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Antifreeze proteins (AFP) are produced by certain plants, animals, fungi and bacteria that enable them to survive upon extremely low temperature. Perennial rye grass, Lolium perenne, was reported to possess AFP which protects them from cold environments. In the present investigation, we isolated AFP gene from L. perenne and expressed it in tomato plants to elucidate its role upon chilling stress. The T1 transgenic tomato lines were selected and subjected to molecular, biochemical and physiological analyses. Stable integration and transcription of LpAFP in transgenic tomato plants was confirmed by Southern blot hybridization and RT-PCR, respectively. Physiological analyses under chilling conditions showed that the chilling stress induced physiological damage in wild type (WT) plants, while the transgenic plants remained healthy. Total sugar content increased gradually in both WT and transgenic plants throughout the chilling treatment. Interestingly, transgenic plants exhibited remarkable alterations in terms of relative water content (RWC) and electrolyte leakage index (ELI) than those of WT. RWC increased significantly by 3-fold and the electrolyte leakage was reduced by 2.6-fold in transgenic plants comparing with WT. Overall, this report proved that LpAFP gene confers chilling tolerance in transgenic tomato plants and it could be a potential candidate to extrapolate the chilling tolerance on other chilling-sensitive food crops.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the variability in DNA quality and quantity along a gradient of industrial processing of botanical ingredients from raw materials to extracts. Methods: A data matrix was assembled for 1242 botanical ingredient samples along a gradient of industrial processing commonly used in the Natural Health Product (NHP) industry. Multivariate statistics was used to explore dependant variables for quality and quantity. The success of attaining a positive DNA test result along a gradient of industrial processing was compared among four biotechnologies: DNA barcoding, NGS, Sanger sequencing and qPCR. Results: There was considerable variance in DNA quality and quantity among the samples, which could be interpreted along a gradient from raw materials with greater quantities (50–120 ng/μL) of DNA and longer DNA (400-500bp) sequences to extracts, which were characterized by lower quantities (0.1–10.0 ng/μL) and short fragments (50-150bp). Conclusions: Targeted molecular diagnostic tests for species identity can be used in the NHP industry for raw and processed samples. Non-targeted tests or the use of NGS for any identity test needs considerable research and development and must be validated before it can be used in commercial operations as these methods are subject to considerable risk of false negative and positive results. Proper use of these tools can be used to ensure ingredient authenticity, and to avert adulteration, and contamination with plants that are a health concern. Lastly these tools can be used to prevent the exploitation of rare herbal species and the harvesting of native biodiversity for commercial purposes.

The ubiquitous occurrence, toxicological influence, and bioaccumulation of toxic entities, e.g., pesticides and toxic elements in the environment, biota, and humans, directly or indirectly, are posing severe social, ecological, and human health concerns. Much attention has been given to the rising bioaccumulation of toxins and their adverse impact on various environmental matrices. For example, the inappropriate and exacerbated use of xenobiotics and related hazardous substances have caused the deterioration of the agricultural environment, e.g., fertile soils where plants are grown. Moreover, the harmful toxins have negatively impacted human health through the trophic chains. However, the analytical and regulatory considerations to effectively monitor and mitigate any or many pesticides and toxic elements from environmental matrices are still lacking in the existing literature. For decades, the scientific community has overseen the consequences caused by pollutants, however, the improvement of analytical detection methods and regulatory considerations are not yet fully covered. This review covers the notable literature gap by stressing the development and deployment of robust analytical and regulatory considerations for an efficient abatement of hazardous substances. Following detailed information on occurrence, toxicological influence, and bioaccumulation of pesticides and toxic elements, the most relevant analytical detection tools and regulatory measures are given herein, with suitable examples, to mitigate or reduce the damage caused by these pollutants., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purple acid phosphatase (PAP) family genes play a crucial role in the phosphorus (P) foraging and recycling. There are 25 putative Jatropha curcas PAP genes (JcrPAP) were identified and classified into three groups based on their molecular weights. Subcellular localization prediction indicated that most of the JcrPAPs were localized to secretory pathway. Several PAPs possess signal peptide motifs and varied numbers of N-glycosylation and transmembrane helix motifs. JcrPAP proteins have 3-5 active pocket sites comprising 1 to 11 binding residues which interact with different ligands such as iron (Fe), N-acetyl l-d-Glucosamine (NAG), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn). The core structure of the predicted JcrPap28 was similar to the Ipomoea batatas Pap protein. Most of the JcrPAP genes showed higher expression in the root tissues compared to stem and leaf tissues. Several JcrPAP genes were upregulated under low phosphorus conditions. JcrPAP genes such as JcrPap26b, JcrPap27b, and JcrPap28 have shown multifold induction in low phosphorus treated plants which suggest that these genes might be involved in phosphorus metabolism. The present study provided the structural variations and expression regulation of JcrPAP genes in the economically viable biodiesel crop and it would be helpful for the crop improvement under phosphorus limiting conditions., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)