The potential of plant-based natural compounds in the creation of new molluscicidal and antimicrobial medications has gained attention in recent years. The current study compared the metabolic profiles, antibacterial, and molluscicidal properties of the medicinal plants Calotropis procera (C. procera) and Atriplex halimus (A. halimus). In both plants, 118 metabolites were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Palmitic acid, stigmasterol, and campesterol were the most prevalent constituents. C. procera extract showed stronger antibacterial activity than A. halimus against Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis. Both extracts exhibited molluscicidal activity against Biomphalaria alexandrina, with LC₅₀ values of C. procera (135 mg/L) and A. halimus (223.8 mg/L). Survival rates of snails exposed to sub-lethal concentrations (LC₂₅) of C. procera and A. halimus extracts were 5% and 20%, respectively. The hatchability of snail eggs exposed to both extracts has been dramatically reduced. Both extracts significantly decreased the levels of alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, total protein, and albumin in snails, as well as causing DNA damage and resulting in numerous hermaphrodite and digestive gland damages and distortions. Molecular docking showed palmitic acid binding with acid, alkaline, and alanine aminotransferases in treated digestive gland snails. In conclusion, C. procera and A. halimus have antibacterial and molluscicidal properties.

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) have demonstrated significant potential in a variety of disciplines, making them an extremely desirable subject of research. This study investigated the anticancer and antibacterial properties of my-co-fabricated selenium SeNPs, as well as their effects on soybean (Glycine max L.) seeds, seedling growth, cotton leafworm (Spodoptera littoralis) combat, and plant pathogenic fungi inhibition. SeNPs showed anticancer activity with an IC₅₀ value of 1.95 µg/mL against MCF-7 breast adenocarcinoma cells. The myco-synthesized SeNPs exhibited an antibacterial effect against Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae at 20 mg/mL. The use of 1 µM SeNPs improved soybean seed germination (93%), germination energy (76.5%), germination rate (19.0), and mean germination time (4.3 days). At 0.5 and 1.0 µM SeNPs, the growth parameters of seedlings improved. SeNPs increased the 4th instar larval mortality of cotton leafworm compared to control, with a median lethal concentration of 23.08 mg/mL. They inhibited the growth of Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani, and Fusarium solani. These findings demonstrate that biogenic SeNPs represent a promising approach to achieving sustainable progress in the fields of agriculture, cancer therapy, and infection control.

Selenium is a beneficial element in agriculture, particularly for its potential to improve plant growth and stress tolerance at suitable concentrations. In this study, Phaseolus vulgaris was foliar-sprayed with selenium selenate (Se) or selenium nanoparticles (SeNP) at different concentrations during the vegetative stage; afterward, the seed yield was analyzed for metabolomics using ¹H, J-resolved and HSQC NMR data, and NMR databases. A total of 47 metabolites were identified with sugars being the major chemical class. In the control sample, the most abundant sugar was stachyose (14.6 ± 0.8 mM). Among the identified alkaloids, the concentration of trigonelline was the highest (0.6 ± 0.08 mM). Chemometric and cluster analyses distinctly differentiated the control from the Se and SeNP-treated samples. Treatments with SeNP resulted in elevated concentrations of sugars, carboxylic acids, and sulfur-containing amino acids compared to control and Se treated samples. Conversely, betaine levels were higher in Se samples. The presence of Se and SeNP significantly decreased the levels of several aliphatic amino acids, e.g. alanine. The addition of 50 µM SeNP upregulated the levels of trigonelline and syringate by 2-fold and 1.75-fold, respectively, relative to the control. Pathway analysis indicated the most significantly altered pathways due to SeNP addition were arginine biosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism. The pathways influenced by Se addition were glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism as well as glycine-serine and threonine metabolism. This study proved that SeNP are more efficient than Se in enhancing the metabolic profile of Phaseolus vulgaris which will have implications for agricultural practices, focusing on the sustainability and nutritional enhancement of crops.

Major health issues, such as the rise in oxidative stress, incidences of Alzheimer’s disease, and infections caused by antibiotic-resistant microbes, have prompted researchers to look for new therapeutics. Microbial extracts are still a good source of novel compounds for biotechnological use. The objective of the current work was to investigate marine fungal bioactive compounds with potential antibacterial, antioxidant, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory effects. Penicillium chrysogenum strain MZ945518 was isolated from the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt. The fungus was halotolerant with a salt tolerance index of 1.3. The mycelial extract showed antifungal properties against Fusarium solani with an inhibitory percentage of 77.5 ± 0.3, followed by Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum with percentages of 52 ± 0.0 and 40 ± 0.5, respectively. The extract also showed antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains using the agar diffusion technique. The fungal extract was significantly more effective with Proteus mirabilis ATCC 29906 and Micrococcus luteus ATCC 9341; inhibition zones recorded 20 and 12 mm, respectively, compared with the antibiotic gentamycin, which recorded 12 and 10 mm, respectively. The antioxidant activity of the fungus extract revealed that it successfully scavenged DPPH free radicals and recorded an IC₅₀ of 542.5 µg/mL. Additionally, it was capable of reducing Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺ and exhibiting chelating ability in the metal ion-chelating test. The fungal extract was identified as a crucial inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase with an inhibition percentage of 63% and an IC₅₀ value of 60.87 µg/mL. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS), 20 metabolites were detected. The most prevalent ones were (Z)-18-octadec-9-enolide and 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, with ratios of 36.28 and 26.73%, respectively. An in silico study using molecular docking demonstrated interactions between the major metabolites and the target proteins, including: DNA Gyrase, glutathione S-transferase, and Acetylcholinesterase, confirming the extract’s antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. Penicillium chrysogenum MZ945518, a halotolerant strain, has promising bioactive compounds with antibacterial, antioxidant, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities

Background: Persistent lead contamination and the absence of natural remediation elements exacerbate the long-term toxicity of plants. Nevertheless, it has been consistently shown that selenium has a protective effect against heavy metal toxicity in plants. Consequently, it is imperative to identify the metabolic pathways that selenium employs to enhance the resistance of plants to lead stress. This study aimed to investigate the metabolomic alterations induced by selenium priming of Vicia faba seeds to enhance their tolerance to lead stress. Results: Selenium seed priming significantly improved the growth parameter and mitigated the adverse growth consequences observed under lead stress. Nuclear magnetic resonance-based metabolomic analysis identified 58 metabolites in the polar extracts of the shoots, with the metabolites composed of amino acids (40%), carboxylic acids (12%), fatty acids (11%), carbohydrates (5%), alkaloids (5%), and phenols (4%). The addition of Pb facilitated the biosynthesis of unique metabolites, including 2-methylglutarate, 3-methyladipate, and epinephrine, which were absent in control and selenium-treated samples. Conversely, 4-aminobutyrate and 2-methylglutarate were entirely absent in Pb samples. Selenium-treated plants accumulated trigonelline and AMP at levels 1.4 and 6.0 times, respectively, more than the control samples. Selenium-primed plants exposed to lead stress exhibited higher levels of asparagine, tryptophan, and xanthine compared to other treatments. As determined by both enrichment analysis and pathway analysis, the most significantly altered pathways were alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism; aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis; and valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis pathways. Conclusion: The results demonstrate the crucial role of selenium priming in enhancing the growth and lead stress resistance of Vicia faba plants by significantly altering the concentrations of key metabolites and metabolic pathways, particularly those involved in amino acid metabolism, offering a promising strategy for improving plant resilience to heavy metal contamination.

Chaetomiaceae fungi are ascosporulating fungi whose importance as human pathogens has been frequently ignored. In the current study, a new isolate of the genus Subramaniula was described. The fungus was isolated from the soil of Wadi Om Nefa’a, Hurghada in the Red Sea Governorate, Egypt. Previously, Subramaniula were misidentified as Papulaspora spp. According to molecular analysis, the fungus was identified as Subramaniula asteroids OP484336. Remarkably, this species has been found among other fungi responsible for keratitis in humans and has been recorded for the first time in Egypt. Analysing the Subramaniula asteroids’ metabolic profile was one of the objectives of the current study because little is known about this family’s metabolome. The fungal extract’s untargeted metabolic profiling was carried out by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC/MS), ¹H and ¹H-HSQC nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data, and their corresponding databases. In total, fifty-nine metabolites have been reported in the polar and non-polar extracts. The majority of polar metabolites are amino acids and carbohydrates. The non-polar extract’s main components were 1-dodecanamine, N,N-dimethyl-, 1-tetradecanamine, N,N-dimethyl-, and 9-octadecenoic acid ethyl ester. The current study is the first to provide a metabolic profile of Subramaniula asteroids, which can be used in chemotaxonomical classification, antifungal drug development, and biological activity investigation of the studied species.