Praveen Guleria

Evaluating the Toxicity of Selected Types of Nanochemicals

Nanotechnology is a fast growing field that provides for the development of materials that have new dimensions, novel properties, and a broader array of applications. Various scientific groups are keen about this technology and are devoting themselves to the development of more, new, and better nanomaterials. In the near future, expectations are that no field will be left untouched by the magical benefits available through application of nanotechnology. Presently, there is only limited knowledge concerning the toxicological effects of NPs. However, it is now known that the toxic behavior of NPs differ from their bulk counterparts. Even NPs that have the same chemical composition differ in their toxicological properties; the differences in toxicity depend upon size, shape, and surface covering. Hence, before NPs are commercially used it is most important that they be subjected to appropriate toxicity evaluation. Among the parameters of NPs that must be evaluated for their effect on toxicity are surface charges, types of coating material, and reactivity of NPs. In this article, we have reviewed the literature pertinent to the toxicity of metal oxide NPs, metallic NPs, quantum dots (QDs), silica (SiO2) NPs, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and certain other carbon nanomaterials (NMs). These NPs have already found a wide range of applications around the world. In vitro and in vivo studies on NPs have revealed that most are toxic to animals. However, their toxic behavior varies with their size, shape, surface charge, type of coating material and reactivity. Dose, route of administration, and exposure are critical factors that affect the degree of toxicity produced by any particular type of NP. It is for this reason that we believe a careful and rigorous toxicity testing is necessary before any NP is declared to be safe for broad use. We also believe that an agreed upon testing system is needed that can be used to suitably, accurately, and economically assess the toxicity of NPs. NPs have produced an array of different toxic effects in many different types of in vivo and in vitro studies. The types of effects that NPs have produced are those on the pulmonary, cardiac, reproductive, renal and cutaneous systems, as well as on various cell lines. After exposures, significant accumulations of NPs have been found in the lungs, brain, liver, spleen, and bones of test species. It has been well established that the degree of toxicity produced by NPs is linked to their surface properties. Soluble NPs are rendered toxic because of their constituents; however, the situation is entirely different for insoluble NPs. Stable metal oxides do not show any toxicity, whereas metallic NPs that have redox potential may be cytotoxic and genotoxic. The available data on NP toxicity is unfortunately limited, and hence, does not allow scientists to yet make a significant quantitative risk assessment of the safety of synthesized NPs. In this review, we have endeavored to illustrate the importance of having and using results from existing nanotoxicological studies and for developing new and more useful future risk assessment systems. Increased efforts of both an individual and collective nature are required to explore the future pros and cons of nanotechnology.

Steviol Glycosides from Stevia: Biosynthesis Pathway Review and their Application in Foods and Medicine

Stevia rebaudiana, a perennial herb from the Asteraceae family, is known to the scientific world for its sweetness and steviol glycosides (SGs). SGs are the secondary metabolites responsible for the sweetness of Stevia. They are synthesized by SG biosynthesis pathway operating in the leaves. Most of the genes encoding the enzymes of this pathway have been cloned and characterized from Stevia. Out of various SGs, stevioside and rebaudioside A are the major metabolites. SGs including stevioside have also been synthesized by enzymes and microbial agents. These are non-mutagenic, non-toxic, antimicrobial, and do not show any remarkable side-effects upon consumption. Stevioside has many medical applications and its role against diabetes is most important. SGs have made Stevia an important part of the medicinal world as well as the food and beverage industry. This article presents an overview on Stevia and the importance of SGs.

Plant Small RNAs:Biogenesis, Mode of Action and Their Roles in Abiotic Stresses

Small RNAs (sRNAs) are 18-30 nt non-coding regulatory elements found in diverse organisms, which were initially identified as small double-stranded RNAs in Caenorhabditis elegans. With the development of new and improved technologies, sRNAs have also been identified and characterized in plant systems. Among them, micro RNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are found to be very important riboregulators in plants. Various types of sRNAs differ in their mode of biogenesis and in their function of gene regulation. sRNAs are involved in gene regulation at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. They are known to regulate growth and development of plants. Furthermore, sRNAs especially plant miRNAs have been found to be involved in various stress responses, such as oxidative, mineral nutrient deficiency, dehydration, and even mechanical stimulus. Therefore, in the present review, we focus on the current understanding of biogenesis and regulatory mechanisms of plant sRNAs and their responses to various abiotic stresses.

Gold nanoparticle exposure induces growth and yield enhancement in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize agriculture field. Towards this effort, carbon nanotubes have recently been reported to induce growth enhancement of tobacco cells. In this study, exposure to 24 nm size gold nanoparticles (GNPs) at 10 μg/ml concentration was found to enhance the total seed yield of Arabidopsis thaliana by 3 times over the control. In addition, 24 nm size GNP exposure at both 10 and 80 μg/ml concentrations has significantly improved seed germination rate, vegetative growth and free radical scavenging activity. A considerable correlation was found between expression of key plant regulatory molecules, microRNAs (miRs) and seed germination, growth and antioxidant potential of A. thaliana on GNP exposure. This is the first report showing GNPs as a promising tool to enhance seed yield of plants.

Identification of miR414 and expression analysis of conserved miRNAs from Stevia rebaudiana.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) usually contain 19-24 nucleotides and have been identified as important eukaryotic gene regulators. Applications of various computational approaches have simplified the task by predicting miRNAs from available sequence data sources. In this study, we identified a conserved miR414 from a computational analysis of EST sequence data available from Stevia rebaudiana. In addition, we also identified six conserved miRNAs namely miR169, miR319, miR414, miR164, miR167 and miR398 using stem-loop RT-PCR analysis. Hence, miR414 was commonly identified using both methods. The expression analysis of these miRNAs documented their roles in growth and development of Stevia. Furthermore, the detected miRNAs were found to target genes involved in plant growth, development, metabolism and signal transduction. This is the first study reporting these conserved miRNAs and their expression in Stevia.

Agrobacterium Mediated Transient Gene Silencing (AMTS) in Stevia rebaudiana: Insights into Steviol Glycoside Biosynthesis Pathway

Background Steviol glycoside biosynthesis pathway has emerged as bifurcation from ent-kaurenoic acid, substrate of methyl erythritol phosphate pathway that also leads to gibberellin biosynthesis. However, the genetic regulation of steviol glycoside biosynthesis has not been studied. So, in present study RNA interference (RNAi) based Agrobacterium mediated transient gene silencing (AMTS) approach was followed. SrKA13H and three SrUGTs (SrUGT85C2, SrUGT74G1 and SrUGT76G1) genes encoding ent-kaurenoic acid-13 hydroxylase and three UDP glycosyltransferases of steviol glycoside biosynthesis pathway were silenced in Stevia rebaudiana to understand its molecular mechanism and association with gibberellins. Methodology/Principal Findings RNAi mediated AMTS of SrKA13H and three SrUGTs has significantly reduced the expression of targeted endogenous genes as well as total steviol glycoside accumulation. While gibberellins (GA3) content was significantly enhanced on AMTS of SrUGT85C2 and SrKA13H. Silencing of SrKA13H and SrUGT85C2 was found to block the metabolite flux of steviol glycoside pathway and shifted it towards GA3 biosynthesis. Further, molecular docking of three SrUGT proteins has documented highest affinity of SrUGT76G1 for the substrates of alternate pathways synthesizing steviol glycosides. This could be a plausible reason for maximum reduction in steviol glycoside content on silencing of SrUGT76G1 than other genes. Conclusions SrKA13H and SrUGT85C2 were identified as regulatory genes influencing carbon flux between steviol glycoside and gibberellin biosynthesis. This study has also documented the existence of alternate steviol glycoside biosynthesis route.

Overexpression of SrUGT85C2 from Stevia reduced growth and yield of transgenic Arabidopsis by influencing plastidial MEP pathway

The transcript expression of a gene SrUGT85C2 has been documented for direct relation with steviol glycoside content in Stevia plant. Steviol glycoside and gibberellin biosynthetic routes are divergent branches of methyl erythritol-4 phosphate (MEP) pathway. So, SrUGT85C2 might be an influencing gibberellin content. Hence in the present study, transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana overexpressing SrUGT85C2 cDNA from Stevia rebaudiana was developed to check its effect on gibberellin accumulation and related plant growth parameters. The developed transgenics showed a noteworthy decrease of 78-83% in GA3 content. Moreover, the transgenics showed a gibberellin deficient phenotype comprising stunted hypocotyl length, reduced shoot growth and a significant fall in relative water content. Transgenics also showed 17-37 and 64-76% reduction in chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b contents, respectively. Reduction in photosynthetic pigments could be responsible for the noticed significant decrease in plant biomass. Like steviol glycoside and gibberellin biosynthesis, chlorophyll biosynthesis also occurs from the precursors isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) of MEP pathway in the plastids. The observed downregulated expression of genes encoding MEP pathway enzymes geranyl geranyl diphosphate synthase (GGDPS), copalyl diphosphate synthase (CDPS), kaurenoic acid oxidase (KAO), chlorophyll synthetase and chlorophyll a oxygenase in transgenics overexpressing SrUGT85C2 might be responsible for the reduction in gibberellins as well as chlorophyll. This study has documented for the first time the regulatory role of SrUGT85C2 in the biosynthesis of steviol glycoside, gibberellins and chlorophyll.

MicroRNAs and Their Role in Plants During Abiotic Stresses

Abiotic stresses have been considered as the growth-limiting factors affecting plants. Nutrient deficiency, drought, salinity, cold, submergence, and hypoxia are some of the severe types of abiotic stresses. Interdisciplinary research has been carried out to find stress-regulating mechanisms. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are the newly discovered, 18–24 nucleotides long molecule of the genome. They have been considered as the key players against plant stress. They have been identified in plants, animals, humans, and even microbes. miRNAs have been shown to regulate various stress-responsive genes, proteins and transcription factors, thus helping to counteract adverse conditions. Various stress-inducible miRNAs have been identified and well characterized. Most of these miRNAs have been conserved among plants. This conservative nature has become the basis of development of computational methods of miRNA identifications, in additional to the traditional cloning approach. Presence of computational strategy has further simplified the miRNA prediction. Using this approach various stress-responsive miRNAs have been predicted, annotated and functionally validated from cotton, grapes, rice, maize, and soyabean. This chapter reviews the expanding world of miRNAs, methods unveiling miRNAs from various organisms, and specifically stress-induced miRNAs.

Diversion of carbon flux from gibberellin to steviol biosynthesis by over-expressing SrKA13H induced dwarfism and abnormality in pollen germination and seed set behaviour of transgenic Arabidopsis

This paper documents the engineering of Arabidopsis thaliana for the ectopic over-expression of SrKA13H (ent-kaurenoic acid-13 hydroxylase) cDNA from Stevia rebaudiana. HPLC analysis revealed the significant accumulation of steviol (1-3 μg g(-1) DW) in two independent transgenic Arabidopsis lines over-expressing SrKA13H compared with the control. Independent of the steviol concentrations detected, both transgenic lines showed similar reductions in endogenous bioactive gibberellins (GA1 and GA4). They possessed phenotypic similarity to gibberellin-deficient mutants. The reduction in endogenous gibberellin content was found to be responsible for dwarfism in the transgenics. The exogenous application of GA3 could rescue the transgenics from dwarfism. The hypocotyl, rosette area, and stem length were all considerably reduced in the transgenics. A noteworthy decrease in pollen viability was noticed and, similarly, a retardation of 60-80% in pollen germination rate was observed. The exogenous application of steviol (0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 μg ml(-1)) did not influence pollen germination efficiency. This has suggested that in planta formation of steviol was not responsible for the observed changes in transgenic Arabidopsis. Further, the seed yield of the transgenics was reduced by 24-48%. Hence, this study reports for the first time that over-expression of SrKA13H cDNA in Arabidopsis has diverted the gibberellin biosynthetic route towards steviol biosynthesis. The Arabidopsis transgenics showed a significant reduction in endogenous gibberellins that might be responsible for the dwarfism, and the abnormal behaviour of pollen germination and seed set.