In the current study; insecticidal, growth regulation, oviposition deterrence and repellency of petroleum ether extracts of Azadirachta indica, Penganum harmala, Datura stramonium, Tribulus terrestris and Chenopodium murale against 2nd instar larvae of housefly was investigated. Five different concentrations (5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%) were used through larval feeding and the mortality data was recorded after 24, 48 and 72 hrs. Highest mortality was induced by P. harmala (63.87%) followed by D. stramonium (62.78%), A. indica (53.84%), T. terrestris (41.86%) and C. murale (4.09%) after 72 h at 25% concentration, respectively. Increased mortality was observed with increased time duration and concentration. Longest larval duration (9.33 ± 0.33 days) and pupal duration (7.33 ± 0.33 days) days) was recorded in larvae treated with 25% concentration of P. harmala which also caused a decrease in the activity of AChE, ACP, AKP, α-Carboxyl, and β-Carboxyl enzymes. However, at 25% concentration, C. murale showed highest oviposition deterrence activity (81.88%) followed by D. stramonium (79.58%). In comet assay test, at highest concentration (25%) the mean comet tail lengths represented by Penganum harmala, Datura stramonium and Azadirachta indica (Reference plant) were 10.20 ± 0.49, 9.20 ± 0.37 and 7.80 ± 0.49 μm while percent DNA damage was 10.56 ± 0.77, 10.67 ± 1.62 and 8.11 ± 0.85% respectively compared to controls cells. Phytochemical analysis indicated the presence of flavonoids, steroids, saponins, cardiac glycosides, tannins, alkaloids, terpenoids and anthraquinones. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed the presence of phenolic flavonoids, saponins, tannins as major functional groups. Further studies are needed to explore and thus, to incorporate weed plant extracts for the management of house flies.

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Honey is a nutritious substance produced by bees. Its quality and nutritional value is of great importance for consumers. Keeping this in view physicochemical and minerals determination as quality parameters of fresh floral Pakistani honeys produced by A. mellifera and branded honeys was conducted. The results of fresh honey indicated average means of Color as 48.78 mmPfund, pH 4.9, Total acidity 37.14 meq/kg, Moisture content 18.62%, Electrical conductivity 0.23 mS/cm, Ash content 0.49%, HMF content 30.85 mg/kg, Proline 365.84 mg/kg, Diastase activity 34.39(DN) and Invertase activity was 68.61(IN) comparable to honey standards. Natural honey were rich in k+ (408.46 ppm) and Na+ (405 ppm). Although Ca+ was very low. Whereas, Co, Mn and Ba concentrations exceed the 1 ppm. However, Pb, Cr, and Mo were unnoticeable. Similarly, Color, pH, MC, EC, T. Acidity, HMF, Proline, Ash content, Diastase and Invertase activity of branded honey samples average means found were 42.5 mmPfund, 5.05, 20.5%, 0.18 mS/cm, 15.34 meq/kg, 36.5 mg/kg, 181.6 mg/kg, 1.11%, 7.90(DN) and 36.97(IN) respectively. The findings showed that fresh honey samples were good and of consumable quality as per honey standards than branded honey. Higher HMF content and lower enzymatic activity in branded honey sample than the Codex standards revealed its either long or improper storage.

Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in the world. The major therapies for cancer treatment are chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy. All these therapies expensive, toxic and show resistance. The plant-derived compounds are considered safe, cost-effective and target cancer through different pathways. In these pathways include oxidative stress, mitochondrial dependent and independent, STAT3, NF-kB, MAPKs, cell cycle, and autophagy pathways. One of the new plants derived compounds is Polyphyllin VII (PPVII), which target cancer through different molecular mechanisms. In literature, there is a review gap of studies on PPVII; therefore in the current review, we summarized the available studies on PPVII to provide a base for future research.

Acacia species are very important tree species in tropical and subtropical countries of the World for their economic and medicinal benefits. Precise identification of Acacia is very important to distinguish the invasive species from rare species however, it is difficult to differentiate Acacia species based on morphological charcters. In addition, precise identification is also important for wood charcterization in the forest industry as these species are declining due to illegal logging and deforestation. To overcome thsese limitations of morphological identification, DNA barcoding is being used as an efficient and quick approach for precise identification of tree species. In this study, we selected two chloroplast and plastid base DNA markers ( rbcL and matK ) for the identification of five selected tree species of Acacia (A. albida, A. ampliceps, A. catechu, A. coriacea and A. tortilis) . The genomic DNA of the selected Acacia species was extracted, amplified through PCR using specific primers and subsequently sequenced through Sanger sequencing. In matK DNA marker the average AT nucleotide contents were higher (59.46%) and GC contents were lower (40.44%) as compared to the AT (55.40%) and GC content (44.54%) in rbcL marker. The means genetic distance K2P between the Acacia species was higher in matK (0.704%) as compared to rbcL (0.230%). All Acacia species could be identified based on unique SNPs profile. Based on SNP data profiles, DNA sequence based scannable QR codes were developed for accurate identification of Acacia species. The phylogenetic analysis based on both markers ( rbcL and matK ) showed that both A. coriacea and A. tortilis were closely related with each other and clustered in the same group while other two species A. albida and A. catechu were grouped together. The specie A. ampliceps remained ungrouped distantly, compared with other four species. These finding highlights the potential of DNA barcoding for efficient and reproducible identification of Acacia species.

Pakistan’s most of the land is less productive or no productivity at all due to erosion and salinity of the soil, which can be utilized to develop fisheries. The project, “Survival, growth and body composition of Cyprinus carpio under different salinity regimes” was undertaken in two phases. In the first phase susceptibility of Cyprinus carpio at four salinity levels in triplicate within 0–10 g L −1 NaCl for 96 h in each aquarium was checked after one week acclamation at 0 g L −1 , 2 g L −1 and 4 g L −1 NaCl. LC 50 values varied from 7.67 to 10.65 g L −1 after 96 h for C. carpio. Percentage mortality of the fish and important water quality parameters after every 12 h were observed for a period of 96-h. Probit analysis showed that 96-h LC 50 values ranged from 7.67 to 10.65 g L −1 . During experimental period aquaria water temperature ranged from 29.6 to 33.7 °C, pH values fluctuated between 7.8 and 9.7, Electrical conductivity values ranged from 2.40 to 20.13 dSm −1 and Dissolved oxygen ranged between 2.23 and 10 mg L −1 . Sub-lethal salt concentration i.e. 0 g L −1 to 3 g L −1 NaCl upto 40 days showed that growth of C. carpio decreased with the increase of water salinity levels and ceased at 4 g L −1 salinity and increase in salinity have negatively affected hematological parameters.