Cadmium is a widespread toxic pollutant of occupational and environmental concern because of its diverse toxic effects: extremely protracted biological half-life (approximately 20-30 years in ...humans), low rate of excretion from the body and storage predominantly in soft tissues (primarily, liver and kidneys). It is an extremely toxic element of continuing concern because environmental levels have risen steadily due to continued worldwide anthropogenic mobilization. Cadmium is absorbed in significant quantities from cigarette smoke, food, water and air contamination and is known to have numerous undesirable effects in both humans and animals. Cadmium has a diversity of toxic effects including nephrotoxicity, carcinogenicity, teratogenicity and endocrine and reproductive toxicities. At the cellular level, cadmium affects cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and other cellular activities. Current evidence suggests that exposure to cadmium induces genomic instability through complex and multifactorial mechanisms. Most important seems to be cadmium interaction with DNA repair mechanism, generation of reactive oxygen species and induction of apoptosis. In this article, we have reviewed recent developments and findings on cadmium toxicology.
Chickpea is one of the most economically important food legumes, and a significant source of proteins. It is cultivated in more than 50 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, North ...America, and South America. Chickpea production is limited by various abiotic stresses (cold, heat, drought, salt,
.). Being a winter-season crop in northern south Asia and some parts of the Australia, chickpea faces low-temperature stress (0-15°C) during the reproductive stage that causes substantial loss of flowers, and thus pods, to inhibit its yield potential by 30-40%. The winter-sown chickpea in the Mediterranean, however, faces cold stress at vegetative stage. In late-sown environments, chickpea faces high-temperature stress during reproductive and pod filling stages, causing considerable yield losses. Both the low and the high temperatures reduce pollen viability, pollen germination on the stigma, and pollen tube growth resulting in poor pod set. Chickpea also experiences drought stress at various growth stages; terminal drought, along with heat stress at flowering and seed filling can reduce yields by 40-45%. In southern Australia and northern regions of south Asia, lack of chilling tolerance in cultivars delays flowering and pod set, and the crop is usually exposed to terminal drought. The incidences of temperature extremes (cold and heat) as well as inconsistent rainfall patterns are expected to increase in near future owing to climate change thereby necessitating the development of stress-tolerant and climate-resilient chickpea cultivars having region specific traits, which perform well under drought, heat, and/or low-temperature stress. Different approaches, such as genetic variability, genomic selection, molecular markers involving quantitative trait loci (QTLs), whole genome sequencing, and transcriptomics analysis have been exploited to improve chickpea production in extreme environments. Biotechnological tools have broadened our understanding of genetic basis as well as plants' responses to abiotic stresses in chickpea, and have opened opportunities to develop stress tolerant chickpea.
This study measures the impact of seven indicators of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Goal 8, which is about productive and decent work and employment opportunities in India. The study ...employs pooled ordinary least squares (POLS) methods to capture the impact of seven indicators— annual growth rate of real GDP per capita, ease of doing business, unemployment rate, labour force participation rate, participation of informal workers, fatal and non-fatal occupation injuries, and banking outlets, on SDG 8, for 2018-2021. The findings reveal that the annual growth rate of real GDP per capita, labour force participation rate, and ease of doing business influence SDG 8’s score positively and significantly. On the contrary, the unemployment rate impacts sustainable score value negatively and significantly. The inferences of the study did not unwrap a significant effect of the percentage of workers in the informal sector, fatal and non-fatal occupation injuries and the number of banking outlets on SDG8. The study recommends reducing unemployment and increasing labour force participation rates in the economy for sustainability. At the same time, policymakers must focus on enhancing the ease of doing business and the annual growth rate of real GDP per capita to realise decent work and employment opportunities. To advance sustainable development goals, especially SDG 8, fostering sustainable and inclusive economic growth is the need of the hour.
Asteriscus, the largest otolith in the members of Cypriniformes was utilized to explain the inter-specific variability among four cyprinids i.e.
Labeo rohita
( Hamilton, 1822),
Cirrhinus mrigala
...(Hamilton, 1822),
Catla catla
(Hamilton, 1822) and
Cyprinus carpio
(Linnaeus, 1758). To accomplish the study
n
parameters characterizing the Morphology and Morphometry of otoliths were estimated
n
= number of the parameters, various otolith dimensions such as otolith length (OL), width (OW) and six shape descriptors i.e. Form factor (FF); Circularity (C); Rectangularity (REC); Aspect-ratio (AR); Ellipticity (E) and Roundness (RD) were calculated. Significant difference was observed in the shape and otolith dimensions viz. OL, OW, Area, Perimeter. Six shape indices were also found to be statistically significant. Relationship of otolith length (OL) and otolith width (OW) with fish total length (TL), standard length (SL) and head length (HL) were expressed by linear regression model. coefficient of determination (
R
2
) revealed that OL (otolith lenght) is more related with fish total length (TL) than width. This information could be used to determine the fish size or vice a versa. Moreover, the shape variation in otolith could provide a better understanding of fish identification.
Sultanpur National Park is a famous fresh water low lying wetland and is the oldest national park of the Haryana, India. It is bestowed with huge variety of avian species. To assess the diversity and ...conservation status of avian species in the Sultanpur National Park, the present study was conducted from February to July 2022 in morning (06:00–10:00 a.m.) and evening hours (4:00–6:00 p.m.). During the visit a total of 1130 individuals belonging to 149 species, 55 families and 19 orders were identified. Amongst 19 orders, asseriformes was reported to be most diverse, followed by Charadriiformes, Anseriformes, Pelecaniformes, Accipitriformes, Cuculiformes, Gruiformes and Coraciiformes, Columbiformes, Suliformes and Piciformes, Galliformes, Strigiformes. Out of total number of species, 137 species were represented as Least Concerned, 9 Near-threatened, 2 Vulnerable and 1 Endangered. In all 55 species were reported uncommon followed by 39 common, 28 occasional, 15 rare and 12 abundant. The Sultanpur National Park is facing large scale habitat fragmentation, disturbance and degradation due to various anthropogenic activities in the vicinity.
Global climate change will significantly increase the intensity and frequency of hot, dry days. The simultaneous occurrence of drought and heat stress is also likely to increase, influencing various ...agronomic characteristics, such as biomass and other growth traits, phenology, and yield-contributing traits, of various crops. At the same time, vital physiological traits will be seriously disrupted, including leaf water content, canopy temperature depression, membrane stability, photosynthesis, and related attributes such as chlorophyll content, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll fluorescence. Several metabolic processes contributing to general growth and development will be restricted, along with the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that negatively affect cellular homeostasis. Plants have adaptive defense strategies, such as ROS-scavenging mechanisms, osmolyte production, secondary metabolite modulation, and different phytohormones, which can help distinguish tolerant crop genotypes. Understanding plant responses to combined drought/heat stress at various organizational levels is vital for developing stress-resilient crops. Elucidating the genomic, proteomic, and metabolic responses of various crops, particularly tolerant genotypes, to identify tolerance mechanisms will markedly enhance the continuing efforts to introduce combined drought/heat stress tolerance. Besides agronomic management, genetic engineering and molecular breeding approaches have great potential in this direction.
Abstract
Septage refers to the semi-liquid waste material that accumulates in septic tanks and other onsite sanitation systems. It is composed of a complex mixture of human excreta, wastewater, and ...various solid particles. Septage is a potential source of water pollution owing to presence of high organic content, significant pathogen concentrations, and a range of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. The harmful impacts of septage pollution poses significant risks to public health through the contamination of drinking water sources, eutrophication of water bodies and spread of water borne diseases. Conventional septage treatment technologies often face limitations such as high operational costs, energy requirements, and the need for extensive infrastructure. Therefore, with an aim to treat septage through an alternative cost effective and energy-efficient technology, a laboratory-scale constructed wetland (CW) system (0.99 m
2
) consisting of a sludge drying bed and a vertical flow wetland bed was utilized for the treatment of septage. The sludge drying bed and vertical flow beds were connected in series and filled with a combination of gravel with varying sizes (ranging from 5 to 40 mm) and washed sand.
Canna indica
plants were cultivated on both beds to facilitate phytoremediation process. The system was operated with intermittent dosing of 30 Ltrs of septage every day for 2 months. The HRT of the system was fixed at 48 h. The average inlet loads of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD
5
), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) were measured as 150 ± 65.7 g m
−2
day
−1
, 713 ± 443.9 g m
−2
day
−1
, and 309 ± 66.3 g m
−2
day
−1
, respectively. After treatment, the final effluent had an average load of 6 g m
−2
day
−1
for BOD
5
, 15 g m
−2
day
−1
for COD, and 51 g m
−2
day
−1
for TSS, indicating that the CW system achieved an average removal efficiency of 88% for BOD, 87% for COD, and 65% for TSS. The average load of total coliforms and helminthes eggs in the influent was recorded as 4 × 10
8
Colony-Forming Units (CFU) m
−2
day
−1
and 3 × 10
7
eggs m
−2
day
−1
, respectively. However, the CW system demonstrated significant effectiveness in reducing microbial contamination, with an average removal efficiency of 99% for both total coliforms and helminthes eggs. The vertical flow constructed wetland system, equipped with pretreatment by sludge drying bed, has proven to be efficient in treatment of septage.
Agricultural areas of land are deteriorating every day owing to population increase, rapid urbanization, and industrialization. To feed today's huge populations, increased crop production is required ...from smaller areas, which warrants the continuous application of high doses of inorganic fertilizers to agricultural land. These cause damage to soil health and, therefore, nutrient imbalance conditions in arable soils. Under these conditions, the benefits of microbial inoculants (such as Actinobacteria) as replacements for harmful chemicals and promoting ecofriendly sustainable farming practices have been made clear through recent technological advances. There are multifunctional traits involved in the production of different types of bioactive compounds responsible for plant growth promotion, and the biocontrol of phytopathogens has reduced the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. There are some well-known groups of nitrogen-fixing Actinobacteria, such as Frankia, which undergo mutualism with plants and offer enhanced symbiotic trade-offs. In addition to nitrogen fixation, increasing availability of major plant nutrients in soil due to the solubilization of immobilized forms of phosphorus and potassium compounds, production of phytohormones, such as indole-3-acetic acid, indole-3-pyruvic acid, gibberellins, and cytokinins, improving organic matter decomposition by releasing cellulases, xylanase, glucanases, lipases, and proteases, and suppression of soil-borne pathogens by the production of siderophores, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, and chitinase are important features of Actinobacteria useful for combating biotic and abiotic stresses in plants. The positive influence of Actinobacteria on soil fertility and plant health has motivated us to compile this review of important findings associated with sustaining plant productivity in the long run.
The increasing rate of industrialization, anthropogenic, and geological activities have expedited the release of heavy metals (HMs) at higher concentration in environment. HM contamination resulting ...due to its persistent nature, injudicious use poses a potential threat by causing metal toxicities in humans and animals as well as severe damage to aquatic organisms. Bioremediation is an emerging and reliable solution for mitigation of these contaminants using rhizospheric microorganisms in an environmentally safe manner. The strategies are based on exploiting microbial metabolism and various approaches developed by plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) to minimize the toxicity concentration of HM at optimum levels for the environmental clean-up. Rhizospheric bacteria are employed for significant growth of plants in soil contaminated with HM. Exploitation of bacteria possessing plant-beneficial traits as well as metal detoxifying property is an economical and promising approach for bioremediation of HM. Microbial cells exhibit different mechanisms of HM resistance such as active transport, extra cellular barrier, extracellular and intracellular sequestration, and reduction of HM. Tolerance of HM in microorganisms may be chromosomal or plasmid originated. Proteins such as
and
of
operon and
,
,
,
,
, and
genes are responsible for metal detoxification in bacterial cell. This review gives insights about the potential of rhizospheric bacteria in HM removal from various polluted areas. In addition, it also gives deep insights about different mechanism of action expressed by microorganisms for HM detoxification. The dual-purpose use of biological agent as plant growth enhancement and remediation of HM contaminated site is the most significant future prospect of this article.
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