Orobanche species, commonly known as broomrape, are root holo-parasite of the family Orobanchaceae.  In Nepal two species, Orobanche aegyptiaca and O. cernua are causing threat to wide range of important vegetables and crops of family Brassicaceae and Solanaceae. To evaluate non-host plants as potential trap crops, different crop plants were tested in two Orobanche infested tomato fields of Lalbandi, Sarlahi, South-Eastern part of Nepal in 2018 -19. Orobanche seed density in soil samples collected from plots before planting and after harvest of each crop species were recorded and compared for the seed bank. On the basis of Orobanche seed bank reduction in both the fields, the investigated crop species like Capsicum frutescens, Cicer arietinum, Lens culinaris and Vicia faba were classified as highly potential trap crops and reduced seed bank from 52 to 70%. Crops like Cuminum cyminum, Daucus carota, Foeniculum vulgare, Phaseolus vulgaris, Sessamum orientale and Trigonella foenum-graecum were classified as moderately potential trap crops and reduced Orobanche seed bank from 41 to 52 %. The other tested crops like Allium cepa, Allium sativum, Coriandrum sativum, Glycine max, Hordeum vulgare, Pisum sativum, Solanum tuberosum, Raphanus sativus are classified as non- potential trap crops. Among all the tested crops Capsicum frutescens, Cicer arietinum, Lens culinaris and Vicia faba were identified as the potential trap crop to reduce Orobanche seed bank in infested tomato fields.

The binding of ropinirole hydrochloride (REQUIP) to human holo-transferrin (hTf) in the absence and presence of common ions has been investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy combined with fluorescence anisotropy, time-resolved fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) under simulative physiological conditions. The quenching of the fluorescence intensity and the red shift in the maximum wavelength revealed an increased polarity of the microenvironment of the tryptophan and tyrosine residues. The number of binding sites and the apparent binding constants of REQUIP with hTf in the presence of Co2+, Fe3+, Cr3+, Al3+, Ca2+, Pb2+, Co32-, Cu2+, Mg2+ and K+ ions were determined. Time-resolved fluorescence decay profile gives the lifetime components reduce from 4.20 to 3.57 ns. Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence data illustrated that the fluorescence quenching of complexes are static mechanism. Gradual addition of hTf led to marked increase in fluorescence anisotropy. From the value of anisotropy, it is argued that the REQUIP is located in a restricted environment of hTf. The quantitative analysis of CD spectra indicated that, in the presence of Co2+ and Fe3+ ions, the a-helical structure content of hTf increased and for the other common ions, the a-helical content decreased. In addition, thermodynamic analysis demonstrated that the van der Waals forces and hydrogen bond interactions stabilized the hTf–REQUIP complex. These experimental results revealed that REQUIP could bind to hTf and those common ions, therefore could be a useful guideline for further therapeutic projects.

Background: Blastocystis hominis is recognized as a common intestinal parasite. Some studies have reported the effect of phenotypic, serologic, and biochemical indices on the parasites’ pathogenic characteristics. Objectives: This study aimed to introduce B. hominis as a pathogen, trying to change views about this parasite and introduce it as a parasite important in medical sciences. Methods: An open-ended, language-restricted (English) search was conducted in MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library databases (from 1990 to 2018) using specific search criteria to identify Blastocystis spp. Results: The search of the literature retrieved 158 published articles on Blastocystis spp. Among these articles, the ones related to the pathogenicity of B. hominis were selected for further investigations. Results obtained in this study showed that the number of articles within five-year periods had an increasing trend. Also, studies of B. hominis have mainly investigated its pathogenic characteristics, accounting for 37. 34% of the studies. Conclusions: This study showed comprehensive reasons for proving the pathogenesis of the parasite. It is hoped that further studies would fill the existing gaps regarding this parasite and identify its true identity as a medically important parasite.