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Great attention has been given to plants in the context of their growth, nutritional value and biological activity. The present work is designed to use the bioactive Punica granatum L. Peel (PoPe) extracts as an eco-friendly approach to improve Brassica oleraceae (B. oleraceae) growth and nutritive values. The phytochemical profile, in vitro antibacterial potential and in vitro antioxidant DPPH free radical activity of aqueous (Aq) and ethanol (EtOH) extracts of PoPe were investigated to select the potent PoPe extract. A strong antibacterial activity of both extracts and EtOH extract of PoPe had the highest DPPH activity. According to GC/MS analysis, high content of phenolic components in EtOH extract of PoPe with the highest concentration of Eugenol (58.95%). Thus, seeds of three B. oleraceae varieties i.e., acephala (BA1), acephala (BA2) and italic (BA3) were primed with EtOH extract of PoPe to test their impacts on growth, glucosinolate metabolism, and biological activities. EtOH extract of PoPe induced glucosinolate accumulation in all the three varieties BA1, BA2, and BA2, possibly through amino acids production. Interestingly, a reduced level of effective sulforaphane nitrile was measured and positively correlated with decreased epithiospecifier protein. Consequently, there was an increase in the antioxidant DPPH of BA1 and BA2 (84% and 183%, respectively) and increase in FRAP of BA1 (117%). Further, the antibacterial activities of PoPe treated varieties were increased, however, a decrease was observed in PoPe treated BA1 and BA2 against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and BA2 against Klebsiella pneumonia. In conclusion, PoPe extract is a rich source of metabolites that could enrich B. oleraceae sprouts with health-promoting metabolites and bioactivities.

The current study presents novel, green, and mycosynthesized silver nanoparticles (NPs) for various biomedical and environmental applications, using the biosource Daedalea sp. In the study, AgNO3 was converted into stable elemental silver (Ag0) at a nanometric scale using a aqueous extract of Daedalea sp mushroom. The NPs were extremely pure and stable, with an average size of 24.3 nm and an irregular morphology. A wide range of biomedical applications, such as bactericidal, fungicidal, leishmaniasis, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and biocompatibility studies, made use of the characterized nanoparticles. Our research revealed that MDR bacterial strains and spore-forming fungal strains were both highly responsive to Daedalea sp mediated AgNPs. All of the tested UTI bacterial isolates were resistant to non-coated antibiotics, but by adding 1% of the synthesized AgNPs, the antibiotics' bactericidal potential was greatly increased. The NPs also demonstrated dose-dependent cytotoxic activity against Leishmania Tropica, with significant LC50 values for promastigote and amastigote parasites of 248 and 251 g/mL, respectively. Additionally, significant inhibition of -amylase, -glucosidase, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and butrylcholineterase (BChE) were noted, suggesting possible disease and anti-diabetic effects. Additionally, the particles' remarkable biocompatibility with human red blood cells was discovered. The photocatalytic activity of mycosynthesized AgNPs resulted in 98.2% degradation of indigo carmine dye in 140 minutes. Daedalea sp AgNPs can be used as novel candidates for a variety of biomedical and environmental applications due to their eco-friendly synthesis, biosafe nature, and excellent physicochemical properties.

Rumex vesicarius (R. vesicarius or RV) is an annual plant having rounded leaves, with flowers containing seeds. RV protects liver, resists cancer, and removes free radicals in cells. The aim of this study was to illustrate the effect of the R. vesicarius water seeds extract (RVWSE) treatment on mice before and during pregnancy, and its action on the liver and kidney histology and enzymes, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, the blood urea nitrogen, the creatinine, and the uric acid. The seeds of R. vesicarius were collected, extracted, and its component analyzed via Gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Mice treated with 10 mg kg−1 RVWSE via feeding tube for 1 week before mating, or during pregnancy. The number of offspring or litter size was recorded and the blood sample was collected at the end of the experiment to test the kidney and liver enzymes, and their histology. Results showed that RVWSE contains different phytochemicals consisting of some hexane and chloroform compounds. The fertility rate of 1st treated pre-pregnancy group is 30% and the 2nd group is 35%. The offspring rate of 1st treated group showed higher new born rate (8 new born/female) than 2nd treated group (5.4 new born/female). The blood enzyme levels of the kidney and liver showed some variation between the two groups and their histology illustrates some non-significant variation between the treated and control groups of mice. The implications of the results of this study illustrate the safe use of the RVWSE, its effectiveness in improving mice fertility, and positive impact on biomarker of serum enzymes of liver and kidney with their histopathology.

S-Scheme photocatalytic mechanism of a fabricated nano-heterojunction.

The development of a low-cost, efficient and sustainable technology is considered to be of paramount for the efficient degradation of toxic pollutants.

The study reports an innovative approach on sunlit driven heterostructure photocatalytic generation of H

The elevation is an important gradient across which the environmental variables and plant traits vary and is considered as a barrier to the recent global problem of plant invasion. However, certain invasive plants show plasticity traits to adapt and cope with the changes across the elevation. Silybum marianum (S. marianum) is one such invasive species widely spread in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Therefore, this study investigates the traits plasticity and invasive behaviors of this plant species across the elevation gradient. Plant functional traits (PFTs) and environmental variables were recorded in forty different low, middle, and high elevation sites. The plant shows a decrease in plant functional traits, i.e., above-ground plant height/plant, leaf length/leaf, leaf width/leaf, leaf dry weight/plant, vegetative dry weight/plant, and number of capitula/plant having the significance of p < 0.05. In contrast, the dry reproductive weight does not change significantly with elevation, while the root length increases across the elevation. The soil and environmental variables such as organic matter, lime percentage, and latitude significantly affected the PFTs. The importance value index of the species was also related to elevation and diversity indices, i.e., species richness, Shannon–Wiener diversity index, and evenness index, indicating that the invasion has strong effects on diversity. This study concludes that S. marianum has traits plasticity across the elevation and affects community diversity. Further investigation is required to understand the invasion and diversity parameters in a better way.

Leafy vegetable crops are considered as a natural source of mineral nutrients that could decrease the risk factor of many growth issues in children and adults. Spinach is globally considered as the most desirable leafy crop, due to its taste and nutrient richness along with greater nitrate contents and better nitrogen use efficiency. To evaluate the mineral nutrient efficiency of this crop, thirty genetically diverse spinach accessions were analyzed through nutritional and functional marker strategies. The accession 163,310 from Pakistan was found to be rich in minerals (sodium, calcium, potassium, zinc, and manganese) and nitrates. However, the oxalate contents were lesser in the accessions that had greater quantity of nutrients. These represented a negative correlation between mineral availability and oxalate accumulation in the leaves. To study the relationship of oxalates and minerals in the accessions, a functional marker analysis was performed, based on the genes involved in oxalate metabolism and disease resistance in spinach. High level of genetic polymorphism was observed among the accessions represented with 115 polymorphic bands out of 130 bands. Heat map clustering represented the accessions from Asian countries (Pakistan, India, China, and Iran) as the most adaptable accessions to the local environment. The correlation between nutritional and genetic analysis also revealed the nutrient richness of these accessions along with good oxalate metabolism and disease resistance. Hence, these accessions could be considered as useful genotypes in future breeding programs.

The continuous increase in the heavy metals concentration in the soil due to anthropogenic activities has become a global issue. The chromium, especially hexavalent chromium, is highly toxic for living organisms due to high mobility, solubility, and carcinogenic properties. Considering the beneficial role of nanoparticles and bacteria in alleviating the metal stress in plants, a study was carried out to evaluate the role of cerium dioxide (CeO2) nanoparticles (NPs) and Staphylococcus aureus in alleviating the chromium toxicity in sunflower plants. Sunflower plants grown in chromium (Cr) contaminated soil (0, 25, and 50 mg kg−1) were treated with CeO2 nanoparticles (0, 25, and 50 mg L−1) and S. aureus. The application of Cerium Dioxide Nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) significantly improved plant growth and biomass production, reduced oxidative stress, and enhanced the enzymatic activities in the sunflower plant grown under chromium stress. The application of S. aureus further enhanced the beneficial role of nanoparticles in alleviating metal-induced toxicity. The maximum improvement was noted in plants treated with both nanoparticles and S. aureus. The augmented application of CeO2 NPs (50 mg l−1) at Cr 50 mg kg−1 increased the chl a contents from 1.2 to 2.0, chl b contents 0.5 to 0.8 and mg g−1 FW, and decreased the leakage of the electrolyte from 121 to 104%. The findings proved that the application of CeO2 nanoparticles and S. aureus could significantly ameliorate the metal-induced stress in sunflower plants. The findings from this study can provide new horizons for research in the application of nanoparticles in phytoremediation and bioremediation.

Biosynthesis of nanomaterials using plant extract makes them attractive in the field of photocatalysis as they are environmental friendly. The current study focused on the biosynthesis of ZnO/NiCo

Soil secondary salinization is a serious menace that has significant influence on the sustainability of agriculture and threatens food security around the world. Zinc (Zn) as an essential plant nutrient associated with many physio-biochemical processes in plants and improve resistance against various abiotic stresses. The role of Zn in acclimation of Solanum lycopersicum L. challenged with salt stress is miserly understood. A hydroponic study was performed with two tomato varieties (Riogrande and Sungold) exposed to the salinity stress (0 mM and 160 mM NaCl) under two Zn concentrations (15 μM and 30 μM ZnSO

The present work highlights the preparation of double Z-scheme ZnCo

The elevation is an important gradient across which the environmental variables and plant traits vary and is considered as a barrier to the recent global problem of plant invasion. However, certain invasive plants show plasticity traits to adapt and cope with the changes across the elevation.

Pharmaceutical pollutant in the environmental water bodies has become a major concern, which causes adverse effect to aquatic entities. This study provides an incisive insight on the photocatalytic degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and the development of rationally engineered g-C

In account of environmental remediation, an ideal photocatalyst was fabricated for the effective treatment of water systems. Herein, dual heterojunctions framed CuWO

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a notable health care load that imposes a serious impact on the quality of life of patients. The small amount of reported data and multiple spectra of pathophysiological mechanisms of T2DM make it a challenging task and serious economic burden in health care management.

In this study, 3D C

Germination models are quite helpful in predicting emergence times, dormancy periods, and their applications in crop management. This study investigated the germination behaviors of

Jasmonates (JAs) are lipid-derived compounds that function in plants as key signaling compounds during stressful conditions. This study aimed to examine the effects of exogenous fo-liar-JA application (100 μmol L

Barley (

Genotype × environment (G×E) interaction is an important source of variation in soybean yield, which can significantly influence selection in breeding programs. This study aimed to select superior soybean genotypes for performance and yield stability, from data from multi-environment trials (METs), through GGE biplot analysis that combines the main effects of the genotype (G) plus the genotype-by-environment (G×E) interaction. As well as, through path analysis, determine the direct and indirect influences of yield components on soybean grain yield, as a genotype selection strategy. Eight soybean genotypes from the breeding program of Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) were evaluated in field trials using a randomized block experimental design, in an 8 x 8 factorial scheme with four replications in eight different environments of the Cerrado of Northeastern Brazil during two crop seasons. Phenotypic performance data were measured for the number of days to flowering (NDF), height of first pod insertion (HPI), final plant height (FPH), number of days to maturity (NDM), mass of 100 grains (M100) and grain yield (GY). The results revealed that the variance due to genotype, environment, and G×E interaction was highly significant (P < 0.001) for all traits. The ST820RR, BRS 333RR, BRS SambaíbaRR, M9144RR and M9056RR genotypes exhibited the greatest GY stability in the environments studied. However, only the BRS 333RR genotype, followed by the M9144RR, was able to combine good productive performance with high yield stability. The study also revealed that the HPI and the NDM are traits that should be prioritized in the selection of soybean genotypes due to the direct and indirect effects on the GY.

Photocatalytic induction of electron/hole recombination, surface property and light response ability effectively enhance the photocatalytic activity of nanomaterial. In this work, the effective charge carrier separating Sn/ Mn-ZnFe2O4-CdFe2O4-Ag3PO4 Quantum dots (M/SZFO-CFO-AP QDs) was fabricated for photocatalytic degradation of doxycycline (doxy) antibiotic. The result showed enhanced photocatalytic activity of doxy and the degradation efficiency of doxy was about 98.8% in short span of time. The calculated WH plot and urbach energy of prepared photocatalyst exhibited evidence for the prevalence of point defects and its contribution to efficient charge separation and transferability. The total organic carbon (TOC) removal was found to be 98.9%, which depicts the complete mineralization of doxy. The synergetic charge transfer of n-p-n heterojunction enables the effective removal of doxy under visible light irradiation. Further, the genotoxicity study was determined by interacting the SZFO-CFO-AP QDs with Allium Cepa. The results depict that SZFO-CFO-AP QDs show lower toxicity level and there were no trace of defective mitotic phases and micro nuclei. Further, the progression and development of bean plant was determined after treating with prepared nanomaterials and the result showed the enhanced growth in SZFO-CFO-AP QDs treated bean plant compared to the counterparts. Therefore, the pre-pared SZFO-CFO-AP QDs was can be used as an environmental friendly photocatalyst for effective treatment of antibiotic present in the water bodies.

Chromium (Cr) is a toxic environmental pollutant that majorly exists in trivalent and hexavalent forms. Though Cr(VI) is more dangerous than Cr(III), the trivalent Cr forms complexes with environmentally-available organic molecules. This makes them potentially harmful and difficult to detect. In this study, we have designed an ultrasensitive plasmonic nanosensor using citrate and PVP functionalized Ag nanoparticles (Ag-citrate-PVPNPs) for the detection of trivalent chromium organic complexes such as Cr(III)-EDTA (Cr-E), Cr(III)-acetate (Cr-A), Cr(III)-citrate (Cr-C) and Cr(III)-tartrate (Cr-T). The nanoparticles (NPs) were structurally characterized by XRD, SEM, HRTEM, SAED, EDX and elemental mapping. The citrate and PVP molecules played a vital role in the detection mechanism and stability of the sensor. Upon detection, the yellow-colored Ag-citrate-PVP NPs turned into different shades of brown depending on the type of the Cr complex and concentration. It was accompanied by diminishing and/or shifting UV-Visible absorbance peaks due to the aggregation of Ag-citrate-PVP NPs. Further, a linear relationship was observed between absorbance reduction and analyte concentration. The selectivity tests showed that the sensor was non-functional to other metal ions and inorganic anions. The sensor was optimized using pH and temperature studies. The mechanism of detection was elucidated with the help of characterization techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, XPS and UV-visible spectrophotometer. The limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 3.29, 4.87, 1.76 and 1.79 nM for Cr-E, Cr-A, Cr-C and Cr-T complexes respectively. This study provides a rapid and sensitive approach for the detection of multiple Cr(III)-organic complexes present in an aqueous solution.

This study was initiated to explore the expression variation, clinical significance, and biological importance of the GINS complex subunit 4 (GINS4) in different human cancers as a shared biomarker via pan-cancer analysis through different platforms including UALCAN, Kaplan Meier (KM) plotter, TNMplot, GENT2, GEPIA, DriverDBv3, Human Protein Atlas (HPA), MEXPRESS, cBioportal, STRING, DAVID, MuTarge, Enrichr, TIMER, and CTD. Our findings have verified the up-regulation of GINS4 in 24 major subtypes of human cancers, and its overexpression was found to be substantially associated with poor overall survival (OS), relapse-free survival (RFs), and metastasis in ESCA, KIRC, LIHC, LUAD, and UCEC. This suggested that GINS4 plays a significant role in the development and progression of these five cancers. Furthermore, we noticed that GINS4 is also overexpressed in ESCA, KIRC, LIHC, LUAD, and UCEC patients with different clinicopathological characteristics. Enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of GINS4 associated genes in a variety of diverse GO and KEGG terms. We also explored few significant correlations between GINS4 expression and promoter methylation, genetic alterations, CNVs, other mutant genes, tumor purity, and immune cells infiltration. In conclusion, our results elucidated that GINS4 can serve as a shared diagnostic, prognostic biomarker, and a potential therapeutic target in ESCA, KIRC, LIHC, LUAD, and UCEC patients with different clinicopathological characteristics.

The present study focused on the photocatalytic degradation of 5-Flurouracil (FU), carvedilol (Car), para-chlorophenol (PCP) and methimazole (Met) under visible light irradiation by MnWO

Sustainable wastewater treatment is crucial to remediate the water pollutants through the development of highly efficient, low-cost and separation free photocatalyst. The aim of this study is to construct a novel CoNiO

Cadmium (Cd) toxicity strongly influences plants growth and seed germination in crop plants. This pot trial had aimed evaluate the benefits of two different kinds of phosphorus (P)-fertilizer in the phytoremediation of Cd by

Edible sprouts are rich in flavonoids and other polyphenols, as well as proteins, minerals, and vitamins. Increasing sprout consumption necessitates improving their quality, palatability, and bioactivity. The purpose of this study was to test how KNO3 priming affects the sprouting process species on three Medicago species (Medicago indicus, Medicago interexta, and Medicago polymorpha) and their nutritional values. Targeted species of Medicago were primed with KNO3, and the levels of different primary and secondary metabolites were determined. KNO3 induced biomass accumulation in the sprouts of the three species, accompanied by an increased content of total mineral nutrients, pigments, vitamins, and essential amino acids. Besides, our results showed that KNO3 enhanced the activity of nitrate reductase (NR), glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), and glutamine synthetase (GS) enzymes, which are involved in the nitrogen metabolism and GOGAT cycle, which, in turn, increase the nitrogen and protein production. KNO3 treatment improved the bioactive compound activities of Medicago sprouts by increasing total phenolic and flavonoid contents and enhancing the antioxidant and antidiabetic activities. Furthermore, species-specific responses toward KNO3 priming were noticeable, where Medicago interexta showed the highest antioxidant and antidiabetic activities, followed by Medicago polymorpha. Overall, this study sheds the light on the physiological and biochemical bases of growth, metabolism, and tissue quality improvement impact of KNO3 on Medicago sprouts.

The current study was intended to explore the phytochemical profiling and therapeutic activities of Putranjiva roxburghii Wall. Crude extracts of different plant parts were subjected to the determination of antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, cytotoxic, and protein kinase inhibitory potential by using solvents of varying polarity ranges. Maximum phenolic content was notified in distilled water extracts of the stem (DW-S) and leaf (DW-L) while the highest flavonoid content was obtained in ethyl acetate leaf (EA-L) extract. HPLC-DAD analysis confirmed the presence of various polyphenols, quantified in the range of 0.02 ± 0.36 to 2.05 ± 0.18 μg/mg extract. Maximum DPPH scavenging activity was expressed by methanolic extract of the stem (MeOH-S). The highest antioxidant capacity and reducing power was shown by MeOH-S and leaf methanolic extract (MeOH-L), respectively. Proficient antibacterial activity was shown by EA-L extract against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. Remarkable α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition potential was expressed by ethyl acetate fruit (EA-F) and n-Hexane leaf (nH-L) extracts, respectively. In case of brine shrimp lethality assay, 41.67% of the extracts (LC50 < 50 µg/mL) were considered as extremely cytotoxic. The test extracts also showed mild antifungal and protein kinase inhibition activities. The present study explores the therapeutic potential of P. roxburghii and calls for subsequent studies to isolate new bioactive leads through bioactivity-guided isolation.

The present study focused on the enhancement of degradation of an important pharmaceutical pollutant, tetracycline with the help of nano photocatalyst under visible light irradiation. The study found that the synergetic effect of novel MgFe

Captan is one of the most widely used organochlorine fungicides, its frequent application contaminates both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and negatively affects their key ecological processes. This study demonstrated the toxicity and efficient removal of captan by two different taxonomic species; the green microalga Scenedesmus obliquus and cyanobacterium Nostoc muscorum. After a week of exposure to mild (15 mg/L) and severe (30 mg/L) captan doses, the intracellular captan uptake, degradation and metabolic regulation of captan detoxification were studied. Compared to N. muscorum, S. obliquus accumulated more captan, but efficiently degraded it into two safe eco-friendly by-products; phthalic acid and 1,2,3,6-tetrahydro phthalimide. S. obliquus showed less decrease in cell growth, photosynthesis activity and related parameters including Chla content and activity of PEPC and RuBisCo enzymes. Captan at the severe dose induced oxidative damage particularly in N. muscorum, as expressed by the high levels of H2O2, MDA, NADPH oxidase and protein peroxidation. Both species invested glutathione-s-transferase enzyme in captan detoxification however, induction of antioxidant defence system e.g. ascorbate and glutathione cycle was more pronounced in S. obliquus which could explain its tolerance ability. This study provided a better understanding of the environmental risks of captan and introduced S. obliquus as a promising captan phycoremediator.

Molybdenum ions (Mo) can improve plants’ nutritional value primarily by enhancing nitrogenous metabolism. In this study, the comparative effects of seed priming using Mo were evaluated among sproutings of Canavalia species/cultivars, including Canavalia ensiformis var. gladiata (CA1), Canavalia ensiformis var. truncata Ricker (CA2), and Canavalia gladiata var. alba Hisauc (CA3). Mo impacts on growth, metabolism (e.g., nitrogen and phenolic metabolism, pigment and total nutrient profiles), and biological activities were assayed. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to correlate Mo-mediated impacts. The results showed that Mo induced photosynthetic pigments that resulted in an improvement in growth and increased biomass. The N content was increased 0.3-fold in CA3 and 0.2-fold in CA1 and CA2. Enhanced nitrogen metabolism by Mo provided the precursors for amino acids, protein, and lipid biosynthesis. At the secondary metabolic level, phenolic metabolism-related precursors and enzyme activities were also differentially increased in Canavalia species/cultivars. The observed increase in metabolism resulted in the enhancement of the antioxidant (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) free radical scavenging, 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)) and antidiabetic potential (Glycemic index (GI) and inhibition activity of α-amylase, and α-glucosidase) of species. The antioxidant activity increased 20% in CA3, 14% in CA1, and 8% in CA2. Furthermore, PCA showed significant variations not only between Mo-treated and untreated samples but also among Canavalia species. Overall, this study indicated that the sprouts of Canavalia species have tremendous potential for commercial usage due to their high nutritive value, which can be enhanced further with Mo treatment to accomplish the demand for nutritious feed.

Novel Ag@Ni nanosphere decorated with CdS NPs (Ag@Ni-CdS NCs) was synthesized by one step chemical synthesis method. The fabricated NCs were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), fourier transfer infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), zeta sizer and particle size analyzer. TEM and XRD confirmed the Ag in core and Ni in shell for the effective formation of Ag@Ni core shell nanosphere. EDAX and XPS spectra of NCs confirms the formation of Ag@Ni-CdS NCs. Zeta potential and particle size of the NCs was found to be 29.5 +/- 1.5 mV and 24 +/- 1 nm respectively. The complete loss in the peak intensity of Ag@Ni-CdS NCs (localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)) at similar to 410 nm in presence of S2- ions was observed which indicates its selective detection towards S2- ions. The sulfide ion sensing by Ag@NiCdS NCs was due to the successive oxidation of Ag results in the formulation of Ag2+ ions in the system, which causes the diminishing of LSPR band of NCs. The limit of detection (LOD) of S2- ions by Ag@Ni-CdS NCs was calculated to be of 2.66 nM. The combination of CdS NPs with core-shell Ag@Ni nanosphere guides a promising strategy for S2- ions detection from environmental polluted samples. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

L-Cysteine (L-cys) plays very crucial role in biological systems. The study reports the colorimetric detection of Lcys at nanomolar level using chitosan capped Ag decorated NiS nanocomposite (chit-Ag/NiS NCs).The chemical reduction and co-precipitation methods were adopted to prepare chit-Ag/NiS NCs. The fabricated NCs was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), FT-Raman, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The chitAg/NiS NCs particularly detect L-cys even in other amino acids presence. The chit-Ag/NiS NCs showed the surface charge of -26 +/- 39.9 mV. The detection of L-cys was indicated by disappearance of yellowish-brown color of Chit-Ag/NiS NCs to colorless. A good linear correlation was found between absorbance vs logarithmic concentration of L-cys (1 mu M to 1 nM) with R2 value of 0.99. The chit-Ag/NiS NCs impregnated cotton swabs was prepared for real time detection of L-cys and the prepared probe was found to be highly selective and specific. The effect of pH, temperature and salinity influencing the L-cys detection was studied. Also, the antimicrobial activity of Chit-Ag/NiS NCs was investigated against gram negative (E. coli) and gram positive (B. subtilis) bacteria.