Basil (Ocimum Basilicum) is one of the most important crops with essential oils as well as polyphenols, phenolics, flavonoids and phenolic acids. This annual plant belongs to mint family, and indigenous to tropical regions. Basil leaves also has tremendous pharmaceutical benefits and it is common to use in rice, meat, stews and soups. Traditionally, it has been used in kidney problems, as a haemostyptic in childbirth, earache, menstrual irregularities, arthritis, anorexia, treatment of colds and malaria. Basil has been shown positive effects against viral, fungal, bacterial and some infections. Basil leaves have been used in treatment of fevers, coughs, flu, asthma, bronchitis, influenza and diarrhea. Basil Seed Mucilage, commonly known as basil seed gum. Basil seed mucilage can be considered as thickening, stabilizing, fat substitute, texurizer, surface-active and emulsifying hydrocolloid. The most important pharmacological uses of basil are anti-cancer activity, radioprotective activity, anti-microbial activity, anti-inflammatory effects, immunomodulatory activity, anti-stress activity, anti-diabetic activity, anti-pyretic activity, anti-arthritic activity, anti-oxidant activity, as a prophylactic agent and in cardiovascular disease.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) has been used as a spice and medicine for over 200 years in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is an important plant with several medicinal, and nutritional values used in Asian and Chinese Tradition medicine. Ginger and its general compounds such as Fe, Mg, Ca, vitamin C, flavonoids, phenolic compounds (gingerdiol, gingerol, gingerdione and shogaols), sesquiterpenes, paradols has long been used as an herbal medicine to treat various symptoms including vomiting, pain, cold symptoms and it has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-tumour activities, anti-pyretic, anti-platelet, anti-tumourigenic, anti-hyperglycaemic, antioxidant anti-diabetic, anti-clotting and analgesic properties, cardiotonic, cytotoxic. It has been widely used for arthritis, cramps, sprains, sore throats, rheumatism, muscular aches, pains, vomiting, constipation, indigestion, hypertension, dementia, fever and infectious diseases. Ginger leaves have also been used for food-flavouring and Asian Traditional Medicine especially in China. Ginger oil also used as food-flavouring agent in soft drink, as spices in bakery products, in confectionary items, pickles, sauces and as preservatives. Ginger is available in three forms, namely fresh root ginger, preserved ginger and dried ginger. The pharmacological activities of ginger were mainly attributed to its active phytocompounds 6-gingerol, 6-shogaol, zingerone beside other phenolics and flavonoids. Gingerol and shogaol in particular, is known to have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In both Traditional Chinese Medicine, and modern China, Ginger is used in about half of all herbal prescriptions. Traditional medicinal plants are often cheaper, locally available and easily consumable raw and as simple medicinal preparations. The obtained findings suggest potential of ginger extract as an additive in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

We provide here a comparative genome analysis of 31 strains within the genus Paenibacillus including 11 new genomic sequences of N₂-fixing strains. The heterogeneity of the 31 genomes (15 N₂-fixing and 16 non-N₂-fixing Paenibacillus strains) was reflected in the large size of the shell genome, which makes up approximately 65.2% of the genes in pan genome. Large numbers of transposable elements might be related to the heterogeneity. We discovered that a minimal and compact nif cluster comprising nine genes nifB, nifH, nifD, nifK, nifE, nifN, nifX, hesA and nifV encoding Mo-nitrogenase is conserved in the 15 N₂-fixing strains. The nif cluster is under control of a σ⁷⁰-depedent promoter and possesses a GlnR/TnrA-binding site in the promoter. Suf system encoding [Fe–S] cluster is highly conserved in N₂-fixing and non-N₂-fixing strains. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the nif cluster enabled Escherichia coli JM109 to fix nitrogen. Phylogeny of the concatenated NifHDK sequences indicates that Paenibacillus and Frankia are sister groups. Phylogeny of the concatenated 275 single-copy core genes suggests that the ancestral Paenibacillus did not fix nitrogen. The N₂-fixing Paenibacillus strains were generated by acquiring the nif cluster via horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from a source related to Frankia. During the history of evolution, the nif cluster was lost, producing some non-N₂-fixing strains, and vnf encoding V-nitrogenase or anf encoding Fe-nitrogenase was acquired, causing further diversification of some strains. In addition, some N₂-fixing strains have additional nif and nif-like genes which may result from gene duplications. The evolution of nitrogen fixation in Paenibacillus involves a mix of gain, loss, HGT and duplication of nif/anf/vnf genes. This study not only reveals the organization and distribution of nitrogen fixation genes in Paenibacillus, but also provides insight into the complex evolutionary history of nitrogen fixation. We sequenced the genomes of 11 N₂-fixing Paenibacillus strains and demonstrated the genomic diversity of the genus Paenibacillus by comparing these strains to each other and to 20 other strains (4 N₂-fixing and 16 non-N₂-fixing strains) that were sequenced previously. Phylogenetic analysis of the concatenated 275 single-copy core genes suggests that ancestral Paenibacillus did not fix nitrogen and the N₂-fixing strains fall into two sub-groups, which were likely originated from a N₂-fixing common ancestor. A minimal and compact nif cluster comprising nine nif genes encoding Mo-nitrogenase is highly conserved in the 15 N₂-fixing strains. Variations in the nif cluster and in the chromosomal regions surrounding the nif cluster between two sub-groups imply at least two independent acquisitions with insertion of distinct nif cluster variants in different genomic sites of Paenibacillus in early evolutionary history. Phylogeny of the concatenated NifHDK sequences suggests that Paenibacillus and Frankia are sister groups. The nif cluster, a functional unit for nitrogen fixation, was lost, producing some non-N₂-fixing strains. There were recent events of acquisition of vnf and anf genes, causing further diversification of some strains. The evolution of nitrogen fixation in Paenibacillus involves a mix of gain, loss, HGT and duplication of nif/anf/vnf genes.

Background: Biological nitrogen fixation is highly controlled at the transcriptional level by regulatory networks that respond to the availability of fixed nitrogen. In many diazotrophs, addition of excess ammonium in the growth medium results in immediate repression of nif gene transcription. Although the regulatory cascades that control the transcription of the nif genes in proteobacteria have been well investigated, there are limited data on the kinetics of ammonium-dependent repression of nitrogen fixation. Results: Here we report a global transcriptional profiling analysis of nitrogen fixation and ammonium repression in Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501, a root-associated and nitrogen-fixing bacterium. A total of 166 genes, including those coding for the global nitrogen regulation (Ntr) and Nif-specific regulatory proteins, were upregulated under nitrogen fixation conditions but rapidly downregulated as early as 10 min after ammonium shock. Among these nitrogen fixation-inducible genes, 95 have orthologs in each of Azoarcus sp. BH72 and Azotobacter vinelandii AvoP. In particular, a 49-kb expression island containing nif and other associated genes was markedly downregulated by ammonium shock. Further functional characterization of pnfA, a new NifA-σ⁵⁴-dependent gene chromosomally linked to nifHDK, is reported. This gene encodes a protein product with an amino acid sequence similar to that of five hypothetical proteins found only in diazotrophic strains. No noticeable differences in the transcription of nifHDK were detected between the wild type strain and pnfA mutant. However, the mutant strain exhibited a significant decrease in nitrogenase activity under microaerobic conditions and lost its ability to use nitrate as a terminal electron acceptor for the support of nitrogen fixation under anaerobic conditions. Conclusions: Based on our results, we conclude that transcriptional regulation of nif gene expression in A1501 is mediated by the nif- specific and ntr gene regulatory systems. Furthermore, microarray and mutational analyses revealed that many genes of unknown function may play some essential roles in controlling the expression or activity of nitrogenase. The findings presented here establish the foundation for further studies on the physiological function of nitrogen fixation-inducible genes.