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Topic Review
Biological Activities of Mucuna Pruriens
Mature fruits of M. pruriens were harvested from Fort Hare University’s Research Farm located in Alice, South Africa. The collected seeds were pulverized in a standard process and taken to the laboratory for crude extraction and further treatments. Cytotoxic, antimalarial, and trypanocidal effects of crude extracts obtained from ethanol and water were tested, while the total phenolic, proanthocyanidin, and flavonoid contents of the aqueous extracts as well as their pharmacological activities were determined in vitro using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl ethanol (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) assays. Although the extracts showed mild antiparasitic (antiplasmodial and trypanocidal) effects, results from the cytotoxic experiment revealed that M. pruriens is not toxic to human cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cells when tested using 50 µg/mL of extracts. It was observed that the seeds were remarkably rich in phenol (3730.1 ± 15.52 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g) compared to flavonoids (63.03 ± 1.95 mg quercetin equivalent (QE)/g) and proanthocyanidin (18.92 ± 1.09 mg catechin equivalent (CE)/g). Also, the antioxidant activities of the extracts were comparable to those of the standard antioxidant drugs (rutin and gallic acid) used, in a concentration-dependent manner. There was a direct relationship between phenolic acid content and antioxidant effects. It is therefore suggested that M. pruriens seeds be incorporated into human diets as a supplement to promote healthy living. Pharmaceutical industries with a particular interest in natural phenolic acids should consider using seeds of M. pruriens as pharmaceutical precursors. 
  • 1.8K
  • 09 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Downy Mildew Detection and Diagnostics
Downy mildews affect important crops and cause severe losses in production worldwide. Accurate identification and monitoring of these plant pathogens, especially at early stages of the disease, is fundamental in achieving effective disease control. The rapid development of molecular methods for diagnosis has provided more specific, fast, reliable, sensitive, and portable alternatives for plant pathogen detection and quantification than traditional approaches. 
  • 1.8K
  • 11 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Abiotic Stress Response in Cereal Crops
Cereals have evolved various tolerance mechanisms to cope with abiotic stress. Understanding the abiotic stress response mechanism of cereal crops at the molecular level offers a path to high-yielding and stress-tolerant cultivars to sustain food and nutritional security. In this regard, enormous progress has been made in the omics field in the areas of genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. Omics approaches generate a massive amount of data, and adequate advancements in computational tools have been achieved for effective analysis. 
  • 1.8K
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Green Production of CWLEs
Energy demand is constantly growing, and, nowadays, fossil fuels still play a dominant role in global energy production, despite their negative effects on air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases, which are the main contributors to global warming. An alternative clean source of energy is represented by the lignocellulose fraction of plant cell walls, the most abundant carbon source on Earth. To obtain biofuels, lignocellulose must be efficiently converted into fermentable sugars. In this regard, the exploitation of cell wall lytic enzymes (CWLEs) produced by lignocellulolytic fungi and bacteria may be considered as an eco-friendly alternative. These organisms evolved to produce a variety of highly specific CWLEs, even if in low amounts. For an industrial use, both the identification of novel CWLEs and the optimization of sustainable CWLE-expressing biofactories are crucial.
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Diversity of Plant Cell Wall
The plant cell wall is a complex and dynamic structure composed of many different molecules, which play multiple roles in all aspects of plant life. Today, a new frontier of biotechnology has opened up, which has provided new insights into the structural and functional diversity of cell walls, and is thus serving to re-emphasize the significance of cell wall divergence in the evolutionary history of plant species. The recent availability of plant genome datasets can be used to increase the knowledge regarding the diversity of cell walls among different plant species. Since the growth and development of all types of plant cells are functions of cell wall dynamics, further understanding of the functional diversity of cell walls in relation to diverse biological events will have a significant effect on the broad field of plant sciences.
  • 1.7K
  • 18 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Vascular Plant
Vascular plants (from la vasculum 'duct'), also called tracheophytes (/trəˈkiː.əˌfaɪts/) or collectively Tracheophyta (from grc τραχεῖα ἀρτηρία) 'windpipe', and φυτά , form a large group of land plants (c. 300,000 accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified tissue (the phloem) to conduct products of photosynthesis. Vascular plants include the clubmosses, horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms (including conifers) and angiosperms (flowering plants). Scientific names for the group include Tracheophyta,:251 Tracheobionta and Equisetopsida sensu lato. Some early land plants (the rhyniophytes) had less developed vascular tissue; the term eutracheophyte has been used for all other vascular plants, including all living ones. Historically, vascular plants were known as "higher plants," as it was believed that they were further evolved than other plants due to being more complex organisms. However, this is an antiquated remnant of the obsolete scala naturae, and the term is generally considered to be unscientific.
  • 1.7K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Bergenia Genus
Bergenia(s) are evergreen, perennial, drought-resistant, herbaceous plants that bear pink flowers produced in a cyme. Due to the leaf shape and leathery texture, Bergenia(s) have earned some interesting nicknames such as "pigsqueak", "elephant-ear", "heartleaf", "leather cabbage", or "picnic plates". The plants should be planted about two feet apart as they spread horizontally up to 45–60 cm. Bergenia species possess several other biological activities like diuretic, antidiabetic, antitussive, insecticidal, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, anti-bradykinin, antiviral, antibacterial, antimalarial, hepatoprotective, antiulcer, anticancer, antioxidant, antiobesity, and adaptogenic.
  • 1.7K
  • 07 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Psophocarpus Tetragonolobus
Natural products, particularly those extracted from plants, have been used as therapy for different diseases for thousands of years. The first written records on the plants used in natural medicine, referred to as “medicinal plants”, go back to about 2600 BC. A thorough and complete understanding of medicinal plants encompasses a multiplex of overlapping and integrated sciences such as botany, pharmacognosy, chemistry, enzymology and genetics. Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, a member of Fabaceae family also called winged bean, is a perennial herbaceous plant characterized by its tuberous roots and its winged pod twinning and a perennial legume rich in proteins, oils, vitamins and carbohydrates. Besides nutrients, winged bean also contains bioactive compounds that have therapeutic activities like anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, antibacterial, antifungal, antiproliferative and cytotoxic activity, a few of which already been reported. This plant can also be used as a medicinal plant for future benefits.
  • 1.7K
  • 04 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Iron Homeostasis in Plants
Plants are able to synthesize all essential metabolites from minerals, water, and light to complete their life cycle. This plasticity comes at a high energy cost, therefore plants need to tightly allocate resources in order to control their economy. Being sessile, plants can only adapt to fluctuating environmental conditions, relying on quality control mechanisms. Remodeling of cellular components plays a crucial role, not only in response to stress, but also in normal plant development. Dynamic protein turnover is ensured through regulated protein synthesis and degradation processes. To effectively target a wide range of proteins for degradation, plants utilize ubiquitination as an essential signal of substrate recognition for the 26S proteasome. Recent progress has been made in understanding the cellular homeostasis of iron. In this review, we highlight the latest publications elucidating the role of Ubiquitin-Proteasome System (UPS) in control of iron metabolism during plant development, as well as environmental stresses.
  • 1.7K
  • 06 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Dietary Polyphenols' Biopharmaceutical Classification System
Polyphenols are natural organic compounds produced by plants, acting as antioxidants by reacting with ROS. These compounds are widely consumed in daily diet and many studies report several benefits to human health thanks to their bioavailability in humans. However, the digestion process of phenolic compounds is still not completely clear. Moreover, bioavailability is dependent on the metabolic phase of these compounds. The LogP value can be managed as a simplified measure of the lipophilicity of a substance ingested within the human body, which affects resultant absorption. The biopharmaceutical classification system (BCS), a method used to classify drugs intended for gastrointestinal absorption, correlates the solubility and permeability of the drug with both the rate and extent of oral absorption. BCS may be helpful to measure the bioactive constituents of foods, such as polyphenols, in order to understand their nutraceutical potential. There are many literature studies that focus on permeability, absorption, and bioavailability of polyphenols and their resultant metabolic byproducts, but there is still confusion about their respective LogP values and BCS classification. 
  • 1.7K
  • 17 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Class II KNOX Transcription Factors
Knotted-like homeobox (KNOX) genes encode homeodomain-containing transcription factors (TFs) that modulate various important developmental processes in plants. While Class I KNOX TF genes are mainly expressed in the shoot apical meristems of both monocot and eudicot plants and are involved in meristem maintenance and/or formation, Class II KNOXTF genes exhibit diverse expression patterns and their precise functions have mostly remained unknown. The expression patterns of Class II KNOX TF genes in Arabidopsis, namely KNAT3, KNAT4, KNAT5, and KNAT7, suggest that TFs encoded by at least some of these genes, such as KNAT7 and KNAT3, may play a significant role in secondary cell wall formation.
  • 1.7K
  • 24 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Essential Oils and Terpenoids Effects
Weeds are one of the major constraints in crop production affecting both yield and quality. The excessive and exclusive use of synthetic herbicides for their management is increasing the development of herbicide-resistant weeds and is provoking risks for the environment and human health. Therefore, the development of new herbicides with multitarget-site activity, new modes of action and low impact on the environment and health are badly needed. The study of plant–plant interactions through the release of secondary metabolites could be a starting point for the identification of new molecules with herbicidal activity. Essential oils (EOs) and their components, mainly terpenoids, as pure natural compounds or in mixtures, because of their structural diversity and strong phytotoxic activity, could be good candidates for the development of new bioherbicides or could serve as a basis for the development of new natural-like low impact synthetic herbicides. EOs and terpenoids have been largely studied for their phytotoxicity and several evidences on their modes of action have been highlighted in the last decades through the use of integrated approaches.
  • 1.7K
  • 25 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Salicylic Acid and Systemic Immunity in Plants
Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) occurs when primary infected leaves produce several SAR-inducing chemical or mobile signals that are transported to uninfected distal parts via apoplastic or symplastic compartments and activate systemic immunity. The transport route of many chemicals associated with SAR is unknown.
  • 1.7K
  • 09 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Hydrogenases in Plants
Hydrogenases catalyze the reversible oxidation of H2, and are found in many organisms, including plants. One of the cellular effects of H2 is the selective removal of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), specifically hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite. Therefore, the function of hydrogenases and the action of H2 needs to be reviewed in the context of the signalling roles of a range of redox active compounds. Enzymes can be controlled by the covalent modification of thiol groups, and although motifs targeted by nitric oxide (NO) can be predicted in hydrogenases sequences it is likely that the metal prosthetic groups are the target of inhibition.
  • 1.7K
  • 25 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Flagellum/Stigma in Euglena gracilis
Cell division of unicellular microalgae is a fascinating process of proliferation, at which whole organelles are regenerated and distributed to two new lives. We performed dynamic live cell imaging of Euglena gracilis using optical microscopy to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the regulation of the eyespot and flagellum during cell division and distribution of the organelles into the two daughter cells. Single cells of the wild type (WT) and colorless SM-ZK cells were confined in a microfluidic device, and the appearance of the eyespot (stigma) and emergent flagellum was tracked in sequential video-recorded images obtained by automatic cell tracking and focusing. We examined 12 SM-ZK and 10 WT cells and deduced that the eyespot diminished in size and disappeared at an early stage of cell division and remained undetected for 26–97 min (62 min on average, 22 min in deviation). Subsequently, two small eyespots appeared and were distributed into the two daughter cells. Additionally, the emergent flagellum gradually shortened to zero-length, and two flagella emerged from the anterior ends of the daughter cells. Our observation revealed that the eyespot and flagellum of E. gracilis are degraded once in the cell division, and the carotenoids in the eyespot are also decomposed. Subsequently, the two eyespots/flagella are regenerated for distribution into daughter cells. As a logical conclusion, the two daughter cells generated from a single cell division possess the equivalent organelles and each E. gracilis cell has eternal or non-finite life span. The two newly regenerated eyespot and flagellum grow at different rates and mature at different timings in the two daughter cells, resulting in diverse cell characteristics in E. gracilis.
  • 1.7K
  • 05 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Monarda Species
The genus Monarda (family Lamiaceae) contains 22 species of which three are native to southern Alabama, M. citriodora, M. fistulosa, and M. punctata. Several species of Monarda have been used in traditional medicines of Native Americans, and this present study is part of an ongoing project to add to our understanding of Native American pharmacopeia.
  • 1.7K
  • 11 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Capsaicinoids and Capsiate in Pepper
Capsaicinoids and capsinoids, which are bioactive compounds of interest, are  responsible for the level of pungency of chili peppers, which is one of their most important commercial traits. Both capsaicinoids and capsinoids have received great attention from consumers because of their extensive pharmacological and physiological effects, i.e., antitumor, antioxidant, antiobesity, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic.
  • 1.7K
  • 09 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Serotonin and Melatonin Biosynthesis in Plants
Serotonin (Ser) and melatonin (Mel) serve as master regulators of plant growth and development by influencing diverse cellular processes. The enzymes namely, tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) and tryptamine 5-hydroxylase (T5H) catalyse the formation of Ser from tryptophan. Subsequently, serotonin N-acetyl transferase (SNAT) and acetyl-serotonin methyltransferase (ASMT) form Mel from Ser. Plant genomes harbour multiple genes for each of these four enzymes, all of which have not been identified yet. 
  • 1.7K
  • 16 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Alsophila Dealbata
Alsophila dealbata, synonym Cyathea dealbata, commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga /ˈpɒŋə/ or punga /ˈpʌŋə/ (from Māori kaponga or ponga), is a species of medium-sized tree fern, endemic to New Zealand. The fern is usually recognisable by the silver-white colour of the under-surface of mature fronds. It is a symbol commonly associated with the country both overseas and by New Zealanders themselves.
  • 1.7K
  • 02 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Ludwigia decurrens Walter
Ludwigia decurrens Walter is a dicotyledonous plant belonging to the family Onagraceae. It is native to Central Eastern USA but has been spreading quickly and has naturalized in aquatic and riparian ecosystems (including rice paddy fields) in many countries; therefore, it is now considered an invasive noxious weed. L. decurrens is highly competitive with rice and causes a significant reduction in rice production. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of the herbicide penoxsulam for the control of L. decurrens in rice fields. The seeds of L. decurrens were collected from four villages in Indonesia, and penoxsulam was applied to L. decurrens in seven dosages (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 g a.i. /ha) 3 weeks after seed sowing. The plant populations from Hegarmanah, Jatisari, and Joho showed complete mortality at the recommended dosage of penoxsulam (10 g a.i. /ha). However, the plants from Demakan grew, flowered, and produced seeds 56 days after treatment with 40 g a.i. /ha of penoxsulam. The resistance index value of the population was 36.06. 
  • 1.7K
  • 26 Sep 2021
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