ALBERT

Description: The yield and quality of potato in South Korea vary with different environmental conditions and all induced varieties do not perform well in every location. There are many suggested reasons for this problem; they include soil topography, temperature, rainfall pattern, etc. This study focused on finding certain potato genotypes based on high yield and quality (marketable rate, uniformity, less physiological disorders, resistance to diseases), and suitability for processing in three agro-ecological regions in South Korea. Thirty-two potato genotypes were cultivated in three regions i.e., Chuncheon (low altitude), Yang-gu (middle altitude), and Pyeong-chang (alpine), along with three major cultivars (Atlantic, Shepody, and Superior) as control. All the potato lines were evaluated for three consecutive years. The results showed that a higher tuber yield was obtained from the genotypes Gangwon Valley, Valley 11, Valley 13, and Valley 92 in Chuncheon; while Valley 13, Valley 43, and Valley 92 in Yang-gu; and Valley 43, Gui Valley and Valley 92 in Pyeong-chang region with a high marketable quality, and lower infection rates and physiological disorders. The results also showed that higher chip lightness was manifested by the genotypes Juice Valley, Gangwon Valley, Rose Valley, Valley 43, and Valley 91 among the high yielding genotypes. Besides, Pyeong-chang (alpine), a high-altitude region with longer maturation time was found more suitable for potato cultivation, especially for higher tuber yield and higher quality products for potato chip processing.

Description: Cuscuta reflexa Roxb. is traditionally used by the indigenous communities of Bangladesh to treat different diseases, such as pain, edema, tumor, jaundice, and skin infections. This study tested neuro-pharmacological, anti-nociceptive, and antidiarrheal activities by in vivo and in silico experiments for the metabolites extracted (methanol) from the leaves of Cuscuta reflexa (MECR). During the anxiolytic evaluation analyzed by elevated plus maze and hole board tests, MECR (200 and 400 mg/kg) exhibited a significant dose-dependent reduction of anxiety-like behavior in mice. Similarly, mice treated with MECR demonstrated a dose-dependent decrease in the time of immobility in both forced swimming and tail suspension tests. In addition, anti-nociceptive activity was assessed by the chemical-induced (acetic acid and formalin) pain models. In both cases, 400 mg/kg was found to be most effective and significantly (p 〈 0.001) inhibited acetic acid stimulated writhing and formalin-induced licking (pain response) in mice. Furthermore, antidiarrheal efficacy determined by the castor-oil induced diarrheal model manifested an evident inhibition of diarrheal stool frequency. In parallel, previously isolated bioactive compounds were documented based on the biological activities and subjected to in silico studies to correlate with the current pharmacological outcomes. The selected isolated compounds (15) displayed favorable binding affinities to potassium channels, human serotonin receptor, COX-1, COX-2, M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor, and 5-HT3 receptor proteins. Additionally, the ADME/T and toxicological properties were justified to unveil their drug-like properties and toxicity level. Overall, Cuscuta reflexa is bioactive and could be a potential source for the development of alternative medicine.

Description: Holigarna caustica (Dennst.), a popular plant used in folk medicine in Bangladesh, is often used by the local folk practitioner to treat a variety of chronic diseases. The present research is an attempt to find out an innovative therapeutic prospect for the management of neuropsychiatric disorders. The methanol extract of H. caustica leaves (MEHC) were utilized on various behavioral tests for assessing anxiolytic, anti-depressant, and anti-inflammatory activities. The antioxidant potentials and quantitative phytochemicals were evaluated through spectrophotometric methods. Results revealed that treatment of MEHC (200 and 400 mg/kg) significantly reduced anxiety like behaviors in mice, particularly, 400 mg/kg efficiently improved % of entries and time spent (p 〈 0.05) in the open arms in elevated plus maze test, whereas, superior head dipping tendency (p 〈 0.05) was observed in hole-board test. In contrast, mice treated with 200 mg/kg revealed better anxiolytic effect in both open field and hole-cross tests. During antidepressant evaluation, mice administrated with MEHC exhibited active behaviors (swimming and struggling) in forced swimming and tail suspension tests. In parallel, MEHC manifested a noteworthy (p 〈 0.001) suppression of inflammatory response induced by histamine. The MEHC also showed strong antioxidant activities in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) (IC50: 57.64 μg/mL) scavenging, H2O2 (IC50: 51.60 μg/mL) scavenging, and ferric reducing power assay. The levels of total phenol, flavonoid, flavonol, condensed tannin, and antioxidant were estimated as higher in MEHC. Moreover, 11 compounds were documented as bioactive, displayed good binding affinities to potassium channel receptor, human serotonin receptor, cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and 2), and xanthine oxidoreductase enzyme targets in molecular docking experiments. Furthermore, ADME/T and Prediction of Activity Spectra for Substances (PASS) analyses exposed their drug-likeness, nontoxic upon consumption, and likely pharmacological actions. Overall, the H. caustica is potentially bioactive as evident by in vivo, in vitro, and computational analysis. Our findings support the folkloric value of this plant, which may provide a potential source towards developing drug leads.

Description: The present study was conducted to examine the adaptability of 11 sugar beet cultivars grown under drought stress in the controlled glasshouse. The treatment was initiated on 30-day-old sugar beet plants where drought stress was made withholding water supply for consecutive 10 days while control was done with providing water as per requirement. It was observed that drought stress expressively reduced plant growth, photosynthetic pigments, and photosynthetic quantum yield in all the cultivars but comparative better results were observed in S1 (MAXIMELLA), S2 (HELENIKA), S6 (RECODDINA), S8 (SV2347), and S11 (BSRI Sugarbeet 2) cultivars. Besides, osmolytes like proline, glycine betaine, total soluble carbohydrate, total soluble sugar, total polyphenol, total flavonoid, and DPPH free radical scavenging activity were remarkably increased under drought condition in MAXIMELLA, HELENIKA, TERRANOVA, GREGOIA, SV2348, and BSRI Sugar beet 2 cultivars. In contrast, activities of enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) were significantly decreased in all, while the cultivars SV2347, BSRI Sugar beet 1 and BSRI Sugar beet 2 were found with increased ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity under drought condition. In parallel, polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was increased in all cultivars except HELENIKA. Overall, the cultivars HELENIKA, RECODDINA, GREGOIA, SV2347, SV2348, BSRI Sugar beet 1, and BSRI Sugar beet 2 were found best fitted to the given drought condition. These findings would help further for the improvement of stress adaptive sugar beet cultivars development in the breeding program for drought-prone regions.

Description: Plant production in a plant factory is an innovative and smart idea to grow food anytime, anywhere, regardless of the outer environment. However, potato pre-basic seed tuber (PBST) production in a plant factory is a comparatively new initiative. Therefore, the aim of this study was to optimize the artificial LED light spectrum to produce PBST in a plant factory. Two potato varieties such as Golden king (V48) and Chungang (V41) were grown in soil substrate under different combination of artificial LED light combinations (such as red+blue+far-red, red+blue+white, blue+far-red, blue+white, red+far-red, and red+white) maintaining photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 100 mol m−2s−1, temperature 23/15 °C (day/night), and relative humidity 70%. The study revealed that, overall, potato plant growth (viz.; plant height, node number, leaf number, leaf length and width, fresh and dry weight) was enhanced by the red+far red light for both potato varieties. The total seed tuber number per plant was higher in red+blue+white light for V48, and red+far-red for V41. The fresh tuber weight was the highest in the red+blue+far-red light for V48 and red+blue+white for V41. The highest accumulated photosynthetic pigment (total Chlorophyll, Chlorophyll a, b and Carotenoid) was observed in red+blue+white light for both varieties. The total carbohydrate content and total sucrose content were higher in red+blue+far red and red +far red light treatment for V48 and V41, respectively. Finally, considering all factors, it is concluded that the red+blue+white light combination is deemed to be appropriate for the potato PBST production in plant factory conditions.

Description: The performance of hemp seedlings was evaluated through morphological traits, photosynthetic pigments, and osmolytes under 11 light treatments (10 LED light compositions + natural light) in an aeroponics system. The seedlings were brought under treatment at 25 days of age, where the light intensity was 300 µmol m−2s−1 and duration was 20 days. A higher leaf number and node number were observed in L10 (R4:B2:W2:FR1:UV1) and L11 (R2:B2:G2:W2:FR1:UV1), and a higher leaf length and leaf width were recorded in the L2 (white), L3 (R8:B2), and L5 (R7:B2:FR1) treatments. Furthermore, a higher shoot length was recorded in L3 (R8:B2), L6 (R6:B2:G1:FR1), and L9 (R6:B2:FR1:UV1) while roots developed more in the L1 (natural light), L5 (R7:B2:FR1), and L9 (R6:B2:FR1:UV1) treatments. On the other hand, the L3 (R8:B2) treatment manifested higher chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and photosynthetic quantum yield (Fv/Fm). The hierarchical clustering and heatmap analysis revealed that higher leaf numbers and node numbers resulted in bushy plants with shorter shoots and longer roots. A negative correlation was also observed in photosynthetic traits (pigments and fluorescence) with osmolytes and root length. Importantly, the treatments L4 (R7:B2:G1), L6 (R6:B2:G1:FR1), L8 (R5:B2:G1:FR1:UV1), and L11 (R2:B2:G2:W2:FR1:UV1) manifested higher nodes with a higher osmolyte content, such as proline, ascorbic acid, total soluble carbohydrate, and sucrose, which may be a helpful indicator for higher branches and inflorescences, and ultimately higher cannabinoids accumulation in the plants. The approach and findings of this study could provide future research with the baseline information on optimizing the light composition to produce hemp plants with ideal phenotypes.