Variations in the biochemical characteristics of Lavandula sublepidota Rech.f. in response to the foliar enrichment of green-synthesized copper nano complexes from extract of neem and jujube.

Copper (Cu) is an essential micronutrient in plant physiology and biochemistry. This article synthesized copper nano complexes (Cu-NCs) based on aqueous extracts of jujube and neem leaves. The effects of foliar application of Cu-jujube and Cu-neem Cu-NCs at concentrations of 0, 10, 25, and 50 mg L-1 on the bioactive compounds, antioxidant capacity, and essential oil of the Iranian native medicinal herb Lavandula sublepidota Rech. f. was investigated. The highest levels of flavonoids and polyphenols were observed in the plants treated with Cu-NCs at 25 mg L-1. However, no superiority was observed between the two types of Cu-NCs. Furthermore, 25 mg L-1 nCu-Z and nCu-N foliar application boosted essential oil yield (48 and 52%, respectively) over control. This suggests an ideal threshold beyond which toxicity was found. Similarly, the amount of commercially significant secondary metabolites increased at 25 mg L-1 CuNCs compared to 10 and 50 mg L-1 concentrations. The maximum antioxidant activity was found in extracts of lavender that had been treated with 25 mg L-1 CuNCs. When CuNCs were applied exogenously, the extracts' antibacterial activity (MIC µg mL-1) was substantially increased against the three pathogen strains. The results suggest that CuNCs demonstrate notably greater effectiveness, particularly at an ideal concentration of 25 mg L-1, in enhancing the production of essential oil and bioactive compounds in Lavandula sublepidota Rech. f. Therefore, these findings indicate the importance of the biosynthesis of NCs using plants and measuring the phytochemical changes of lavender plants.

Molecular Mechanisms and Biological Functions of siRNA.

One of the most important advances in biology has been the discovery that siRNA (small interfering RNA) is able to regulate the expression of genes, by a phenomenon known as RNAi (RNA interference). The discovery of RNAi, first in plants and Caenorhabditis elegans and later in mammalian cells, led to the emergence of a transformative view in biomedical research. siRNA has gained attention as a potential therapeutic reagent due to its ability to inhibit specific genes in many genetic diseases. siRNAs can be used as tools to study single gene function both in vivo and in-vitro and are an attractive new class of therapeutics, especially against undruggable targets for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. The siRNA delivery systems are categorized as non-viral and viral delivery systems. The non-viral delivery system includes polymers; Lipids; peptides etc. are the widely studied delivery systems for siRNA. Effective pharmacological use of siRNA requires 'carriers' that can deliver the siRNA to its intended site of action. The carriers assemble the siRNA into supramolecular complexes that display functional properties during the delivery process.