Study was undertaken in a theileriosis-endemic region of India during May 2018 to April 2019 among milch cows. Blood samples collected from apparently healthy (n = 65) and Theileria-suspect cows (n = ...65) were screened against T. annulata and T. orientalis infection by SYBR Green‒based real time PCR using primers designed from the isolates of study area. Cows having single infection with T. annulata with/without clinical signs of inappetence, low milk yield, pale mucous membranes, fever, enlarged prescapular lymph node, soil licking, panting, coughing, salivation and lachrymation were subjected to further investigation where parasitaemia and piroplasms per 1000 erythrocytes ranged from 1.6 × 10
7
to 1.2 × 10
8
parasites/mL of blood and 3-24 piroplasms in moderate group (16/65), 4.4 × 10
8
to 6.9 × 10
9
parasites/mL of blood and >88 piroplasms in severe group (30/65) and 1.6 × 10
4
to 5.5 × 10
6
parasites/mL of blood and 0-1 piroplasms in asymptomatic or carriers (17/65), respectively. Study unfolded significant difference in T. annulata parasitaemia among apparently healthy and ill cows. Phylogenetic analysis of our T. annulata isolates (NCBI accession numbers MN098316, MN098317 and MN098318) exhibited maximum similarity with the isolates detected in other parts of India.
Soil organic matter dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems are controlled by complex interactions between various factors such as climate, soil, and agricultural management practices. We utilized a ...process-based crop model, APSIM, to simulate long-term soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics for a soybean-wheat cropping system under nitrogen (N) and farmyard manure management (FYM) practices for a 43-year old experimental dataset in India. The APSIM was parameterized and validated to predict grain yield and SOC stock. The validated model was then used to evaluate the impacts of different management practices on SOC dynamics in the top 30 cm of soil through scenario modeling. The results of the APSIM simulations demonstrated that improved N and FYM management practices had great potential to increase SOC sequestration in these Vertisols. The equilibrium SOC concentration under different N management practices increased with a higher N application rate, with the integrated application of N with FYM showing the maximum rate. The optimum N (Nopt) rate for maximum SOC sequestration was estimated to be 155 kg ha−1 for wheat in the studied Vertisol and the time to reach steady-state of the site was 104 years. The Nopt increased SOC by about 28.6% over the initial concentration. We found that the APSIM was robust in predicting long-term changes in SOC stock (Index of agreement = 0.79 and root mean square error = 3.33 Mg ha−1, R2 = 0.92, mean bias error = −1.08) for a Vertisol soil of central India, in this case under a soybean-wheat cropping system. The study results highlighted that balanced fertilization is the key to sustaining SOC stock in the long-term for Vertisols.
•Fortythree years of measured SOC stock was satisfactorily simulated by the APSIM model.•Time to reach steady state of SOC stock varied from 37 to 104 years under different N management.•Maximum SOC saturation value of 48.65 Mg ha−1 was obtained in integrated nutrient management involving farmyard manure.•Optimum N application rate for maximum soil C sequestration was 155 kg N ha−1 for wheat and 20 kg N ha−1 for soybean.
The knowledge of mucosa-associated molecular events that occur during infections is scarce despite the well-established importance of mucus in fish immunity. Using qRT-PCR, we analyzed the immune ...gene expression patterns in mucus of Labeo rohita experimentally infected with an ectoparasite Argulus siamensis. Mucus samples were collected at 0 h, 12 h, 24 h, 3 d, 7 d, 15 d, and 30 d post challenge of L. rohita with metanauplii of A. siamensis. All interleukins studied herein (IL 6, IL 15, and IL 1β) showed significant upregulation of expression levels in mucus of A. siamensis-infected fish compared to control samples. Further, the expression levels of molecules involved in pathogen recognition, toll like receptor 22, and pathogen presentation, β2 microglobulin, were found to be significantly upregulated in experimental samples until 7 d post challenge compared to control samples. The upregulated expression of lysozyme G at all time points post infection indicated the early activation of acute phase responses in mucus of infected L. rohita. Moreover, the expression levels of natural killer cell enhancing factor B were found to be higher in infected fish than they were in the control fish. The early upregulation of the immune genes observed herein reinforces the role of mucus as the first line of defense against pathogenic assault; furthermore, it expands our understanding of mucosal-immune responses to A. siamensis infection, which can aid development of immunological interventions.
Parasite species often show a heterogeneous, highly dispersed pattern of infestation within hosts. Varieties of factors including morphological, physiological, immunological and nutritional ...characteristics affect the infestation level of a specific parasite in homogenous pray. Limited attempts, however, have been made to explore such underlying drivers of infestation pattern. Here, three stages of Labeo rohita (fingerling, juvenile and pre‐adult) were challenged with ectoparasite, Argulus siamensis in same aquaria. The parasite load on individuals was determined at 5‐day interval for 1 month. The load was found to be highest in pre‐adult stage followed by juveniles and fingerlings. On day 20 post infection, the load of parasite on pre‐adult fish was high along with detectable skin damages. Skin tissues were collected for immune gene expression analysis and histopathology. Histological studies showed increased melanization in the dermis and mild inflammatory cellular reactions in pre‐adult fish whereas, massive subcutaneous myositis with engorged blood vessels were observed in fingerlings. The expression levels of various inflammation and innate immune‐related genes viz., interleukin (IL)‐8, IL‐10, IL‐11, IL‐15, natural killer enhancing factor, toll‐like receptor 4, apolipoprotein A–I and immunoglobulin Z were significantly high in skin samples of infected fingerlings as compared to other two growth stages or controls of each stage. On the other hand, the expression of immunoglobulin M was down‐regulated in all infected samples as compared to their respective controls. The results thus depict that local immuno‐inflammatory response plays a significant role in determining susceptibility of host in intra‐specific group, and has important implications for ecology and aquaculture.
Type III polyketide synthases (PKSs) found across
species are primarily known for synthesis of a vast repertoire of clinically and industrially relevant secondary metabolites. However, our ...understanding of the functional relevance of these bioactive metabolites in
physiology is still limited. Recently, a role of type III PKS harboring gene cluster in producing alternate electron carrier, polyketide quinone (PkQ) was established in a related member of the
,
, highlighting the critical role these secondary metabolites play in primary cellular metabolism of the producer organism. Here, we report the developmental stage-specific transcriptional regulation of homologous type III PKS containing gene cluster in freshwater
sp. strain MNU77. Gene expression analysis revealed the type III PKS gene cluster to be stringently regulated, with significant upregulation observed during the dormant sporulation stage of
sp. MNU77. In contrast, the expression levels of only known electron carrier, menaquinone biosynthetic genes were interestingly found to be downregulated. Our liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) analysis of a metabolite extract from the
sp. MNU77 spores also showed 10 times more metabolic abundance of PkQs than menaquinones. Furthermore, through heterologous complementation studies, we demonstrate that
sp. MNU77 type III PKS rescues a respiratory defect of the Mycobacterium smegmatis type III PKS deletion mutant. Together, our studies reveal that freshwater
sp. MNU77 robustly produces novel PkQs during the sporulation stage, suggesting utilization of PkQs as alternate electron carriers across
during dormant hypoxic conditions.
The complex developmental life cycle of
sp. mandates efficient cellular respiratory reconfiguration for a smooth transition from aerated nutrient-rich vegetative hyphal growth to the hypoxic-dormant sporulation stage. Polyketide quinones (PkQs) have recently been identified as a class of alternate electron carriers from a related member of the
,
, that facilitates maintenance of membrane potential in oxygen-deficient niches. Our studies with the newly identified freshwater
sp. strain MNU77 show conditional transcriptional upregulation and metabolic abundance of PkQs in the spore state of the
life cycle. In parallel, the levels of menaquinones, the only known
electron carrier, were downregulated, suggesting deployment of PkQs as universal electron carriers in low-oxygen, unfavorable conditions across the
family.
In this study, the waste neem leaves (
Azadirachta indica
) gained visible attraction for neem leaf–activated carbon (NLAC) preparation in the thermal process by using ammonium carbonate as an ...activating agent. Using NLAC, a nanocomposite of NLAC/Fe
2
O
3
was synthesized by hydrothermal techniques for Cr(VI) elimination from the aqueous solution. The formation of NLAC/Fe
2
O
3
composite was additionally confirmed by the use of various powerful investigative techniques such as FE-SEM, VSM, TEM, EDX, FT-IR, XRD, and BET. The NLAC/Fe
2
O
3
has a saturation magnetization of 1.18 emu/g and surface area and pore volume of 245.2 m
2
/g and 0.038 cm
3
/g, respectively. The composite has crystalline structure and the average particle size of Fe
2
O
3
present on the activated carbon surface was about 14–17 nm. The BBD (Box-Behnken design) model was used for Cr(VI) removal and the obtained
R
2
and adj-
R
2
values for the model were very high about 0.9805 and 0.9555. The ANOVA data indicated that the Cr(VI) model was a statistically significant one with the
F
and
p
values of 39.17 and 0.0001. About 91.4% of Cr(VI) was removed by NLAC/Fe
2
O
3
composite in the optimized condition of 0.05 g of adsorbent dose, solution pH 3.58, and initial Cr(VI) solution of 10.42 mg/L respectively. The adsorption of Cr(VI) on NLAC/Fe
2
O
3
composite was imitated by the Langmuir isotherm model (
R
2
= 0.98), proceeded with the pseudo-second-order kinetics model (
R
2
= 0.99), and the maximum uptake capacity as calculated from the isotherm was 188.71 mg/g. The adsorption process was endothermic and adsorbent can be used for up to four cycles. This study showed that NLAC/Fe
2
O
3
composite could be employed as an effective, affordable cost adsorbent to remove pollutants from wastewater.
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