Browsing by Author "Rahul Thakur"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Extraction, structural properties, and applications of gum tragacanth
(Elsevier, 2023) Rahul Thakur; Bharat Singh Irom; Mudasir Bashir Mir; Pooja Singha; Yumlembam Binita Devi; Tanuva Das; Rajeev Ranjan; Poonam Mishra; Bindu Naik; Vijay Kumar; Arun Kumar Gupta
There has been a growing interest in natural gum polysaccharides because of their potential use in food, water, environment, biotechnology, and medical industries. As natural gums have a wide range of structures, and remarkable properties such as nontoxicity, biodegradability, and can be chemically modified as well, their popularity among consumers and industries to replace conventional additives in food and other health-related products has skyrocketed. Gum Tragacanth (GT) is an ancient heterogeneous exudate gum that is a highly branched polysaccharide. This anionic polymer is well known for its biodegradable, noncarcinogenic, nontoxic, and nonallergenic nature. The primary goal of this chapter is to demonstrate the various strategies used by researchers to extract GT and other bioactive compounds. Furthermore, comprehensive information on the structural properties and applications of GT is discussed. The potential utilization of GT in the various sectors has been discussed, emphasizing on recent outcomes and future scope. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Multitrait Pseudomonas sp. isolated from the rhizosphere of Bergenia ciliata acts as a growth-promoting bioinoculant for plants
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2023) Rahul Thakur; Sudhakar Srivastava; Saurabh Yadav
Multifunctional plant growth-promoting bioinoculants are used to enhance growth, harvest yields, and add economic value to agricultural crops. In this study, such bioinoculant, BC-II-20 (Pseudomonas sp.), was isolated from the rhizospheric soil of a medicinal plant Bergenia ciliata from the Garhwal Himalayas, Uttarakhand, India. After characterization, supplementation with Pseudomonas sp. was used to study growth stimulation in a commercially important medicinal plant, Andrographis paniculata (Kalmegh), and it depicted enhanced physiological growth parameters under controlled conditions. Bacterial seed priming and also supplementation led to early and increased germination and plants displayed better vegetative growth during the entire growth stages. Early initiation of flowers and the appearance of pods occurred in inoculated plants, ultimately leading to the reduction in the life cycle of the plant. At the time of harvesting, there was an increase in the physiological parameters such as shoot length (38%), root length (14%), fresh weight (57%), dry weight (60%), number of panicles, and root branching. Photosynthetic efficiency was also higher, and ultimately, overall plant growth was improved by bacterial inoculation. The eco-friendly and sustainable use of this bioinoculant will provide an alternative to harmful chemical fertilizers and has become increasingly important. In conclusion, we reported a promising bioinoculant having plant growth-promoting traits, which promotes growth and development in A. paniculata and may be applied to other plants also. Copyright © 2023 Thakur, Srivastava and Yadav.
Protective effects of cyclosporine A on neurodegeneration and motor impairment in rotenone-induced experimental models of Parkinson's disease
(Elsevier B.V., 2022) Sukhpal Singh; Upasana Ganguly; Soumya Pal; Gourav Chandan; Rahul Thakur; Reena V. Saini; Sankha Shubhra Chakrabarti; Bimal K. Agrawal; Sasanka Chakrabarti
The development of neuroprotective drugs targeting mitochondria could be an important strategy in combating the progressive clinical course of Parkinson's disease. In the current study, we demonstrated that in SH-SY5Y cells (human dopaminergic neuroblastoma cell line), rotenone caused a dose-dependent (0.25–1 μM) and time-dependent (up to 48 h) loss of cell viability and a loss of cellular ATP content with mitochondrial membrane depolarization and an increased formation of reactive oxygen species; all these processes were markedly prevented by the mitochondrial permeability transition pore blocker cyclosporine A, which did not affect complex I inhibition by rotenone. The nuclear morphology of rotenone-treated cells for 48 h indicated the presence of both necrosis and apoptosis. We then examined the effects of cyclosporine A on the rotenone-induced model of Parkinson's disease in Wistar rats. Cyclosporine A significantly improved the motor deficits and prevented the loss of nigral dopaminergic neurons projecting into the striatum in rotenone-treated rats. Being a marketed immuno-suppressive drug, cyclosporine A should be further evaluated for its putative neuroprotective action in Parkinson's disease. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.