Epigenetic modifiers as inducer of bioactive secondary metabolites in fungi

Scientists are making efforts to search for new metabolites as they are essential lead molecules for the drug discovery, much required due to the evolution of multi drug resistance and new diseases. Moreover, higher production of known drugs is required because of the ever growing population. Microorganisms offer a vast collection of chemically distinct compounds that exhibit various biological functions. They play a crucial role in safeguarding crops, agriculture, and combating several infectious ailments and cancer. Research on fungi have grabbed a lot of attention after the discovery of penicillin, most of the compounds produced by fungi under normal cultivation conditions are discovered and now rarely new compounds are discovered. Treatment of fungi with the epigenetic modifiers has been becoming very popular since the last few years to boost the discovery of new molecules and enhance the production of already known molecules. Epigenetic literally means above genetics that actually does not alter the genome but alter its expression by altering the state of chromatin from heterochromatin to euchromatin. Chromatin in heterochromatin state usually doesn't express because it is closely packed by histones in this state. Epigenetic modifiers loosen the packing of chromatin by inhibiting DNA methylation and histone deacetylation and thus permit the expression of genes that usually remain dormant. This study delves into the possibility of utilizing epigenetic modifying agents to generate pharmacologically significant secondary metabolites from fungi.

Transcriptome profiling and characterization of genes associated with tuberization under high temperature in aeroponics in potato cv. Kufri Anand

BACKGROUND

High temperature stress is an important abiotic factor, which affects tuberization and ultimately causes heavy yield reduction in potato.

OBJECTIVES

Identification and characterization of genes associated with tuberization under high temperature stress is essential for future management through biotechnology.

METHODOLOGY

Two contrasting potato varieties Kufri Anand (profuse tuber-bearing) versus Kufri Frysona (very less/scanty tuber-bearing, control) were cultivated in aeroponics under high temperature stress, and transcriptomes were analyzed.

RESULTS

Potato cv. Kufri Anand was found superior over control (Kufri Frysona) for tuber yield and its component traits along with root morphology under aeroponics. Transcriptomes of tuber and leaf tissues were analyzed. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were categorised into up-regulated (> 2 log2 fold change, FC) and down-regulated (< -2 log2 FC) genes. DEGs were annotated by gene ontology and KEGG pathways. A few selected up-regulated genes of both tissues were identified, and phylogeny tree and motif analysis were analysed based on 36 peptide sequences representing 15 selected DEGs in this study. Further, gene expression markers were developed and validated by real time qPCR analysis for the identification of high temperature tolerant genotypes.

CONCLUSION

A few key genes associated in tuberization under high temperature conditions were heat shock proteins (e.g. 18.5 kDa class I heat shock protein), sugar metabolism (e.g. glucosyltransferase), transcription factor (e.g. WRKY), and phytohormones (e.g. auxin-induced beta-glucosidase). Our study provides an overview of key genes involved in tuberization under high temperature stress in potato cv. Kufri Anand under aeroponics.

Raloxifene, a SERM targets PD-L1: an in-silico study

OBJECTIVES

Immunotherapeutic interventions in cancer have been considerably successful and widely accepted for cancer treatment, but are costly and cannot be afforded by all patients. Because of the high cost, the pharmaceutical research groups across the world are sufficiently motivated to discover or design small molecule inhibitors to treat cancer through inhibition of the immune checkpoint proteins previously targeted with monoclonal antibodies. The presented study was designed with an aim to establish raloxifene, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) as a potential ligand of the immune checkpoint protein Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1).

METHODS

In the presented study, the in-silico approach was used for identifying a lead molecule against PD-L1. The hits were screened using the similarity-search method, and drug-likeliness analysis, and the leads were identified through ligand-docking using Autodock. In-vitro cytotoxicity analysis was carried out using the standard sulphorhodamine B (SRB) assay and the wound healing analysis to show the inhibition of cellular migration was performed using the standard scratch assay.

RESULTS

The in-silico study revealed that raloxifene showed a high drug likelihood and higher binding affinity with PD-L1 as compared to the positive control (BMS-1166; BMS is Bristol Myers Squibb). The binding of raloxifene was shown to occur in the same region as the FDA-approved monoclonal antibodies atezolizumab and durvalumab, indicating the potential of raloxifene for PD1/PD-L1 blockade. In the in-vitro studies, raloxifene showed a time-dependent reduction in IC50 values for the cell line HCT116 (colon cancer). The scratch assay also revealed that raloxifene significantly reduced the migratory potential of HCT-116 cells in-vitro.

CONCLUSIONS

PD-L1 is a potential target of the SERM raloxifene in-silico. Overall, this study is one step further towards immune checkpoint blockade using small-molecule inhibitors.

Strangles in equines: An overview

Strangles, caused by Streptococcus equi subspecies equi, is a highly infectious respiratory disease affecting horses and other equines. The disease is economically important and compromises the productivity of equine farm significantly. The disease is characterized by pyrexia, mucopurulent nasal discharge, and abscess formation in the lymph nodes of the head and neck of horses. The disease transmission occurs either directly by coming in contact with infectious exudates or indirectly via fomite transmission. Besides this, carrier animals are the primary and most problematic source of disease infection. The organism not only initiates outbreaks but also makes the control and prevention of the disease difficult. The diagnosis of strangles is best done by isolating and characterizing the bacteria from nasal discharge, pus from abscesses, and lymphoid tissues or by using PCR. ELISA can also be used to detect serum protein M (SeM) antibodies for diagnosis. The most popular treatment for strangles is with penicillin; however, the treatment is affected by the stage, feature and severity of the disease. Prevention and control of strangles can be achieved through vaccination and good hygiene practices. Basically, this review describes the global prevalence of S. equi, as well as general aspects of the disease, like pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, control and management of the disease.

Correction to "LC-PDA-MS/MS-Based Dereplication Guided Isolation of a New Optical Isomer of 19,20-Epoxycytochalasin-N and Its Cytotoxic Activity"

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c03037.].

Root system architecture for abiotic stress tolerance in potato: Lessons from plants

The root is an important plant organ, which uptakes nutrients and water from the soil, and provides anchorage for the plant. Abiotic stresses like heat, drought, nutrients, salinity, and cold are the major problems of potato cultivation. Substantial research advances have been achieved in cereals and model plants on root system architecture (RSA), and so root ideotype (e.g., maize) have been developed for efficient nutrient capture to enhance nutrient use efficiency along with genes regulating root architecture in plants. However, limited work is available on potatoes, with a few illustrations on root morphology in drought and nitrogen stress. The role of root architecture in potatoes has been investigated to some extent under heat, drought, and nitrogen stresses. Hence, this mini-review aims to update knowledge and prospects of strengthening RSA research by applying multi-disciplinary physiological, biochemical, and molecular approaches to abiotic stress tolerance to potatoes with lessons learned from model plants, cereals, and other plants.

LC-PDA-MS/MS-Based Dereplication Guided Isolation of a New Optical Isomer of 19,20-Epoxycytochalasin-N and Its Cytotoxic Activity

The Rosellinia sanctae-cruciana extract was subjected to detailed liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry studies. A total of 38 peaks were annotated to m/z 508.26, m/z 510.28, m/z 524.26, m/z 526.28, m/z 540.26, m/z 542.27, and m/z 584.28 [M + H]⁺. The accurate mass, mutually supported UV/vis spectra, and database search identified these compounds as cytochalasins. Systematic dereplication helped identify a peak at m/z 540.26 [M + H]⁺ as the new compound. Further, the identified compound was purified by high-performance liquid chromatography and characterized by 2D NMR to be 19,20-epoxycytochalasin N1, a new optical isomer of 19,20-epoxycytochalasin-N. It exhibited substantial cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ values ranging from 1.34 to 19.02 μM. This study shows a fast approach for dereplicating and identifying novel cytochalasin metabolites in crude extracts.

Genotypic variations for tuber nutrient content, dry matter and agronomic traits in tetraploid potato germplasm

Nutrient deficiencies lead to various health issues and are common worldwide. Potato germplasm is a rich source of natural variations and genetic variability present in it can be exploited for developing nutrient-rich high-yielding potato varieties. In this study, variations in the yield, dry matter (DM) and mineral nutrients concentrations were evaluated in both peeled and unpeeled tubers of 243 highly diverse tetraploid potato accessions. These were raised under field conditions for two consecutive years. The germplasm studied has a wider range of variations in peeled tubers DM (13.71-27.80%), Fe (17.08-71.03 mg/kg), Zn (9.55-34.78 mg/kg), Cu (2.13-13.25 mg/kg), Mn (7.04-25.15), Ca (117.4-922.5 mg/kg), Mg (656.6-1510.6 mg/kg), S (1121.3-3765.8 mg/kg), K (1.20-3.09%), P (0.21-0.50%) and Mo (53.6-1164.0 ppb) concentrations compared to popular Indian potato varieties. Higher nutrient concentrations in whole tubers compared to tuber flesh suggest that these are present in high concentration in the tuber peripheral layers and peeling off the tubers results in the loss of nutrients. Highest loss due to peeling off the tubers was observed in Fe (35.63%) followed by Cu (22.80%), Mn (21.69%), Ca (21.27%), Mg (12.89%), K (12.75%), Zn (10.13%), and Mo (9.87%). The GCV and PCV for all the traits in peeled tubers ranged from 9.67 to 29.91%, and 13.84 to 43.32%, respectively. Several significant positive correlations were observed among the parameters and the first two principal components accounted for 39.37% of total variations. The results of this study will pave a way for the development of nutrient-rich high-yielding potato varieties.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-022-01197-1.

High-throughput sequencing technologies in the detection of livestock pathogens, diagnosis, and zoonotic surveillance

Increasing globalization, agricultural intensification, urbanization, and climatic changes have resulted in a significant recent increase in emerging infectious zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are becoming more common, so innovative, effective, and integrative research is required to better understand their transmission, ecological implications, and dynamics at wildlife-human interfaces. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) methodologies have enormous potential for unraveling these contingencies and improving our understanding, but they are only now beginning to be realized in livestock research. This study investigates the current state of use of sequencing technologies in the detection of livestock pathogens such as bovine, dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), sheep (Ovis aries), pigs (Sus scrofa), horses (Equus caballus), chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus), and ducks (Anatidae) as well as how it can improve the monitoring and detection of zoonotic infections. We also described several high-throughput sequencing approaches for improved detection of known, unknown, and emerging infectious agents, resulting in better infectious disease diagnosis, as well as surveillance of zoonotic infectious diseases. In the coming years, the continued advancement of sequencing technologies will improve livestock research and hasten the development of various new genomic and technological studies on farm animals.

Potato biofortification: an effective way to fight global hidden hunger

Hidden hunger is leading to extensive health problems in the developing world. Several strategies could be used to reduce the micronutrient deficiencies by increasing the dietary uptake of essential micronutrients. These include diet diversification, pharmaceutical supplementation, food fortification and crop biofortification. Among all, crop biofortification is the most sustainable and acceptable strategy to overcome the global issue of hidden hunger. Since most of the people suffering from micronutrient deficiencies, have monetary issues and are dependent on staple crops to fulfil their recommended daily requirements of various essential micronutrients. Therefore, increasing the micronutrient concentrations in cost effective staple crops seems to be an effective solution. Potato being the world's most consumed non-grain staple crop with enormous industrial demand appears to be an ideal candidate for biofortification. It can be grown in different climatic conditions, provide high yield, nutrition and dry matter in lesser time. In addition, huge potato germplasm have natural variations related to micronutrient concentrations, which can be utilized for its biofortification. This review discuss the current scenario of micronutrient malnutrition and various strategies that could be used to overcome it. The review also shed a light on the genetic variations present in potato germplasm and suggest effective ways to incorporate them into modern high yielding potato varieties.

Functional genomic approaches to improve crop plant heat stress tolerance

Heat stress as a yield limiting issue has become a major threat for food security as global warming progresses. Being sessile, plants cannot avoid heat stress. They respond to heat stress by activating complex molecular networks, such as signal transduction, metabolite production and expressions of heat stress-associated genes. Some plants have developed an intricate signalling network to respond and adapt it. Heat stress tolerance is a polygenic trait, which is regulated by various genes, transcriptional factors, proteins and hormones. Therefore, to improve heat stress tolerance, a sound knowledge of various mechanisms involved in the response to heat stress is required. The classical breeding methods employed to enhance heat stress tolerance has had limited success. In this era of genomics, next generation sequencing techniques, availability of genome sequences and advanced biotechnological tools open several windows of opportunities to improve heat stress tolerance in crop plants. This review discusses the potential of various functional genomic approaches, such as genome wide association studies, microarray, and suppression subtractive hybridization, in the process of discovering novel genes related to heat stress, and their functional validation using both reverse and forward genetic approaches. This review also discusses how these functionally validated genes can be used to improve heat stress tolerance through plant breeding, transgenics and genome editing approaches.

Milestones achieved in response to drought stress through reverse genetic approaches

Drought stress is the most important abiotic stress that constrains crop production and reduces yield drastically. The germplasm of most of the cultivated crops possesses numerous unknown drought stress tolerant genes. Moreover, there are many reports suggesting that the wild species of most of the modern cultivars have abiotic stress tolerant genes. Due to climate change and population booms, food security has become a global issue. To develop drought tolerant crop varieties knowledge of various genes involved in drought stress is required. Different reverse genetic approaches such as virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS), clustered regularly interspace short palindromic repeat (CRISPR), targeting induced local lesions in genomes (TILLING) and expressed sequence tags (ESTs) have been used extensively to study the functionality of different genes involved in response to drought stress. In this review, we described the contributions of different techniques of functional genomics in the study of drought tolerant genes.

Recent trends and perspectives of molecular markers against fungal diseases in wheat

Wheat accounts for 19% of the total production of major cereal crops in the world. In view of ever increasing population and demand for global food production, there is an imperative need of 40-60% increase in wheat production to meet the requirement of developing world in coming 40 years. However, both biotic and abiotic stresses are major hurdles for attaining the goal. Among the most important diseases in wheat, fungal diseases pose serious threat for widening the gap between actual and attainable yield. Fungal disease management, mainly, depends on the pathogen detection, genetic and pathological variability in population, development of resistant cultivars and deployment of effective resistant genes in different epidemiological regions. Wheat protection and breeding of resistant cultivars using conventional methods are time-consuming, intricate and slow processes. Molecular markers offer an excellent alternative in development of improved disease resistant cultivars that would lead to increase in crop yield. They are employed for tagging the important disease resistance genes and provide valuable assistance in increasing selection efficiency for valuable traits via marker assisted selection (MAS). Plant breeding strategies with known molecular markers for resistance and functional genomics enable a breeder for developing resistant cultivars of wheat against different fungal diseases.