Search

The basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factors possess DNA-binding and dimerization domains and are involved in various biological and physiological processes, such as growth and development, the regulation of secondary metabolites, and stress response. However, the bHLH gene family in C. tinctorius has not been investigated. In this study, we performed a genome-wide identification and analysis of bHLH transcription factors in C. tinctorius. A total of 120 CtbHLH genes were identified, distributed across all 12 chromosomes, and classified into 24 subfamilies based on their phylogenetic relationships. Moreover, the 120 CtbHLH genes were subjected to comprehensive analyses, including protein sequence alignment, evolutionary assessment, motif prediction, and the analysis of promoter cis-acting elements. The promoter region analysis revealed that CtbHLH genes encompass cis-acting elements and were associated with various aspects of plant growth and development, responses to phytohormones, as well as responses to both abiotic and biotic stresses. Expression profiles, sourced from transcriptome databases, indicated distinct expression patterns among these CtbHLH genes, which appeared to be either tissue-specific or specific to certain cultivars. To further explore their functionality, we determined the expression levels of fifteen CtbHLH genes known to harbor motifs related to abiotic and hormone responses. This investigation encompassed treatments with ABA, salt, drought, and MeJA. The results demonstrated substantial variations in the expression patterns of CtbHLH genes in response to these abiotic and hormonal treatments. In summary, our study establishes a solid foundation for future inquiries into the roles and regulatory mechanisms of the CtbHLH gene family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Agriculture & Nature / Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tarım & Doğa Dergisi is the property of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam Universitesi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Agriculture & Nature / Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tarım & Doğa Dergisi is the property of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam Universitesi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The development of winter‐tolerant safflower genotypes is crucial for the improvement of global safflower agriculture. The aim of the present study was to determine the cold tolerance abilities and some agricultural characteristics of advanced safflower genotypes. For this purpose, 10 advanced safflower genotypes were used in four different locations. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with three replications. Winter survival and agricultural characteristics were significantly affected by growing season, location and genotype. Winter survival varies between 86.43% and 93.91% among the genotypes which is promising for winter sowing. As the average of 2 years, the highest oil content (36.25%) was observed in genotype EC21 and it was followed by genotypes EC11 (35.51%) and EC20 (35.49%). As with the seed yield, the high winter survival of genotypes with high oil content is highly promising in terms of winter sowing. Safflower should be grown in winter with mild temperature regions for high seed yield and sustainable safflower production. Therefore, this study focused on winter‐tolerant genotypes that are superior one in terms of seed yield and oil content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronic use of dexamethasone, especially in athletes, is associated with reproductive disorders. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of high and moderate intensity endurance training along with the consumption of safflower extract on testicular oxidative damage and testosterone level in male rats treated with dexamethasone. Methods: A total of 45 male Wistar rats were divided into the controlled and treated groups. Dexamethasone was subcutaneously injected for five days at a dose of 8 mg/kg. High and moderate intensity exercises were performed for ten weeks (five days a week) at speeds of 28 and 34 m/min, respectively, on the treadmill. The safflower seed extract (500 mg/kg of the body weight) was administered daily during the training period by gavage. At the end of the given period, testicular tissue sampling was performed to measure malondialdehyde, total antioxidant capacity, Nrf2, and testosterone levels. Results: The results showed that high and moderate intensity exercises along with the consumption of safflower seed extract (P = 0.000) as well as high intensity exercise alone (P = 0.04) caused a significant increase in Nrf2 expression in animals receiving dexamethasone compared to the dexamethasone group. No significant change was observed in the testosterone level of the dexamethasone group compared to that of the control group. However, a significant change was detected in its level in some groups treated with moderate exercise, intense exercise, and safflower extract. Conclusions: It was concluded that moderate and high intensity endurance training, along with the consumption of safflower extract, had the potential to prevent infertility caused by dexamethasone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate acquisition of safflower filament information is the prerequisite for robotic picking operations. To detect safflower filaments accurately in different illumination, branch and leaf occlusion, and weather conditions, an improved Faster R-CNN model for filaments was proposed. Due to the characteristics of safflower filaments being dense and small in the safflower images, the model selected ResNeSt-101 with residual network structure as the backbone feature extraction network to enhance the expressive power of extracted features. Then, using Region of Interest (ROI) Align improved ROI Pooling to reduce the feature errors caused by double quantization. In addition, employing the partitioning around medoids (PAM) clustering was chosen to optimize the scale and number of initial anchors of the network to improve the detection accuracy of small-sized safflower filaments. The test results showed that the mean Average Precision (mAP) of the improved Faster R-CNN reached 91.49%. Comparing with Faster R-CNN, YOLOv3, YOLOv4, YOLOv5, and YOLOv6, the improved Faster R-CNN increased the mAP by 9.52%, 2.49%, 5.95%, 3.56%, and 1.47%, respectively. The mAP of safflower filaments detection was higher than 91% on a sunny, cloudy, and overcast day, in sunlight, backlight, branch and leaf occlusion, and dense occlusion. The improved Faster R-CNN can accurately realize the detection of safflower filaments in natural environments. It can provide technical support for the recognition of small-sized crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a navigation system for the headland autonomous turning of a safflower picking robot. The proposed system includes binocular cameras, differential satellites, and inertial sensors. The method of extracting the headland boundary line combining the hue, saturation, and value-fixed threshold segmentation method and random sample consensus algorithm and planning the headland-turning trajectory of a robot based on the multiorder Bezier curve are used as control methods. In addition, a headland-turning tracking model of a safflower picking robot is designed, and a path-tracking control algorithm is developed. A field test verifies the performance of the designed headland-turning navigation system. The test results show that the accuracy of the judgment result regarding the existence of a headland is higher than 96%. In headland boundary detection, the angle deviation is less than 1.5°, and the depth value error is less than 50 mm. The headland-turning path tracking test result shows that at a turning speed of 0.5 km/h, the average lateral deviation is 37 mm, and the turning time is 24.2 seconds. Compared to the 1 km/h, the turning speed of 0.5 km/h provides a better trajectory tracking effect, but the turning time is longer. The test results verify that this navigation system can accurately extract the headland boundary line and can successfully realise the headland-turning path tracking of a safflower picking robot. The results presented in this study can provide a useful reference for the autonomous navigation of a field robot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Environment contamination with heavy metals is a major problem both to the environment and human health. Aims: The aim of this work is to evaluate the physiological, nutritional, and biochemical responses of safflower plants (Carthamus tinctorius L.) grown under different zinc concentrations at vegetative stage. Methods: The effect of zinc on safflower plants was studied through the evaluation of growth parameters, colorimetric assay of phenolic compounds, and antioxidant enzymes activities. Results: Zinc inhibited shoot and root growth and resulted in leaf chlorosis at 75, 225, and 1000 µM zinc concentrations. At higher concentrations, Zn also reduced photosynthetic parameters except the internal CO2 concentration that was higher at these levels. Zinc reduced potassium content of the shoots at 75 µM of zinc. The presence of Zn at 1000 µM concentration reduced the iron content and led to the accumulation of the copper content in the shoots. In roots, iron and copper contents were reduced from 15 µM Zn. In the case of copper, this content was canceled out at 225 and 1000 µM of zinc. Lipid peroxidation (evaluated as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances content) increased with zinc treatment. Safflower plants generally responded to this oxidative stress by enhancing the antioxidant enzymes activities, namely, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and guaiacol peroxidase. There was no increase in superoxide dismutase activity in shoots and roots, except at the highest zinc concentration in the roots. Total soluble sugars (TSS) and starch contents increased, whereas proline content decreased in shoots. In roots, TSS was not altered, whereas starch was decreased, and proline content was increased. There were no changes in the protein content in both organs under different Zn treatments. There was a gradual increase in the total polyphenols in shoots with increasing zinc concentration; however, no changes were observed in the roots. Flavonoids decreased in roots at 225 and 1000 µM Zn. Total antioxidant activity increased in shoots but it decreased in roots with increasing zinc concentration. The inverse trend was observed for the DPPH and ABTS tests. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the decline in safflower plant growth under high zinc concentrations is related to altered photosynthetic activity and antioxidant response to oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of alternative flour in the production of cereal products such as bread can improve the functional and nutritional properties of bread. However, the addition of substitute flour to wheat flour may have some technological, sensory, and rheological disadvantages. To eliminate these problems, alternative flours should be used in different proportions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the remaining proportions of hemp, safflower and rosehip seeds after oil extraction and to determine their chemical properties (protein, fat, ash) and to investigate the effect on rheological dough properties with Mixolab when used as a substitute for wheat flour. Accordingly, safflower, hemp and rosehip seed flour were added to wheat flour in five different amounts (5, 7.5, 10, 15 and 20%), focusing on displacement. The addition of flour increased the protein, fat, ash, phenolic content, and antioxidant capacity. It was found that the addition of 10% safflower and hemp seed flour and 7.5% rosehip seed flour had a positive effect on rheological properties. For all three flour additions, the dough development time, stability, and percent protein softening values increased, while water holding capacity decreased. Flours added at 15% or more began to negatively affect the rheological properties. This study shows that 3 different flours, which can be added up to 10%, improve the rheological properties, chemically enrich them and improve their functional properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L., family Asteraceae) is part of the species with a "wide biodiversity portfolio", which has genetic potential, but is underutilized for commercial cultivation. Such species offer viable agricultural alternatives in response to climate change, being adapted to cultivation on less fertile, even marginal, land. The cultivation potential of Safflower is high, but in our country there are few cultivated areas. The lack of documentation regarding the cultivation technology, as well as the lack on the market of biological material necessary for sowing the crops, led to the disinterest of the growers in this plant. However, in recent years, the attention given to this crop has increased, due to more and more intense lack of water and limitation of precipitation, which cause a huge deficit in the production of oilseeds, the Safflower being, however, resistant to these conditions. To these added are the consumers9 preference for the healthy oil, with less saturated fat, for which Safflower oil is well known. Also, the species has medicinal properties, and edible dyes are extracted from its flowers. Every part of the Safflower plant can be used after processing, as food, phytomedicine, biofuel, for ornamental purposes, etc. Collecting the petals is a difficult operation, especially for the thorny varieties of the species, and it is done manually. The high labour costs, as well as the difficulty of finding it, create problems for the development of the processing industry of this plant. The paper presents a brief summary of the technical systems for the mechanized harvesting of Safflower depending on its uses, including the current state of research regarding the design and experimentation of robots intended for the collection of inflorescences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop productivity in tropical areas is threatened primarily by high temperatures during reproductive phase which causes a drastic change in physiological and biochemical behavior of the major crops. In the present study, two field experiments were conducted during 2017–18 and 2018–19 growing seasons. Four safflower cultivars, namely, Goldasht, Faraman, Sofeh, and Parnian, were grown under normal, moderate, and severe terminal heat stress (THS) conditions. Sowing date with desired temperature was considered as control, delayed, and late sowing dates were considered as moderate and severe THS, respectively, so that the flowering and grain filling periods of cultivars were exposed to heat stress. H2O2 concentration and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were increased in response to moderate and severe THS for all cultivars except for Goldasht in 2017–2018, indicating heat stress-induced oxidative stress. The highest MDA contents (27.3 and 17 mmol g−1Fw−1) were found in Sofeh under severe THS during 2017–2018 and 2018–2019, respectively. Moreover, the scavenging activity of DPPH radicals and activity of antioxidant enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidise (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), and Glutathione S-transferase (GST) were increased in response to moderate and severe THS. Free amino acids accumulation including γ-aminobutyric acid, lysine, leucine, isoleucine, taurine, and tyrosine was observed in response to THS. Further, we found that Faraman accumulated higher contents of fructose, xylose, and galactose in fraction under THS, whereas xylose content was significantly higher in Sofeh as compared to the other carbohydrates. By comparison, Faraman and Goldasht were most tolerant to heat stress due to significant increase in DPPH value, phenol and carbohydrate contents, free amino acid contents, and higher antioxidant activity compared to the other cultivars. Totally, these results underlay the enhanced tolerance to heat stress of the safflower cultivars, and changes in these traits in delayed and late sowing dates clarify that the perspective of oilseed crops cultivation in arid region is probably related to their potential adaptation to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: C. tinctorius (safflower) natural food colorant and has been used to control high blood pressure, supress oxidation, cancer immunosuppressive drug, inhibits blood clots, dilate blood vessels, and as neuroprotective agents. Several investigations indicate the relationship between oxidative processes and emergence of cancer. The current investigation data confirms the antiproliferative activity of Safflower against A549 cancer cell line but little is known about their antioxidant mechanisms. Materials and Methods: Nitric Oxide (NO) and Lipid Peroxidation (LPO) levels were measured in order to explore the antioxidant properties of safflower extract. Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH), reduced Glutathione (GSH), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Catalase (CAT) were measured by UV-spectrophotometric analysis. Further, apoptotic key regulator BAX and SMAC gene expression were also analysed. Results: The dose-dependent antioxidant activity of Safflower extract induced apoptosis in A549 cells. There was significant increase in LPO, NO, LDH, SOD and CAT (*p < 0.0001) activities except GSH. Our data confirmed that safflower treated A549 cells inhibits the oxidation by scavenging free radicals and induced apoptosis by increased gene expression BAX and SMAC. Conclusion: The current findings indicates safflower extract might be potential alternative medicine for the treatment of lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative stress is closely associated with the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases. The seeds of Carthamus tinctorius L. (CTS) and Taraxacum coreanum (TC) are reported as herbal medicines for neuroprotection. This study investigated the protective effect of CTS, TC, and their combination against oxidative stress induced by H2O2 in SH-SY5Y cells. The CTS and TC combination dose-dependently increased DPPH and ·OH radical scavenging activities compared with non-combination. The combination showed a higher increased cell survival rate in H2O2-stimulated SH-SY5Y cells than CTS or TC. Moreover, CTS, TC, and their combination-treated cells reduced LDH release and apoptotic cells. CTS, TC, and their combination also inhibited NO and ROS generation. Further, the combination of up-regulated antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) and Bcl-2 protein expressions and down-regulated Bax expression. These findings suggest that the combination of CTS and TC may be beneficial to prevent and treat oxidative stress-mediated neurodegenerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the influence of different factors on extraction efficiency of natural dye safflower yellow was analyzed by water extraction method, and the extraction process was optimized by response surface method. Then, the stability of safflower yellow pigment was studied with absorbance of extract as test index. The results show that the optimal extraction process of saffflower yellow was as follows; dye liquid ratio 1 :25, extraction temperature 60 °C, extraction time 60 min. Safflower yellow pigment is more stable under acidic conditions, but its solubility decreases under alkaline environment; It is stable below 70 °C, and begins to decompose when the temperature exceeds 90 °C . Cu2+ and Fe2+ can change the stability of safflower yellow pigment, while Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+ and La3+ have little effect on the stability of safflower yellow pigment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Older to improve the dyeing performance of safflower yellow on wool, the effects of Box myrtle extract on the K/S value, color characteristic value and color fastness of safflower yellow dyed wool fabric under different process conditions were tested, and the content of mordant on dyed fabric was analyzed by Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS5 to analyze the reasons for improving fastness. On the basis of the optimal process of dyeing safflower yellow pigment and bayberry tannin extract in the same bath, and then using aluminum sulfate for mordant dyeing. The results show that under the dyeing condition of pH 4, 95°C and 45 min, safflower yellow and 4% (owf) Box myrtle extract were dyed in the same bath, and then 6% (owf) aluminum sulfate mordant at 60°C could significantly improve the light fastness bf wool-dyed fabric, so that the color fastness of dyed fabric reached grade 4 and above. The EDS test shows that more aluminum ions were involved in the formation of coordination bonds after the addition of Box myrtle extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The current study aimed to develop a topical herbal emulgel containing Carthamus tinctorius L. (CT) oil extract, which has been scientifically proven for its antibacterial and antioxidant activities for the ailment of bacterial skin infections. Method: The CT emulgel was formulated by response surface methodology (RSM) and was evaluated by various parameters like extrudability, spreadability, pH, viscosity, and antibacterial and antioxidant activities. Molecular docking was also performed using AutoDock. Results: Among all formulated CT emulgels, F9 and F8 were optimized. Optimized formulations had shown good spreadability and extrudability characteristics. Sample F8 had % inhibition of 42.131 ± 0.335, 56.720 ± 0.222, and 72.440 ± 0.335 at different concentrations. Sample F9 had % inhibition of 26.312 ± 0.280, 32.461 ± 0.328, and 42.762 ± 0.398 at concentrations of 250 µg/ml, 500 µg/ml, and 1,000 µg/ml, respectively, which shows that both samples F8 and F9 have significant antioxidant potential. Optimized CT emulgels F8 and F9 had significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli at p-value = 0.00, the Emulgel-F8 shows zone of inhibition of 24 mm for E-coli and 19 mm for S-aureus. Emulgel-F9 shows zone of inhibition of 22 mm for E-coli and 15 mm for S-aureus while pure CT-Oil extract shows zone of inhibition of 25 mm for E-coli and 20 mm for S-aureus and ciprofloxacin used as standard shows 36mm zone of inhibition against both E-coli and Saureus. The comparative investigation through molecular docking binding affinities and interactions of ligands with various target proteins provides insights into the molecular processes behind ligand binding and may have significance for drug discovery and design for the current study. Conclusion: The current study suggests that C. tinctorius L.-based emulgel has good antioxidant and antibacterial activities against E. coli for the treatment of bacterial skin infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological and abiotic stresses reduce growth and yield in plants. During their growth period, plants may be subjected to various abiotic stresses such as heavy metals, lack of essential elements, increase of some elements, and also biological stresses such as the attack of herbivorous insects. In this research, the effect of both nickel and zinc 300 µM salts on the change of resistance and some growth and physiological parameters of the safflower plant (Goldasht cultivar) was studied under standard greenhouse conditions in the presence or absence of safflower aphid biological stress. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted in the form of a randomized complete block design and factorial form with 8 treatments including Hoagland's solution (control), zinc, nickel, and zinc + nickel in two conditions with treatment or without treatment with seven blocks (repetition). Plant growth parameters such as plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, root wet weight, aerial organ wet weight, and some physiological parameters such as relative water content, chlorophyll content, carotenoid content, and ion leakage percentage were measured. The research results showed that the reducing effect of nickel toxicity and aphid biological stress on plant growth parameters was significant. The interaction between heavy metal treatment and biological stress had a significant effect on the height of the stem and the number of leaves, which indicated the combined effect of the toxicity of heavy metals nickel and zinc along with aphid stress on these two growth parameters and increased plant sensitivity. However, overall, the results of this research showed that if the plant is placed in non-stress conditions of zinc and nickel metals and given proper nutrition, it will have more performance and resistance during biological stress such as aphid attack and the presence of toxic amounts of heavy metals causes more sensitivity during the attack of pests and herbivores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problems of high damage rate and loss rate of the existing safflower harvesting equipment, this study designed a rotary cutting safflower harvesting end effector by combining the growth characteristics and mechanical properties. Through force analysis of the cutting tool, the key factors, which affects the harvesting performance, were clarified to be the blade inclination and the knife shaft speed. The Fluent software was used to analyze the flow field of the harvesting chamber, which aims to determine the appropriate wind speed. To improve the working performance of the rotary cutting safflower harvesting end effector, a three-factor, threelevel orthogonal test was carried out with the blade inclination, knife shaft speed and wind speed as the influencing factors, and with the recovery rate, damage rate and loss rate as the response indexes. A regression model for the three-factor interaction was developed and optimized based on the results of the Box-Behnken test. The optimal parameter combination is: the blade inclination is 15°, the knife shaft speed is 1570, and the wind speed is 6 m/s. A test of the optimization results showed that the recovery rate was 91.47%, the damage rate was 7.51%, and the loss rate was 4.67%. This study can provide theoretical basis and technical reference for the mechanized harvesting of safflower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is cultivated across numerous nations for its oilseed and flower, as well as its fabric and food coloring properties. In the plain circumstances of Mardin Province (Türkiye), this study was conducted to determine the best date to sow six different safflower cultivars in the vegetation years of 2018 and 2019. Six safflower cultivars (Asol, Balcı, Dinçer, Linas, Olas, and Remzibey-05) were planted in the main plots on four different sowing dates (February 06, February 16, February 26, and March 05), located in the sub-plots. Safflower characteristics, including plant height, first branch height, number of branches, number of heads, head diameter, seed yield, protein ratio, oil ratio, and oil yield, were examined in the study. The first sowing date of the Remzibey-05 cultivar yielded the most seeds (4118 kg ha-1), and the second sowing date of the Remzibey-05 yielded the most oil (1197 kg ha-1). The Asol cultivar exhibited the highest protein content, however, no discernible pattern of increase or decrease was observed with respect to sowing dates. Early sowing enhanced seed production, and as sowing time was delayed, yield significantly decreased (on average by 30%). Further comprehensive research is required to tackle the deficiencies in vegetable and oil materials, not only in this locality but also in areas expressing equivalent weather and ecological features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Safflor yellow (SY) is a water-capacitive component of dried flowers, mainly from safflor in the safflower family, which contains a large amount of bruthin A, or Safflor yellow A (SYA) for short. Studies have reported the protective effects of SYA against oxidative stress injury in nerve cells. Materials and Methods: In this study, H2O2-treated PC12 cells were used as experimental materials to explore how SYA plays a protective role against nerve cells after oxidative stress and to analyze the molecular mechanism of SYA. PC12 cells were treated with H2O2 and SYA solution. Cell proliferation is then detected with Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). The detection method is 5-(and 6)-chloromethyl-2′,7′-dichloro-dihydrofluorescein diacetate (CM-H2DCF-DA) staining reactive oxygen species (ROS). Levels of apoptosis-related proteins, including Bcl2-associated X protein (Bax), B-cell lymphoma (Bcl-2), caspase-3, and cleaved caspase-3, and oxidative stress regulators, namely, nuclear factor erythroid-2-related actor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), were detected by western blotting. Results: The CCK-8 assay results showed that the survival rate of H2O2-induced PC12 cells was significantly increased after SYA treatment. Fluorescence microscopy (CM-H2DCF-DA staining) indicated that SYA decreased H2O2-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells by reducing intracellular ROS. Western blotting analysis showed that SYA upregulated the expression of Nrf2, HO-1, and Bcl-2 and downregulated the expression of Bax, caspase 3, and cleaved caspase-3 in H2O2-induced PC12 cells. Conclusion: SYA does protect the nerve cells from oxidative stress damage. Its mechanism of action is mainly related to whether the Nrf2/HO-1 pathway is activated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arab Journal of Plant Protection is the property of Arab Society for Plant Protection and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Agriculture & Wildlife Science is the property of International Journal of Agriculture & Wildlife Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Oilseeds with high productivity and tolerance to various environmental stresses are in high demand in the food and industrial sectors. Safflower, grown under residual moisture in the semi-arid tropics, is adapted to moisture stress at certain levels. However, a substantial reduction in soil moisture has a significant impact on its productivity. Therefore, assessing genetic variation for water use efficiency traits like transpiration efficiency (TE), water uptake, and canopy temperature depression (CTD) is essential for enhancing crop adaptation to drought. The response of safflower genotypes (n = 12) to progressive soil moisture depletion was studied in terms of water uptake, TE, and CTD under a series of pot and field experiments. The normalised transpiration rate (NTR) in relation to the fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW) varied significantly among genotypes. The genotypes A-1, Bhima, GMU-2347, and CO-1 had higher NTR-FTSW threshold values of 0.79 (R2 = 0.92), 0.74 (R2 = 0.96), 0.71 (R2 = 0.96), and 0.71 (R2 = 0.91), respectively, whereas GMU-2644 had the lowest 0.38 (R2 = 0.93). TE was high in genotype GMU-2347, indicating that it could produce maximum biomass per unit of water transpired. At both the vegetative and reproductive stages, significant positive relationships between TE, SPAD chlorophyll metre reading (SCMR) (p < 0.01) and CTD (p < 0.01) were observed under field conditions by linear regression. The genotypes with high FTSW-NTR thresholds, high SCMR, and low CTD may be useful clues in identifying a genotype's ability to adapt to moisture stress. The findings showed that the safflower genotypes A-1, Bhima, GMU-2347, and CO-1 exhibited an early decline and regulated water uptake by conserving it for later growth stages under progressive soil water depletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safflower (Carthamus tincorius L.) is an economically important plant. Flowers are a source of dyes and active ingredients in medicines. The development of flower-specific promoters is of great significance for the directed regulation of the biosynthesis of targeted products. However, few flower-specific promoters have been reported in safflower. In this study, transcriptome analysis of various safflower tissues was performed. A total of 40.37 Gb of clean data were obtained, and 100 safflower-specific genes were screened. Three genes (CtFSG1, CtFSG2 and CtFSG3) were identified by RT–PCR, and all had high expression in flowers. The promoters of the three genes (pCtFSG1, pCtFSG2 and pCtFSG3) were cloned, and the promoter sequences were analysed. Promoter activity analysis showed that pCtFSG2 had suitable promoter activity in protoplasts of tubiform floret in safflower. This promoter specificity was further characterized by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of pCtFSG2::GUS to Arabidopsis thaliana. The results showed that GUS staining was detectable only in flowers. Moreover, deletion analysis of the pCtFSG2 promoter region revealed that the DNA segments from − 1953 to − 1534 and − 980 to − 490 are critical for the expression of pCtFSG2. Our results indicated that pCtFSG2 is a flower-specific promoter with suitable promoter activity in safflower, which has potential value for directional modification of safflower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine the chemical properties (fatty acid composition, oil content, sterol and tocopherol compositions) of the oils extracted from the seeds of safflower (Dinçer, Remzibey, Balci, Linas, Yenice, Olas) varieties harvested in different periods from flowering to ripening period. In parallel with the increase of harvest time, the humidity rate decreased, while the oil ratios increased. It was determined that palmitic (16:0) and stearic (18:0) acids, which are significant saturated fatty acids, and oleic (18:1) and linoleic (18:2) acids, which are unsaturated fatty acids, are quite high in the oils of all safflower varieties. These fatty acids showed significant changes from the first harvest to the last harvest. The total saturated fatty acid ratios decreased, while the amount of unsaturated fatty acids increased as the maturation progressed. The first and latest harvest samples of Dinçer, Remzibey, Balcı, Linas, Yenice, Olas cultivars were selected and their sterol and tocopherol compositions were examined. The highest level of sterol in all cultivars was β‐sitosterol and the amount of sterols decreased towards full maturity. It was determined that α‐tocopherol was the dominant tocopherol found in the safflower oils and the amount of tocopherol increased towards full maturity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the adaptability and importance of the safflower for the production of oilseeds in Iran, this research was conducted to evaluate and investigate of main agronomic traits in 12 mutant lines, produced in the National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB) along with Sina, Faraman, Omid, Sofeh, Goldasht, Golmehr, Parnian and Padideh cultivars. The project was carried out as a complete randomized block design in three replications under rainfed conditions during the crop season 2021-2022 in the Dryland Agricultural Research Institute-Sararood, Kermanshah, Iran. The results of variance analysis for all measured traits showed significant differences between cultivars and mutants at the probability level of 1%. The highest and lowest weight of 1000 seeds in this research was related to the Faraman cultivar (40.65 g) and Safeh (23.47 g), respectively. The first to third highest seed yield was observed in the Omid and Sina and Mutant No. 8 respectively with an average of 267.3, 242.2 and 233.3 kg/ha. The lowest yield belonged to Padideh and Golmehr cultivars (65.3 and 73.4 kg/ha, respectively).

This study investigated the effect of organic fertilizers on vegetative growth and the physiological and antioxidant activity characteristics of thyme plants grown under stress. A factorial experiment was conducted according to randomized complete block design with 12 combinations and 3 replications in the 2018 growing season. The experiment factors were the implementation of organic fertilizers at 4 levels (vermicompost, manure compost, animal manure, and control) and irrigation regime at 3 levels (Irr1, Irr2, and Irr3, respectively, irrigation after 60, 90, and 120 mm evaporation from A pan). The results showed that With delayed irrigation, the chlorophyll a and b contents, total chlorophyll, and carotenoid decreased, while the application of low water stress enhanced the amount of oil and the oil yield with the respective highest values of 2.61% and 3.68 g/m under mild stress conditions. Nonetheless, higher values for the aforementioned properties were noted with the application of vermicompost. Water deficit decreased nutrient uptake (K, P, and N) and relative water content, biological yield, and seed yield of thyme, indicating that thyme was sensitive to drought, and organic fertilizers application improved nutrient uptake (K, P, and N) and relative water content, biological yield and seed yield of the plant within irrigation levels. The activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase were reduced under organic fertilizers such as vermicompost and manure compost as compared with control under drought stress. The plants of thyme showed a good response to organic fertilizers under water deficit circumstances, with vermicompost being the most effective.

Flavonol synthase gene (FLS) is a member of the 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase (2-ODD) superfamily and plays an important role in plant flavonoids biosynthetic pathways. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.), a key source of traditional Chinese medicine, is widely cultivated in China. Although the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway has been studied in several model species, it still remains to be explored in safflower. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the role of CtFLS1 gene in flavonoid biosynthesis and drought stress responses. The bioinformatics analysis on the CtFLS1 gene showed that it contains two FLS-specific motifs (PxxxIRxxxEQP and SxxTxLVP), suggesting its independent evolution. Further, the expression level of CtFLS1 in safflower showed a positive correlation with the accumulation level of total flavonoid content in four different flowering stages. In addition, CtFLS1-overexpression (OE) Arabidopsis plants significantly induced the expression levels of key genes involved in flavonol pathway. On the contrary, the expression of anthocyanin pathway-related genes and MYB transcription factors showed down-regulation. Furthermore, CtFLS1-OE plants promoted seed germination, as well as resistance to osmotic pressure and drought, and reduced sensitivity to ABA compared to mutant and wild-type plants. Moreover, CtFLS1 and CtANS1 were both subcellularly located at the cell membrane and nucleus; the yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay showed that they interacted with each other at the cell membrane. Altogether, these findings suggest the positive role of CtFLS1 in alleviating drought stress by stimulating flavonols and anthocyanin accumulation in safflower.

Microgreens are a new, rapidly growing group of foodstuffs. The decorative function of these is often accompanied by their use in traditional dishes. As microgreens are eaten at very early stages, when the development of the epidermis is at its minimum, the bioavailability of minerals will be found to be higher in microgreens then in mature vegetables. So, microgreens can be an excellent functional food, especially for mineral-deficient populations, although they can also be a source of contaminants such as heavy metals or nitrates and nitrites. The purpose of this study was to measure the levels of selected heavy metals (i.e., cadmium, arsenic, lead, chromium, aluminium, zinc, copper, cobalt, molybdenum, manganese, vanadium, boron, antimony, thallium, titanium and strontium), as well as nitrates and nitrites, in microgreens at various stage of vegetation, using uncommon oilseed plants like nigella—Nigella sativa L., safflower—Carthamus tinctorius L., and camelina—Camelina sativa L. The examined microgreens of rare oilseed plants may be a source of contaminants and nitrates. The mineral profile of these plants is mainly determined by their genotype. Microgreens’ cultivation involves compliance with safety standards and replicable conditions to guarantee that the highest nutritional value is reached at the lowest possible contaminant level.

Oilseeds with high productivity and tolerance to various environmental stresses are in high demand in the food and industrial sectors. Safflower, grown under residual moisture in the semi-arid tropics, is adapted to moisture stress at certain levels. However, a substantial reduction in soil moisture has a significant impact on its productivity. Therefore, assessing genetic variation for water use efficiency traits like transpiration efficiency (TE), water uptake, and canopy temperature depression (CTD) is essential for enhancing crop adaptation to drought. The response of safflower genotypes (n = 12) to progressive soil moisture depletion was studied in terms of water uptake, TE, and CTD under a series of pot and field experiments. The normalised transpiration rate (NTR) in relation to the fraction of transpirable soil water (FTSW) varied significantly among genotypes. The genotypes A-1, Bhima, GMU-2347, and CO-1 had higher NTR-FTSW threshold values of 0.79 (R2 = 0.92), 0.74 (R2 = 0.96), 0.71 (R2 = 0.96), and 0.71 (R2 = 0.91), respectively, whereas GMU-2644 had the lowest 0.38 (R2 = 0.93). TE was high in genotype GMU-2347, indicating that it could produce maximum biomass per unit of water transpired. At both the vegetative and reproductive stages, significant positive relationships between TE, SPAD chlorophyll metre reading (SCMR) (p < 0.01) and CTD (p < 0.01) were observed under field conditions by linear regression. The genotypes with high FTSW-NTR thresholds, high SCMR, and low CTD may be useful clues in identifying a genotype’s ability to adapt to moisture stress. The findings showed that the safflower genotypes A-1, Bhima, GMU-2347, and CO-1 exhibited an early decline and regulated water uptake by conserving it for later growth stages under progressive soil water depletion.

Background: Cisplatin is a chemotherapeutic agent commonly used clinically for the treatment of various human cancers. Patients often reduce the use of cisplatin due to its side effects, which in turn affects its treatment. This study explored the mechanism of action of safflower extract as an adjuvant traditional Chinese medicine for chemotherapy. Methods: Primary human follicle dermal papilla cells (HFDPCs) were used as target cells for cisplatin-induced damage to hair cells. Western blotting was used to investigate the molecular targets of cisplatin and safflower extract in causing HFDPCs damage. Cell survival and cell cycle were analyzed by mitochondrial staining reagent WST-1 and propidium iodide. Results: Cisplatin could reduce the viability of HFDPCs without causing cell death. Cisplatin increased the level of phospho-Rad17 in HFDPCs and activated the Chk1/Cdc25C signaling to reduce the expression of Cdc2 protein, thereby arresting the cells in the G2/M phase. The combination of safflower extract and the flavonoids could effectively inhibit the signal transduction of Rad17/Chk1/Cdc25 in cisplatin-treated cells and reduce the cell population in the G2/M phase. Finally, we also confirmed that safflower extract could effectively inhibit the damage to HFDPCs caused by cisplatin, mainly at the level of reducing the DNA damage caused by cisplatin. Conclusions: Safflower extract can be used as an adjuvant Chinese medicine for chemotherapy to reduce the damage caused by chemotherapy to normal hair follicle cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Fusarium wilt is the major biotic constraint responsible for substantial loss in the agricultural production and yield of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). To better understand the symptomatology and etiology of wilt disease, safflower-growing fields of Karnataka and Maharashtra states in India were surveyed. The infected plants exhibited characteristic symptoms of wilt disease including browning of stem, chlorosis, and drooping of leaves. Fungal isolates obtained from infected parts of plants were morphologically characterized. Along with Fusarium oxysporum, another species of Fusarium was identified. This species produced buff to dark red colonies with aerial mycelia. Microconidia were clavate with a flattened base, aseptate, and 5.2–5.9 × 1.5–2.0 μm in size. Macroconidia were falcate to subfalcate, 3–5 septate, and 21.1–38.0 × 1.9–2.7 μm in size. Using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of rDNA and translation elongation factor-1α (TEF-1α) genes, the identity of this species was confirmed as Fusarium proliferatum (Fp). Molecular phylogeny was inferred for all Fp isolates using ITS and TEF-1a sequences and they displayed close relatedness to Fp type material. The adult plants of susceptible cultivar of safflower (cv. Manjira) were inoculated with Fp spore suspension wherein the wilt disease was recapitulated. Morphologically identical Fp was isolated from the infected plants fulfilling Koch's postulates. This is a new record of wilt disease inflicted by Fp on safflower-growing fields of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safflower oil‐based oleogels were produced from beeswax and rice bran wax. Oleogels demonstrated higher oxidative stability than shortening at the cooking temperature. Peroxide values in shortening, rice bran wax oleogels, and beeswax oleogels samples were found in the range of 4.8–27.76, 13.21–20.45 and 4.30–7.72 meqO2kg−1 oil. Following oleogelation, there was no significant change in fatty acid composition of safflower oil. In addition, after baking process, the changes in the major fatty acids were not determined to be significant. Solid fat content ratios (carried out at 35°C) of rice bran wax oleogels, in beeswax oleogels and in shortening samples were defined in the range of 4.10%–7.70%, 0.80%–5.00%, and 9.61%, respectively. The highest oil binding capacity was revealed in beeswax oleogels with 99.93%–99.98%. The shortest crystallization time was determined as 3 min in oleogel containing 10% rice bran wax. Cakes consisted of oleogel were acceptable in terms of texture and sensory properties compared to cake produced with shortening. Sensory results revealed that some cakes produced with oleogels were found to be more acceptable as compared with control group samples. In this respect, oleogels produced with safflower oil‐based beeswax and rice bran wax could be used instead of commercial solid fat widely used in the cake industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the best candidates to face the increasing environmental stresses is safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) with natural tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses including drought. In the present study, transcriptome profile of a spineless drought‐tolerant mutant of safflower with early flowering was compared to its spiny wild type. In differential RNA‐Seq analyses more than 400 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in spineless drought‐tolerant mutant. The expression of 8 top DEGs, mostly related to the contrasting traits, was confirmed by real‐time quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Transcription factors (TFs) followed by protein kinases had the highest frequency among the identified DEGs. TF families involved in the regulation of cell cycle, development, and environmental responses were prevalent in DEGs of spineless drought‐tolerant mutant, including NAC, bHLH, MYB, HD‐ZIP, and ERF. Three Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways with direct or indirect role in cell/tissue development and metabolic processes were enriched for DEGs. Our results suggest that phenotypic differences between the two contrasting genotypes can be governed via regulation of hormone signal transduction/or cell cycle and stress‐related pathways. Several candidate genes for spine formation, early flowering, and drought tolerance were introduced, important instances are ZHD8 and TBL21 (candidates for spininess), three novel transcripts, respectively, encoding a CCT type protein, a MADS‐box TF and a CCA1 (candidates for early flowering), and CAT2, ZAT10, and CAMTA (candidates for drought response). These findings facilitate the isolation of key genes controlling drought‐tolerance, spininess, and early flowering in safflower and can be applied for developing value‐added varieties through genome‐based breeding programs. Core Ideas: RNA‐seq profiling of a drought‐tolerant spinless safflower mutant was compared to spiny wild type for first time.EMS mutagenesis induced a moderate differential profiles between the two contrasting genotypes.More than 400 DEGs were identified which were up‐ or down‐regulated in drought‐tolerant spineless mutant.Transcription factors regulating cell cycle/development and stress‐responses were identified as candidate genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the ameliorative effects of hydro- and hormopriming applications against salt stress of safflower seeds during germination and seedling development stage were investigated. Primed (hydropriming (0, 1, 2 and 3 days) with distilled water and hormopriming for 24 hours (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg L-1 with kinetin) and nonprimed seeds were sown under control (no salt) and salt stress (0, 50, 100 and 150 mM NaCl) conditions. When priming applications under salt stress are compared with the control, germination percentage (GP), seedling lenght (SL), root length (RL), seedling fresh weight (SFW), root fresh weight (RFW), leaf relative water content (RWC), elctrolyte leakeage (EL) parameters reducing the effects of stress, however, it was determined that caused an increase in carotenoid (Car), superoxide dismutase (SOD), total phenolic compounds (TPC) parameters. Besides this, it has an inhibitory effect on the increase in proline (Pro) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content. According to the correlation analysis, significant positive correlation was determined in all parameters. A significant positive correlation was determined for hydropriming GP with SL, RL, SFW, RFW, and for hormopriming with SL, RL, SFW, RFW, total Chl, RWC and GP. According to the PCA analysis, the parameters examined in both applications it is seen that they are divided into four different groups. In conclusion, this study priming applications are compared with each other, it has been determined that hormopriming is more effective in reducing the effects of stress than hydropriming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is an important health problem and responsible for a significant number of deaths worldwide. Chemotherapy resistance and related side effects prevent cancer treatment from reaching the desired level. In this study, we aimed to investigate the anti-cancer properties of Carthamus tinctorius, Salvia hispanica and Linum usitatissimum seed oils on hepatocellular (HepG2), colorectal (HCT-116) and gastric carcinoma (AGS) cell lines. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used as control cell group. Cell viability of HepG2, HCT-116, AGS and HUVECs was determined by MTT method after treatment with various concentrations of Carthamus tinctorius, Salvia hispanica and Linum usitatissimum. Colorimetric elisa kit was used for quantitative determination of caspase-3 activation. Antimigratory effect of Carthamus tinctorius and Salvia hispanica were investigated by wound healing assay. Carthamus tinctorius, Salvia hispanica and Linum usitatissimum seed oils significantly inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells. There was an insignificant decrease in the viability of HUVEC cells after seed oils treatments. Migration of HepG2 and AGS cells significantly suppressed by treatment of Salvia hispanica and Carthamus tinctorius respectively. Salvia hispanica and Carthamus tinctorius significantly increased caspase-3 activation in cancer cells. Our results showed that Carthamus tinctorius, Salvia hispanica and Linum usitatissimum exhibited a selective cytotoxicity against HepG2, HCT-116 and AGS cells without damaging normal cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safflower cultivation has been developed in arid regions of Iran in the recent decade. Potassium (K) is an important plant nutrient and its content has been decreased in arid soils due to the intensive agriculture and no K fertilizer application. We tried to monitor K pools distribution and K release in a calcareous soil cultivated with safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) under normal irrigation and water stress when treated with wheat biochar (WB), cotton biochar (CB), nitrogen + phosphorus (N + P), N + P + WB and N + P + CB. All fertilizer treatments except N + P increased the contents of soluble, exchangeable, non-exchangeable and HNO3-extractable K by 81-124, 64-98, 14-28 and 31-50%, respectively. The N + P treatment decreased soluble and non-exchangeable K by 10 and 6%, respectively and increased exchangeable K by 12%. Ten times extraction of control soil with 0.01 M CaCl2, 0.01 M oxalic acid and 1% wood vinegar released 270, 250 and 256 mg K kg−1, respectively and cumulative K release increased with all fertilizer treatments except N + P. The CaCl2 solution extracted more K from soil samples, as compared to the oxalic acid and wood vinegar, and this difference was considerable in the first stages of K extraction. Analysis of Al and Ca release proves that exchange reaction is the main mechanism of K extraction with all solutions. Water stress increased soluble K content by 17%. Cumulative K released from soil samples under normal irrigation and water stress were 404 and 417 mg kg−1, respectively. It is concluded that irrigated agriculture in arid regions may decrease soil available K and use of different biochars improves soil K availability and its K release potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is grown in many countries, even in arid regions. Due to its important nutrients, safflower has the potential to be used as raw material for the nutrition of many animals and aquaculture species. For this reason, the objective of this study is to determine crude protein, crude oil, ash, and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) values, as well as amino acid, fatty acid, and mineral values in safflower seed meal. In addition, fish meal, soybean meal, wheat, and canola meal values are compared with safflower seed. On a dry matter basis, the crude protein, crude oil, crude ash, and NFE values were found at 19.42% ±0.32, 8.76% ±0.21, 2.82% ±0.1, and 62.68% ±0.88 respectively. Safflower meal contains significant arginine, histidine, and phenylalanine levels, with C18:2 n-6 being one of the most abundant fatty acids. According to the fatty acid values examined, the total saturated fatty acid values were to be 9.79%; the total monounsaturated fatty acid values are 27.58%; total n-6 PUFA values are 61.49%; total n-3 fatty acid values are 0.55% and total n-3 HUFA values are 0.22% in safflower oilseed meal. The potassium and magnesium content in safflower seed meal is similar to that of soybean meal and fishmeal. Safflower oilseed meal or oil can be used as complementary feedstuff in both marine and freshwater fish feeds. In future studies, observing the balance of essential amino acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids and conducting detailed studies will be effective in closing the gap in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]