Antifungal efficacy of Moringa oleifera leaf and seed extracts against Botrytis cinerea causing gray mold disease of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Botrytis fruit rot management: What have we achieved so far?

Botrytis cinerea is a destructive necrotrophic phytopathogen causing overwhelming diseases in more than 1400 plant species, especially fruit crops, resulting in significant economic losses worldwide. The pathogen causes rotting of fruits at both pre-harvest and postharvest stages. Aside from causing gray mold of the mature fruits, the fungus infects leaves, flowers, and seeds, which makes it a notorious phytopathogen. Worldwide, in the majority of fruit crops, B. cinerea causes gray mold. In order to effectively control this pathogen, extensive research has been conducted due to its wide host range and the huge economic losses it causes. It is advantageous to explore detection and diagnosis techniques of B. cinerea to provide the fundamental basis for mitigation strategies. Botrytis cinerea has been identified and quantified in fruit/plant samples at pre- and post-infection levels using various detection techniques including DNA markers, volatile organic compounds, qPCR, chip-digital PCR, and PCR-based nucleic acid sensors. In addition, cultural, physical, chemical, biological, and botanical methods have all been used to combat Botrytis fruit rot. This review discusses research progress made on estimating economic losses, detection and diagnosis, as well as management strategies, including cultural, physical, chemical, and biological studies on B. cinerea along with knowledge gaps and potential areas for future research.

Moringa oleifera (drumstick tree)-nutraceutical, cosmetological and medicinal importance: a review

Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) is a species of tree with an increasing utility, occurring naturally mainly in Pakistan and northern India. M. oleifera is currently cultivated in Africa, South America, Asia and the Middle East. The usage of its leaves, seed oil, bark, fruits, flowers and roots has positive opinions of FDA (American Food and Drug Administration), EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and CosIng (Cosmetic Ingredients database). The chemical composition of M. oleifera is dominated by: proteins (consisting mainly of amino acids such as arginine or serine), fatty acids (omega-3 and omega-6), vitamins (vitamin A, B and C and tocopherols), mineral salts (including several bioelements, such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium), valuable polyphenolic compounds from the group of phenolic acids (e.g., gallic acid, ferulic acid) and flavonoids (e.g., myricetin, rutoside, and kaempferol). The raw materials show antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Dietary supplements and alimentary products containing M. oleifera are recommended as health-promoting and "novel food" preparations. The main purpose of this work was a review of the latest scientific literature on M. oleifera, with particular emphasis on the studies focusing on its chemical composition, biological activity and safety. Moreover, the review tends to discuss the results of biotechnological studies using this material and the agronomical significance.

Molecular Docking and ADME-TOX Profiling of Moringa oleifera Constituents against SARS-CoV-2

The SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2019) etiological agent, which has a high contagiousness and is to blame for the outbreak of acute viral pneumonia, is the cause of the respiratory disease COVID-19. The use of natural products grew as an alternative treatment for various diseases due to the abundance of organic molecules with pharmacological properties. Many pharmaceutical studies have focused on investigating compounds with therapeutic potential. Therefore, this study aimed to identify potential antiviral compounds from a popular medicinal plant called Moringa oleifera Lam. against the spike, Mpro, ACE2, and RBD targets of SARS-CoV-2. For this, we use molecular docking to identify the molecules with the greatest affinity for the targets through the orientation of the ligand with the receptor in complex. For the best results, ADME-TOX predictions were performed to evaluate the pharmacokinetic properties of the compounds using the online tool pkCSM. The results demonstrate that among the 61 molecules of M. oleifera, 22 molecules showed promising inhibition results, where the compound ellagic acid showed significant molecular affinity (-9.3 kcal.mol-1) in interaction with the spike protein. These results highlight the relevance of investigating natural compounds from M. oleifera as potential antivirals against SARS-CoV-2; however, additional studies are needed to confirm the antiviral activity of the compounds.

Comparative Analysis of the Expression of Resistance-Related Genes Respond to the Diversity Foliar Pathogens of Pseudostellaria heterophylla

The foliar disease, which is the primary complex disease of Pseudostellaria heterophylla, can be caused by multiple co-infecting pathogens, resulting in a significant reduction in yield. However, there is a lack of research on the relationship between co-infection of various pathogens and the response of resistance-related genes in P. heterophylla. Through the use of 18S rDNA sequencing and pathogenicity testing, it has been determined that Fusarium oxysporum, Alternaria alternata, Arcopilus aureus, Botrytis cinerea, Nemania diffusa, Whalleya microplaca, and Cladosporium cladosporioides are co-infecting pathogens responsible for foliar diseases in P. heterophylla. Furthermore, the qRT-PCR analysis revealed that F. oxysporum, A. alternata, B. cinerea, A. aureus, N. diffusa, Schizophyllum commune, C. cladosporioides, and Coprinellus xanthothrix upregulated ten, two, three, four, seven, thirteen, five, one, and six resistance-related genes, respectively. These findings suggest that a total of 22 resistance-related genes were implicated in the response to diverse fungi, and the magnitude and frequency of induction of resistance-related genes varied considerably among the different fungi. The aforementioned gene associated with resistance was found to be implicated in the response to multiple fungi, including PhPRP1, PhBDRN15, PhBDRN11, and PhBDRN3, which were found to be involved in the resistance response to nine, five, four, and four fungi, respectively. The findings indicate that the PhPRP1, PhBDRN15, PhBDRN11, and PhBDRN3 genes exhibit a broad-spectrum resistance to various fungi. Furthermore, the avirulence fungi C. xanthothrix, which is known to affect P. heterophylla, was found to prime a wide range of resistance responses in P. heterophylla, thereby enhancing its disease resistance. This study provided insight into the management strategies for foliar diseases of P. heterophylla and new genetic materials for disease-resistant breeding.

Moringa oleifera: An Updated Comprehensive Review of Its Pharmacological Activities, Ethnomedicinal, Phytopharmaceutical Formulation, Clinical, Phytochemical, and Toxicological Aspects

Moringa oleifera, also known as the "tree of life" or "miracle tree," is classified as an important herbal plant due to its immense medicinal and non-medicinal benefits. Traditionally, the plant is used to cure wounds, pain, ulcers, liver disease, heart disease, cancer, and inflammation. This review aims to compile an analysis of worldwide research, pharmacological activities, phytochemical, toxicological, and ethnomedicinal updates of Moringa oleifera and also provide insight into its commercial and phytopharmaceutical applications with a motive to help further research. The scientific information on this plant was obtained from various sites and search engines such as Scopus, Pub Med, Science Direct, BMC, Google Scholar, and other scientific databases. Articles available in the English language have only been referred for review. The pharmacological studies confirm the hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, and anti-inflammatory potential of the extracts from the various plant parts. It was found that bioactive constituents are present in every part of the plant. So far, more than one hundred compounds from different parts of Moringa oleifera have been characterized, including alkaloids, flavonoids, anthraquinones, vitamins, glycosides, and terpenes. In addition, novel isolates such as muramoside A&B and niazimin A&B have been identified in the plant and have potent antioxidant, anticancer, antihypertensive, hepatoprotective, and nutritional effects. The traditional and nontraditional use of Moringa, its pharmacological effects and their phytopharmaceutical formulations, clinical studies, toxicity profile, and various other uses are recognized in the present review. However, several traditional uses have yet to be scientifically explored. Therefore, further studies are proposed to explore the mechanistic approach of the plant to identify and isolate active or synergistic compounds behind its therapeutic potential.

Anti-Sporotrichotic Activity, Lambert-W Inhibition Kinetics and 3D Structural Characterization of Sporothrix schenckii Catalase as Target of Glucosinolates from Moringa oleifera

Most human fungal infections exhibit significant defensive oxidative stress responses, which contribute to their pathogenicity. An important component of these reactions is the activation of catalase for detoxification. To discover new antifungal chemicals, the antifungal activity of methanol extracts of Moringa oleifera from two commercial products (Akuanandi and Mas Lait) was investigated. The methanolic extracts’ activity against Sporothrix schenckii was determined using an assay for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum lethal concentration (MLC). The MIC concentrations varied between 0.5 μg/mL and 8 μg/mL. Akuanandi extract had the lowest MIC (0.5 μg/mL) and MLC (1 μg/mL) values. M. oleifera methanolic extracts were tested for catalase inhibition. The Ki values of the M. oleifera extract against S. schenckii catalase (SsCAT) was found to be 0.7 μg/mL for MOE-AK and 0.08 μg/mL for MOE-ML. Catalase’s 3D structure in SsCAT is unknown. The homology of SsCAT was modeled with an in silico study using a 3D structure from SWISS MODEL and validation the predicted 3D structure was carried out using PROCHECK and MolProbity. Docking simulations were used to analyze protein interactions using Pymol, PoseView, and PLIP. The results revealed that M. oleifera glucosinolates interacts with SsCAT. A molecular interaction analysis revealed two inhibitor compounds (glucosinalbin and glucomoringin) with high binding affinity to key allosteric-site residues. The binding energies revealed that glucosinalbin and glucomoringin bind with high affinity to SsCAT (docking energy values: −9.8 and −9.0 kcal/mol, respectively). The findings of this study suggest that glucosinolates derived from M. oleifera could be used instead of synthetic fungicides to control S. schenckii infections. We hope that the findings of this work will be valuable for developing and testing novel natural anti-sporothrix therapeutic agents in the future.

Mucormycosis, a post-COVID infection: possible adjunctive herbal therapeutics for the realigning of impaired immune-metabolism in diabetic subjects

Cytokine storm is believed as a major root cause for multi-organ failure and death in severely infected diabetic patients with COVID-19. This condition is treated with anti-inflammatory drugs, mainly steroids, to recover people from critical conditions. However, steroid therapy causes immune suppression and uncontrolled hyper-glycaemia in post-COVID. This altered immune-metabolism provides a fertile environment for the infection of a black fungus, Rhizopus arrhizus which causes mucormycosis in diabetic patients. It is a life-threatening infection causing death in different countries. It is treated either with anti-fungal drugs, surgical debridement, or adjunctive therapies. The available therapies for mucormycosis have been associated with several drawbacks. Thus, the present review has explored and suggested herbs-spices based adjunctive therapy for possible realignment of the impaired immune system in the post-COVID diabetic subjects. The consumption of herbal therapeutics after COVID-19 could realign the impaired immune-metabolism in the post-COVID and thereby exert prophylactic effects against mucormycosis. Furthermore, the suggested herbal sources could help in the discovery of novel therapeutics against the COVID-19 associated mucormycosis.

Microorganisms from corn stigma with biocontrol potential of Fusarium verticillioides

Abstract The mycotoxigenic fungus Fusarium verticillioides is the primary maize pathogen and causes the maize stalk and ear rot diseases with significant economic losses. Furthermore, the excessive use of fungicides to control F. verticillioides constitutes threats to the environment and human health. Thus, sustainable alternatives such as biological control are needed to minimize the hazards associated with the current method. Although much is known about the vulnerability of the maize silks as a gateway for several fungal pathogens invading the developing grains, studies on the chemical properties of silk extracts and their resident microbiota are scarce. This study isolated and characterized bacteria and fungi that colonize the maize stigma to assess new potential biocontrol agents. The samples were collected from maize fields in the Brazilian localities of Sete Lagoas-MG, Sidrolândia-MS, Sertaneja-PR, and Goiânia-GO. One hundred sixty-seven microorganisms were isolated, 46% endophytic and 54% epiphytic. First, the antagonist activity was evaluated by the agar disc diffusion method performed in triplicate, and 83% of the isolates showed antagonist activity against F. verticillioides. Then, the 42 most efficient isolates were identified based on the partial sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungi ITS region. The bacteria belong to the genera Bacillus (57.1%), Burkholderia (23.8%), Achromobacter (7.1%), Pseudomonas (2.4%), and Serratia (2.4%), while the fungi are Penicillium (2.4%), Candida (2.4), and Aspergillus (2.4%). The results showed that microorganisms from maize stigma might represent new promising agents for F. verticillioides control.

Essential Oils from Fruit and Vegetables, Aromatic Herbs, and Spices: Composition, Antioxidant, and Antimicrobial Activities

In the field of food preservation, encapsulated Essential Oils (EOs) could be the best non-toxic and eco-friendly tool for food preservative applications substituting the chemicals ones that have several disadvantages for the environment and health. Thirteen commercial EOs from plants, fruits, and vegetables were characterized by GC-MS. The antioxidant activity was measured by DPPH and ABTS techniques. Antimicrobial activity was assessed by agar well-diffusion method and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) by agar dilution method against six bacteria, Candida albicans, and Botrytis cinerea. All the EOs tested have demonstrated antioxidant activity in the range of IC50 0.01-105.32 mg/mL. Between them, cinnamon EOs were the best, followed by oregano and thyme EOs. Fennel EO showed the lowest radical scavenging. MIC values ranged from 0.14 to 9 mg/mL. C. cassia, thyme, and oregano EOs were the most effective against the bacterial species tested, and the yeast C. albicans. On the contrary, citric fruit EOs showed low or no inhibition against most bacterial strains. The percentages of inhibition of mycelia growth of B. cinerea ranged from 3.4 to 98.5%. Thyme, oregano, mint, and fennel EOs showed the highest inhibition.