Regeneration of 'Centella asiatica' plants from non-embryogenic cell lines and evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal properties of regenerated calli and plants

BACKGROUND: The threatened plant Centella asiatica L. is traditionallyused for a number of remedies. In vitro plant propagation and enhanced metabolite production of active metabolites through biotechnological approaches has gained attention in recent years. RESULTS: Present study reveals that 6-benzyladenine (BA) either alone or in combination with 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) supplemented in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium at different concentrations produced good quality callus from leaf explants of C. asiatica. The calli produced on different plant growth regulators at different concentrations were mostly embryogenic and green. Highest shoot regeneration efficiency; 10 shoots per callus explant, from non-embryogenic callus was observed on 4.42 μM BA with 5.37 μM NAA. Best rooting response was observed at 5.37 and 10.74 μM NAA with 20 average number of roots per explant. Calli and regenerated plants extracts inhibited bacterial growth with mean zone of inhibition 9-13 mm diameter when tested against six bacterial strains using agar well diffusion method. Agar tube dilution method for antifungal assay showed 3.2-76% growth inhibition of Mucor species, Aspergillus fumigatus and Fusarium moliniformes. CONCLUSIONS: The present investigation reveals that non-embryogenic callus can be turned into embryos and plantlets if cultured on appropriate medium. Furthermore, callus from leaf explant of C. asiatica can be a good source for production of antimicrobial compounds through bioreactor

Bioinspired Green Synthesis of Bimetallic Iron and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Using Mushroom Extract and Use against <i>Aspergillus niger</i>; The Most Devastating Fungi of the Green World

In the current study, a macro fungus was collected and identified by using morphological and molecular tools to study the ITS region, which has been described as a universal barcode marker during molecular investigation for the identification of fungi. Based on morphology and molecular evidence, the collected fungus was identified as Daedalea Mushroom. The identified fungus was used for the synthesis of Iron and ZnO nanoparticles as an eco-friendly agent for nanoparticle synthesis. The synthesized nanoparticles were confirmed by, Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy analysis (FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and scanning electron microscopy analysis (SEM). All these characterizations revealed the synthesis of Iron and ZnO NPs with an irregular shape and a size of 16.8 nm. The zinc oxide nanoparticles had a size in the range of 18.53 nm. Daedalea Mushroom was used for the first time to synthesize Iron and zinc nanoparticles. The mycosynthesized Iron and ZnO NPs were assessed as control agents at various dosage rates against the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus niger, which was isolated from an apple and identified using its morphology. At higher concentrations (0.75 mg/mL), the iron nanoparticles inhibited fungal growth by 72%, whereas at lower concentrations (0.25 mg/mL), they inhibited fungal growth by 60%. ZnO NPs showed good antifungal activity at different concentrations including growth inhibition at 0.25 mg/mL (88%), 1.0 mg/mL (68%), 0.75 mg/mL (75%), and 0.5 mg/mL (70%) concentrations of ZnO NPs. However, the maximum growth inhibition of ZnO NPs was observed at 0.25 mg/mL (88%) concentration and minimum growth inhibition at 0.1 mg/mL (22%). The current study concludes that Daedalea Mushroom works as a novel and eco-friendly source for the synthesis of Iron and ZnO NPs with prominent antifungal activities that can be further applied in different fields

Extraction, Separation and Purification of Bioactive Anticancer Components from <i>Peganum harmala</i> against Six Cancer Cell Lines Using Spectroscopic Techniques

Conventional cancer treatments normally involve chemotherapy or a combination of radio- and chemotherapy. However, the adverse effects of synthetic medicines encouraged the exploration of novel therapeutic medications of a bio-friendly nature. In an effort to explore anticancer compounds from natural resources, crude extract of Peganum harmala (seeds) was fractionated on the basis of polarity, and the fractions were further tested for anticancer activity. Brine shrimp lethality assays and potato disc antitumor assays were used to test each fraction for cytotoxic and antitumor potential. The ethyl acetate fraction was found to be most potent, with LC50 and IC50 values of 34.25 µg/mL and 38.58 µg/mL, respectively. Further activity-guided fractionation led to the isolation of the bioactive compound PH-HM-10 which was identified and characterized by Mass Spectroscopy (MS), Infrared Spectroscopy (IR), Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (1HNMR), Carbon Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (13CNMR) and Heteronuclear Single Quantum Correlation (HSQC). Anticancer aspects in the isolated compound were determined against six human cancer cell lines with a maximum anticancer effect (IC50 = 36.99 µg/mL) against the tested human myeloid leukemia (HL-60) cell line, followed by the human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line (A549) and the breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) with an IC50 of 63.5 µg/mL and 85.9 µg/mL, respectively). The findings of the current study suggest that the isolated compound (Pegaharmine E) is significantly active against the tested cancer cell lines and can be further investigated to develop future novel anticancer chemotherapeutic agents