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The purpose of this article is to provide information about interactions between pink-pigmented facultative methylotroph (PPFM) organisms and plants, their molecular mechanisms of methylotrophic metabolism, application of PPFMs in agriculture, biotechnology and bioremediation and also to explore lacuna in PPFMs research and direction for future research.

Research findings on PPFM organisms as potent plant growth promoting organisms are discussed in the light of reports published by various workers. Unexplored field of PPFM research are detected and their application as a new group of biofertilizer that also help host plants to overcome draught stress in poorly irrigated crop field is suggested.

PPFMs are used as plant growth promoters for improved crop yield, seed germination capacity, resistance against pathogens and tolerance against drought stress. Anti-oxidant and UV resistant properties of PPFM pigments protect the host plants from strong sunshine. PPFMs have excellent draught ameliorating capacity.

To meet the ever increasing world population, more and more barren, less irrigated land has to be utilized for agriculture and horticulture purpose and use of PPFM group of organisms due to their draught ameliorating properties in addition to their plant growth promoting characters will be extremely useful. PPFMs are also promising candidates for the production of various industrially and medicinally important enzymes and other value-added products. Wider application of this ecofriendly group of bacteria will reduce crop production cost thus improving economy of the farmers and will be a greener alternative of hazardous chemical fertilizers and fungicides.

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Renal failure is an end-stage consequence after persistent hyperglycemia during diabetic nephropathy (DN), and the etiology of DN has been linked to oxidative stress. The purpose of this research was to determine the beneficial synergistic effects of S-Allyl Cysteine (SAC) and Taurine (TAU) on oxidative damage in the kidneys of type 2 diabetic rats induced by hyperglycemia.

Experimental diabetes was developed by administering intraperitoneal single dose of streptozotocin (STZ; 65 mg/kg) with nicotinamide (NA; 230 mg/kg) in adult rats. Diabetic and control rats were treated with SAC (150 mg/kg), TAU (200 mg/kg) or SAC and TAU combination (75 + 100 mg/kg) for four weeks. The estimation of body weight, fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), oxidative stress markers along with kidney histopathology was done to investigate the antidiabetic potential of SAC/TAU in the NA/STZ diabetic group.

The following results were obtained for the therapeutic efficacy of SAC/TAU: decrease in blood glucose level, decreased level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and increased levels of GSH, glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT). SAC/TAU significantly modulated diabetes-induced histological changes in the kidney of rats.

SAC/TAU combination therapy modulated the oxidative stress markers in the kidney in diabetic rat model and also prevented oxidative damage as observed through histopathological findings.

The major objective of this research work was to evaluate various physico-chemical characteristics, such as, chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, objective color and texture profile analysis (TPA) of the wheat flour/chickpea flour (CF) blends, so that nutritious baked products could be consumed by the type-2 diabetic persons.

Wholegrain wheat flour (WGF) and white wheat flour (WWF) were substituted with CF at 0 to 40% levels. These wheat flour/CF blends were analyzed for proximate composition, the prepared dough and baked breads were tested for objective color, antioxidant capacity as trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), malondialdehyde (MDA) and total phenolic content (TPC) and TPA.

WGF had the highest TEAC (117.42 mM/100g) value, followed by WWF (73.98 mM/100g) and CF (60.67 mM/100g). TEAC, MDA and TPC values varied significantly among all the three flour samples.

Inclusion of whole chickpea (without dehulling) flour in such type of blends would be another interesting investigation during the future research studies.

These research findings have a great potential for the production of these baked products for human consumption on an industrial scale.

Production of breads using wheat flour and CF blends would benefits the consumers.

Production of Arabic and pan breads using wheat flour and CF blends would, therefore, combine the benefits of both the needed proteins of plant origin and the health-promoting bioactive compounds, in a most sustainable way for the consumers.

Crops are increasingly affected by drought; hence, the current study explored the potential role of three desert endophytic fungi, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus terreus and Talaromyces variabilis, in conferring drought tolerance in tomato plants.

Preserved endophytic fungi from a Rhazya stricta desert plant were adopted to obtain the required fungal treatment; tomatoes received fungal treatments directly in plastic trays and subsequently in pots. Drought was applied using 15% of PEG-6000 at two stages: flowering and fruiting. The following parameters were measured: pollen sterility, growth characteristics, morphological analysis and biochemical analysis, including proline, gibberellic acid (GA3) and chlorophyll measurements; thus, the data were analyzed statistically using SPSS software.

All applied endophytes significantly promoted pollen viability and tomato yield under stressed and nonstressed conditions. Interestingly, these endophytes significantly enhanced the number of trichomes under drought stress and promoted tomato fruit quality. The colonized tomato plants accumulated a high proline level under drought stress but lower than un-inoculated stressed plants. Also, a significant rise in growth characteristics was observed by A. fumigatus and A. terreus under normal conditions. Moreover, both raised GA3 levels under drought-stressed and nonstressed conditions. Also these two endophytes enhanced chlorophyll and carotenoid contents under drought stress. Fruit characteristics were enhanced by nonstressed T. variabilis and stressed A. fumigatus.

The present endophytic fungi provide impressive benefits to their host in normal and drought-stressed conditions. Consequently, they represent valuable sources as sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives to mitigate drought stress.

This review aims to provide synoptic documentation on acclaimed anecdotal plant-based remedies used by Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) communities to manage COVID-19. The theoretical approaches that form the basis for using the anecdotally claimed phytotherapies were reviewed against current scientific evidence.

In this paper plant-based remedies for managing COVID-19 were searched on social and print media to identify testimonies of people from different communities in LAC countries. Information was extracted, evaluated and reviewed against current scientific evidence based on a literature search from databases such as Journal Storage (JSTOR), Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), SpringerLink, Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Google Scholar and Medline to explore the scientific basis for anecdotal claims.

A total of 23 medicinal plants belonging to 15 families were identified as phytotherapies used in managing COVID-19 in LAC communities.

The plant-based remedies contained valuable phytochemicals scientifically reported for their anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant and anticancer effects. Anecdotal information helps researchers investigate disease patterns, management and new drug discoveries. The identified acclaimed plant-based remedies are potential candidates for pharmacological evaluations for possible drug discovery for future pandemics.

In the developing field of nano-materials synthesis, copper oxide nanoparticles (NPs) are deemed to be one of the most significant transition metal oxides because of their intriguing characteristics. Its synthesis employing green chemistry principles has become a key source for next-generation antibiotics attributed to its features such as environmental friendliness, ease of use and affordability. Because they are more environmentally benign, plants have been employed to create metallic NPs. These plant extracts serve as capping, stabilising or hydrolytic agents and enable a regulated synthesis as well.

Organic chemical solvents are harmful and entail intense conditions during nanoparticle synthesis. The copper oxide NPs (CuO-NPs) synthesised by employing the green chemistry principle showed potential antitumor properties. Green synthesised CuO-NPs are regarded to be a strong contender for applications in the pharmacological, biomedical and environmental fields.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the anticancer potential of CuO-NPs plant extracts to isolate and characterise the active anticancer principles as well as to yield more effective, affordable, and safer cancer therapies.

This review article highlights the copper oxide nanoparticle's biomedical applications such as anticancer, antimicrobial, dental and drug delivery properties, future research perspectives and direction are also discussed.

This paper aims to evaluate the effect of consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD) rich with total saturated fats on adiposity and serum levels of vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM-1), a biomarker of endothelial inflammation/dysfunction. Another aim is to evaluate whether supplementation of a phytosomal formulation of curcumin would reduce adiposity measures and sVCAM-1 levels in HFD rats.

The study was conducted on 17 male rats which were allocated to one of three feeding regimen groups: normal diet (ND); HFD, or HFD with dietary phytosomal curcumin (HFD-C). Anthropometric measures were recorded weekly up to 20 weeks of feeding intervention, at the end of which, sVCAM-1 levels were also compared with one-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc analysis.

The HFD group had the greatest values for raw anthropometric data, and there was a group difference in anthropometric measures, however there was no significant difference between HFD and HFD-C for any measure. The gain at 20 weeks from initial values did reveal significant differences in weight and abdominal circumference between HFD and HFD-C groups. There were significant group differences in sVCAM-1 levels, with only HFD-C displaying significant lower levels than HFD group.

This is the first study that shows the capacity of a phytosomal formulation of curcumin in reducing adiposity and sVCAM-1 levels during daily intake of saturated fats above the recommended level. The results are promising in that this formulation can protect against endothelial inflammation/dysfunction, and can be used as complimentary therapy to suppress dyslipidemia/obesity-related cardiovascular complications.

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of environmental pH on production of biofilms and virulence genes expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Among 303 clinical and environmental samples 109 (61 + 48) isolates were identified as clinical and environmental P. aeruginosa isolates, respectively. Clinical samples were obtained from patients in the Al-Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad city, Iraq. Waste water from Al-Yarmouk hospital was used from site before treatment unit to collect environmental samples. The ability of producing biofilm at various pH levels was examined by microtiter plate and the prevalence of Alg D, Psl A and Pel A was determined by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).

This study showed that the ability of clinical and environmental isolates to biofilm development was observed in 86.9% and 85.42% of clinical and environmental isolates, respectively. As well as, the environmental P. aeruginosa isolates showed the highest biofilm production at pH 7. Clinical isolates showed the highest genes expression of Alg D, Psl A and Pel A as compared to environmental isolates with pH change. In general, both clinical and environmental isolates formed biofilm and carried AlgD, PslA and PelA genes. Also, alkaline pH was favored for biofilm production.

There are very few studies done to find out the influence of environmental pH on production of biofilms and virulence genes expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study is unique as it has highlighted the influence of environmental pH on the ability of clinical and environmental isolates to biofilm development and genes expression.

The purpose of this article is to investigate on changes of the microbial load and the chemical and physical properties of date fruits stored for 6 months under two different temperatures.

A composite sample of 100 kg date fruits from the Khalas variety, season 2019, was collected from the local market in Al Ahsa Province, Saudi Arabia, packaged in 1 kg lots, stored at room and refrigerator temperatures and the microbial contamination and the chemical and physical properties monitored over a period of six months of storage. Total bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, yeasts and molds were counted and representatives of yeast and mold contaminants were identified using morphological, physiological and molecular typing techniques. Changes in the color and texture of the samples were also monitored during storage.

The yeasts detected were two strains of each of Lachancea thermotolerans and Rhodosporidiobolus fluvialis and one strain of Cystofilobasidium lacus-mascardii. For molds, one strain of each of Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus caespitosus have been detected. No significant growth of these microorganisms was observed, but enough load persisted during storage that makes the samples not meeting the microbiological standards. There were significant changes in the color and texture of the fruits during storage.

These findings add important information that can help producers and processors to improve quality and promote marketing of date fruits, especially to international markets.