In vitro and in silico studies of salicylic acid on systemic induced resistance against bacterial leaf blight disease and enhancement of crop yield

Salicylic acid(SA)is an effective elicitor to promote plant defenses and growth.This study aimed to investigate rice(Oryza sativa L.)cv.Khao Dawk Mali 105 treated with salicylic acid(SA)-Ricemate as an enhanced plant protection mechanism against bacterial leaf blight(BLB)disease caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae(Xoo).Results indicated that the use of SA-Ricemate as a foliar spray at concentrations of more than 100 mg L^(-1)can reduce the severity of BLB disease by 71%.SA-Ricemate treatment also increased the hydrogen peroxide(H_(2)O_(2))content of rice leaf tissues over untreated samples by 39–61%.Malondialdehyde(MDA)in rice leaves treated with SA-Ricemate also showed an increase of 50–65%when comparing to non-treated samples.The differential development of these defense compounds was faster and distinct when the SA-Ricemate-treated rice was infected with Xoo,indicating plant-induced resistance.Besides,SA-Ricemate elicitor at a concentration of 50–250 mg L^(-1)was correlated with a substantial increase in the accumulation of total chlorophyll content at 2.53–2.73 mg g^(-1)of fresh weight which suggests that plant growth is activated by SA-Ricemate.The catalase-and aldehyde dehydrogenase-binding sites were searched for using the CASTp server,and the findings were compared to the template.Chemsketch was used to design and optimize SA,which was then docked to the catalase and aldehyde dehydrogenase-binding domains of the enzymes using the GOLD 3.0.1 Software.SA is shown in several docked conformations with the enzymes catalase and aldehyde dehydrogenase.All three catalase amino acids(GLN7,VAL27,and GLU38)were discovered to be involved in the creation of a strong hydrogen bond with SA when SA was present.In this mechanism,the aldehyde dehydrogenase amino acids LYS5,HIS6,and ASP2 were all implicated,and these amino acids created strong hydrogen bonds with SA.In field conditions,SA-Ricemate significantly reduced disease severity by 78%and the total grain yield was significantly increased which was an increase of plant height,tiller per hill,and panicle in three field trials during Aug–Nov 2017 and 2018.Therefore,SA-Ricemate can be used as an alternative elicitor on replacing harmful pesticides to control BLB disease with a high potential of increasing rice defenses,growth,and yield components.

Isolation Technology of Single Spore and Optimization of Conidia Culture Condition for Ustilaginoidea virens

The single spores were isolated from chlamydospores of Ustilaginoidea virens with three different maturities by PSA. The isolated single spores were cul- tured on different media at different temperatures under natural light for inducing conidia to explore the optimum isolation technique of single spore and optimum cul- ture condition of conidia. The results showed that the successful isolating rate of single spore from yellow rice false smut balls reached 90.00%. The sporulatina quantities of isolated single spores cultured on PSD and PDB media at 22 -29 ~C （variable temperature under natural light） or 28 ℃ （constant temperature under dark condition） for 12 d were up to 6.3× 107 and 1.1× 106 spore/mL, respectively. PSA was the most effective method to isolate single spores from yellow rice false smut balls of U. virens. The optimum conidia culture condition included PSD or PDB medium, 22 -29℃ or 28℃, natural light and vibration culture. Key words Ustilaginoidea virens; Single spore isolation; Conidia; Culture condition

Control Effect of Trichoderma harzianum against Potato Early Dying in China

[Objective] The paper was to explore the optimum dosage and application pattern of Trichoderma harzianum for controlling Potato Verticillium wilt. [ Method] Two trials, sowing seed tubers in bacterial manure, sowing seed tubers in bacterial manure ＋ root irrigation after seedling emergence, were conducted in the paper. [Result] T.harzianum could effectively control potato early dying and promote potato growth, thereby increasing potato yield. The control effects of sowing tuber in 300 times of bacterial manure ＋ root irrigation with 300 times of conidia suspension after seedling emergence were ideal ; the highest control effect and the highest saved yield loss were 72.60% and 33.33%, respectively. [ Conclusion] The paper provides reference for field application of T. harzianum.

Multi-targeting cytotoxic drug leads from mushrooms

Due to genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, cancer have become a resistant disease and there is a need for new molecules having multiple targeting action that promotes apoptosis. Phytomolecules having multiple targeting anticancer activity are in high demand and there is less documentation or information available on these metabolites. It is evident that mushrooms are became the store houses of new anticancer molecules and mushrooms like Agaricus blazei, Antrodia camphorate, Albatrellus confluens, Bolteus badius, Cordyceps militaris, Clitocybe maxima, Funalia trogii, Grifola frondosa, and Inocybe umbrinella, are some of the medicinal mushrooms reported for their cytotoxic activity. Cytotoxic molecules like lentinan, grifolin, illudin-S, psilocybin, ganoderic acid, theanine, and hispolon, have been isolated from various mushroom species. However, studies have been limited only to in vitro cytotoxic mechanisms and very few trials have been conducted to prove the clinical efficacy of these drug leads. Hence, the current review focuses on new anticancer metabolites isolated from various mushrooms having multiple targeting mechanisms in cancer. However, an extensive research is needed to define the biosynthesis and clinical mechanism of these multiple acting metabolites. This review provides a platform for researchers new anticancer drugs and to bring out potent multiple acting anticancer newer drugs.

Multivariate Based Variability within Diverse Indian Mustard (<i>Brassica juncea</i>L.) Genotypes

Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) germplasm consisting 167 accessions including one check cultivar was evaluated for qualitative and quantitative traits. The present study was conducted to investigate genetic diversity and correlation among studied genotypes of B. juncea L. based on agro-morphological at NARC, Islamabad, Pakistan. To investigate the genetic diversity based on morphological characters, data was recorded on 20 quantitative and 12 qualitative traits. The calculated data was analyzed through two complementary methods, i.e. PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and cluster analysis. Among all the studied cultivars, significant diversity was recorded for different agro-morphological characters. Among all the parameters, maximum variance was recorded for pod shattering (427.2) followed by plant height (345.6), days to 100% flowering (336.2) and main raceme length (210.0). Among all the characters, the greatest and highly significant association (0.99) was found between days to maturity 50% and days to maturity 100% followed by correlation (0.86) among days to flowering 50% and days to flowering 100%, correlation value (0.71) was calculated among leaf length and leaf width. Using cluster analysis all the genotypes were divided into five major groups. It was observed that 7 out of 20 principal components with an Eigen value of ≥1.0 calculated for 73.92% of the total diversity observed between 167 accessions of Indian mustard (B. juncea L.). The contribution of first three PCs in the total PCs was 23.25, 12.87 and 11.24, respectively. Among all the investigated accessions two genotypes 26,813 and 26,817 showed great potential for seeds/silique, 1000-seed weight and seed yield/plant, respectively, so these genotypes are recommended for future breeding programs for achieving promising results.