Carotenoids are important phytochemicals contributing nutritional health benefits in the human diet, with a significant contribution from cereals as one of the major food component around the world. Different methods have been described and adopted for the extraction and isolation of carotenoid compounds. Saponification can be seen as an option for carotenoid extraction from cereals as it converts retinol esters to retinol and removes other abundant compounds such as triglycerides. Extraction of carotenoids content of locally adapted and organic cereals have been limitedly investigated and was, therefore, evaluated in the present study, with a specific aim to understand genotypic and local cultivation effects and interactions. Therefore, 17 diverse cereal genotypes of local origin were grown organically in four localities and evaluated for carotenoid content and composition by HPLC. The results showed a large variation in content and composition of carotenoids in locally adapted and organically grown cereal genotypes, with lutein as the dominating type in wheat and rye, while zeaxanthin was the dominating type in barley. High-level genotypes showed values (9.9 mg/kg of total carotenoids) similar to the highest values previously reported in specific types of wheat. The barley genotypes showed relatively high stability in carotenoids content within and between cultivation locations, while large interactions were found with the cultivation location for the rest of the genotypes, indicating their local adaptation. The local adaptation of the cereal genotypes evaluated contributes large opportunities for local production of high value, highly nutritious food products, while the direct value of these genotypes for conventional plant breeding for varieties performing similar over broad environmental ranges, are more limited.

Molecular germplasm characterization is essential for gathering information on favorable attributes and varietal improvement. The current study evaluated the genetic divergence and population structure of 80 potato genotypes collected from Punjab, Pakistan, using polymorphic retrotransposon-DNA-based markers (iPBS). A total of 11 iPBS primers generated 787 alleles with a mean value of 8.9 alleles per primer, of which ~95% were polymorphic across the 80 genotypes. Different variation attributes, such as mean expected heterozygosity (H = 0.21), mean unbiased expected heterozygosity (µHe = 0.22), and mean Shannon’s information index (I = 0.32), showed the existence of sufficient genetic diversity in the studied potato genotypes. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation within the population was higher (84%) than between populations (16%). A neighbor-joining tree was constructed based on the distance matrices that arranged the 80 genotypes into five distinct groups, and the genotypes FD61-3 and potato 2 had the highest genetic distance. A STRUCTURE analysis corroborated the dendrogram results and distributed the 80 genotypes also into five clusters. Our results determined that retrotransposon-based markers are highly polymorphic and could be used to evaluate genetic diversity between local and exotic potato genotypes. The genotypic data and population structure dissection analysis reported in this study will enhance potato varietal improvement and development.

Introduction: The Pseudoconyza viscosa (Mill.) is an important medicinal plant found in tropical and warm areas, and is known for its application in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. However, no information is available regarding its chemical composition, total phenolics and antioxidant potential. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the total phenolic and flavonoid contents and their antioxidant potential through insilico studies.Methods: The ethanolic extracts were characterized by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and UV-visible spectroscopy. Seventeen peaks were detected based on UV- spectroscopy. Furthermore, molecular docking of major phenolic compounds was carried out using Autodock Vina Software against human peroxiredoxin 5 (PDB ID: 1HD2) to study its antioxidant potential. Further, ADME predictions were made to determine physiochemical characteristics of the lead compound.Results: The total phenolic and flavonoid contents of Pseudoconyza viscosa (Mill.) ethanolic extracts were 311.74 and 208.2 mg/g respectively. Molecular docking results showed that dicaffeoylquinic acid (docking score -7.8) has significant binding potential against human peroxiredoxin 5 (PDB ID: 1HD2). ADME and drug likeness parameters have also shown that dicaffeoylquinic acid can be used as a potential antioxidant candidate compared to synthetic antioxidant drugs with side effects.Discussion: The results of this study underscore the therapeutic potential of Pseudoconyza viscosa (Mill.), warranting further investigation into its bioactive compounds for potential applications in pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. Future research should focus on exploring the mechanisms and efficacy of these compounds in clinical settings, paving the way for the development of novel therapeutic agents derived from this medicinal plant.

The cytoplasmic dynein light chain 1 (DYNLL1) is an important constituent of motor proteins complex. In human it is encoded by DYNLL1 gene. It is involved in cargo transport functions and interacts with many viral proteins with the help of short linear consensus motif sequence (K/R) XTQT. Viral proteins bind to DYNLL1 through its consensus short linear motif (SLiM) sequence to reach the target site in the cell and cause different infections in the host. It is still unknown if bacterial proteins also contain the same conserved SLiMs sequence through which they bind to this motor protein and cause infections. So, it is important to investigate the role of DYNLL1 in human bacterial infections. The interaction partner proteins of DYNLL1 against conserved viral motif sequences were predicted through PDBSum. Pairwise sequence alignment, between viral motif sequence and that of predicted proteins, was performed to identify conserved region in predicted interaction partners. Docking between the DYNLL1 and new pathogenic interaction partners was performed, by using PatchDock, to explore the protein-protein binding quality. Interactions of docked complexes were visualized by DimPlot. Three pathogenic bacterial proteins i.e., enterochelin esterase (3MGA), protective antigen (3J9C) and putative lipoprotein (4KT3) were selected as candidate interaction partners of DYNLL1. The putative lipoprotein (4KT3) showed low quality binding with DYNLL1. So, enterochelin esterase (3MGA) and protective antigen (3J9C) were speculated to be involved in human bacterial infections by using DYNLL1 to reach their target sites.

Bactrocera zonata or peach fruit fly, is a quarantined pest and is a major threat to horticultural crops especially in Pakistan and South Asian region. Influence of gut microbiota in determining the biological and behavioral features of B. zonata concerning digestion, immunity, mating, and foraging. Bacterial species which are Enterobacter, Lactobacillus, and Acetobacter are involved in the various aspects of nutritional acquisition, immunology, and fertility through producing volatile metabolites that impacts on sexual activity. It also plays a part in the ecological adaptations of gut microbiota; they put forward new approaches to integrated pest management (IPM). This Integrated pest management deals with microbiome change, pheromones disruption and the use of microbiome boosted baits, which supports the environmental objectives of agriculture. Digital surveillance and monitoring systems can be used to enhance the real-time adoption. IPM strategies such as microbiota manipulation and pheromone intervention present ecological innovative pest control solutions to chemical insecticides. These methods involve using protein based chemicals, microorganisms and mechanical attractants such as methyl eugenol and protein hydrolysate lures. Modern technologies provide higher accuracy and efficacy of these methods: digital video surveillance, and the use of automated equipment in monitoring contribute to suppression of B. zonata. This review predisposes indications of microbiome-targeted approaches towards changing the ‘paradigm of pest control’ in the context of IPM, reducing pesticide reliance, perusing conservation of beneficial insects and indeed nurturing sustainable agriculture. This biological control aims for field testing, gut microbiota manipulation, and targeted microbial management for location dependent pest management solutions for optimization of pest control and to tackle current and emerging issues in agriculture.