Nanoworld is an attractive sphere with the potential to explore novel nanomaterials with valuable applications in medicinal science. Herein, we report an efficient and ecofriendly approach for the ...synthesis of Nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO NPs) via a solution combustion method using
leaf extract. As-prepared NiO NPs were characterized using various analytical tools such as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). XRD analysis illustrates that synthesized NiO NPs are hexagonal structured crystallites with an average size of 5.46 nm and a hexagonal-shaped morphology with slight agglomeration. The morphology, size, and shape of the obtained material was further confirmed using SEM and TEM analysis. In addition, as-prepared NiO NPs have shown potential antidiabetic and anticancer properties. Our results suggest that the inhibition of α-amylase enzyme with IC 50 value 268.13 µg/mL may be one of the feasible ways through which the NiO NPs exert their hypoglycemic effect. Furthermore, cytotoxic activity performed using NiO NPs exhibited against human lung cancer cell line (A549) proved that the prepared NiO NPs have significant anticancer activity with 93.349 μg/mL at 50% inhibition concentration. The biological assay results revealed that NiO NPs exhibited significant cytotoxicity against human lung cancer cell line (A549) in a dose-dependent manner from 0-100 μg/mL, showing considerable cell viability. Further, the systematic approach deliberates the NiO NPs as a function of phenolic extracts of
with vast potential for many biological and biomedical applications.
Lead (Pb) toxicity has been a subject of interest for environmental scientists due to its toxic effect on plants, animals, and humans. An increase in several Pb related industrial activities and use ...of Pb containing products such as agrochemicals, oil and paint, mining, etc. can lead to Pb contamination in the environment and thereby, can enter the food chain. Being one of the most toxic heavy metals, Pb ingestion via the food chain has proven to be a potential health hazard for plants and humans. The current review aims to summarize the research updates on Pb toxicity and its effects on plants, soil, and human health. Relevant literature from the past 20 years encompassing comprehensive details on Pb toxicity has been considered with key issues such as i) Pb bioavailability in soil, ii) Pb biomagnification, and iii) Pb- remediation, which has been addressed in detail through physical, chemical, and biological lenses. In the review, among different Pb-remediation approaches, we have highlighted certain advanced approaches such as microbial assisted phytoremediation which could possibly minimize the Pb load from the resources in a sustainable manner and would be a viable option to ensure a safe food production system.
Phosphorus (P) is an essential macro-nutrient required for growth and development of all crop plants including rice. Low availability of P in the soils manifests in terms of impeding crop growth ...leading to yield losses in rice. Adequate genetic variability for low soil P tolerance and also P use efficiency has been documented in rice and a major QTL called
Pup1
, conferring tolerance to low soil P has been identified, characterized and cloned from an Indian landrace, Kasalath. In the present study, a set of 98 germplasm lines collected from North-Eastern part of India were characterized for low soil P tolerance by screening them in a plot with low soil P (with available P < 2.0 kg ha
−1
) and also a plot with normal soil P (available P > 20 kg ha
−1
). The rice lines showed significantly high genetic variability for low soil P tolerance associated traits. Stress indices were estimated based on yield under normal and low soil P conditions and cluster analysis based on the stress indices; yield under normal and low soil P condition grouped the genotypes into highly tolerant, tolerant and sensitive to low soil P. Among the rice lines, 18 showed tolerance to low soil P (i.e. yield reduction < 70% in low soil P condition). The genotypic analysis based on
Pup1
associated molecular markers revealed the presence of complete or partial
Pup1
genomic region in most of the germplasm lines. Interestingly, a landrace called Wazuhophek was observed to be completely devoid of
Pup1
and hence it can serve as novel source for low P tolerance.
1. Drought-induced tree mortality is expected to increase globally due to climate change, with profound implications for forest composition, function and global climate feedbacks. How drought is ...experienced by different species is thought to depend fundamentally on where they access water vertically below-ground, but this remains untracked so far due to the difficulty of measuring water availability at depths at which plants access water (few to several tens of metres), the broad temporal scales at which droughts at those depths unfold (seasonal to decadal), and the difficulty in linking these patterns to forest-wide species-specific demographic responses. 2. We address this problem through a new eco-hydrological framework: we used a hydrological model to estimate below-ground water availability by depth over a period of two decades that included a multi-year drought. Given this water availability scenario and 20 year long-records of species-specific growth patterns, we inversely estimated the relative depths at which 12 common species in the forest accessed water via a model of water stress. Finally, we tested whether our estimates of species relative uptake depths predicted mortality in the multi-year drought. 3. The hydrological model revealed clear below-ground niches as precipitation was decoupled from water availability by depth at multi-annual scale. Species partitioned the hydrological niche by diverging in their uptake depths and so in the same forest stand, different species experienced very different drought patterns, resulting in clear differences in species-specific growth. Finally, species relative water uptake depths predicted species mortality patterns after the multi-year drought Species that our method ranked as relying on deeper water were the ones that had suffered from greater mortality, as the zone from which they access water took longer to recharge after depletion. 4. Synthesis. This research changes our understanding of how hydrological niches operate for trees, with a trade-off between realized growth potential and survival under drought with decadal scale return time. The eco-hydrological framework highlights the importance of species-specific below-ground strategies in predicting forest response to drought. Applying this framework more broadly may help us better understand species coexistence in diverse forest communities and improve mechanistic predictions of forests productivity and compositional change under future climate.
Agriculture has been increasingly relying on groundwater irrigation for the last decades, leading to severe groundwater depletion and/or nitrate contamination. Understanding the links between nitrate ...concentration and groundwater resource is a prerequisite for assessing the sustainability of irrigated systems. The Berambadi catchment (ORE-BVET/Kabini Critical Zone Observatory) in Southern India is a typical example of intensive irrigated agriculture and then an ideal site to study the relative influences of land use, management practices and aquifer properties on NO3 spatial distribution in groundwater. The monitoring of >200 tube wells revealed nitrate concentrations from 1 to 360mg/L. Three configurations of groundwater level and elevation gradient were identified: i) NO3 hot spots associated to deep groundwater levels (30–60m) and low groundwater elevation gradient suggest small groundwater reserve with absence of lateral flow, then degradation of groundwater quality due to recycling through pumping and return flow; ii) high groundwater elevation gradient, moderate NO3 concentrations suggest that significant lateral flow prevented NO3 enrichment; iii) low NO3 concentrations, low groundwater elevation gradient and shallow groundwater indicate a large reserve. We propose that mapping groundwater level and gradient could be used to delineate zones vulnerable to agriculture intensification in catchments where groundwater from low-yielding aquifers is the only source of irrigation. Then, wells located in low groundwater elevation gradient zones are likely to be suitable for assessing the impacts of local agricultural systems, while wells located in zones with high elevation gradient would reflect the average groundwater quality of the catchment, and hence should be used for regional mapping of groundwater quality. Irrigation with NO3 concentrated groundwater induces a “hidden” input of nitrogen to the crop which can reach 200kgN/ha/yr in hotspot areas, enhancing groundwater contamination. Such fluxes, once taken into account in fertilizer management, would allow optimizing fertilizer consumption and mitigate high nitrate concentrations in groundwater.
•Tube well irrigation induces groundwater depletion in semi-arid areas.•An irrigated catchment in India shows high spatial variability of groundwater NO3.•Extreme NO3, up to 360mg/L, is related to areas of severe groundwater depletion.•Irrigation with NO3 rich groundwater induces a “hidden” input of N to the crop.•Considering it would help optimizing fertilizer and mitigating groundwater quality.
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The present study was carried out to investigate the antioxidant, cytoprotective and antibacterial effects of aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts of
Hippophae rhamnoides L. (Sea buckthorn) (SBT) ...leaves by using various
in
vitro systems and analysis of marker compounds by reverse phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The chemical composition of the leaf extracts was quantified by colorimetric reaction in terms of total phenol and flavonoids contents. Further, some of its bioactive phenolic constituents, such as quercetin-3-O-galactoside, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, kaempferol and isorhamnetin were also quantified in both SBT leaf extracts by RP-HPLC. The SBT leaf extracts exhibited potent antioxidant activity determined by 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Further, both extracts were observed to have cytoprotective activity against hydrogen peroxide and hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase induced damage to BHK-21 cell line. The SBT leaf extracts showed growth inhibiting effect against
Bacillus cereus,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and
Enterococcus faecalis. These observations suggest that aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts of Sea buckthorn leaves have marked antioxidant, cytoprotective and antibacterial activities.
Over 380 host plant species have been known to develop leaf spots as a result of the fungus Alternaria alternata. It is an aspiring pathogen that affects a variety of hosts and causes rots, blights, ...and leaf spots on different plant sections. In this investigation, the lipopeptides from the B. subtilis strains T3, T4, T5, and T6 were evaluated for their antifungal activities. In the genomic DNA, iturin, surfactin, and fengycin genes were found recovered from B. subtilis bacterium by PCR amplification. From different B. subtilis strains, antifungal Lipopeptides were extracted, identified by HPLC, and quantified with values for T3 (24 g/ml), T4 (32 g/ml), T5 (28 g/ml), and T6 (18 g/ml). To test the antifungal activity, the isolated lipopeptides from the B. subtilis T3, T4, T5, and T6 strains were applied to Alternaria alternata at a concentration of 10 g/ml. Lipopeptides were found to suppress Alternaria alternata at rates of T3 (75.14%), T4 (75.93%), T5 (80.40%), and T6 (85.88%). The T6 strain outperformed the other three by having the highest antifungal activity against Alternaria alternata (85.88%).
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Siddha Medicine is a valuable therapeutic choice which is classically used for treating viral respiratory infections, this principle of medicine is proven to contain antiviral compounds.
The study is ...aimed to execute the In Silico computational studies of phytoconstituents of Siddha official formulation Kabasura Kudineer and novel herbal preparation - JACOM which are commonly used in treating viral fever and respiratory infectious diseases and could be affective against the ongoing pandemic novel corona virus disease SARS-CoV-2.
Cresset Flare software was used for molecular docking studies against the spike protein SARS-CoV-2 (PDB ID: 6VSB). Further, we also conducted insilico prediction studies on the pharmacokinetics (ADME) properties and the safety profile in order to identify the best drug candidates by using online pkCSM and SwissADME web servers.
Totally 37 compounds were screened, of these 9 compounds showed high binding affinity against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. All the phytoconstituents were free from carcinogenic and tumorigenic properties. Based on these, we proposed the new formulation called as “SNACK–V”
Based on further experiments and clinical trials, these formulations could be used for effective treatment of COVID-19.
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•In silico Docking Studies of Kabasura Kudineer-Official Siddha Formulation and JACOM against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.•37 Phytochemical constituents were docked to spike glycoprotein of SARS-COV-2 (PDB ID: 6VSB) by using Cresset Flare software.•Chrysoeriol and Luteolin from Kabasura Kudineer and Quercetin from JACOM shown the highest dock score values of above -11.00.•In silico ADME and drug Likeliness and synthetic accessibility were also carried out for phytoconstituents.
Bacterial blight (BB) disease reduces the yield of rice varieties and hybrids considerably in many tropical rice growing countries like India. The present study highlights the development of durable ...BB resistance into the background of an elite maintainer of rice, DRR17B, by incorporating two major dominant genes, Xa21 and Xa33 through marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). Through two sets of backcrosses, the two BB resistance genes were transferred separately to DRR17B. In this process, at each stage of backcrossing, foreground selection was carried out for the target resistance genes and for non-fertility restorer alleles concerning the major fertility restorer genes Rf3 and Rf4, using gene-specific PCR-based markers, while background selection was done using a set of 61 and 64 parental polymorphic SSR markers respectively. Backcross derived lines possessing either Xa21 or Xa33 along with maximum genome recovery of DRR17B were identified at BC3F1 generation and selfed to develop BC3F2s. Plants harboring Xa21 or Xa33 in homozygous condition were identified among BC3F2s and were intercrossed with each other to combine both the genes. The intercross F1 plants (ICF1) were selfed and the intercross F2(ICF2) plants possessing both Xa21 and Xa33 in homozygous condition were identified with the help of markers. They were then advanced further by selfing until ICF4 generation. Selected ICF4 lines were evaluated for their resistance against BB with eight virulent isolates and for key agro-morphological traits. Six promising two-gene pyramiding lines of DRR17B with high level of BB resistance and agro-morphological attributes similar or superior to DRR17B with complete maintenance ability have been identified. These lines with elevated level of durable resistance may be handy tool for BB resistance breeding.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The rise of carbon materials for field emission Dwivedi, Neeraj; Dhand, Chetna; Carey, J. David ...
Journal of materials chemistry. C, Materials for optical and electronic devices,
01/2021, Letnik:
9, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Carbon-based materials exhibit distinct structures and dimensionality which allow modification of their electrical properties and enable them to be integrated in various commercial systems. One of ...the interesting characteristics of carbon-based materials is efficient electron field emission (FE), which makes them good candidates for displays, in electron microscopy, lithography, sensing, micro- and nanoelectronics, X-ray sources and medical applications. While nano carbon materials have been extensively studied for FE applications, their usefulness, electron emission concerns, and fundamental mechanisms for FE technologies are buried in the reported literature, and cross comparison of all nano carbon materials together is rarely explored. Here we present a comprehensive overview of fundamental and FE properties of all carbon-based materials including diamond, nanocrystalline diamond, graphite, carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, carbon nanowires, carbon nanorods, graphene, and amorphous and nanostructured carbon. Some of these carbon materials, such as amorphous and nanostructured carbon, possess the added benefit of room temperature production over large areas on a variety of substrates. We have compiled an up to date summary which critically discusses the material factors, and the factors that control electron emission of these materials. We also propose unique ideas to further improve electron emission for the design of energy efficient carbon-based cold cathode materials for next generation large area electronic devices.
The progress and the fundamental mechanisms for field emission of diverse carbon materials with dimensions 3D-0D, and the future prospects are comprehensively discussed.
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