Herbal plants for children diseases’ cure in Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India

The present study aims at identification and documentation of the medicinal plants which are traditionally used to manage children diseases in Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu, India. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect ethnomedicinal plants during the month of December 2017 and January 2018. Data was statistically analysed using Use value (UV), relative frequency of citations (RFC), utility ratio (UR), relative information (RI) and informant agreement ratio (IAR). Forty three medicinal plants which were identified and documented belong to 30 families. Most of the species belong to Solanaceae and Leguminosae families. Most frequently used plant part and life form are leaves and herbs. Decoction method was used for delivering the oral dose and oral intake was the major route used for administration. Ocimum basilicum had highest UV, RFC, UR, RI and IAR. Maximum plant species were able to cure gastrointestinal diseases followed by fever, liver disorders, respiratory disorders, dermatological problem, ENT problems, etc. The results of this study revealed that Perambalur district has rich plant diversity and people have broad indigenous knowledge of role in curing children diseases. Hence, further phytochemical, pharmacological and toxicological investigation on floras that scored highest RFC and UV values is necessary for discovering new drugs

Expressing OsiSAP8, a Zinc-Finger Associated Protein Gene, Mitigates Stress Dynamics in Existing Elite Rice Varieties of the 'Green Revolution'

Key message: Overexpression of OsiSAP8 driven by Port Ubi2.3 from Porteresia coarctata imparts drought and salinity stress tolerance in transgenic rice. Stress associated proteins (SAPs) possess the zinc-finger domains that are wildly evolving functional and conserved regions/factors in plants to combat abiotic stresses. In this study, the promoter region of OsiSAP8, an intron-less, multiple stress inducible gene, was compared in silico with a strong constitutive promoter, Port Ubi2.3. This resulted in developing rice, resistant to drought and salinity expressing OsiSAP8 promoted by Port Ubi2.3. (Porteresia coarctata), through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in the popular rice varieties, IR36 and IR64. Southern blot hybridization confirmed the integration of OsiSAP8, and the T0 transgenic lines of IR36 and IR64 were evaluated for their drought and salinity tolerance. The IR36-T1 progenies showed an enhanced tolerance to water withhold stress compared to wild type and IR64-T1 progenies. Physiological parameters, such as the panicle weight, number of panicles, leaf wilting, and TBARS assay, showed the transgenic IR36 to be superior. The transgenic lines performed better with higher 80-95% relative leaf water content when subjected to drought for 14 days. Gene expression analysis of OsiSAP8 in IR36 T1 showed a 1.5-fold upregulation under mannitol stress. However, IR64 T1 showed a two-fold upregulation in NaCl stress. An enhanced drought and salinity stress tolerance in the transgenic IR36 cultivar through overexpression of OsiSAP8 was observed as it had a native copy of OsiSAP8. This is perhaps the first study using a novel ubiquitin promoter (Port Ubi2.3) to generate drought and salinity stress-tolerant transgenic rice. Thus, we report the overexpression of a rice gene (OsiSAP8) by a rice promoter (Port Ubi2.3) in rice (IR36) to resist drought and salinity

Global Proteomics Revealed Klebsiella pneumoniae Induced Autophagy and Oxidative Stress in Caenorhabditis elegans by Inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway during Infection

The enterobacterium, Klebsiella pneumoniae invades the intestinal epithelium of humans by interfering with multiple host cell response. To uncover a system-level overview of host response during infection, we analyzed the global dynamics of protein profiling in Caenorhabditis elegans using quantitative proteomics approach. Comparison of protein samples of nematodes exposed to K. pneumoniae for 12, 24, and 36 h by 2DE revealed several changes in host proteome. A total of 266 host-encoded proteins were identified by 2DE MALDI-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS and the interacting partners of the identified proteins were predicted by STRING 10.0 analysis. In order to understand the interacting partners of regulatory proteins with similar or close pI ranges, a liquid IEF was performed and the isolated fractions containing proteins were identified by LC-MS/MS. Functional bioinformatics analysis on identified proteins deciphered that they were mostly related to the metabolism, dauer formation, apoptosis, endocytosis, signal transduction, translation, developmental, and reproduction process. Gene enrichment analysis suggested that the metabolic process as the most overrepresented pathway regulated against K. pneumoniae infection. The dauer-like formation in infected C. elegans along with intestinal atrophy and ROS during the physiological analysis indicated that the regulation of metabolic pathway is probably through the involvement of mTOR. Immunoblot analysis supported the above notion that the K. pneumoniae infection induced protein mis-folding in host by involving PI3Kinase/AKT-1/mTOR mediated pathway. Furthermore, the susceptibility of pdi-2, akt-1, and mTOR C. elegans mutants confirmed the role and involvement of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in mediating protein mis-folding which appear to be translating the vulnerability of host defense toward K. pneumoniae infection

Single-crystalline MoO<inf>3</inf>/functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposites for sensing phenothiazine in biological samples

The increasing use of pharmaceutical medications has significantly negative repercussions on the environment and human health. Here, a hydrothermal technique was employed to generate a single-crystalline molybdenum trioxide (MoO3)/functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MoO3/f-MWCNTs) nanocomposite that was then used as a novel electrode material for the electrochemical detection of phenothiazine (PTZ). The encapsulation of hydrothermal synthesized MoO3 nanorods on f-MWCNTs was achieved by the sonochemical method. Extensive characterization of the MoO3/f-MWCNTs nanocomposite is reported by means of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The electrode modified with the MoO3/f-MWCNTs nanocomposite displays superior electrocatalytic activity and lower oxidation overpotential (0.492 V vs.Ag/AgCl) to PTZ compared to benchmarking electrodes modified with MoO3 and f-MWCNTs, respectively. Electrodes performance is evaluated by means of differential pulse voltammetry that reveals a low detection limit (7 nM), more comprehensive linear response range (up to 226 µM), and superior sensitivity (2.04 µA µM−1 cm−2). The MoO3/f-MWCNTs nanocomposite electrode can also detect PTZ in the presence of several biological compounds and metal ions in various aqueous environments demonstrating the sensing practicality

Surface-Sulfurized Zn-MOF Grown on Ni-Foam with Various Sulfurizing Agents for Aqueous Hybrid Supercapacitor Device Fabrication

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging material with a high specific surface area, desired morphology, and tunable pore size. However, MOFs suffer due to low electrical conductivity. Transition-metal sulfides are excellent supercapacitor materials because of their large storage capacity and electrical conductivity. To preserve a high surface area and obtain high electrical conductivity, Zn-MOF is directly grown on Ni-foam, and its surface is modified through various sulfurizing agents. The as-fabricated Zn-MOF on Ni-foam exhibits a vertically oriented triangular rod-like morphology. Banana blossom, fiber, and rod-like morphologies are obtained due to the surface etching and surface sulfurization process by sulfurizing agents thioacetamide (TAA), sulfur (S), and thiourea (TU), respectively. The role of iR compensation in cyclic voltammetry analysis with higher mass-loading electrodes is established. The variations in its charge storage mechanism and charge-transfer kinetics corresponding to various sulfurizing agents are examined. Compared to other commonly used sulfurizing agents, TAA-assisted surface-sulfurized Zn-MOF provided excellent charge storage performance. It exhibits a maximum areal capacity of 4484 mC cm–2 (specific capacity of 747.3 C g–1) at a current density of 10 mA cm–2. The as-fabricated aqueous hybrid supercapacitor device exhibits a maximum specific energy of 77.8 W h kg–1 at a specific power of 0.73 kW kg–1, even with a higher mass loading of 12.2 mg. The role and importance of mass loading are described by using an expanded Ragone plot

Surface-Sulfurized Zn-MOF Grown on Ni-Foam with Various Sulfurizing Agents for Aqueous Hybrid Supercapacitor Device Fabrication

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging material with a high specific surface area, desired morphology, and tunable pore size. However, MOFs suffer due to low electrical conductivity. Transition-metal sulfides are excellent supercapacitor materials because of their large storage capacity and electrical conductivity. To preserve a high surface area and obtain high electrical conductivity, Zn-MOF is directly grown on Ni-foam, and its surface is modified through various sulfurizing agents. The as-fabricated Zn-MOF on Ni-foam exhibits a vertically oriented triangular rod-like morphology. Banana blossom, fiber, and rod-like morphologies are obtained due to the surface etching and surface sulfurization process by sulfurizing agents thioacetamide (TAA), sulfur (S), and thiourea (TU), respectively. The role of iR compensation in cyclic voltammetry analysis with higher mass-loading electrodes is established. The variations in its charge storage mechanism and charge-transfer kinetics corresponding to various sulfurizing agents are examined. Compared to other commonly used sulfurizing agents, TAA-assisted surface-sulfurized Zn-MOF provided excellent charge storage performance. It exhibits a maximum areal capacity of 4484 mC cm–2 (specific capacity of 747.3 C g–1) at a current density of 10 mA cm–2. The as-fabricated aqueous hybrid supercapacitor device exhibits a maximum specific energy of 77.8 W h kg–1 at a specific power of 0.73 kW kg–1, even with a higher mass loading of 12.2 mg. The role and importance of mass loading are described by using an expanded Ragone plot