Cultivated potato varieties are tetraploid and vegetatively propagated. Therefore genetic improvement for new traits is less effective through hybridization. The mutation is considered an alternative method for crop improvement of those varieties. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of gamma-ray irradiation on increasing genetic diversity among the somaclones and the changes in population structure. Forty-four somaclones were used as observed materials. The population was grown in a screen house using a completely randomized design with genotype (somaclone) as a single factor. Thirteen qualitatively and quantitatively morphological characters were observed. Six SSR markers were used for analyzing the population structure. The selection process was based on a weighting method divided into quartiles. Selected numbers were taken from quartile 3. Morphological analysis of stems and leaves resulted in five different somaclones, with significant differences in anthocyanin appearance and intensity of the green color of the leaflets. Diversity criteria based on quantitative characteristics showed a high level of diversity with a high heritability for tuber weight, length, and diameter and a moderate heritability for tuber number. Analyzing the population structure has offered insight into how gamma irradiation affected the somaclones. As a result of the selection, 12 somaclones met the requirements to serve as seed sources for field testing. It is expected that the results of this study will provide information about the diversity caused by gamma-ray irradiation treatment on potato somaclones and a method for improving the efficiency of the initial selection of potato populations.

RNA-ligand docking is a part of computational biology, which is currently lowly recognized compared to the protein-ligand docking procedure commonly applied for drug discovery. This in silico study aims to create a simplified protocol for RNA-ligand docking, which is applicable to RNA-targeting small molecular drug screening. Four alkaloids (berberine, colchicine, nicotine, and tomatine) were subjected to this study and contended against the SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA -1 PRF component targeting control drug, merafloxacin, including two known intercalator berberine and colchicine, a small alkaloid nicotine and a large alkaloid tomatine. The alkaloids were screened for drug-likeness properties (Lipinski’s Rules of 5 or LRo5), bioavailability indexes, and synthetic accessibility values using SwissADME before docking. The docking used PyRx – Autodock Vina and re-scored for RNA-ligand scoring using AnnapuRNA. The docking results have the interactions mapped using fingeRNAt and visualized using Discovery Studio. Molecular dynamics using CHARMM36 and AMBER forcefields were simulated in NAMD. The molecular dynamics 1 ns simulation results showed that the ligand interaction over time did not cause much interference with the RNA, indicated by the low number of RMSD changes between RNA itself and the RNA-ligand complex. Additionally, CHARMM36 forcefield provided more stable fluctuation compared to AMBER. The results indicated that tomatine disobeyed LRo5 and had a low bioavailability index and bad synthetic accessibility value, while the rest alkaloids passed. In the end, berberine has an even higher docking score than the control drug. The study also shows that this protocol can be useful for future RNA-ligand computational studies.

Treatment using plant materials has been widely researched and observed to assist in curing a disease. Medicinal products derived from herbal plants are proven useful as drugs must follow guidelines not to cause acute or chronic toxicity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the teratogenic potential of an ethanolic sappan wood extract on the growth of unborn rats. Six groups of pregnant rats are created: Aquadest was administered to the Control group, whereas the Treatment groups received 100, 200, 300, 400, or 500 mg.kg-1 BW of an ethanolic extract of Sappan wood. On the twenty-first day of gestation, pregnant rats were CO2-euthanized and delivered vaginally. Rats' body weight during pregnancy was observed, along with fetal growth measurements, viscoelastic examination, and skeletal development. Wistar rats' reproductive systems, fetal body weight, body length, and tail length were all unaffected by ethanol extract of Sappan wood at doses from 100 mg/kg to 500 mg/kg. In fetuse rat from the control group and the five dosage groups, no skeletal development had taken place and there were no obvious external abnormalities. Even at the maximum dose of 500 mg, sappan wood extract demonstrated no teratogenic effects on the development of fetal rats.kg-1 BW.

Hypothyroidism is a popular endocrine disorder caused by a thyroid hormone deficit. Changes in the state of the thyroid gland significantly affect many organs, including the heart. This study examined the cardioprotective effects of an artificially induced hypothyroidism in female rats using an ethanol extract from the root plant Saussurea lappa (Costus). For the current study, 25 adult female albino rats were employed. They were split into five equal groups, including control, hypothyroid group, post-treatment group with costus extract, co-administered hypothyroid group with costus extract, and post-treatment group with levothyroxine. Thyroid hormones (T3, T4, and TSH), lipid profile, and oxidative stress indicators (catalase, superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione, and lipid peroxidation levels) were also measured in the serum. The heart muscle was the subject of a histological research. The findings suggested that Costus root ethanol extract improved hypothyroidism in female rats, as proven by the reversal of many biochemical abnormalities and improvements in the heart's histology. Our study indicates that the root of Costus exhibited cardioprotection efficiency against hypothyroidism-induced serious effects on the heart, The antioxidant and radical-scavenging properties of its components may be responsible for this promising effect.

Pandeglang is one of the banana producer regencies of Banten, Indonesia, that produce 924 tons per year. However, information regarding the diversity of banana germplasm in this region is unavailable. This study explored districts Cadasari, Banjar, Jiput, Labuan, and Menes. Morphological characters were noted and used to identify the cultivars, subspecies, or varieties. In total, 22 accessions were collected from 22 collection sites. Based on morphological characters, we described 14 banana accessions of 10 cultivars, three accessions of wild Musa acuminata and one of Musa balbisiana. Considering its genome composition, five genome types we described among these banana cultivars, i.e., AA (divided into AA and AA wild), BB, AAA, AAB, and ABB. In this study, we did a principal component analysis and saw that AA wild and AAB were clearly separated, but the other genome types were clustered partially or included in one cluster. Our study expands the information on banana diversity in Indonesia. Further study on the potential of this banana germplasm to be used as a genetic resource to find resistance to banana diseases is needed.

The mangrove ecosystem is unique because it is located between marine and land. Little research is exploring lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from mangrove ecosystems. The LAB LG71 isolate is successfully isolated from the sediment of mangrove ecosystems on the coast of Logending, Jawa Tengah (Indonesia). In this study, we aimed to know the effect of glucose supplementation on the growth of LG71 isolate, bacteriocin production, and its application in food preservation. The characterization results showed that the LG71 isolate is Lactobacillus sp. Interestingly, the LG71 isolate is catalase-positive since this character is rarely found in the LAB group. Supplementing 0.25% glucose to MRSB medium and an incubation time of 15 hours is the best treatment for producing Lactobacillus LG71 isolate cell biomass. A 2% concentration of crude extract of Lactobacillus LG71 bacteriocins is the best concentration against Salmonella typhi both during in vitro and in vivo tests in fish balls. The addition of glucose affects the production of Lactobacillus LG71 cell biomass, and the bacteriocin derived from Lactobacillus LG71 gives increased protection against S. typhi and offers an alternative for food preservation.

Pegler suggested that shiitake comprises three morphological species: Lentinula edodes (continental and northeast Asia), L. lateritia (tropical Asia and Australasia), and L. novae-zelandiae (New Zealand). The current study reported for the first time the occurrence of L. lateritia (Berk.) Pegler in Indonesia. During a fungus foray in Kerinci (Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia) in 2022 and 2023 by the Indonesian mushroom hunter community, some basidiomata of Lentinula were obtained. At a glance, our specimens resembled L. edodes. The current study aims to justify the taxonomical position of our specimens based on morphological and molecular data. The fresh basidiomata were used for morphological and molecular analyses. The molecular work was done using ITS 4/5 Primers for phylogenetic analysis of rDNA-ITS region. Morphologically, the uniformly reddish brown, smooth, and glabrous of pileus confirmed our specimens as L. lateritia. In addition, the absence of a range of colors and squamules pileus distinguished L. lateritia BO24628 form L. edodes, while the formation of florets cheilocystidia in L. madagasikarensis was the distinctive character of our specimens. The BLAST result revealed that our specimen has high similarity (99-100%) with L. lateritia and L. edodes as the top hits. The phylogenetic tree (RAxML) nested our specimens in the L. lateria clade and is closely related to one specimen from Papua New Guenia (PNG) (BS 98%). In addition, L. lateritia BO24628 has a sister clade of the specimen from PNG and Australia. Moreover, we provide the herbarium collection of wild L. lateritia in Indonesia.

To extend plant benefits, three different concentrations of five Morinda citrifolia part was investigated on the collagen type II which is the primary collagen in human cartilage through the expression of the genes, COL2A1, COL-II and COLL2 regions in normal human dermal fibroblasts by qRT-PCR method. The results showed that 1) fibroblasts cultured in the presence of M. citrifolia extracts produced many times more collagen type II gene expression than control cells depending on the plant parts and concentrations, 2) the expression levels of the collagen type II gene stimulated by all fruit parts yields the higher percentages than leaves. Next, Morus alba leaf extract at a concentration expected to be a precursor protein source for collagen synthesis, working together with M. citrifolia stimulation, was added to the selected concentration indicating high expression in the M. citrifolia fruit experiments. The result showed various gene expression levels depended on the kind of gene and fruit part. Therefore, M. citrifolia fruits can benefit the creation of collagen type II with or without M. alba. The M. citrifolia fruit can be further benefited in product production for both the elderly and young for maintaining the typical structure and function of the skin, tendon, and bone.

Breast cancer can perform metastasis to distant organs and cause more than 90% of malignancy-related deaths. The anti-metastasis potency of nanodiamond-conjugated annonacin and squamocin against MCF-7 cells is currently studied. First, IC50 determination of both free annonacin and squamocin to evaluate their potency as cytotoxic agents. Upon getting the IC50 value, both compounds are conjugated into nanodiamonds. Drug loading efficiencies of nanodiamond-conjugated annonacin and squamocin are 88.9% and 89.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, the ND-annonacin and ND-squamocin complex size is 150-300 nm based on SEM imaging. Subsequently, cell viability assessment of MCF-7 was performed with six cohort designs, namely, K (control cell), AN (annonacin), SQ (squamocin), NDAN (nanodiamond-conjugated annonacin), and NDSQ (nanodiamond-conjugated squamocin). Both IC50 and cell viability are assessed by MTT assay after 24 h incubation. All cohorts also underwent gene expression analysis subject to the metastasis markers CTNND1 (catenin delta 1), NOTCH4, and C-JUN. Here, the IC50 of both free annonacin (4.52 µg/ml) and squamocin (10.03 µg/ml) are more than IC50 of potent anticancer (< 4 µg/ml) for pure compounds. However, nanodiamond conjugation to both compounds can decrease cell viability better than free compounds. Compared to K, nanodiamond-conjugated annonacin and squamocin significantly decreases cell viability after 24 h incubation. Bioinformatics analysis confirmed significant pro-metastasis (C-JUN and NOTCH4) upregulation and anti-metastasis (CTNND1) downregulation in tumors compared to normal. Recent findings demonstrated that nanodiamond-conjugated annonacin can significantly upregulate CTNND1 and significantly downregulate C-JUN and NOTCH4. Even so, nanodiamond-conjugated squamocin upregulate CTNND1 but not significantly and significantly downregulate C-JUN and NOTCH4.

Bioethanol is an organic compound resulted from the fermentation of sugar substrates by microorganisms which is used as alternative energy sources.  During bioethanol fermentation yeast are exposed to various fermentation stresses, including temperature, osmotic, and oxidative stresess. Such conditions may decrease ethanol production. We previously isolated fermentation-stress tolerance yeast isolates from traditional Balinese beverages, identified as Wickerhamomyces anomalus BT2, BT5, and BT6. However no data available regarding the bioethanol production of those isolates. Our study indicates that these strains could utilize various sugar substrates (glucose, xylose, maltose, sucrose) in oxidative fermentative media. The highest value of substrate utilization efficiency following 48 hours fermentation was shown by BT6 on glucose (61.02%), BT 2 on xylose (55.44%) and maltose (60.90%). Measurement of ethanol production by Gas Chromatography showed that the strains were able to produce higher ethanol on the glucose substrate than other substrates. For instance, BT6 could produce the highest ethanol production (5.00 g/L) amongst strains tested by using glucose as substrate. Yet, the particular strains could only produce 0.30 g/L and 0.65 g/L by using xylose and maltose, respectively. For further genetic engineering purposes, we detected ADH1 gene from all three isolates, with high homology to the alcohol dehydrogenase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Geobacillus stearothermophilus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Further strain development can be carried out targeting the ADH1 gene, important for ethanol fermentation.