Plant-Endophyte Interaction during Biotic Stress Management.

Plants interact with diverse microbial communities and share complex relationships with each other. The intimate association between microbes and their host mutually benefit each other and provide stability against various biotic and abiotic stresses to plants. Endophytes are heterogeneous groups of microbes that live inside the host tissue without showing any apparent sign of infection. However, their functional attributes such as nutrient acquisition, phytohormone modulation, synthesis of bioactive compounds, and antioxidant enzymes of endophytes are similar to the other rhizospheric microorganisms. Nevertheless, their higher colonization efficacy and stability against abiotic stress make them superior to other microorganisms. In recent studies, the potential role of endophytes in bioprospecting has been broadly reported. However, the molecular aspect of host-endophyte interactions is still unclear. In this study, we have briefly discussed the endophyte biology, colonization efficacy and diversity pattern of endophytes. In addition, it also summarizes the molecular aspect of plant-endophyte interaction in biotic stress management.

Multidimensional Scaling of the Mineral Nutrient Status and Health Risk Assessment of Commonly Consumed Fruity Vegetables Marketed in Kyrgyzstan.

Intensive production of fruits and vegetables causes heavy metal accumulation. Consumption of this kind of foodstuff is a growing concern of the modern world with the additional distress of the supply of enough foodstuffs. To contribute to this global purpose, this research aimed to find out the mineral nutrient and heavy metal concentrations of commonly consumed fruity vegetables in Kyrgyzstan. Totally, ten different fruity type vegetables were collected from five different large bazaars of Kyrgyzstan. From these, 20 samples, including washed/unwashed rinds of vegetables, were quantified in terms of their B, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, and Zn contents by using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The concentrations of the fruity vegetables were found in the following range: B (1.392-25.816), Ca (92.814-4095.466), Cd (0.007-0.086), Cr (0.009-0.919), Cu (0.351-8.351), Fe (4.429-126.873), K (920.124-10,135.995), Mg (61.973-879.085), Mn (1.113-78.938), Na (36.132-266.475), Ni (0.039-1.215), Pb (0.081-2.906), and Zn (1.653-87.107) (mg kg-1). It was determined that red capia pepper was the vegetable having the highest daily nutritional value according to evaluation done in our study. Taking into account of the HI values, all of the vegetables analyzed were determined to be lower than the limit value of 1 that falls into acceptable limits in terms of being safe. Peppers demonstrated the highest variation in terms of the elemental content. The high Cr content rendered hot pepper risky for consumption by both genders regarding with CR, and in terms of CR, it has been observed that nickel contents being found in vegetables including tomatoes pose a moderate risk for consumption. Quite lower risk was detected in red/Brandy-wine tomatoes, eggplants, and cucumber for both genders. As most striking result in our study, the Brandy-wine type tomato was found to be healthiest (as well as safest) and nutritious vegetable looking from the viewpoint of consumption in Kyrgyzstan.

Environment-Based Impairment in Mineral Nutrient Status and Heavy Metal Contents of Commonly Consumed Leafy Vegetables Marketed in Kyrgyzstan: a Case Study for Health Risk Assessment.

Leafy vegetables are important components of the human diet for providing mineral nutrients. However, due to the tendency of metal accumulation, metal contents of leafy vegetables need not only to be determined but also estimated health risk for revealing possible health effects on humans. The aims of this study are (I) to examine comprehensive concentrations of trace/heavy metals along with some macroelements including Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, and Zn in selected leafy vegetables from Kyrgyzstan; (II) to assess recommended dietary allowances (RDA); and (III) to evaluate hazard quotient (HQ) and carcinogenic risk estimation with associated vegetable consumption. For this purpose, B, Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, and Zn elements were quantified, utilizing an ICP-OES instrument, in 18 samples belonging to 12 different groups of leafy vegetables including celery, Chinese parsley, dill, garden sorrel, lettuce, parsley, purple basil, spinach, and white-red-napa cabbage collected from different bazaars of Kyrgyzstan. Average elemental contents of the analyzed vegetables were determined (in mg kg-1) as follows: B (3.21-64.79), Ca (852.51-17,183.20), Cd (0.015-0.09), Cu (6.08-63.47), Fe (116.52-768.66), K (2347.04-17,305.42), Mg (136.34-1261.11), Na (54.75-526.42), Ni (0.09-1.3), Pb (1.91-9.54), and Zn (29.49-314.93). Estimated daily intake, recommended daily allowance, hazard quotients, and carcinogenic risk values of the vegetables were calculated with the help of these results. In considering HQ values, Chinese cabbage was determined to be safe for the consumption of both genders whereas parsley to be safe for only males. Based on the carcinogenic risk calculation, most of the vegetables examined in this study were categorized as moderately risky. It was inferred from the given results that airborne pollution has impaired/increased the mineral contents of vegetables for both genders. The findings obtained from this study were compared with international standards and will contribute to the data available on a global scale.

Construction, characteristics and high throughput molecular screening methodologies in some special breeding populations: a horticultural perspective.

Advanced marker technologies are widely used for evaluation of genetic diversity in cultivated crops, wild ancestors, landraces or any special plant genotypes. Developing agricultural cultivars requires the following steps: (i) determining desired characteristics to be improved, (ii) screening genetic resources to help find a superior cultivar, (iii) intercrossing selected individuals, (iv) generating genetically hybrid populations and screening them for agro-morphological or molecular traits, (v) evaluating the superior cultivar candidates, (vi) testing field performance at different locations, and (vii) certifying. In the cultivar development process valuable genes can be identified by creating special biparental or multiparental populations and analysing their association using suitable markers in given populations. These special populations and advanced marker technologies give us a deeper knowledge about the inherited agronomic characteristics. Unaffected by the changing environmental conditions, these provide a higher understanding of genome dynamics in plants. The last decade witnessed new applications for advanced molecular techniques in the area of breeding,with low costs per sample. These, especially, include next-generation sequencing technologies like reduced representation genome sequencing (genotyping by sequencing, restriction site-associated DNA). These enabled researchers to develop new markers, such as simple sequence repeat and single- nucleotide polymorphism, for expanding the qualitative and quantitative information onpopulation dynamics. Thus, the knowledge acquired from novel technologies is a valuable asset for the breeding process and to better understand the population dynamics, their properties, and analysis methods.

Monodisperse Ag/Pd core/shell nanoparticles assembled on reduced graphene oxide as highly efficient catalysts for the transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes.

Addressed herein is a facile seed-mediated synthesis of Ag/Pd core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) and their assembly on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to catalyze the transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes to anilines using ammonia borane (AB) as a hydrogen donor under ambient conditions. Monodisperse Ag/Pd core/shell NPs with controllable Pd shell-thickness were synthesized by the means of thermal decomposition of palladium(II) bromide over as-prepared Ag NPs in the mixture of oleylamine and oleic acid at 220°C. As-synthesized Ag/Pd core/shell NPs were characterized by TEM, HR-TEM, XRD, XPS, UV-Vis spectroscopy and ICP-MS and then they were assembled on reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Next, rGO@Ag/Pd catalysts were tested in the transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes in which ammonia borane (AB) was used as a hydrogen donor at room temperature. It was demonstrated that the thickness of the Pd shell has a significant effect on the catalytic activity of rGO@Ag/Pd catalysts and the 1.75nm Pd shell provided the highest performance in the transfer hydrogenation reactions. The rGO@Ag/Pd catalyzed transfer hydrogenation reactions were tested over a variety of nitroarenes (total 16 examples) and they were all converted to the corresponding aniline derivatives with high yields in 5-15min under ambient conditions.

Reduced graphene oxide-supported CuPd alloy nanoparticles as efficient catalysts for the Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions.

Monodisperse CuPd alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by using a typical high-temperature organic solution phase protocol comprising the coreduction of copper(II) acetylacetonate and palladium(II) acetylacetonate by morpholine-borane complex in oleylamine and 1-octadecene solution at 80 °C. The presented synthesis protocol allows us to control the composition of CuPd alloy NPs by simply tuning the initial ratio of metal precursors and the Cu-rich Cu75Pd25 NPs and Pd-rich Cu32Pd68 were synthesized besides the Cu48Pd52 NPs. Transmission electron microscopy studies revealed that most of the CuPd alloy NPs are polyhedral with an average diameter of 3.0±0.3 nm. The alloy structure of CuPd NPs was confirmed by the detailed X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. As-prepared CuPd NPs were deposited on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) by using a liquid self-assembly method (rGO-CuPd) and used as catalysts in the Sonogashira cross-couplings of various aryl iodides or bromides and phenyl acetylene under the optimized reaction conditions. Among the three compositions of CuPd alloy NPs tested in the Sonogashira couplings, the rGO-Cu48Pd52 gave the best yields in shorter reaction times and therefore it was used for further coupling reactions. The results demonstrated that rGO-Cu48Pd52 were efficient catalysts for the Sonogashira reaction of various aryl halides with phenylacetylene. The coupling reactions proceeded smoothly with both electron-rich and electron-deficient aryl iodides and aryl bromides, affording the desired biaryl products in high yields. This is the first example of the employment of monodisperse CuPd alloy NPs with composition control in the Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions.

The Role of Helicobacter pylori and NSAIDs in the Pathogenesis of Uncomplicated Duodenal Ulcer.

Background/Aim. To identify the etiological role of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in endoscopically diagnosed duodenal ulcers (DUs). Methods. Patients undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopy in two major hospitals in Antalya and Adiyaman were included in this study and assigned as duodenal ulcer (n = 152; median age: 41.0 (16-71) years; 58.6% males) or control group (n = 70; median age: 41.0 (18-68) years; 57.1% males). Patient demographics, risk factors, and NSAID/acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) use were recorded. Results. HP was more commonly located in the corpus (75.0 versus 50.0%; odds ratio [OR] = 3.00; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.66-5.44; P < 0.001), incisura (75.7 versus 60.0%; OR = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.13-3.79; P = 0.017), and antrum (80.3 versus 60.0%; OR = 2.71; 95% CI: 1.45-5.05; P = 0.001) among DU patients than controls. Hp positivity was 84.9% while Hp was negative in 15.1% of patients including those accompanied with NSAID and/or ASA use (9.2%), and those were negative for all three etiological factors (5.9%). Conclusion. Our findings indicate the substantial role of Hp in the pathogenesis of DU disease as identified in 84.9% of DU patients compatible with the background prevalence of 61.4% among age-matched control subjects. Hp was the single causative factor in 44.1% of our patients, while NSAID/ASA exposure was in 9.2%.