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In tropical and subtropical countries of the world, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) is a crucial pest of pulses. After the harvest, pulse beetles in storage cause qualitative and quantitative worsening of legumes. Survival of different geographical strains of cowpea weevil may vary on different host legumes. The research was conducted to examine screening for ovipositional preference, growth and development of cowpea weevil, on nine common legume hosts, viz., cowpea, green gram, pigeon pea, pea, desi chickpea, kabuli chickpea, black gram, soybean and red lentils. In the present study, life phases of Lucknow strain (variant) of C. maculatus, was seen on nine stored pulses at laboratory condition for the assessment of growth and development and better management in storage. The outcome of present studies, indicated that the cowpea weevil favour cowpea, green gram, pigeon pea, pea, for its highest oviposition because the highest number of eggs was found on these legumes followed by desi chickpea, kabuli chickpea while on black gram, soybean and red lentils lowest number of eggs were observed. The developmental time of cowpea weevil was short on cowpea, green gram, pigeon pea, pea, followed by desi chickpea, kabuli chickpea, while the longest developmental period was on the black gram, soybean and red lentils. The percent adult emergence, percent weight loss and growth index was highest in cowpea, green gram, pigeon pea and garden pea, desi chickpea, and kabuli chickpea whereas lowest percent of adult emergence, weight loss and growth index was found in black gram, soybean and lentil after three generations. From this research it was clear that cowpea, green gram, pigeon pea, pea, desi chickpea, kabuli chickpea was most preferred host legumes among all nine examined stored legumes, whereas black gram, soybean, and red lentils were least preferable hosts to the Lucknow strain of C. maculatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oral cancer poses a significant threat to public health worldwide. In addition, because many chemotherapy treatments have negative side effects, natural herbs may be beneficial for oral cancer therapy. Achyranthes aspera (AA), a potential medicinal herb, exerts various pharmacological and biochemical activities., Objective: The present study aimed to predict the anti-oral cancer potential of AA using in silico tools and cell death by in vitro testing., Methods: A total of fourteen bioactive constituents from AA herb were selected using phytochemical databases. The toxicity of AA herb extract was analysed through MTT assay against oral carcinoma A253 cell line. The binding activities of the phytocomponents against serine/ threonine-specific protein kinases isoforms, namely Akt1 (PDB ID: 3qkk) and Akt2 (PDB ID: 2jdo) proteins, were analysed using Discovery Studio 2021 and PyRx docking software., Results: Cell viability data revealed that AA extract decreased the viability and reduced the number of live cells of the oral carcinoma A253 cell line in a dose-dependent manner. The halfmaximal concentration (IC50) value of AA was assessed as 204.74 μg/ml. Based on binding affinity, saponin C (-CDOCKER energy = -77.9862), oleanolic acid (-CDOCKER energy = - 49.4349), spinasterol (-CDOCKER energy = -38.1246), 36,47-dihydroxyhenpentacontan-4-one (-CDOCKER energy = -32.4386), and 20-hydroxyecdysone (-CDOCKER energy = -31.9138) were identified as the best compounds against Akt1, while, compounds saponin C (-CDOCKER energy = -134.412), oleanolic acid (-CDOCKER energy = -90.0846), spinasterol (-CDOCKER energy = -78.3213), 20-hydroxyecdysone (-CDOCKER energy = -80.1049), and ecdysone (- CDOCKER energy = -73.3885) were identified as Akt2 inhibitors. These top compounds fulfilled drug score values, pharmacokinetic and physicochemical characteristics, and druglikeness parameters., Conclusion: The present findings reveal that the lead phytomolecules of AA could be effective and developed as a prospective drug against oral cancer., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)