It has been estimated that one-third of the world's population lack sufficient Zn for adequate nutrition. This can be alleviated by increasing dietary Zn intakes through Zn biofortification of edible crops. Biofortification strategies include the application of Zn-fertilizers and the development of crop genotypes that acquire more Zn from the soil and accumulate it in edible portions. Zinc conc...

Enantioselective reduction of the carbonyl group of three phenylglyoxylic acid esters (methyl, ethyl, and n-propyl esters, 2-4) was conducted using blended plant materials (roots of carrot, beetroot, celeriac and parsley; apple). All used biocatalysts transformed these esters to the corresponding mandelic acid esters with high yield, preferably into the respective R-enantiomer. Butanedione addi...

Roots of Digital Techniques and Functions in Traditional Film Photography Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries. Chinese philosopher Mo Di and Greek mathematicians Aristotle and Euclid described a pinhole camera in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. From rudimentary forms like the pinhole camera and the camera obscura, Film and print photography has transformed with t...

Hairy root culture of tomato (Lycopersicon esculantum L.) was induced with three strains of Agrobacterium rhizogenes namely A4, ATCC 15834 and LBA 9402. The best response in terms of growth of hairy root was observed with A. rhizogenes strain A4 and LBA 9402 followed by ATCC 15834. Hairy roots were maintained on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium but it could also grow on minimal (M) medium. Spore...

A transformed root culture of Cichorium intybus L. (Asteraceae) was found to produce sesquiterpene lactones of guaiane and germacrane type. Lactucopicrin, 8-desoxylactucin and three sesquiterpene lactone glycosides: crepidiaside B, sonchuside A and ixerisoside D were isolated from the roots. The yield of 8-desoxylactucin reached 0.03 g l(-1) at the early stationary phase of the culture.

Transformed root cultures of three nonmycotrophic and one mycotrophic plant species stimulated germination and hyphal growth of the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus etunicatum (Becker & Gerd.) in a gel medium. However, only roots of the mycotrophic species (carrot) supported continued hyphal exploration after 3 to 4 weeks and promoted appressoria formation by G. etunicatum.

Isoflavones are thought to play diverse roles in plant-microbe interactions and are also potentially important to human nutrition and medicine. Isoflavone synthase (IFS) is a key enzyme for the formation of the isoflavones. Here, we examined the consequences of RNAi silencing of genes for this enzyme in soybean (Glycine max). Soybean cotyledon tissues were transformed with Agrobacterium rhizoge...

Rhaponticum carthamoides has a long tradition of use in Siberian folk medicine. The roots and rhizomes of this species are used in various dietary supplements or nutraceutical preparations to increase energy level or eliminate physical weakness. This is the first report to reveal the protective and DNA repair stimulating abilities of R. carthamoides root extracts in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) ...