Synthesis and Characterization of ZnO Nanoparticles Derived from Biomass (Sisymbrium Irio) and Assessment of Potential Anticancer Activity

Amelioration of phytotoxic impact of biosynthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles: Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria facilitates the growth and biochemical responses of Eggplant (Solanum melongena) under nanoparticles stress

The consistently increasing use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) in crop optimization practices and their persistence in agro-environment necessitate expounding their influence on sustainable agro-environment. Attempts have been made to understand nanoparticle-plant beneficial bacteria (PBB)- plant interactions; the knowledge of toxic impact of nanomaterials on soil-PBB-vegetable systems and alleviating nanotoxicity using PBB is scarce and inconsistent. This study aims at bio-fabrication of ZnONPs from Rosa indica petal extracts and investigates the impact of PBB on growth and biochemical responses of biofertilized eggplants exposed to phyto-synthesized nano-ZnO. Microscopic and spectroscopic techniques revealed nanostructure, triangular shape, size 32.5 nm, and different functional groups of ZnONPs and petal extracts. Inoculation of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Azotobacter chroococcum improved germination efficiency by 22% and 18% and vegetative growth of eggplants by 14% and 15% under NPs stress. Bio-inoculation enhanced total chlorophyll content by 36% and 14 %, increasing further with higher ZnONP concentrations. Superoxide dismutase and catalase activity in nano-ZnO and P. fluorescens inoculated eggplant shoots reduced by 15-23% and 9-11%. Moreover, in situ experiment unveiled distortion and accumulation of NPs in roots revealed by scanning electron microscope and confocal laser microscope. The present study highlights the phytotoxicity of biosynthesized ZnONPs to eggplants and demonstrates that PBB improved agronomic traits of eggplants while declining phytochemicals and antioxidant levels. These findings suggest that P. fluorescens and A. chroococcum, with NPs ameliorative activity, can be cost-effective and environment-friendly strategy for alleviating NPs toxicity and promoting eggplant production under abiotic stress, fulfilling vegetable demands.

Radical scavenging potential of spectrophotometric, spectroscopic, microscopic, and EDX observed zinc oxide nanoparticles from leaves, buds, and flowers extract of Bauhinia Variegata Linn: A thorough comparative insight

The present study incorporated an environment-friendly and cost-efficient green synthesis method for fabricating zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) using various parts (leaves, buds, and flowers) of Bauhinia Variegate Linn. UV-Spectrophotometric analysis was used to confirm the synthesis of ZnO-NPs, which showed an absorption band within 360-380 nm range. Further techniques like FT-IR spectroscopy and (SEM) scanning electron microscopy equipped with a novel EDX were also included to confirm the synthesis, size, and shape of ZnO-NPs. Results obtained by FT-IR showed that the phytochemicals present in the ethanolic extract successfully acted as a capping agent. SEM micrographs confirmed irregularly shaped nanoparticles with an average size of 70-80 nm. The presence of Zinc and Oxygen peaks in EDX also confirmed the successful synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles. The radical scavenging (antioxidant) potential of prepared nanoparticles was also evaluated by DPPH radical assay. The ZnO-NPs obtained from the ethanolic extract of buds showed the highest %RSA (86%) as compared to the flowers (79%) and leaves (76%). The current study findings showed the versatile morphology of all parts of the plant with significant antioxidant potential, establishing the use of Bauhinia Variegate in biological systems for various biomedical applications. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: A thorough comparative analysis of the radical scavenging power of major parts of the Bauhinia Variegate, which is 1st of its kind. Extensive characterization using UV-Vis spectrophotometry, FT-IR, SEM, and EDX to observe the conformational and morphological changes. Analysis of the reduction potential of leaves, buds, and flowers of a single plant for future directions in green synthesis.

Green Synthesis of Withania coagulans Extract-Mediated Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles as Photocatalysts and Biological Agents

Recently, biosynthesized nanoparticles (NPs) have played a vital role as an alternative to physical and chemical methods. Here, a distinctive bioinspired synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) has been introduced using leaf extracts of Withania coagulans as the reducing agent by using distilled water and methanol. The synthesized catalysts were analyzed through ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and X-ray diffraction for NP synthesis, morphology, functional group, elemental composition, and peak crystallinity analysis. The phytochemical analysis of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), total flavonoid content, total alkaloid content, and total phenolic content of the crude methanolic extract of the plant was also performed, suggesting the greatest potential as the supporting material for ZnO NPs. The NPs were investigated for their catalytic efficiency in the degradation of dyes (rhodamine B dye) and against important human food-borne pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli). ZnO NPs exhibited a strong catalytic activity in the degradation of dyes and against bacteria. The results also showed an enhanced activity of ZnO NPs of methanolic extract (ZnO-M) composites compared to zinc oxide of distilled water (ZnO-D). The % age degradation of the dye, Kapp, and linear relationship were obtained from pseudo-first-order kinetics. The highest reduction rate in 30 and 60 min was observed under sunlight by ZnO-M and ZnO-D, respectively. The rate constant Kapp for the reduction of the dye was 13.6 × 10-1 min-1 and 6.8 × 10-1 min-1, respectively (numerical values). For ZnO-M, ln(Kapp) ≈ 0.309. For ZnO-D, ln(Kapp) ≈ -0.385. These rate constants represent the degradation of the dye in the presence of ZnO-M and ZnO-D catalysts. In addition, NPs were found to be most active against S. aureus (18 mm in the case of ZnO-M and 15 mm in the case of ZnO-D) than P. aeruginosa and E. coli. The results suggested that the prepared ZnO NPs could be used in pharmaceutical industries as well as photocatalysts. ZnO-M had greater control over particle size and morphology, potentially resulting in smaller, more uniform NPs. ZnO-D achieved fine size control but not potentially better than that compared to organic solvents.

One-pot synthesis, computational chemical study, molecular docking, biological study, and in silico prediction ADME/pharmacokinetics properties of 5-substituted 1H-tetrazole derivatives

An efficient synthesis of 5-substituted 1H-tetrazoles was successfully achieved through one-pot multi-component condensation reactions of some aromatic aldehydes or indolin-2,3-dione with malononitrile and sodium azide using diverse reaction conditions to obtain considerable product yields. Furthermore, it has been achieved for the first time to construct desired products under neat condition. Molecular docking studies with CSNK2A1 receptor disclosed the lowest binding energy displayed by the dimethoxyphenyl derivative 4c with - 6.8687 kcal/mol. The synthesized tetrazoles were screened for their in-vitro cytotoxic activity against epidermoid cancer cell line (A431) and colon cancer line (HCT116) with respect to normal skin fibroblast cell line (BJ-1) using MTT assay, and antimicrobial activity against the bacteria: K. pneumonia, S. aureus, and the fungi: Candida albicans, as well as their antioxidant activity using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay. In addition, the toxicity of tetrazole derivative was assessed by determination of their approximate lethal dose fifty (LD50), calculated via an oral administration to rats, through measurement of ALT and bilirubin levels in serum. The antitumor results can suggest that the potent tetrazole derivative namely, 3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)acrylonitrile (4c) could be a potential drug against epidermoid carcinoma. The antioxidant results indicated to tetrazoles exhibited great antioxidant properties even at very low doses. A molecular dynamics simulation was performed for the synthesized compounds (ligands) to investigate their tendency for binding with the active sites of protein.