Living species are continuously subjected to all extrinsic forms of reactive oxidants and others that are produced endogenously. There is extensive literature on the generation and effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in biological processes, both in terms of alteration and their role in cellular signaling and regulatory pathways. Cells produce ROS as a controlled physiological process, but increasing ROS becomes pathological and leads to oxidative stress and disease. The induction of oxidative stress is an imbalance between the production of radical species and the antioxidant defense systems, which can cause damage to cellular biomolecules, including lipids, proteins and DNA. Cellular and biochemical experiments have been complemented in various ways to explain the biological chemistry of ROS oxidants. However, it is often unclear how this translates into chemical reactions involving redox changes. This review addresses this question and includes a robust mechanistic explanation of the chemical reactions of ROS and oxidative stress.

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The Chemistry of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Revisited: Outlining Their Role in Biological Macromolecules (DNA, Lipids and Proteins) and Induced Pathologies.

Toward an insect evolution resolution Insects are the most diverse group of animals, with the largest number of species. However, many of the evolutionary relationships between insect species have been controversial and difficult to resolve. Misof et al. performed a phylogenomic analysis of protein-coding genes from all major insect orders and close relatives, resolving the placement of taxa. The authors used this resolved phylogenetic tree together with fossil analysis to date the origin of insects to ~479 million years ago and to resolve long-controversial subjects in insect phylogeny. Science, this issue p. 763 The phylogeny of all major insect lineages reveals how and when insects diversified. Insects are the most speciose group of animals, but the phylogenetic relationships of many major lineages remain unresolved. We inferred the phylogeny of insects from 1478 protein-coding genes. Phylogenomic analyses of nucleotide and amino acid sequences, with site-specific nucleotide or domain-specific amino acid substitution models, produced statistically robust and congruent results resolving previously controversial phylogenetic relations hips. We dated the origin of insects to the Early Ordovician [~479 million years ago (Ma)], of insect flight to the Early Devonian (~406 Ma), of major extant lineages to the Mississippian (~345 Ma), and the major diversification of holometabolous insects to the Early Cretaceous. Our phylogenomic study provides a comprehensive reliable scaffold for future comparative analyses of evolutionary innovations among insects.

Phylogenomics Resolves The Timing And Pattern Of Insect Evolution: Supplementary File Archives.

Plants generally secrete secondary metabolites in response to stress. These secondary metabolites are very useful for humankind as they possess a wide range of therapeutic activities. Secondary metabolites produced by plants include alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and steroids. Flavonoids are one of the classes of secondary metabolites of plants found mainly in edible plant parts such as fruits, vegetables, stems, grains, and bark. They are synthesized by the phenylpropanoid pathway. Flavonoids possess antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, and anticarcinogenic properties. Due to their various therapeutic applications, various pharmaceutical companies have exploited different plants for the production of flavonoids. To overcome this situation, various biotechnological strategies have been incorporated to improve the production of different types of flavonoids. In this review, we have highlighted the various types of flavonoids, their biosynthesis, properties, and different strategies to enhance the production of flavonoids.

Flavonoids a Bioactive Compound from Medicinal Plants and Its Therapeutic Applications

Abstract Venoms have evolved >100 times in all major animal groups, and their components, known as toxins, have been fine-tuned over millions of years into highly effective biochemical weapons. There are many outstanding questions on the evolution of toxin arsenals, such as how venom genes originate, how venom contributes to the fitness of venomous species, and which modifications at the genomic, transcriptomic, and protein level drive their evolution. These questions have received particularly little attention outside of snakes, cone snails, spiders, and scorpions. Venom compounds have further become a source of inspiration for translational research using their diverse bioactivities for various applications. We highlight here recent advances and new strategies in modern venomics and discuss how recent technological innovations and multi-omic methods dramatically improve research on venomous animals. The study of genomes and their modifications through CRISPR and knockdown technologies will increase our understanding of how toxins evolve and which functions they have in the different ontogenetic stages during the development of venomous animals. Mass spectrometry imaging combined with spatial transcriptomics, in situ hybridization techniques, and modern computer tomography gives us further insights into the spatial distribution of toxins in the venom system and the function of the venom apparatus. All these evolutionary and biological insights contribute to more efficiently identify venom compounds, which can then be synthesized or produced in adapted expression systems to test their bioactivity. Finally, we critically discuss recent agrochemical, pharmaceutical, therapeutic, and diagnostic (so-called translational) aspects of venoms from which humans benefit.

Modern venomics—Current insights, novel methods, and future perspectives in biological and applied animal venom research

Pesticides are a class of xenobiotic compounds that are recalcitrant and show persistence in the environment for a longer period of time. Research studies have linked their potential for mutagenicity, teratogenicity, and carcinogenicity. The accumulation of pesticides in water sources due to runoff from agricultural lands has posed a serious threat to the biota of the water ecosystem as well as to the human population. Long-term exposure to pesticides can cause neurological disorders, reproductive complications, cancer, immunological, and pulmonary diseases. The use of pesticides has dramatically surged in agricultural as well as nonagricultural practices. Tons of pesticides are applied in the fields, but a limited amount reaches to the target organism while the rest is wasted and gets accumulated in soil or ends up in water sources like groundwater or river, which results in eradication of nontarget organisms. A variety of pesticides are used for pest management, such as organochlorine (DDT), carbamates (carbaryl), organophosphates (malathion), and pyrethroids (pyrethrins). These chemicals are highly toxic to flora and fauna because of their nonbiodegradable and persistence nature. Biomagnification of pesticides usually leads to cause various problems in human beings. Organochlorines like DDT have been banned in many developed countries due to these reasons. Therefore, the removal of pesticides from wastewater and natural water sources is of utmost importance. Conventional methods possess various limitations; therefore, there is a requirement of an alternative method which can efficiently remove these pollutants from the wastewater. In this review, environmental impacts and health-related complications of pesticides and microbial remediation approaches and use of different nanomaterials in the pesticide removal have been discussed. 

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Role of Microbes and Nanomaterials in the Removal of Pesticides from Wastewater

The growth of pathogens across the globe is developing at a very fast rate, thus turning into a worldwide health problem. Since, current treatment alternatives have failed to a large extent, novel antibiotics are highly in demand. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have become a significant alternative in this scenario because of their wide-spectrum activity, rapid killing and often cell selectivity. They comprise diverse functional molecules with multifaceted properties, consisting of varied biological activity. Because of the different amino acids and elements in its structure, their action mechanism is specifically altered. Most of the AMPs have been derived from animals, plants and marine sources. They show therapeutic potential, yet, their use is limited because of their short plasma half-life. AMP production can be done at reasonable costs with the help of biotechnological methods. Thus, discovery of an efficient and long-lasting antimicrobial drugs is awaited as soon as these challenges are overcome. The market of antimicrobial peptides is growing at a fast rate. Bioactive peptides from natural sources open up new opportunities to discover lead molecules for management of various ailments. This systematic review centres around the antimicrobial activity, various properties, mechanism and sources of AMPs along with how these properties are exploited for the application of efficient and promising drug agents in pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, in this review information about antimicrobial activity, various properties, mechanism and sources of AMPs along with how these properties are exploited for the application of efficient and promising drug agents in pharmaceutical companies has been discussed.

Antimicrobial Peptides as Potential Therapeutic Agents: A Review

Role of plant derived bioactive compounds against cancer

Presently, an outbreak of coronavirus is of global concern, as it causes various respiratory problems. It was first detected in December 2019 in China’s Wuhan City where various patients got admitted to the hospitals with a symptom of pneumonia. As the number of cases increased, scientists isolated the samples from patients. Initially, it was named as a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and now renamed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This virus spread from Wuhan to other cities of China, and currently it is affecting worldwide. Transmission of this virus occurs from one human to another and spreads through contaminated hands or surfaces. Various researchers are trying to explore the potential role of bioactive compounds from plants and different nanomaterials against this virus. Therefore, in this review, an overview of SARS-CoV-2, preventive measures against this viral infection, potential biocides against this virus, and role of phytochemicals and nanomaterials against this virus have been discussed.

Nanomaterials and Bioactive Compounds against SARS-CoV-2

Due to the enormous benefits derived from host immune response, immunotherapy has been regarded among the most effective methods for defending against cancers. Nevertheless, developing robust solutions with strong biosecurity as well as the potential to modulate immunogenicity in an effective manner, continues to be a challenge. Peptides’ structural similarities to protein molecules endow them with tremendous ability to solve such issues by either specifically inducing immune responses or enhancing therapeutic effect. Peptide-based substances have a lot of potential as immunotherapeutic agents for treating a variety of cancers. The development of cancer vaccines as well as delivery mechanisms based on peptides by imitating the biological functions of protein having extremely specialized immuno-regulatory roles has been the subject of significant research. Thus, this review gives a systemic comprehension of cancer immunotherapy, role of the immune system, and how peptides pose a huge potential in cancer immunotherapeutic. The role of peptides as vaccine antigens and adjuvants, checkpoint blockades, in targeted delivery and in combinatorial therapies has been addressed. Recent research on the same has been summarised, which demonstrates their enormous advantages, thus allowing their clinical application for cancer immunotherapy in near future.

Role of Different Peptides for Cancer Immunotherapy

Synthesis of metalloid nanoparticles using biological-based fabrication has become an efficient alternative surpassing the existing physical and chemical approaches because there is a need for developing safer, more reliable, cleaner, and more eco-friendly methods for their preparation. Over the last few years, the biosynthesis of metalloid nanoparticles using biological materials has received increased attention due to its pharmaceutical, biomedical, and environmental applications. Biosynthesis using bacterial, fungal, and plant agents has appeared as a faster developing domain in bio-based nanotechnology globally along with other biological entities, thus posing as an option for conventional physical as well as chemical methods. These agents can efficiently produce environment-friendly nanoparticles with the desired composition, morphology (shape as well as size), and stability, along with homogeneity. Besides this, metalloid nanoparticles possess various applications like antibacterial by damaging bacterial cell membranes, anticancer due to damaging tumour sites, targeted drug delivery, drug testing, and diagnostic roles. This review summarizes the various studies associated with the biosynthesis of metalloid particles, namely, tellurium, arsenic, silicon, boron, and antimony, along with their therapeutic, pharmaceutical and environmental applications.

Shreeja Datta

Papers

Antimicrobial Peptides as Potential Therapeutic Agents: A Review

Role of plant derived bioactive compounds against cancer

Nanomaterials and Bioactive Compounds against SARS-CoV-2

Role of Different Peptides for Cancer Immunotherapy

Green synthesis of metalloid nanoparticles and its biological applications: A review