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Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii is best known for its treatment efficacy against different gastrointestinal diseases. This probiotic yeast can significantly protect the normal microbiota of the human gut and inhibit the pathogenicity of different diarrheal infections. Several clinical investigations have declared S. cerevisiae var. boulardii a biotherapeutic agent due to its antibacterial, antiviral, anti-carcinogenic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory properties. Oral or intramuscular administration of S. cerevisiae var. boulardii can remarkably induce health-promoting effects in the host body. Different intrinsic and extrinsic factors are responsible for its efficacy against acute and chronic gut-associated diseases. This review will discuss the clinical and beneficial effects of S. cerevisiae var. boulardii in the treatment and prevention of different metabolic diseases and highlight some of its health-promising properties. This review article will provide fundamental insights for new avenues in the fields of biotherapeutics, antimicrobial resistance and one health.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is a chronic and sometimes fatal condition which affects people all over the world. Nanotherapeutics have shown tremendous potential to combat chronic diseases—including DM2—as they enhance the overall impact of drugs on biological systems. Greenly synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Catharanthus roseus methanolic extract (C. AgNPs) were examined primarily for their cytotoxic and antidiabetic effects. Methods: Characterization of C. AgNPs was performed by UV–vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The C. AgNPs were trialed on Vero cell line and afterwards on an animal model (rats). Results: The C. AgNPs showed standard structural and functional characterization as revealed by FTIR and XRD analyses. The zetapotential analysis indicated stability while EDX analysis confirmed the formation of composite capping with Ag metal. The cytotoxic effect (IC50) of C. AgNPs on Vero cell lines was found to be 568 g/mL. The animal model analyses further revealed a significant difference in water intake, food intake, body weight, urine volume, and urine sugar of tested rats after treatment with aqueous extract of C. AgNPs. Moreover, five groups of rats including control and diabetic groups (NC1, PC2, DG1, DG2, and DG3) were investigated for their blood glucose and glycemic control analysis. Conclusions: The C. AgNPs exhibited positive potential on the Vero cell line as well as on experimental rats. The lipid profile in all the diabetic groups (DG1-3) were significantly increased compared with both of the control groups (p < 0.05). The present study revealed the significance of C. AgNPs in nanotherapeutics.

Root growth angle (RGA) in response to gravity controlled by auxin is a pertinent target trait for obtainment of higher yield in cereals. But molecular basis of this root architecture trait remain obscure in wheat and barley. We selected four cultivars two each for wheat and barley to unveil the molecular genetic mechanism of Deeper Rooting 1-like gene which controls RGA in rice leading to higher yield under drought imposition. Morphological analyses revealed a deeper and vertically oriented root growth in \"NARC 2009\" variety of wheat than \"Galaxy\" and two other barley cultivars \"Scarlet\" and \"ISR42-8\". Three new homoeologs designated as TaANDRO1-like, TaBNDRO1-like and TaDNDRO1-like corresponding to A, B and D genomes of wheat could be isolated from \"NARC 2009\". Due to frameshift and intronization/exonization events the gene structures of these paralogs exhibit variations in size. DRO1-like genes with five distinct domains prevail in diverse plant phyla from mosses to angiosperms but in lower plants their differentiation from LAZY, NGR and TAC1 (root and shoot angle genes) is enigmatic. Instead of IGT as denominator motif of this family, a new C-terminus motif WxxTD in the V-domain is proposed as family specific motif. The EAR-like motif IVLEM at the C-terminus of the TaADRO1-like and TaDDRO1-like that diverged to KLHTLIPNK in TaBDRO1-like and HvDRO1-like is the hallmark of these proteins. Split-YFP and yeast two hybrid assays complemented the interaction of TaDRO1-like with TOPLESS-a repressor of auxin regulated root promoting genes in plants-through IVLEM/KLHTLIPNK motif. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed abundance of DRO1-like RNA in root tips and spikelets while transcript signals were barely detectable in shoot and leaf tissues. Interestingly, wheat exhibited stronger expression of TaBDRO1-like than barley (HvDRO1-like), but TaBDRO1-like was the least expressing among three paralogs. The underlying cause of this expression divergence seems to be the presence of AuxRE motif TGTCTC and core TGTC with a coupling AuxRE-like motif ATTTTCTT proximal to the transcriptional start site in TaBDRO1-like and HvDRO1-like promoters. This is evident from binding of ARF1 to TGTCTC and TGTC motifs of TaBDRO1-like as revealed by yeast one-hybrid assay. Thus, evolution of DRO1-like wheat homoeologs might incorporate the C-terminus mutations as well as gain and loss of AuxREs and other cis-regulatory elements during expression divergence. Since root architecture is an important target trait for wheat crop improvement, therefore DRO1-like genes have potential applications in plant breeding for enhancement of plant productivity by the use of modern genome editing approaches.

Plants possess various molecular defense systems to ward off biotic and abiotic stresses and adjust to environmental changes. The RNA-seq technology assists biologists in quickly identifying genes responding to abiotic stresses. Thereby, using meta-transcriptomic data from the GEO NCBI public database, we have attempted to reach a consensus on gene variations. This approach identified a global set of 18 drought-responsive genes by Bonferroni-adjusted proportional test on one sample, p  < 0.05, and extensive meta-transcriptome analytics. The annotation of these differentially expressed genes identified the biological process, molecular function, cellular component, KEGG, and plant ontology terms. The terms that were found to be top-enriched (with P and Q adjusted to be < 0.05) were intracellular signal transduction ( Solyc04g076810 and Solyc10g076710 ), ribonuclease P activity ( Solyc05g054420 ), nucleolar ribonuclease P complex ( Solyc05g054420 ), Glycosphingolipid biosynthesis and lateral root apical meristem ( Solyc03g005227 ), respectively. These meta-DEGs description include CBL-interacting protein kinase 8 (biological process), phospholipase C 2 (biological process), XH/XS domain-containing protein (molecular function & cellular component), alpha 1,4-glycosyltransferase family protein (KEGG) and Histone superfamily protein (plant ontology). qRT-PCR-based gene expression analyses elaborated the similar trends in gene expression in both local genotypes under drought stress conditions covering the ratio of six to four as per down and upregulated meta-genes, respectively. This could indicate that these genes are part of a putative set of stress-responsive genes that are crucial for survival and adaptation under drought conditions thereby, they may serve as potential targets for future functional studies and breeding applications that will be helpful to enhance tomato production in the future.

Phenol is a toxic pollutant found in effluent of numerous industries and its elimination is a foremost challenge. The utilization of bacteria plays a crucial role in phenol bioremediation. For isolation of phenol degrading bacteria, sample was collected from industrial waste and enriched in mineral salt medium (MSM) contained 300 mg/L phenol. The strain was identified based on 16S rRNA gene analysis as Pseudomonas species and the phylogenetic analysis affiliated the strain with Pseudomonas monteilii (AF064458) as the most closely related species. Phenol tolerance of the strain in MSM supplemented with various concentrations of phenol indicates that the strain NCCP-407 can grow best at 750 mg L−1 phenol. The strain showed complete degradation of 750 mg L−1 phenol in 56 hours when supplement as a sole source of carbon and energy with the average degradation rate of 28 mg L−1h−1. The doubling time was recorded approximately as 12.49 h−1. The present study suggests that this strain is efficient in phenol degradation and can be used in treatment of wastewater containing phenol.

Pseudo-response regulator (PRR) gene family members play a significant role in plant circadian clocks, flowering time inflorescence architecture development during transition from vegetative growth phase to reproductive phase. In current study, we analyzed the expression profiling, phylogenetic relationship, and molecular characterization of PRR gene family members of common wheat by using IWGSC Ref seq v1.1 wheat genome database with a coverage rate of 90%. By using bioinformatic approach total 20 candidate gene sequences were identified and divided into six groups and four clades. It was found that mostly genes have same number of exons and introns showed similar features because they originated through duplication events during evolution processes. Although all the proteins have conserved PRR domains, but some are distinct in their sequences suggesting functional divergence. By comparative synteny analysis it was revealed that Group 1, 2, 3 and 11-D of group 4 have duplication events while group 5 and TaPRR9-B,10-D showed conservation with previously identified PRR members from rice. While expression variation of six groups from each analysis matches with each other. Five groups highly expressed in leaf, spike, and roots in pattern like leaf > spike > root at all three stages booting, heading and anthesis of spike development. This suggests that TaPRR genes play important roles in different photoperiod signaling pathways in different organs at different stages of spike development and flowering via unknown pathway. These findings will also provide comprehensive knowledge about future investigations on wheat PRR family members involved in complex network of circadian system for plant development.

Background Millions of people around the globe are affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This crippling condition has no treatment despite intensive studies. Some phytocompounds have been shown to protect against Alzheimer’s in recent studies. Methods Thus, this work aimed to examine Bacopa monnieri phytocompounds’ synergistic effects on neurodegeneration, antioxidant activity, and cognition in the scopolamine-induced AD mice model. The toxicity study of two phytocompounds: quercetin and bacopaside X revealed an LD 50 of more than 2000 mg/kg since no deaths occurred. Results The neuroprotection experiment consists of 6 groups i.e., control (saline), scopolamine (1 mg/kg), donepezil (5 mg/kg), Q (25 mg/kg), BX (20 mg/kg), and Q + BX (25 mg/kg + 20 mg/kg). Visual behavioral assessment using the Morris water maze showed that animals in the diseased model group (scopolamine) moved more slowly toward the platform and exhibited greater thigmotaxis behavior than the treatment and control groups. Likewise, the concentration of biochemical NO, GSH, and MDA improved in treatment groups concerning the diseased group. mRNA levels of different marker genes including ChAT, IL-1α, IL-1 β, TNF α, tau, and β secretase (BACE1) improved in treatment groups with respect to the disease group. Conclusion Both bacopaside X and quercetin synergistically have shown promising results in neuroprotection. Therefore, it is suggested that Q and BX may work synergistically due to their antioxidant and neuroprotective property.

Cold is a major constraint for tomato growth and productivity; as it is a cold sensitive crop. DREB1A plays a key role in generating cold tolerance in tomato by regulating the response of multiple genes under chilling stress. In this study, cold tolerant gene (DREB1A) driven by Lip9 promoter, was transformed in three tomato genotypes through Agrobacterium tumefaciens, employing tissue culture independent transformation strategy. Overnight imbibed seeds of tomato were surface sterilized, 3-day old shoot apical meristem of the developing seedling were pierced and incubated for twenty minutes with A. tumefaciens strain EHA-105 having OD600 nm of 1.0. The treated seeds were co-cultivated with Agrobacterium for 2 days. The regenerated shoots were subjected to 35 mg/l hygromycin as a selection for a period of 2–3 weeks. The presence of DREB1A and hpt genes in the hygromycin resistant (T0) transgenic plants was evaluated by PCR analysis. The transgene activity was detected in T1 plants by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction and Southern blotting that showed the stable integration of the transgene to the next generation. Physiological analysis of T2 transgenic plants depicted that increased expression of DREB1A induced only during chilling stress. After various chilling stresses, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and relative water contents of transgenic lines were significantly higher than those of NT plants. While leaf osmotic potential of transgenic plants was lower as compared to NT plants. The established procedure is novel and can produce stable transgenic tomato plants in efficient manner by saving potential resources in terms of cost and time.

Identifying adopted Green Super Rice (GSR) under different agro-ecological locations in Pakistan is crucial to sustaining the high productivity of rice. For this purpose, the multi-location trials of GSR were conducted to evaluate the magnitude of genetic variability, heritability, and stability in eight different locations in Pakistan. The experimental trial was laid out in a randomized complete block (RCB) design with three replications at each location. The combined analysis of variance (ANOVA) manifested significant variations for tested genotypes (g), locations (L), years (Y), genotype × year (GY), and genotype × location (GL) interactions revealing the influence of environmental factors (L and Y) on yield traits. High broad-sense heritability estimates were observed for all the studied traits representing low environmental influence over the expression of traits. Noticeably, GSR 48 showed maximum stability than all other lines in the univariate model across the two years for grain yield and related traits data. Multivariate stability analysis characterized GSR 305 and GSR 252 as the highest yielding with optimum stability across the eight tested locations. Overall, Narowal, Muzaffargarh, and Swat were the most stable locations for GSR cultivation in Pakistan. In conclusion, this study revealed that G×E interactions were an important source of rice yield variation, and its AMMI and biplots analysis are efficient tools for visualizing the response of genotypes to different locations.

The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important cash crop with a complex genome and with features of aneuploidy with a high level of heterozygosity. It is a prerequisite for potato breeding to have knowledge of genetic diversity and population structure. To understand the genetic characteristics of potato cultivars in Pakistan, 25 potato varieties were characterized with simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to distinguish closely related varieties. In total, 214 alleles were amplified with 35 SSR markers exhibiting 89.2% polymorphism. The maximum number of alleles and polymorphic alleles per locus were 20 and 14 for the markers S25 and S174, respectively. The polymorphic information content (PIC) extended from 0.00–0.87. The size of the amplified PCR product ranged between (30–1000 bp). A cluster analysis divided the 25 varieties into three clusters: cluster I revealed the most diversity, followed by cluster II with 11 varieties and cluster III with 13 varieties. Nei’s genetic diversity and minimum spanning network (MSN) depicted the Mozika variety as the most diverse compared to the rest of the varieties. Nei’s coefficient was found to vary from 0.53 to 0.95. Out of the 25 studied varieties, 16 were uniquely identified by 29 polymorphic SSR bands of different sizes with a maximum size amplified by S4026/4027 (800bp) and a minimum by S170 (90bp). The genetic diversity and varietal identification determined in the present study has molecular and breeding-related significance with respect to the utilization and protection of intellectual property rights of potato cultivars for sustainable potato production in Pakistan.