Bionanotechnology has revolutionized nanomaterial synthesis by providing a green synthetic platform using biological systems. Among such biological systems, microalgae have tremendous potential to ...take up metal ions and produce nanoparticles by a detoxification process. The present study explores the intracellular and extracellular biogenic syntheses of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) using the unicellular green microalga Scenedesmus sp. Biosynthesized SNPs were characterized by AAS, UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM, XRD, FTIR, DLS, and TGA studies and finally checked for antibacterial activity. Intracellular nanoparticle biosynthesis was initiated by a high rate of Ag(+) ion accumulation in the microalgal biomass and subsequent formation of spherical crystalline SNPs (average size, 15-20 nm) due to the biochemical reduction of Ag(+) ions. The synthesized nanoparticles were intracellular, as confirmed by the UV-Vis spectra of the outside medium. Furthermore, extracellular synthesis using boiled extract showed the formation of well scattered, highly stable, spherical SNPs with an average size of 5-10 nm. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles were confirmed by TEM. The crystalline nature of the SNPs was evident from the diffraction peaks of XRD and bright circular ring pattern of SAED. FTIR and UV-Vis spectra showed that biomolecules, proteins and peptides, are mainly responsible for the formation and stabilization of SNPs. Furthermore, the synthesized nanoparticles exhibited high antimicrobial activity against pathogenic gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Use of such a microalgal system provides a simple, cost-effective alternative template for the biosynthesis of nanomaterials in a large-scale system that could be of great use in biomedical applications.
The Manuguru geothermal area, situated in the Telangana state, is one of the least explored geothermal fields in India. In this study, the chemical characteristics of the groundwater (thermal and ...non-thermal waters) are investigated to elucidate the source of the solutes dissolved in the water and to determine the approximate residence time of the thermal waters. The major hydrogeochemical processes controlling the groundwater geochemistry have been deciphered using multivariate statistical analysis, conventional graphical plots and geochemical modelling (PHREEQC). Geochemically different groundwater clusters (bicarbonate type, bicarbonate–chloride type and chloride type) can clearly be identified from the chemometric analysis, i.e. PCA and HCA. Thermal waters are mostly Na–HCO
3
type having low EC and TDS compared to non-thermal groundwaters. Silicate weathering and ion exchange mainly contribute to the dissolved ion budget in the groundwater of the study area. The carbon isotopic composition of DIC (δ
13
C) points to silicate weathering with soil CO
2
coming from C
3
type of plants. Stable isotopes (δ
18
O, δ
2
H) data confirm the meteoric origin of the thermal waters with no oxygen-18 shift. The low tritium values of the thermal water samples reveal the long circulation time (> 50 years) of the recharging waters. Radiocarbon dating (
14
C) shows that the approximate residence time of the thermal waters ranges from 9952 to 18,663 year BP (before present).
Assessing genetic diversity and development of a core set of elite breeding lines is a prerequisite for selective hybridization programes intended to improve the yield potential in rice. In the ...present study, the genetic diversity of newly developed elite lines derived from
indicax tropical japonica
and
indicax indica
crosses were estimated by 38 reported molecular markers. The markers used in the study consist of 24 gene-based and 14 random markers related to grain yield-related QTLs distributed across the rice genome. Genotypic characterization was carried out to determine the genetic similarities between the elite lines. In total, 75 alleles were found using 38 polymorphic markers, with polymorphism information content ranging from 0.10 to 0.51 with an average of 0.35. The genotypes were divided into three groups based on cluster analysis, structure analysis and also dispersed throughout the quadrangle of PCA, but nitrogen responsive lines clustered in one quadrangle. Seven markers (GS3_RGS1, GS3_RGS2, GS5_Indel1, Ghd 7_05SNP, RM 12289, RM 23065 and RM 25457) exhibited PIC values ≥ 0.50 indicating that they were effective in detecting genetic relationships among elite rice. Additionally, a core set of 11 elite lines was made from 96 lines in order to downsize the diversity of the original population into a small set for parental selection. In general, the genetic information collected in this work will aid in the study of grain yield traits at molecular level for other sets of rice genotypes and for selecting diverse elite lines to develop a strong crossing programme in rice.
