Reptilian diversity of the Bhopal Region in the State of Madhya Pradesh in central India

The wide range of habitats in the Bhopal Region of Madhya Pradesh in central India support a rich reptilian fauna. Conducting visual surveys, we recorded 34 species of reptiles (2 species of crocodilians, 3 species of turtles, 13 species of lizards, 16 species of snakes). Observations were made during the monsoon period from mid-June to mid-September in 2014-2015. Herein, we present baseline data regarding the reptilian fauna of the Bhopal Region

Identification and functional characterization of a novel bacterial type asparagine synthetase A: a tRNA synthetase paralog from Leishmania donovani

Asparagine is formed by two structurally distinct asparagine synthetases in prokaryotes. One is the ammonia-utilizing asparagine synthetase A (AsnA), and the other is asparagine synthetase B (AsnB) that uses glutamine or ammonia as a nitrogen source. In a previous investigation using sequence-based analysis, we had shown that Leishmania spp. possess asparagine-tRNA synthetase paralog asparagine synthetase A (LdASNA) that is ammonia-dependent. Here, we report the cloning, expression, and kinetic analysis of ASNA from Leishmania donovani. Interestingly, LdASNA was both ammonia- and glutamine-dependent. To study the physiological role of ASNA in Leishmania, gene deletion mutations were attempted via targeted gene replacement. Gene deletion of LdASNA showed a growth delay in mutants. However, chromosomal null mutants of LdASNA could not be obtained as the double transfectant mutants showed aneuploidy. These data suggest that LdASNA is essential for survival of the Leishmania parasite. LdASNA enzyme was recalcitrant toward crystallization so we instead crystallized and solved the atomic structure of its close homolog from Trypanosoma brucei (TbASNA) at 2.2 Å. A very significant conservation in active site residues is observed between TbASNA and Escherichia coli AsnA. It is evident that the absence of an LdASNA homolog from humans and its essentiality for the parasites make LdASNA a novel drug target

High-Performance Recyclable Magnetic CuFe_2–<i>x</i>Cr_<i>x</i>O₄ Nanocatalysts for Facile Reduction of Nitrophenols and Photooxidative Degradation of Organic Dyes

Remediating pollutants in water sources is essential for preserving and protecting our water resources. Water pollution can have severe environmental, economic, and public health consequences. Water scarcity for domestic purposes can eventually be addressed by improving wastewater management. In the present study, highly active and magnetically separable Cr-doped copper ferrites CuFe2–xCrxO4 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1) were synthesized via a sol–gel technique and employed for the conversion of nitrophenols to aminophenols and photooxidative deterioration of various dyes such as methyl orange (MO), rhodamine B (RhB), and methylene blue (MB), as well as their ternary solution (RhB + MO + MB). Powder X-ray diffraction investigation indicates that the prepared phases are well indexed in the Fd3̅ m space group except for CuFe2O4, which crystallizes in the I41/amd space group. The M–H hysteresis loop results support the ferromagnetic behavior of the nanophases, which makes them magnetically separable. The optical-band-gap energies of prepared nanostructures were found to be in the range of 1.70–1.39 eV, which makes them appropriate and reliable photocatalysts. CuFe2O4 was found to be the most efficient nanocatalyst toward the conversion of nitrophenols to aminophenols, while CuCrFeO4 showed a maximum degradation efficiency for the deterioration of dyes. The kinetic models correctly explain both reduction and photodegradation processes using pseudo-first-order kinetics. Further, several recyclability runs demonstrated that the nanocatalysts were extremely stable and reusable. This study reflects the possibility of employing mesoporous nanocatalysts for practical applications in the treatment of wastewater