Negative implications of indiscriminate use ofherbicides in agricultural systems have forced the scientific community to develop alternate weed control strategies. Allelopathy appears one of the possible alternatives for achieving sustainable weed management. Study was designed to evaluate the allelopathic potential of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. cv. Azargol) water extracts on germination, early seedling growth and lipid peroxidation of Johnson grass (Sorghum halepnse) and wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis). Three levels of sunflower water extract viz. 5%, 10% and 15% were evaluated against both species in two separate experiments by using distilled water as control. Sunflower water extracts considerably delayed and reduced the germination percentage, along with fresh weight and length of both Johnson grass and wild mustard seedlings. Highest reduction was noticed at higher concentration (15%) of sunflower water extract. Nonetheless, sunflower water extract application enhanced malondialdehyde content (lipid peroxidation) along with reduced activities of antioxidants (catalases and peroxidases) in both Johnson grass and wild mustard seedlings. Such effects can be explored further under field conditions

Wild grass is edible, and it grows in the mountains or field areas. Wild grass has diverse biological effects, such as antiobesity, anti-cancer, antioxidant activities and immune stimulation. Currently, many studies are aimed at enhancing the efficacy of medicinal foods on biological activity using a bioconversion technology, including the fermentation process. In this study, the quality characteristics and antioxidative activity of the fermented wild grass was investigated. The antioxidant activity of fermented wild grass was assessed by various radical scavenging assays using DPPH(2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), FRAP(ferric ion reducing antioxidant power), reducing power, and ABTS (2, 2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)). Moisture contents of the fermented wild grass is 49.6±0.06%. Contents of crude ash, crude protein, and crude fat were 0.65±0.01, 0.65±0.04, and 3.3±0.59%, respectively. Moreover, fermented wild grass showed that the hunter's color values were 80.36(lightnees), 11.47(redness), and 44.53(yellowness), respectively. Total phenolic contents of the fermented wild grass was 1, 185±159 ㎍ GAE(gallic acid equivalent)/g. The antioxidative activities of the fermented wild grass were significantly increased in a dose dependent manner. In addition, fermented wild grass did not show any cytotoxicity up to 500 ㎍/㎖. However, the anti-adipogenic effect of the fermented wild grass extract was barely detectable. This antioxidant potential is partly due to the phenolic compounds that are present in the fermented wild grass extracts.

Small heat shock proteins (Hsps) are one of most conserved molecular chaperones that protect stress-inducible denaturation of substrates in living organisms. Small Hsps consist of a large subfamily categorized by subcellular localization ranging in size from 12 to 40 kDa. Here, we identified and characterized a small Hsp 16.9 gene (EsHsp16.9) from Siberian wild rye (Elymus sibiricus L.). EsHsp16.9 is a 456-bp cDNA with an open reading frame predicted to encode a 151-amino acid protein. It possesses a conserved ɑ-crystallin domain, which is a unique domain for small Hsps; shares high sequence similarity with cytosolic class I small Hsps among the small Hsp subfamily in Arabidopsis; and is close (96% similarity) to small Hsp in wheat. Northern blot analysis showed that EsHsp16.9 transcripts were enhanced by heat, drought, arsenate, methyl viologen, and H2O2 treatments. Moreover, we expressed and purified recombinant EsHsp16.9 proteins in Escherichia coli to confirm its activity as a molecular chaperone. We found that recombinant EsHsp16.9 exhibits effective molecular chaperone activity, as determined by inhibition of thermal aggregation of malate dehydrogenase (MDH), which is broadly used as a model substrate.