Hafiza Arooj Razzaq¹, Siddra Ijaz^1,*, Imran Ul Haq², Faisal Saeed Awan¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.8, pp. 2451-2460, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.030501 - 25 June 2023

Abstract The imperative aspect of the CRISPR/Cas9 system is a short stretch of 20 nucleotides of gRNA that control the overall specificity. Due to the small size, the chance of its multiple occurrences in the genome increases; however, a few mismatches are tolerated by the Cas9 endonuclease activity. An accurate and careful in silico-based off-target prediction while target selection is preferred to address the issue. These predictions are based on a comprehensive set of selectable parameters. Therefore, we investigated the possible off-target prediction and their screening in StERF3 gene-edited potato plants while developing StERF3-loss-of-function mutants using CRISPR/Cas9 More >

Touseef Hussain^1,*, Abrar A. Khan¹, Heba I. Mohamed^2,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.3, pp. 783-799, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.026045 - 29 November 2022

Abstract Fusarium dry rot is considered to be the most critical soilborne and postharvest disease that damages potato tubers worldwide when they are stored for a long time. This study was performed to demonstrate the effect of crude extract, culture filtrate, and cell suspension obtained from the bacterium Bacillus subtilis HussainT-AMU, on the net house and field. From oil-contaminated soil, through the serial dilution method, biosurfactant bacteria were isolated on nutrient agar medium. To isolate and screen the prospective biosurfactant strain, various biosurfactant screening methods were used. Standard protocols were carried out for morphological, molecular, and chemical… More >

KHANDAKAR ABU MD MOSTAFIZAR RAHMAN^1,2, ABDUL SHUKOR JURAIMI^2,*, MD. REZWAN MOLLA³, MUHAMMAD ASYRAF MD HATTA⁴, ZULKEFLY BIN SULAIMAN⁵, SHAMIMA SULTANA⁶, AHMED GABER⁷, BENUKAR BISWAS⁸, AKBAR HOSSAIN^9,*

BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.1, pp. 227-237, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.025135 - 26 September 2022

Abstract Every breeding program that aims to create new and improved cultivars with desired traits mostly relies on information related to genetic diversity. Therefore, molecular characterization of germplasms is important to obtain target cultivars with desirable traits. Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] is widely considered the world’s most important crop, with great diversity in morphological and phenotypic traits. The genetic diversity of 20 sweet potato germplasms originating from Bangladesh, CIP, Philippines, Taiwan, and Malaysia were compared, which was accomplished by genetic diversity analysis by exploring 20 microsatellite DNA markers for germplasm characterization and utilization. This information… More >

Diego David Pinzón-Moreno^*, Eder Clidio Vicuña-Galindo, José Vulfrano González-Fernández, José Luis Soto-Gonzales, María Verónica Carranza-Oropeza^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.8, pp. 2179-2201, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.019793 - 25 April 2022

Abstract Several hydrogels were synthesized by free-radical polymerization in an aqueous medium based on potato starch (PS), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and N,N′-Methylenebisacrylamide (MBAm), being possible to study these hydrogels as a function of the proportion of components incorporated. In this way, the products generated from the synthesis were characterized by swelling and deswelling kinetics, the first swelling being verified with Schott and statistical models, allowing to contrast the proximity between the experimental and theoretical behavior. Additionally, water retention in soil (R%), spectroscopy (FTIR), morphological (SEM), and thermal (TGA and DSC) analysis allowing to know the intrinsic More >

Chengyang Li^1,2,#, Lianjun Wang^1,#, Shasha Chai^1,#, Yinghua Xu^1,2, Chong Wang^1,2, Yi Liu^1,2, Jian Lei¹, Xiaojie Jin¹, Xianliang Cheng¹, Yuanyuan Yang¹, Xinsun Yang^1,*, Wenying Zhang^2,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.8, pp. 1779-1793, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.020192 - 14 April 2022

Abstract Fusarium wilt, a disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp batatas (Fob) is an important disease in sweet potato production. Using endophytic bacteria for biological control of sweet potato diseases is one of the important ways. A Bacillus subtilis with antagonistic effect on Fusarium wilt of sweet potato was isolated from soil by confrontation culture. According to the biological characteristics, 16S rDNA sequence analysis, and physiological and biochemical analysis, the Bacillus subtilis HAAS01 was named. A pot experiment was conducted for the biological control experiment of strain HAAS01, and the endogenous hormone content, antioxidant enzyme activity, soluble protein content, and related More >

YASSER S. MOSTAFA^1,*, SAAD A. ALAMRI^1,2, SULIMAN A. ALRUMMAN¹, TAREK H. TAHA³, MOHAMED HASHEM^1,4, MAHMOUD MOUSTAFA^1,5, LAMIAA I. FAHMY⁶

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.6, pp. 1661-1672, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.016193 - 01 September 2021

Abstract The study was sought to enhance the synthesis of thermal stable β-cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (β-CGTase) using potato wastewater as a low-cost medium and assess the degree to which it is efficient for industrial production of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) from raw potato starch. Thermophilic bacteria producing β-CGTase was isolated from Saudi Arabia and the promising strain was identified as Bacillus licheniformis using phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene. Alginate-encapsulated cultures exhibited twice-fold of β-CGTase production more than free cells. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of polymeric capsules indicated the potential for a longer shelf-life, which promotes the restoration of… More >

Dan Xiang^1,2, Yue Wu², Huan Li², Qing Liu², Zhenfeng Zhou², Qinghua Chen², Nan Zhang³, Liang Xu^1,2,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.90, No.4, pp. 1247-1258, 2021, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2021.014232 - 27 April 2021

Abstract Soil fungi are extremely important for maintaining soil health and plant production in agricultural systems. Currently, the effect of continuous cropping of sweet potato on soil fungal communities and physiochemical parameters has not been well documented. In the present study, four sweet potato fields consecutively monocultured for 1, 2, 3, and 4 years were selected to investigate the effect of monoculture on soil fungal communities through Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Continuous cropping of sweet potatoes dramatically altered the fungal community composition, whereas fungal diversity was almost unchanged. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the most abundant phyla in all… More >

HANNA AMOANIMAA-DEDE, JIACHENG ZHANG, CHUNTAO SU, HONGBO ZHU^*

BIOCELL, Vol.45, No.4, pp. 1095-1105, 2021, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2021.015053 - 22 April 2021

Abstract Sweet potato is a multifunctional root crop with many essential nutrients and bioactive compounds. Due to its genetic complexity and lack of genomic resources, efficient genetic studies and cultivar development lag far behind other major crops. Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) offer an effective molecular marker technology for molecular-based breeding and for locating important loci in crop plants, but only a few have previously been developed in sweet potato. To further explore new SSR markers and accelerate their use in sweet potato genetic studies, genome-wide characterization and development of SSR markers were performed using the recently… More >

Shiyang Li^1,#, Xue-Ao Liu^2,#, Lizi Zhao², Huiqing Huang³, Bei Li², Zhizhong Song², Meixia Liang², Hongxia Zhang^2,3, Limin Wang^2,*, Shenglin Zhou^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.90, No.3, pp. 761-772, 2021, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2021.016314 - 30 March 2021

Abstract Seven in absentia (SINA) family proteins play a central role in plant growth, development and resistance to abiotic stress. However, their biological function in plant response to cold stress is still largely unknown. In this work, a seven in absentia gene IbSINA5 was isolated from sweet potato. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analyses demonstrated that IbSINA5 was ubiquitously expressed in various tissues and organs of sweet potato, with a predominant expression in fibrous roots, and was remarkably induced by cold, drought and salt stresses. Subcellular localization assays revealed that IbSINA5-GFP fusion protein was mainly localized in cytoplasm… More >

Hanna Amoanimaa-Dede, Chuntao Su, Akwasi Yeboah, Chunhua Chen, Shaoxia Yang, Hongbo Zhu^*, Miao Chen^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.89, No.4, pp. 805-833, 2020, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2020.011979 - 09 November 2020

Abstract Sweet potato is a multifunctional root crop and a source of food with many essential nutrients and bioactive compounds. Variations in the flesh color of the diverse sweet potato varieties are attributed to the different phytochemicals and natural pigments they produce. Among them, carotenoids and anthocyanins are the main pigments known for their antioxidant properties which provide a host of health benefits, hence, regarded as a major component of the human diet. In this review, we provide an overview of the major pigments in sweet potato with much emphasis on their biosynthesis, functions, and regulatory More >