Candida is a common yeast in opportunistic fungal diseases around the world and is usually colonized on the skin and mucosal membranes. The purpose of this study was to synthesize chitosan-silver-copper nanocomposite and to investigate its antifungal effects on Candida albicans. Silver, copper and chitosan nanoparticles were synthesized individually. Then, copper-silver-chitosan nanocomposite was synthesized. These nanoparticles are approved by transmission electron microscope, and nanocomposite structure was also confirmed by scanning electron microscope. Then, the minimum inhibitory concentrations and minimum fungicidal of these nanostructures were examined on C. albicans. The results of this study indicate that the properties and effects of the investigated nanocomposite are comparable to amphotericin B as standard material. The results show that this effect was higher for copper-silver-chitosan nanocomposite than for other nanoparticles studied. Antifungal effect of copper nanoparticles and chitosan nanoparticles was not established separately, but it was found that their composition had antifungal effects that were effective. The combination of nanoparticles of chitosan with silver has been shown to have some antifungal effects. The most antifungal effect for the nanoparticles studied is related to copper-silver-chitosan nanocomposite and, which has had a significant effect on the growth of C. albicans in the laboratory environment compared to other nanoparticles.
Drought is one of the most important threats to plants and agriculture. Here, the effects of four drought levels (90%, 55%, 40%, and 25% field capacity) on the relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll and carotenoids levels, and mRNA gene expression of metabolic enzymes in Thymus vulgaris (as sensitive to drought) and Thymus kotschyanus (as a drought-tolerant species) were evaluated. The physiological results showed that the treatment predominantly affected the RWC, chlorophyll, and carotenoids content. The gene expression analysis demonstrated that moderate and severe drought stress had greater effects on the expression of histone deacetylase-6 (HDA-6) and acetyl-CoA synthetase in both Thymus species. Pyruvate decarboxylase-1 (PDC-1) was upregulated in Thymus vulgaris at high drought levels. Finally, succinyl CoA ligase was not affected by drought stress in either species. Data confirmed water stress is able to alter the gene expression of specific enzymes. Furthermore, our results suggest that PDC-1 expression is independent from HDA-6 and the increased expression of ACS can be due to the activation of new pathways involved in carbohydrate production.
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