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Despite the introduction of many novel therapeutics in clinical practice, metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains a treatment-resistant cancer. As red and processed meat are considered risk factors for RCC, and a vegetable-rich diet is thought to reduce this risk, research into plant-based therapeutics may provide valuable complementary or alternative therapeutics for the management of RCC. Herein, we present the antiproliferative and antiangiogenic effects of maslinic acid, which occurs naturally in edible plants, particularly in olive fruits, and also in a variety of medicinal plants. Human RCC cell lines (ACHN, Caki-1, and SN12K1), endothelial cells (human umbilical vein endothelial cell line [HUVEC]), and primary cultures of kidney proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) were treated with maslinic acid. Maslinic acid was relatively less toxic to PTEC when compared with RCC under similar experimental conditions. In RCC cell lines, maslinic acid induced a significant reduction in proliferation, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and colony formation. In HUVEC, maslinic acid induced a significant reduction in capillary tube formation in vitro and vascular endothelial growth factor. This study provides a rationale for incorporating a maslinic acid–rich diet either to reduce the risk of developing kidney cancer or as an adjunct to existing antiangiogenic therapy to improve efficacy.

Background Colletotrichum and Fusarium species are among pathogenic fungi widely affecting Coffea arabica L., resulting in major yield loss. In the present study, we aimed to isolate bacteria from root rhizosphere of the same plant that is capable of antagonizing Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Fusarium oxysporum as well as promotes plant growth. Results A total of 42 Bacillus species were isolated, one of the isolates named BT42 showed maximum radial mycelial growth inhibition against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (78%) and Fusarium oxysporum (86%). BT42 increased germination of Coffee arabica L. seeds by 38.89%, decreased disease incidence due to infection of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides to 2.77% and due to infection of Fusarium oxysporum to 0 ( p  < 0.001). The isolate BT42 showed multiple growth-promoting traits. The isolate showed maximum similarity with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens . Conclusion Bacillus species (BT42), isolated in the present work was found to be capable of antagonizing the pathogenic effects of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Fusarium oxysporum . The mechanism of action of inhibition of the pathogenic fungi found to be synergistic effects of secondary metabolites, lytic enzymes, and siderophores. The major inhibitory secondary metabolite identified as harmine (β-carboline alkaloids).

Introduction. Our investigation aimed to examine the influence of eco-friendly edible coatings composed of sodium alginate, olive oil and green tea extract (GTE) on improving the shelf life and nutritional quality of carambola (A. carambola L.). Materials and methods. The combinations and concentrations of composite coatings tested were (2% sodium alginate + 0.1% olive oil) (T1), (2% sodium alginate + 0.2% olive oil) (T2) and (2% sodium alginate + 0.1% olive oil + 0.25% GTE) (T3), while the untreated fruit served as control (T4) and were stored at (25 ± 5) °C and (65 ± 5)% RH. All the stored fruit were subjected to physico-chemical and biochemical analysis at regular intervals of 4 days up to 16 days of their storage period. Results and discussion. Weight loss and decay occurrence were least in the fruit treated with T1 and T2 as compared with those of T3 and uncoated fruit (T4). The contents of total soluble solids, total sugars and changes in pigments were found to be least in fruit treated with T1 followed by those treated with T2 and T3. The addition of GTE (T3) to treated fruit during the storage helped enhance the antioxidants such as total phenols and ascorbic acid. Conclusion. The composite edible coatings tested in our study enhanced the shelf life of coated carambola fruit, i.e., thirteen days for T1, sixteen days for T2, fourteen days for T3 and twelve days for control or untreated fruit (T4); the nutritional quality of carambola was enhanced with the treatment of edible coating containing GTE.

The effect of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum PGB02 isolated from buttermilk on serum cholesterol profile of normal and hypercholesterolemic mice was evaluated. Further changes in the expression of mice genes were determined. The hypercholesterolemia was induced in experimental mice by feeding high cholesterol and fat diet. Serum cholesterol parameters, physical parameters, cholic acid excretion, and cholesterol metabolism related gene expression analysis was carried out. L. plantarum PGB02 efficiently reduced total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL-cholesterol and improved HDL-cholesterol in hypercholesterolaemic mice. Body weight was reduced and fecal cholic acid increased in probiotic treatment groups. Gene expression analysis revealed that L. plantarum PGB02 up-regulated the expression of LDL receptors, CYP7A1, ABCA1, ABCG5, ABCG8, and down-regulated the expression of FXR and NPC1L1 genes. Summarizing the mechanism, L. plantarum PGB02 improved hypercholesterolemia by increasing bile acid synthesis and excretion, reducing exogeneous cholesterol absorption from the intestine, and increased LDL clearance through upregulation of LDL-receptors. The present study has given insight into the mechanism of serum cholesterol reduction by bile salt hydrolase positive L. plantarum PGB02 in mice. L. plantarum PGB02 reduced the serum cholesterol level through increased bile acid synthesis and deconjugation and reduced absorption of cholesterol in the intestine. Isolate PGB02 shown cholesterol removal potential as good as statin.

Background and aim Collar rot disease due to A. niger in ground nut plants causes a great loss in yield. Using a PGPR isolated from the field of same plants, we aimed to study effect on control of this disease as well as to study effect on seed germination and development of Induced systemic resistance in germinated seedlings. Methods Different strain of bacteria were isolated and screened for their plant growth promoting activity. Selected bacterium was used for induction of systemic resistance in A. hypogaea L. against A. niger and identified using 16 s rRNA gene and FAME analysis. Results A bacterium with plant growth promoting and antagonistic activity against A. niger was screened from the 25 bacteria isolated from the rhizospheric soil. It could reduce the incidence of collar rot disease by 66 % in plants. The bacterium could also induce systemic resistance in ground nut seedlings. Based on ez taxon BLAST results of its 16 s rRNA gene, biochemical tests for identification and FAME analysis, it was confirmed as a novel strain of Pseudomonas guariconensis (strain mungfali). Conclusion A novel, agriculturally useful strain of P. guariconensis capable of controlling collar rot in A. hypogaea L., producing phytohormones and solubilizing N, P, K and Zn was found and named as strain mungfali.

A high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC)-based sensitive, rapid and stringent protocol is designed for detection and quantification of five phytohormones simultaneously. Culture filtrate of Pseudomonas bacteria was acidified with 7 M HCl and extracted with an equal volume of ethyl acetate to separate abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), gibberellic acid (GA 3 ), and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Kinetin was extracted from the remaining water fraction of the same extract. Various extracts were loaded on silica gel 60 F 254 foil using Linomat 5 spray on applicator. Standard phytohormones were also loaded adjacent to the sample, and the foils were developed with isopropanol–ammonia–water [10:1:1 (v/v)] as the mobile phase. A quantitative estimation of the separated ABA, kinetin, JA, GA 3 , and IAA was performed by measuring the absorbance at 260, 275, 295, 265, and 280 nm, respectively. HPTLC method was found to be cost effective, robust technique that can be routinely used for simultaneous phytohormone detection in plant or bacterial samples. The present work is not only useful for detection and quantification of phytohormones but also for screening of phytohormone producing microorganisms.

Jamun ( Syzygium cumin L.) is a minor indigenous underexploited and perishable fruit of India. Keeping its perishability in mind, the present study is aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of zein-based coatings enriched with cystein (0.2 %), ascorbic acid (0.2 %), and jamun leaves extract (JLE) (0.2 %) and to evaluate their interactive effects on shelf life and quality of fresh jamun fruits during storage at 10 ± 2 °C for 2 weeks. The results of the present study demonstrated that during storage, uncoated fruit had rapid weight loss, higher decay incidence, high accumulation of sugars, and accelerated softening and ripening than that of all the coated fruit. The content of antioxidants was found to be improved in zein-coated fruits enriched with ascorbic acid (0.2 %) and JLE (0.2 %) and, therefore, exhibited higher antioxidant activity. Moreover, the delayed activity of polygalacturonase (PG) and pectate lyase (PL) was noticed in fruits coated with zein + cystein and zein + JLE and maintained firmness and textural quality of fruit. Consequently, the shelf life of jamun fruit treated with the presently tested coating materials could be extended up to 20 days, while that of control fruit was only 10 days.

Fifty halotolerant bacterial strains were isolated from the alkaline saline soil from the Ajod village of Vadodara district of Gujarat. All strains grew well in media supplemented with 5 % NaCl, but two strains (BR5 and BN7) could grow even at 18 % NaCl concentration. These two strains were characterized for their plant growth promoting characteristics. Both the strains were able to solubilize significant amount of phosphate and produce IAA. Both the strains also showed nitrogen fixing, siderophore production and antifungal properties against root rot pathogen of Vigna. radiata L., Fusarium sp. Potential of these halotolerant bacteria to ameliorate salt stress in V. radiata L. plants grown in saline soil inoculated with these bacteria was assessed. Both halotolerant bacteria were found to increase germination percentage, root length and shoot length compared to un inoculated control plants. Both these cultures were subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing and BLAST analysis, among which, BR5 showed 99 % similarity with Bacillus subtilis and BN7 showed 99 % similarity with B. megaterium.

Six bipyrazole based Au(III) complexes were synthesized and characterized by 1 H-NMR, 13 C (APT) NMR, FT-IR, Mass spectrometry, elemental analysis and conductance measurement. The analysis show that complexes are ionic in nature and bimetallic with oxygen atom as bridging ligand. The DNA binding ability of compounds were checked as change in absorption band in UV-Vis spectra of HS-DNA and change in relative viscosity of DNA in presence of compounds. The results support intercalation mode of binding with good affinity of compounds toward DNA as evaluated by estimation of binding constant values. The molecular docking study also supports the experimental data. The anticancer activity of complexes were evaluated against A549 (Lung adenocarcinoma) cell line by MTT assay in terms of IC 50 value. The cell viability assay showed significant potency of complexes as staining of death cells with trypan blue dye. The genotoxicity of compounds were checked by smearing observed in DNA of S. pombe cell under the influence of complexes. The compounds showed significant cytotoxicity against brine shrimp.

Lipoxygenase oxidizes linoleic acid into hydroperoxy octadecadienoic acid (HPOD), which is important in food and flavour industries for production of bread and flavouring compounds. As Lasiodiplodia theobromae is an unexplored, good source of lipoxygenase, it was purified from it by size-exclusion (Sephadex G100) and ion-exchange (DEAE–cellulose) chromatography and characterized. Upon purification, L. theobromae was found to contain two different lipoxygenases, one of 93 kDa (LOX1) and another of 45 kDa (LOX2). Both the isoenzymes were having optimum pH 6.0 and optimum temperatures 50 and 40 °C, respectively. The catalytic efficiency of LOX1 and LOX2 was found to be 1300 and 1.67 × 10⁹, respectively. The catalytic efficiency of LOX2 is higher than the catalytic efficiency of soya bean LOX1 that is 10.9 × 10⁶. Both the isoenzymes of LOX oxidized linoleic acid to produce 9-HPOD and 13-HPOD both; however, LOX1 produced more of 9-HPOD and LOX2 produced more of 13-HPOD. Both the LOXes were not inhibited by jasmonic acid. Addition of LOX1 and LOX2 altered the elasticity as well as viscosity of dough prepared from bleached wheat flour.