compared to salts stressed control. Higher application rates of Fe from all the sources also delivered better outcomes in alleviating salinity stress in maize compared to their respective low application rates. The study demonstrated that FNp application alleviated salinity stress, increased nutrient uptake and enhanced the yield of maize grown on saline soils.

Physiomorphic and molecular-based evaluation of wheat germplasm under drought and heat stress.

Drought and heat stress are potential problems that can reduce wheat yield, particularly during the terminal growth stages in arid and semiarid regions of the world. The current study intended to examine the impact of individual and combined drought and heat stress on the biochemical contents (antioxidant enzymes, proline, soluble proteins, and soluble sugars), physiological parameters (chlorophyll content, cell membrane stability, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration), plant-water relations (relative water content, water potential, osmotic potential, and pressure potential), agronomic traits (flag leaf area, plant height, number of tillers per plant, spike length, grains per spike, and thousand-grain weight), and gene expression (TaHSF1a, TaWRKY-33, TaNAC2L, and TaGASR1) in four different thermostable and drought-tolerant wheat genotypes (i.e., Gold-16, HS-240, Suntop, and Hemai-13) collected from different countries. The tri-replicate experiment was conducted using two factorial arrangements in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). All measured traits, except total soluble sugars, proline, and cell membrane stability index, showed significant reduction under both combined and individual treatments. Furthermore, correlation analysis revealed a significant association between biochemical and physiological characteristics and crop agronomic productivity. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) and heatmap analysis demonstrated significant levels of variation in traits according to the type of stress and nature of wheat genotype. The spectrographs and micrographs generated by scanning electron microscopy for the selected high- and low- tolerance samples revealed clear differences in mineral distribution and starch granulation. All studied genes showed comparatively high levels of relative expression under combined treatments of drought and heat stress in all wheat genotypes, but this expression was the highest in 'Gold-16' followed by 'HS-240', 'Suntop', and 'Hemai-13'. Overall, this study concluded that plants are proactive entities and they respond to stresses at all levels; however, the tolerant plants tend to retain the integrity of their biochemical, physiological, and molecular equilibrium.

Application of Silicon, Zinc, and Zeolite Nanoparticles-A Tool to Enhance Drought Stress Tolerance in Coriander Plants for Better Growth Performance and Productivity.

Drought stress in arid regions is a serious factor affecting yield quantity and quality of economic crops. Under drought conditions, the application of nano-elements and nano-agents of water retention improved the water use efficiency, growth performance, and yield quantity of drought-stressed plants. For this objective, two field experiments were performed and organized as randomized complete block designs with six replications. The treatments included kaolin (5 t. ha-1) bentonite (12.5 t. ha-1), perlite (1.25 t.ha-1), N-zeolite (1.3 L.ha-1), N-silicon (2.5 L.ha-1), and N-zinc (2.5 L.ha-1). The current study showed that the application of silicon, zinc, and zeolite nanoparticles only positively influenced the morphological, physiological, and biochemical properties of the drought-stressed coriander plant. Exogenous application of N-silicon, N-zinc, and N-zeolite recorded the higher growth parameters of drought-stressed plants; namely, plant fresh weight, plant dry weight, leaf area, and root length than all the other treatments in both seasons. The improvement ratio, on average for both seasons, reached 17.93, 17.93, and 18.85% for plant fresh weight, 73.46, 73.46, and 75.81% for plant dry weight, 3.65, 3.65, and 3.87% for leaf area, and 17.46, 17.46, and 17.16% for root length of drought-stressed plants treated with N-silicon, N-zinc, and N-zeolite, respectively. For physiological responses, the application of N-zeolite, N-silicon, and N-zinc significantly increased leaf chlorophyll content, photosynthetic rate, water use efficiency, chlorophyll fluorescence, and photosystem II efficiency compared with the control in both seasons, respectively. Similar results were observed in antioxidant compounds, nutrient accumulation, and phytohormones. In contrast, those treatments markedly reduced the value of transpiration rate, nonphotochemical quenching, MDA, ABA, and CAT compared to control plants. Regarding the seed and oil yield, higher seed and oil yields were recorded in drought-stressed plants treated with N-zeolite followed by N-silicon and N-zinc than all the other treatments. Application of N-zeolite, N-silicon and N-zinc could be a promising approach to improve plant growth and productivity as well as to alleviate the adverse impacts of drought stress on coriander plants in arid and semi-arid areas.

Differential response of nano zinc sulphate with other conventional sources of Zn in mitigating salinity stress in rice grown on saline-sodic soil.

Salinization causes the degradation of the soil and threatening the global food security but the application of essential micronutrients like zinc (Zn), improve the plant growth by stabilizing the plant cell and root development. Keeping in view the above-mentioned scenario, an experiment was conducted to compare the efficiency of conventional Zn fertilizers like zinc sulphate (ZnSO4), zinc ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (Zn-EDTA) and advance nano Zn fertilizers such as zinc sulphate nanoparticles (ZnSO4NPs), and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) (applied at the rate of 5 and 10 mg/kg) in saline-sodic soil. Results revealed that the maximum plant height (67%), spike length (72%), root length (162%), number of tillers (71%), paddy weight (100%), shoot dry weight (158%), and root dry weight (119%) was found in ZnSO4NPs applied at the rate of 10 mg/kg (ZnSO4NPs-10) as compared to salt-affected control (SAC). Similarly, the plants physiological attributes like chlorophyll contents (91%), photosynthesis rate (113%), transpiration rate (106%), stomatal conductance (56%) and internal CO2 (11%) were increased by the application of ZnSO4NPs-10, as compared to SAC. The maximum Zn concentration in root (153%), shoot (205%) and paddy (167%) found in ZnSO4NPs-10, as compared to control. In the body of rice plants, other nutrients like phosphorus and potassium were also increased by the application of ZnSO4NPs-10 and soil chemical attributes such as sodium and sodium adsorption ratio were decreased. The current experiment concluded that the application of ZnSO4NPs at the rate of 10 mg/kg in salt-affected paddy soil increased the growth, physiology, up take of essential nutrients and yield of rice by balancing the cationic ratio under salt stress.

Physiological, biochemical and molecular evaluation of mungbean genotypes for agronomical yield under drought and salinity stresses in the presence of humic acid.

Drought and salinity are potential threats in arid and semi arid regions. The current study was conducted with objective to optimize the production of different exotic genotypes of mungbean (NM-121-25, Chakwal M-6, DM-3 and PRI-Mung-2018) under drought and salinity stresses using humic acid in field experiments. One year tri-replicate field experiment was performed in RCBD using three factorial arrangement and effects of humic acid (60 kg ha-1) were evaluated at physiological, biochemical, molecular and agronomical level under individual and integrated applications of drought (no irrigation till 15 days) and salinity (EC 6.4 dSM-1). Data for physiological parameters (total chlorophyll, photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and membrane damage), antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase) and proline were collected on weekly basis since after the initiation of drought and salinity stresses. However data for agronomic characteristics (plant height, branches plant-1, LAI, pods plant-1, pod length and hundred seed weight) and grain carbohydrate content were collected after harvesting, while sampling for drought (VrDREB2A, VrbZIP17 and VrHsfA6a) and salinity (VrWRKY73, VrUBC1 and VrNHX1) related genes expression study was done after plants attained seedling stage. Under both individual and integrated applications of drought and salinity, all genotypes showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in all traits excluding Cell membrane damage and proline during humic acid application. Likewise, genes expression revealed statistically distinct (p ≤ 0.05) up-regulation under humic acid treatment as compared to no humic acid treatment during both individual and integrated applications of drought and salinity. The genotype PRI-Mung-2018 recorded noteworthy performance during study. Moreover correlation and PCA analysis revealed that ultimate agronomical yield due to humic acid is an outcome of interconnection of physiological and biochemical parameters.

Assessing aging impact on growth potential of Vitamin E primed soybean seeds via biochemical profiling.

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is a high value crop owing to its nutrient rich profile, consisting of some of the largest reserve of proteins and oils among all plant crops. High yielding soybean variety seeds are of great intrinsic value as part of strategies to gain larger yield outputs over the years. These seeds often tend to lose their viability and corresponding storage period. The study is primarily focused on understanding and estimating the impact of storage conditions and influence of biochemical changes that leads to deteriorating seed health. Vitamin E is an essential compound that provides shielding effect to plant seeds against environmental stress. For this purpose seed priming of vitamin E was performed with a concentration of 300mgL-1 applied on to seeds. A total of seven promising cultivars were accessed for this; including Swat-20, Swat-84, NARC-2. Malakand, Rawal, Ajmeri and FaisalSoy. Results shows that all cultivars tend to lose their yield potential which is greatly in line with storage induced biochemical changes. Among the cultivars, Swat-84 and Swat-20 were resilient to an extent towards harmful storage stress impact. The present study has shown that application of vitamin E seed coating tend to enhance positive traits in stored seeds (including concentrations of CAT, SOD, TSS, etc.) in comparison to untreated seeds showing a healthy impact of the treatment on seed health under storage conditions. It is suggested that storing vitamin E treated seeds under optimum conditions as an effective method for attaining viable seeds after long terms storage. Findings of the present study can be used for future studies, assessment and designing of seed storage system in a manner to reduce negative impact on seed growth potential during long term storages.

Molecular Assessment of Genetic Diversity and Genetic Structure of Rhanterium epapposum Oliv. in Scarce Populations in Some Regions of Western Saudi Arabia.

Rhanterium epapposum Oliv. is a perennial medicinal shrub growing mainly in desert habitats in the Arabian Peninsula. In western Saudi Arabia, the remaining few populations of this species are exposed to many threats, including overcutting, overgrazing, and recently, increasing human activities. These threats are predicted to be exacerbated by the advancement of aridification caused by climate change. The conservation and recovering of the diminished populations of R. epapposum necessitate measurement of their genetic diversity and genetic differentiation. To accomplish this objective, we tested 150 simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer pairs, with which 40 polymorphic loci were identified. These polymorphic loci were used to determine the population genetics of 540 plant accessions sampled from a total of 45 populations of R. epapposum located in 8 sites in western Saudi Arabia: Wadi Khurieba, Wadi Al Khamas, Gebel Al Twaal, Al Asaafer, Wadi ALHamda, Wadi Al Nassayeif, Wadi Qaraba, Wadi Kuliayah, and Wadi Dahban. Low levels of genetic diversity were found in all populations (the values of the PPL ranged between 52.5 and 15) along with a declined value of HT (0.123) and a considerable inbreeding value (F = 0.942), which confirmed a noticeable shortage of heterozygotes. High genetic differentiation among the populations and a low value of gene flow are indicative of high isolation among the R. epapposum populations, which has caused a severe deficiency in gene migration. The data obtained herein inspire several recommendations for conservation and retrieval of the existing populations, including seed banks, restoration of diminished populations, and monitoring and prevention of cutting and grazing activities at threatened sites. All of these measures are urgently required to avoid imminent extinction.

Determinants of resistant starch accumulation in wheat endosperm.

A part of the big three cereal crops in the world, wheat has become a major constituent of the everyday food chain and is grown at a massive scale to meet global demands. This makes it an important crop from an economic as well as food security perspective. Selection of high-quality cultivars and consistent trait enhancement for such cultivars is crucial, and in light of new challenges from climate change, this has become an absolute necessity of time. In this regard, we conducted a detailed qualitative and quantitative trait analysis for multiple commercially viable varieties of wheat, and corresponding results were subjected to a series of critical statistical analyses. Final results have shown that five cultivars including Uqaab-2000, Faisalabad- 85, Anmol-19, NARC-2009, and Pirsabak-2004 depicts higher levels of various essential qualitative and quantitative traits (including Starch content, grain weight, RS content, Protein content, etc.) and are most viable varieties for further growth and trait enhancements to meet regional and global food challenges.

Folic Acid Confers Tolerance against Salt Stress-Induced Oxidative Damages in Snap Beans through Regulation Growth, Metabolites, Antioxidant Machinery and Gene Expression.

Although the effect of folic acid (FA) and its derivatives (folates) have been extensively studied in humans and animals, their effects are still unclear in most plant species, specifically under various abiotic stress conditions. Here, the impact of FA as a foliar application at 0, 0.1, and 0.2 mM was studied on snap bean seedlings grown under non-saline and salinity stress (50 mM NaCl) conditions. The results indicated that under salinity stress, FA-treated plants revealed a significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in growth parameters (fresh and dry weight of shoot and root). A similar trend was observed in chlorophyll (Chl b), total chlorophyll, carotenoids, leaf relative water content (RWC), proline, free amino acids (FAA), soluble sugars, cell membrane stability index (CMSI), and K, Ca, and K/Na ratio compared to the untreated plants. In contrast, a significant decrease was observed in Na and salinity-induced oxidative damage as indicated by reduced H2O2 production (using biochemical and histochemical detection methods) and rate of lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde; MDA). This enhancement was correlated by increasing the activities of antioxidant enzymes, i.e., superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (G-POX), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). Gene expression analyses conducted using qRT-PCR demonstrated that genes coding for the Na+/H+ antiporter protein Salt Overly Sensitive 1 (SOS1), the tonoplast-localized Na+/H+ antiporter protein (NHX1), and the multifunctional osmotic protective protein (Osmotin) were significantly up-regulated in the FA-treated plants under both saline and non-saline treatments. Generally, treatment with 0.2 mM FA was more potent than 0.1 mM and can be recommended to improve snap bean tolerance to salinity stress.

Phylogenetic and Expression Studies of Small GTP-Binding Proteins in Solanum lycopersicum Super Strain B.

This investigation involved a comparative analysis of the small GTPase superfamily in S. lycopersicum super strain B compared to their analogues in leguminous and other non-leguminous species. The small GTPases superfamily members were recognized by tBLASTn searches. The sequences of amino acid were aligned using Clustal Omega and the analysis of phylogeny was performed with the MEGA7 package. Protein alignments were applied for all studied species. Three-dimensional models of RABA2, ROP9, and ROP10 from Solanum lycopersicum "Super strain B" were performed. The levels of mRNA of the Rab, Arf, Rop, and Ran subfamilies were detected in aerial tissues vs. roots. Significant divergences were found in the number of members and groups comprising each subfamily of the small GTPases and Glycine max had the highest count. High expression of Rab and Arf proteins was shown in the roots of legumes whilst in non-legume plants, the highest values were recorded in aerial tissues. S. lycopersicum super strain B had the highest expression of Rab and Arf proteins in its aerial tissues, which may indicate that diazotroph strains have supreme activities in the aerial tissues of strain B and act as associated N-fixing bacteria. The phylogenies of the small GTPase superfamily of the studied plants did not reveal asymmetric evolution of the Ra, Arf, Rop, and Ran subfamilies. Multiple sequence alignments derived from each of the Rab, Arf, and Rop proteins of S. lycopersicum super strain B showed a low frequency of substitutions in their domains. GTPases superfamily members have definite functions during infection, delivery, and maintenance of N2-fixing diazotroph but show some alterations in their function among S. lycopersicum super strain B, and other species.

Dehydrin responsive HVA1 driven inducible gene expression enhanced salt and drought tolerance in wheat.

Heterologous expression of plant genes is becoming an important strategy for the improvement of specific traits in existing cultivars. This study presents the response of a salt-sensitive high-yielding wheat variety under stress-inducible expression of barley HVA1 gene belonging to the Late embryogenesis abundance (LEA) gene family. Six homozygous transgenic wheat plants were developed and advanced for testing under various water regimes and salt stress conditions. Putative transgenic plants showed better germination and root shoot development at the early developmental stages under drought stress conditions. Moreover, transgenic plants illustrated higher values of physiological features as compared to non-transgenic plants under both drought and salinity stresses that indicate improved physiological processes in transgenic plants. Higher membrane stability index (MSI) and lower electrolyte leakage (EL) after exposure to abiotic stresses reveal improved cellular membrane stability (CMS) and reduced injury to chloroplast membrane. Interestingly, under salinity stress, transgenic wheat plants showed preference towards higher K+ accumulation in the shoot, which is not a well-understood HVA1 mediated Na + avoidance mechanism under excessive subsurface salts. The predisposition of K+/Na + under salt stress conditions on heterologous expression of the HVA1 gene in wheat needs to be studied in detail in further studies.

Pharmacological properties and preliminary phytochemical analysis of Pseudocaryopteris foetida (D.Don) P.D. Cantino leaves.

Medicinal plants have significant contribution in pharmaceutical industries being producers of compounds utilized as precursors for drug development. A plant of Lamiaceae family; Pseudocaryopteris foetida had not been investigated for its biomedical potential. Current research was aimed to investigate phytochemical analysis, cytotoxic potential and antioxidant activity of crude methanolic extract and fractions of Pseudocaryopteris foetida (leaves). The preliminary phytochemical analysis of crude methanolic extracts and fractions of Pseudocaryopteris foetida revealed that plant is rich in phenolic and flavonoid classes of secondary metabolites while presence of tannin was observed only in crude methanolic extract. The cytotoxicity was determined using brine shrimp lethality test. Different concentrations (25, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 µg/mL) of crude methanolic extract and fractions exhibited dose dependent cytotoxicity. However, The LD50 for all the extracts was more than 200 µg/mL indicating weak cytotoxic potential of Pseudocaryopteris foetida. The antioxidant capabilities of crude methanolic extract and fraction of Pseudocaryopteris foetida were analyzed by in vitro bio assays including DPPH, ABTS, Reducing power and phosphomolybdate antioxidant assays using ascorbic acid as standard. The crude methanolic extract showed IC50 (256.38 ± 0.6 and 314.95 ± 1.1 µg/mL) for DPPH and ABTS respectively, while total antioxidant capacity was calculated as 55.79 ± 0.5 µg/mL for crude methanolic extract of Pseudocaryopteris foetida while ascorbic acid indicated total antioxidant capacity of 71.89 ± 2.3 µg/mL. Study concluded that leaves of Pseudocaryopteris foetida were the rich source of antioxidant phytochemicals. Based on preliminary investigations further research should be focused to isolate bioactive phytochemicals as leading source of clinical medicines in future.

Silicon-nanoparticles doped biochar is more effective than biochar for mitigation of arsenic and salinity stress in Quinoa: Insight to human health risk assessment.

The increasing contamination of soil with arsenic (As), and salinity has become a menace to food security and human health. The current study investigates the comparative efficacy of plain biochar (BC), and silicon-nanoparticles doped biochar (SBC) for ameliorating the As and salinity-induced phytotoxicity in quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) and associated human health risks. Quinoa was grown on normal and saline soils (ECe 12.4 dS m-1) contaminated with As (0, 20 mg kg-1) and supplemented with 1% of BC or SBC. The results demonstrated that plant growth, grain yield, chlorophyll contents, and stomatal conductance of quinoa were decreased by 62, 44, 48, and 66%, respectively under the blended stress of As and salinity as compared to control. Contrary to this, the addition of BC to As-contaminated saline soil caused a 31 and 25% increase in plant biomass and grain yield. However, these attributes were increased by 45 and 38% with the addition of SBC. The H2O2 and TBARS contents were enhanced by 5 and 10-fold, respectively under the combined stress of As and salinity. The SBC proved to be more efficient than BC in decreasing oxidative stress through overexpressing of antioxidant enzymes. The activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase were enhanced by 5.4, 4.6, and 11-fold with the addition of SBC in As-contaminated saline soil. Contamination of grains by As revealed both the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks to human health, however, these effects were minimized with the addition of SBC. As accumulation in grains was decreased by 65-fold and 25-fold, respectively for BC and SBC in addition to As-contaminated saline soil. The addition of SBC to saline soils contaminated with As for quinoa cultivation is an effective approach for decreasing the food chain contamination and improving food security. However, more research is warranted for the field evaluation of the effectiveness of SBC in abating As uptake in other food crops cultivated on As polluted normal and salt-affected soils.

Genome-wide association studies of seedling quantitative trait loci against salt tolerance in wheat.

Salinity is one of the significant factors in decreasing wheat yield and quality. To counter this, it is necessary to develop salt-tolerant wheat varieties through conventional and advanced molecular techniques. The current study identified quantitative trait loci in response to salt stress among worldwide landraces and improved varieties of wheat at the seedling stage. A total of 125 landraces and wheat varieties were subjected to salt treatment (50, 100, and 150 mM) with control. Morphological seedling traits, i.e., shoot length, root length, and fresh and dry shoot and root weights for salinity tolerance were observed to assess salt tolerance and genetic analysis using SNP data through DArT-seq. The results showed that, at the seedling stage, 150 mM NaCl treatment decreased shoot length, root length, and fresh and dry weights of the shoot and root. The root length and dry root weight were the most affected traits at the seedling stage. Effective 4417 SNPs encompassing all the chromosomes of the wheat genome with marker density, i.e., 37%, fall in genome B, genome D (32%), and genome A (31%). Five loci were found on four chromosomes 6B, 6D, 7A, and 7D, showing strong associations with the root length, fresh shoot weight, fresh root weight, and dry root weight at the p < 0.03 significance level. The positive correlation was found among all morphological traits under study.

Silymarin-Enriched Biostimulant Foliar Application Minimizes the Toxicity of Cadmium in Maize by Suppressing Oxidative Stress and Elevating Antioxidant Gene Expression.

For maize, the potential preventive role of foliar spraying with an extract derived from maize grain (MEg, 2%), silymarin (Sm, 0.5 mM), or silymarin-enriched MEg (MEg-Sm) in attenuating the stress effects of cadmium (Cd, 0.5 mM) was examined using a completely randomized design layout. Under normal conditions, foliar spraying with MEg, Sm, or MEg-Sm was beneficial (with MEg-Sm preferred) for maize plants, whereas the benefit was more pronounced under Cd stress. The use of Cd through irrigation water decreased plant growth traits, photosynthetic efficiency, including instantaneous carboxylation efficiency, Fv/Fm, and pigment contents, and hormonal contents (e.g., auxin, gibberellins, cytokinins including trans-zeatin, and salicylic acid). These undesired findings were due to an increase in Cd content, leading to increased levels of oxidative stress (O2•- and H2O2), ionic leakage, and lipid peroxidation. Therefore, this damage resulted in an increase in the activities of nonenzymatic antioxidants, Sm, antioxidative enzymes, and enzyme gene expression. However, under Cd stress, although foliar spray with MEg or Sm had better findings than control, MEg-Sm had better findings than MEg or Sm. Application of MEg-Sm greatly increased photosynthesis efficiency, restored hormonal homeostasis, and further increased the activities of various antioxidants, Sm, antioxidative enzymes, and enzyme gene expression. These desired findings were due to the suppression of the Cd content, and thus the levels of O2•-, H2O2, ionic leakage, and lipid peroxidation, which were positively reflected in the growth and accumulation of dry matter in maize plants. The data obtained in this study recommend applying silymarin-enriched maize grain extract (MEg-Sm at 0.24 g Sm L-1 of MEg) as a spray solution to maize plants when exposed to excess Cd in soil or irrigation water.

Comparative Study on Phytochemical Profile and Antioxidant Activity of an Epiphyte, Viscum album L. (White Berry Mistletoe), Derived from Different Host Trees.

The study aimed at evaluating the antioxidant profile of a medicinal epiphyte Viscum album L. harvested from three tree species, namely, Populus ciliata L, Ulmus villosa L., and Juglans regia L. The crude extracts were obtained with ethanol, methanol, and water and were evaluated for the total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant activities using total reducing power (TRP), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 1, 1-diphenyl 1-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), superoxide radical scavenging (SOR), and hydroxyl radical scavenging (•OH) assays. Our results showed that crude leaf extracts of plants harvested from the host Juglans regia L. exhibited higher yields of phytochemical constituents and noticeable antioxidative properties. The ethanolic leaf samples reported the highest phenols (13.46 ± 0.87 mg/g), flavonoids (2.38 ± 0.04 mg/g), FRAP (500.63 ± 12.58 µM Fe II/g DW), and DPPH (87.26% ± 0.30 mg/mL). Moreover, the highest values for TRP (4.24 ± 0.26 µg/mL), SOR (89.79% ± 0.73 mg/mL), and OH (67.16% ± 1.15 mg/mL) were obtained from aqueous leaf extracts. Further, Pearson correlation was used for quantifying the relationship between TPC, TFC, and antioxidant (FRAP, DPPH, SOR, OH) activities in Viscum album L. compared to their hosts. It was revealed that the epiphyte showed variation with the type of host plant and extracting solvent.

Determination of ROS Scavenging, Antibacterial and Antifungal Potential of Methanolic Extract of Otostegia limbata (Benth.) Boiss.

Wide spectrum medicinal significance augments plant utilization as the primary source of significant pharmaceutical agents. In vitro investigation of antioxidant and antimicrobial activity highlights the therapeutic potential of Otostegia limbata. Methanol extract of the plant (MEP) shows considerable dose dependent antioxidant ability at six concentrations (7.81 µg/mL to 250 µg/mL) in 2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, phosphomolybdate assay (PMA) and reducing power assay (RPA). The plant capability to scavenge free radicals in the mixture ranged from 37.89% to 63.50% in a concentration-dependent manner. MEP was active against five tested bacterial strains in the agar-well diffusion method. Staphylococcus aureus, gram-positive bacteria was found to be most susceptible followed by S. epidermidis with 18.80 mm and 17.47 mm mean zone of inhibition. The mean inhibition zone against gram-negative strains Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas spp. and Escherichia coli were 15.07 mm, 14.73 mm, and 12.17 mm. MEP revealed potential against Alternaria spp. and Aspergillus terreus fungal strains evaluated through agar-tube dilution assay. Aspergillus terreus was more sensitive than Alternaria spp. with an average 78.45% and 68.0% inhibition. These findings can serve as a benchmark for forthcoming scrutiny such as bioactive components discovery and drug development.

De novo leaf transcriptome assembly of Bougainvillea spectabilis for the identification of genes involves in the secondary metabolite pathways.

Bougainvillea spectabilis is known as a vital medicinal, ornamental as well as an essential oil producing plant. It is also a rich source of important secondary metabolites with several therapeutic properties. Various studies on its pharmacological and toxicological aspects have been published but there is no genomic or transcriptomic resource available in the public databases. To address this important issue, the de-novo transcriptome assembly of B. spectabilis leaf tissue has been done for the identification of genes involved in various important secondary metabolites, Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) and Simple sequence repeats (SSRs). The transcriptome sequencing of B. spectabilis leaf tissue generated 79,811,024 raw reads with GC value 42.77%. The transcriptomic assembly was performed by Trinity software which generated 100,374 transcripts and 99,793 unigenes with minimum and maximum length of 201 bp and 13,237 bp and N50 value of 1470 and 1472 respectively. Annotation of these unigenes was performed using seven databases including NR, PFAM, GO and KEGG. Approximately, 44,302 unigenes were annotated in GO database. The KEGG pathway analysis revealed 23,102 unigenes in which 19,054 genes were assigned to five groups in KEGG and 130 biochemical pathways. The highest group among the five groups was Metabolism with 9230 unigenes. Moreover, about 63,226 SNPs and 30,333 SSRs in the leaf transcriptome of B. spectabilis were identified. To the best of my understanding it will be the first comprehensive transcriptome analysis of B. spectabilis from family Nyctaginaceae which will help as a reference line for further genomic and transcriptomic studies.