Rapid Genome-Wide Location-Specific Polymorphic SSR Marker Discovery in Black Pepper by GBS Approach.

Black pepper (), the "King of Spices," is an economically important spice in India and is known for its medicinal and cultural values. SSRs, the tandem repeats of small DNA sequences, are often polymorphic in nature with diverse applications. For population structure, QTL/gene discovery, MAS, and diversity analysis, it is imperative to have their location specificity.

De novo transcriptome sequencing assisted identification of terpene synthases from black pepper () berry.

Unlabelled: Though the volatile profiles of black pepper have been reported already, the information on terpene synthase family genes is not known. In this study, using a combinatorial approach, the berry hybrid transcriptome assembly of llumina and nanopore sequencing, the entire terpene synthase family responsible for the biosynthesis of the flavor-imparting volatiles in black pepper berries was profiled. The profile shows 98 terpene synthases from various terpene synthesis pathways.

assisted identification of peppery aroma compound 'rotundone' backbone genes from black pepper.

Rotundone, an oxygenated sesquiterpene compound, responsible for the peppery aroma. The importance of the rotundone in the flavor industry warrants search for the precursor genes in plants. We report in this study, the first on the identification of rotundone backbone genes viz.

analysis of phytochemicals as potential inhibitors of proteases involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

analysis of six phytochemicals, flabelliferin, marmelosin, piperine, ocimin, curcumin and leucoanthocyanin, along with three drug compounds, nelfinavir, remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine, as positive control against drug targets of one SARS-CoV-2 viral protease, COVID-19 main protease (SARS CoV-2 3CL/M), two coronavirus proteases, SARS-CoV main peptidase (SARS CoV M), SARS-CoV main proteinase (SARS CoV 3CL), and one human cellular transmembrane serine proteinase (TMPRSS2), was carried out. Except leucoanthocyanin all other phytochemicals proved better than all three positive control drugs against SARS-CoV main peptidase, whereas, flabelliferin was found to be the potential inhibitor for SARS-CoV main proteinase out performing all the positive control drugs and phytochemicals. Amongst the compounds studied, the best inhibitor for COVID-19 main protease was nelfinavir followed by flabelliferin and ocimin.

Ionome signatures discriminates the geographical origin of jackfruits (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.).

Jackfruits are nutritionally rich fruit crop indigenous to the humid tropics, known by their place of origin. In the present study, using multielemental profiling of fruit samples, we demonstrated the discrimination of different jack fruit germplasm based on their geographical origin in India. The concentration of 24 elements in soil and fruit were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).