Fabrication of chitosan-alginate microencapsulated curcumin coated scaffold to develop novel cotton crepe bandage

Medicated cotton crepe bandages have been developed, using natural curcumin conjugated polymer nanoparticle withbiocompatible and biodegradable properties. Curcumin (C) has been incorporated into Chitosan (Ch) and sodium alginate(A) microcapsule, which serve as templates for nanofibres. The coating of C-ChA results in chitosan scaffold (CS)containing curcumin-chitosan microcomplex (CS-CChM). Both the substances act as a powerful biomaterial for tissueengineering applications, especially for wound healing. CS-CChM along with C-ChA have been characterized using FTIRand SEM. The free radical scavenging effect is determined by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and anti-inflammatoryassay. The developed CS-CChM nanofibre shows an impressive mechanical stability which is an essential requirementfor wound healing. The bearing of curcumin shows cytotoxic effect. The in vitro radical scavenging activity and theanti-inflammatory assay are performed by inhibition of albumin denaturation. These microencapsulated matrix displayspotent anticancer activity against mouse fibroblast on both normal (L929) and human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cells.The cell viability is observed to be 51.4 ± 0.71 and 30.53 ± 0.99 respectively for both. CS-CChM nanofibre is found to bestable against enzymatic degradation, which is the most important parameter for promoting the proliferation of cells,contributing to repair and remodeling of tissues during wound healing applications

Tea Polyphenols Chemistry for Pharmaceutical Applications

Tea is one of the most ancient popular beverages and extensively used dietary supplement in the western world. Tea leaves are rich in polyphenols and also well known for its antioxidant properties. In addition, green tea extract contains several polyphenols with antioxidant compounds. The predominant effective antioxidant components are epigallocatechin 3-gallate and epicatechin 3-gallate (monomers). Tea polyphenols have an additional role to induce aroma and taste in beverages. Furthermore, tea polyphenols have multiple applications in food industry and biomedical applications. This chapter will summarise the origin of tea leaves and its beneficial account on antioxidant, food industry (meat products, plant products and fish products) and therapeutic applications against many diseases such as lowering of blood pressure, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and anticancer properties. Mainly tea polyphenols have potential to inhibit the cancer proliferation of skin, prostate, lung and breast cancer

Architectural effect of different tea clones on the development of blister blight disease

An attempt has been made to analyze the architectural traits of six elite tea (Camellia sinensis) clones representing the three principal taxa Assam, China and Cambod with respect to the correlation of blister blight disease (Exobasidium vexans) development. In order to analyze the architecture, branching habit and flushing behavior were observed and subsequently compared with disease incidence. All the clones followed similar architectural pattern irrespective of the cultivar but varied with levels of disease severity. The number of branches was higher in China when compared to Assam and Cambod, branch length was bigger in Assam followed by Cambod and China. Branch angle of all the clones lay well within the described range of theoretical value of 45 to 90°. In general, internodal length was bigger in Assam followed by Cambod and China. These architectural characteristics determined the number of harvestable tea shoots in the bush canopy. China cultivars exhibited an erectophile type of leaf angle, which influenced effective net photosynthesis, transpiration rates and light penetration in leaves. These factors are playing important roles in a disease development strategy. This study should be useful for clonal selection for new clearings and re-planting areas. Moreover, plants breeding programmes for studying the yield and tea quality losses due to blister blight disease benefit from the findings herein

Evaluation of different native Streptomyces spp. for effective management of rhizome rot of turmeric

The efficacy of talc based bioformulations containing various biocontrol agents against rhizome rot disease caused by Pythium aphanidermatum in turmeric plants was evaluated under field condition. Indigenous biocontrol agents such as Streptomyceslydicus, Streptomyces griseus and Streptomyces sannanensis belonging to actinomycetes group, Pseudomonas fluorescens (bacterial) and Trichoderma atroviride (fungal) were selected for the biological control of rhizome rot of turmeric. The results indicated a significantly stronger reduction in disease severity in trial plots treated with Bacillus subtilis based commercial fungicide ‘Companion’ when compared to plants treated with indigenous biocontrol agents. However, it was reverse in trial plots in terms of turmeric rhizome yield potential, yield attributes, physiological components, biochemical constituents and quality characteristics of rhizomes. Among 17 treatments, a dual mixture of S. griseus and T. atroviride achieved the best disease control as well as plant growth improvement when compared to single and triple combinations of biocontrol agents. The present study confirms that exploration of microbial formulations containing Streptomyces spp.as soil inoculant to turmeric plants exhibited some benefits to turmeric plant growth as well as controlling rhizome rot disease, which ultimately enhance the overall quality characteristics of rhizomes. Further, our results suggest that a dual combination of biocontrol agents represent a promising method for effective management of rhizome rot of turmeric

Understanding the molecular basis of plant growth promotional effect of Pseudomonas fluorescens on rice through protein profiling

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR), <it>Pseudomonas fluorescens </it>strain KH-1 was found to exhibit plant growth promotional activity in rice under both <it>in-vitro </it>and <it>in-vivo </it>conditions. But the mechanism underlying such promotional activity of <it>P. fluorescens </it>is not yet understood clearly. In this study, efforts were made to elucidate the molecular responses of rice plants to <it>P. fluorescens </it>treatment through protein profiling. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis strategy was adopted to identify the PGPR responsive proteins and the differentially expressed proteins were analyzed by mass spectrometry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Priming of <it>P. fluorescens</it>, 23 different proteins found to be differentially expressed in rice leaf sheaths and MS analysis revealed the differential expression of some important proteins namely putative p23 co-chaperone, Thioredoxin h- rice, Ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase large chain precursor, Nucleotide diPhosphate kinase, Proteosome sub unit protein and putative glutathione S-transferase protein.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Functional analyses of the differential proteins were reported to be directly or indirectly involved in growth promotion in plants. Thus, this study confirms the primary role of PGPR strain KH-1 in rice plant growth promotion.</p

A high-throughput regeneration protocol for recalcitrant tropical Indian maize (Zea mays L) inbreds

Immature embryos from five select recalcitrant maize (Zea mays L) inbreds used as explants were evaluated for their ability to form callus, somatic embryos and subsequent regeneration into plants. The embryos were placed on N6 basal media with varying levels of 2,4-D (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 mg l-1) and were regenerated on MS me¬dium supplemented with BAP (2 - 10 mg l-1), 2,4-D (0.25 mg l-1) and silver nitrate (0.85 mg l-1). Explants cultured on N6 medium supplemented with 2,4-D (2.0 mg l-1) were associated with the highest frequency of embryogenic calli and that of UMI 29 were highly embryogenic (78.67%). When synergism between dicamba and 2,4-D on Type II callus production in UMI 29 was sought to be investigated using 2,4-D (1 or 2 mg l-1) individually and in combina¬tion with dicamba (3.7 mg l-1) production of Type II callus with the greatest frequency of 83.33% was observed on N6 medium containing 3.7 mg l-1 dicamba + 1 mg l-1 2,4-D. The greatest percentage of shoot induction (82.67%) was observed on MS medium supplemented with BAP (10 mg l-1). Among the five genotypes tested, UMI 29 was associated with the highest percentage of callus initiation, shoot induction and mean number of developed shoots. The protocol described in this study can reliably be used to transform tropical maize inbreds as a routine

On the Bohr inequality

The Bohr inequality, first introduced by Harald Bohr in 1914, deals with finding the largest radius $r$, $0<r<1$, such that $\sum_{n=0}^\infty |a_n|r^n \leq 1$ holds whenever $|\sum_{n=0}^\infty a_nz^n|\leq 1$ in the unit disk $\mathbb{D}$ of the complex plane. The exact value of this largest radius, known as the \emph{Bohr radius}, has been established to be $1/3.$ This paper surveys recent advances and generalizations on the Bohr inequality. It discusses the Bohr radius for certain power series in $\mathbb{D},$ as well as for analytic functions from $\mathbb{D}$ into particular domains. These domains include the punctured unit disk, the exterior of the closed unit disk, and concave wedge-domains. The analogous Bohr radius is also studied for harmonic and starlike logharmonic mappings in $\mathbb{D}.$ The Bohr phenomenon which is described in terms of the Euclidean distance is further investigated using the spherical chordal metric and the hyperbolic metric. The exposition concludes with a discussion on the $n$-dimensional Bohr radius