The rising burden of cancer worldwide calls for an alternative treatment solution. Herbal medicine provides a very feasible alternative to western medicine against cancer. This article reviews the selected plant species with active phytochemicals, the animal models used for these studies, and their regulatory aspects. This study is based on a meticulous literature review conducted through the search of relevant keywords in databases, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Twenty plants were selected based on defined selection criteria for their potent anticancer compounds. The detailed analysis of the research studies revealed that plants play an indispensable role in fighting different cancers such as breast, stomach, oral, colon, lung, hepatic, cervical, and blood cancer cell lines. The in vitro studies showed cancer cell inhibition through DNA damage and activation of apoptosis-inducing enzymes by the secondary metabolites in the plant extracts. Studies that reported in vivo activities of these plants showed remarkable results in the inhibition of cancer in animal models. Further studies should be performed on exploring more plants, their active compounds, and the mechanism of anticancer actions for use as standard herbal medicine.

Secondary metabolites have been extensively used in the treatment of various health problems. The role of solvent polarity on the phytochemical isolation and antioxidant capacity of Isatis tinctoria (woad) is elusive. In the present study, 14 solvents with different polarity were used in the extraction and total phenolic and flavonoid content (TPC and TFC) investigation. Ferricyanide, phosphomolybdenum, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods were used to calculate and compare the antioxidant/free radical scavenging capacity. Our results showed that solvent polarity greatly affects TPC and TFC yield, which is mainly increasing with increasing solvent polarity index and suddenly decreasing at very high polarity. The comparative results showed that TPC is directly correlated with reducing power, antioxidant, and free radical scavenging capacity. Taken together, we conclude that different woad plant parts contain different level of secondary metabolites with a specific polarity that requires a particular solvent with an appropriate polarity index for the extraction. The identification of these biologically active crude extracts and fractions are very important for the basic biological sciences, pharmaceutical applications, and future research for HPLC based active compounds isolation.

The genus Berberis includes about 500 different species and commonly grown in Europe, the United States, South Asia, and some northern areas of Iran and Pakistan. Leaves and fruits can be prepared as food flavorings, juices, and teas. Phytochemical analysis of these species has reported alkaloids, tannins, phenolic compounds and oleanolic acid, among others. Moreover, p-cymene, limonene and ocimene as major compounds in essential oils were found by gas chromatography. Berberis is an important group of the plants having enormous potential in the food and pharmaceutical industry, since they possess several properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer activities. Here we would like to review the biological properties of the phytoconstituents of this genus. We emphasize the cultivation control in order to obtain the main bioactive compounds, the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties in order to apply them for food preservation and for treating several diseases, such as cancer, diabetes or Alzheimer. However, further study is needed to confirm the biological efficacy as well as, the toxicity.

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Cold is a major constraint for tomato growth and productivity; as it is a cold sensitive crop. DREB1A plays a key role in generating cold tolerance in tomato by regulating the response of multiple genes under chilling stress. In this study, cold tolerant gene (DREB1A) driven by Lip9 promoter, was transformed in three tomato genotypes through Agrobacterium tumefaciens, employing tissue culture independent transformation strategy. Overnight imbibed seeds of tomato were surface sterilized, 3-day old shoot apical meristem of the developing seedling were pierced and incubated for twenty minutes with A. tumefaciens strain EHA-105 having OD 600 nm of 1.0. The treated seeds were co-cultivated with Agrobacterium for 2 days. The regenerated shoots were subjected to 35 mg/l hygromycin as a selection for a period of 2-3 weeks. The presence of DREB1A and hpt genes in the hygromycin resistant (T 0 ) transgenic plants was evaluated by PCR analysis. The transgene activity was detected in T 1 plants by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction and Southern blotting that showed the stable integration of the transgene to the next generation. Physiological analysis of T 2 transgenic plants depicted that increased expression of DREB1A induced only during chilling stress. After various chilling stresses, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and relative water contents of transgenic lines were significantly higher than those of NT plants. While leaf osmotic potential of transgenic plants was lower as compared to NT plants. The established procedure is novel and can produce stable transgenic tomato plants in efficient manner by saving potential resources in terms of cost and time.

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Worldwide, emergence of new resistant fungal phytopathogens and use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides for the protection of crops lead to serious environmental issues. Due to these problems, the need to explore alternative management approaches that are not only successful but also less harmful to the environment is of paramount importance. Bacillus species are a good candidate for use as a biocontrol agent against these fungal phytopathogens because they produce various types of antimicrobial substances and their environmentally friendly behavior. This article provides basic knowledge of Bacillus spp. biocontrol agents, tools for identification of their biocontrol agents and techniques for screening of Bacillus spp. against fungal phytopathogens based on current findings. Specifically, if thoroughly explored, Bacillus will remove the existing commonly used control agents such as fungicides, harmful cultural activities of health and control phytopathogens in the ecosystem.