Amomum nilgiricum is one of the plant species reported from Western Ghats of India, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, with ethno-botanical values, and is well-known for their ethno medicinal applications. In the present investigation, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of A. nilgiricum were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to identify the important functional groups and phytochemical constituents. The FTIR spectra revealed the occurrence of functional characteristic peaks of aromatic amines, carboxylic acids, ketones, phenols and alkyl halides group from leaf and rhizome extracts. The GC–MS analysis of ethyl acetate and methanol extracts from leaves, and methanol extract from rhizomes of A. nilgiricum detected the presence of 25 phytochemical compounds. Further, the leaf and rhizome extracts of A. nilgiricum showed remarkable antibacterial and antifungal activities at 100 mg/mL. The results of DPPH and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay recorded maximum antioxidant activity in A. nilgiricum methanolic leaf extract. While, ethyl acetate leaf extract exhibited maximum α-amylase inhibition activity, followed by methanolic leaf extract exhibiting aldose reductase inhibition. Subsequently, these 25 identified compounds were analyzed for their bioactivity through in silico molecular docking studies. Results revealed that among the phytochemical compounds identified, serverogenin acetate might have maximum antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant and antidiabetic properties followed by 2,4-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane and (1,3-13C2)propanedioic acid. To our best knowledge, this is the first description on the phytochemical constituents of the leaves and rhizomes of A. nilgiricum, which show pharmacological significance, as there has been no literature available yet on GC–MS and phytochemical studies of this plant species. The in silico molecular docking of serverogenin acetate was also performed to confirm its broad spectrum activities based on the binding interactions with the antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant and antidiabetic target proteins. The results of the present study will create a way for the invention of herbal medicines for several ailments by using A. nilgiricum plants, which may lead to the development of novel drugs.

a b s t r a c tSeven Bacillus plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria spp. were evaluated for growth promotion and induced systemic resistance in rice against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). The identities of colonies of X. oryzae pv. oryzae grown on mXOS and PSA medium were confirmed by PCR employing specific primers TXTF and TXT4R. Among the seven strains tested as fresh suspensions, talc and sodium alginate formulations under laboratory and green house conditions, maximum germination of 86% was recorded after seed treatments with fresh suspension of Bacillus subtilis GBO3 followed by 85% germination treated with Bacillus pumilus SE34 in comparison to only 71% germination in the untreated controls. Similarly, the maximum vigor index of 1374 was obtained by seed treatment with fresh suspensions of B. subtilis strain GBO3 followed by treatments with strain SE34 with vigor index of 1323 in contrast to an index of only 834 observed in untreated controls. Among the treatments, seed treatments with fresh suspension of seven strains resulted in better germination and vigor assessments than talc based or sodium alginate formulations. Seed treatments with fresh suspension of strain SE34 gave 71% protection, followed by B. subtilis GBO3 and B. pumilus T4 with 58% and 52% protection, respectively, compared to the untreated controls. Seed treatments with talc based formulation of SE34 gave 66% protection, while GBO3 and T4 resulted in 52% and 50% protection, respectively, with similar formulation. Seed treatment with talc and sodium alginate formulations of strain SE34 gave 58% protection followed by GBO3 with 40% protection. Seed treatment with fresh suspensions of strains SE34 and GBO3 followed by challenge inoculations with Xoo increased accumulation of phenylalanine ammonia lyase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase compared to untreated control seedlings. Thus, the results of the present study suggest that the PGPR strains used as fresh suspensions and powdered formulations may have commercial potential in plant growth promotion and in management of rice bacterial leaf blight disease.

Cinnamomum verum plant extract mediated propellant chemistry route was used for the green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles. Prepared samples were confirmed for their nano regime using advanced characterization techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction and microscopic techniques such as scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The energy band gap of the green synthesized zinc oxide (ZnO)-nanoparticles (NPs) were found between 3.25–3.28 eV. Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy shows the presence of Zn-O bond within the wave number of 500 cm−1. SEM images show the specific agglomeration of particles which was also confirmed by TEM studies. The green synthesized ZnO-NPs inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 125 µg mL−1 and 62.5 µg mL−1, respectively. The results indicate the prepared ZnO-NPs can be used as a potential antimicrobial agent against harmful pathogens.

Recent developments in genomics have opened up for newer opportunities to study the diversity and classification of fungi. The genus Fusarium contains many plant pathogens that attack diverse agricultural crops. Fusarium spp. are not only pathogenic to plants but are also known as toxin producers that negatively affect animal and human health. The identification of Fusarium species still remains one of the most critical issues in fungal taxonomy, given that the number of species recognized in the genus has been constantly changing in the last century due to the different taxonomic systems. This review focuses of various molecular-based techniques employed to study the diversity of Fusarium species causing diseases in major food crops. An introduction of fusarial diseases and their mycotoxins and molecular-marker-based methods for detection introduce the concept of marker application. Various well-known molecular techniques such as random amplified polymorphic DNA, amplification fragment length polymorphism, etc. to more modern ones such as DNA microarrays, DNA barcoding, and pyrosequencing and their application form the core of the review. Target regions in the genome which can be potential candidates for generation of probes and their use in phylogeny of Fusarium spp. are also presented. The concluding part emphasizes the value of molecular markers for assessing genetic variability and reveals that molecular tools are indispensable for providing information not only of one Fusarium species but on whole fungal community. This will be of extreme value for diagnosticians and researchers concerned with fungal biology, ecology, and genetics.

Purpose The study aimed to find an effective method for fungal-mediated synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles using endophytic fungal extracts and to evaluate the efficiency of synthesized ZnO NPs as antimicrobial and anticancerous agents. Methods Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were produced from zinc nitrate hexahydrate with fungal filtrate by the combustion method. The spectroscopy and microscopy techniques, such as ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with selected area electron diffraction (SAED), were used to characterize the obtained product. Antibacterial activity on Gram-positive ( Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus ) and Gram-negative ( Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli ) samples was tested by broth microplate dilution technique. ZnO NPs antifungal activity was determined against plant pathogenic and regular contaminating fungi using the food-poison method. The anticancerous assay of the synthesized ZnO NPs was also investigated by cell uptake, MTT assay, and apoptosis assay. Results The fungal synthesized ZnO NPs were pure, mainly hexagonal in shape and size range of 34–55 nm. The biosynthesized ZnO NPs could proficiently inhibit both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. ZnO NPs synthesized from fungal extract exhibited antifungal activity in a dose-dependent manner with a high percentage of mycelial inhibition. The cell uptake analysis of ZnO NPs suggests that a significant amount of ZnO NPs (1 μg/mL) was internalized without disturbing cancer cells’ morphology. As a result, the synthesized ZnO NPs showed significant anticancer activity against cancer cells at 1 μg/mL concentration. Conclusion This fungus-mediated synthesis of ZnO NPs is a simple, eco-friendly, and non-toxic method. Our results show that the synthesized ZnO NPs are an excellent novel antimicrobial and anticancer agent. Further studies are required to understand the mechanism of the antimicrobial, anticancerous action of ZnO NPs and their possible genotoxicity.