The annual herb, Ageratum conyzoides L. (Asteraceae), is distributed throughout the world. Although invasive, it can be very useful as a source of essential oils, pharmaceuticals, biopesticides, and bioenergy. However, very limited information exists on the molecular basis of its different utility as previous investigations were mainly focused on phytochemical/biological activity profiling. Here we have explored various properties of A. conyzoides that may offer environmental, ecological, agricultural, and health benefits. As this aromatic plant harbors many important secondary metabolites that may have various implications, biotechnological interventions such as genomics, metabolomics and tissue-culture can be indispensable tools for their mass-production. Further, A. conyzoides acts as a natural reservoir of begomoviruses affecting a wide range of plant species. As the mechanisms of disease spreading and crop infection are not fully clear, whole-genome sequencing and various advanced molecular technologies including RNAi, CRISPER/Cas9, multi-omics approaches, etc., may aid to decipher the molecular mechanism of such disease development and thus, can be useful in crop protection. Overall, improved knowledge of A. conyzoides is not only essential for developing sustainable weed control strategy but can also offer potential ways for biomedicinal, environment, safe and clean agriculture applications. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12033-021-00409-5.

The unprecedented cases of antimicrobial resistance and scarcity of effective antibiotics against resistant strains demand the development of proficient antibiotics and their stewardship. The antibiotic carriers and the adjuvants that can counteract the resistance mechanism and revive the activity of existing antibiotics are considered as one of the promising tools to fight against antimicrobial resistance and its consequences. Herein, we demonstrated the development of sulfonium- and lauryl amine-conjugated BSA protein nanoparticles (PNPs) with inherent antimicrobial activities that embraced the benefits of biocompatibility and antibiotic-carrying capability. The PNPs showed encapsulation and controlled release profiles of clinically approved antibiotics. The antibiotic-encapsulated PNPs exhibited synergistic antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative, Gram-positive, and drug-resistant bacterial strains, which could reduce the effective doses of antibiotics and exposure to other microbial strains. Subsequent studies showed that the PNPs were capable enough to breach the sturdy biofilm barriers of the bacterial strains, and at a minimum inhibitory concentration, the biofilm lost its viability. The antibiotic-encapsulated PNPs also lower the drug resistance ability of commercial antibiotics. The mechanistic studies revealed that the antibacterial activity of the PNPs follows a membrane-directed pathway. The PNPs showed negligible toxicity against erythrocytes. Interestingly, lauryl amine and sulfonium-conjugated albumin protein (R-BSA-S) gives protection against Staphylococcus aureus biofilm-associated infection in albino laboratory-bred (BALB/c) mice, as appeared from the decrease in the colony forming unit (CFU) count and histological changes in the liver and spleen. Thus, the synthesized antimicrobial carrier molecule revitalizes the activity of the antibiotics and is a cost-effective strategy.

The increasing resistance of bacteria to commercially available antibiotics threatens patient safety in healthcare settings. Perturbation of ion homeostasis has emerged as a potential therapeutic strategy to fight against antibacterial resistance and other channelopathies. This study reports the development of 8-aminoquinoline (QN) derivatives and their transmembrane Zn2+ transport activities. Our findings showed that a potent QN-based Zn2+ transporter exhibits promising antibacterial properties against Gram-positive bacteria with reduced hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity to mammalian cells. Furthermore, this combination showed excellent in vivo efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus. Interestingly, this combination prevented bacterial resistance and restored susceptibility of gentamicin and methicillin-resistant S. aureus to commercially available β-lactam and other antibiotics that had lost their activity against the drug-resistant bacterial strain. Our findings suggest that the transmembrane transport of Zn2+ by QN derivatives could be a promising strategy to combat bacterial infections and restore the activity of other antibiotics.

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Although substantial information on the karyological measures of Lathyrus is available, no study has collected and analysed such data to assess the relationship among its taxa. Hence, the present study examined the degree and trends of chromosome diversity in this genus in congruence with Kupicha's sectional