Active and Passive Carbon Fractions in Contrasting Cropping Systems, Tillage Practices, and Soil Types

The rate of change in the relative amount of active and passive carbon (AC and PC) due to the land management practices (cropping systems combined with tillage) may vary with soil types depending on their level of chemical and/or physical protection from the decomposition but has rarely been directly measured. We have quantified the C storage potentiality of different soil types, namely old alluvial Inceptisol of Malda and recent alluvial Entisol of Coochbehar in West Bengal (subtropical eastern India) under the influence of different cropping systems (rice-maize: RM and rice-wheat: RW) and tillage practices (zero-tillage: ZT and conventional tillage: CT). The key objective was to demonstrate the short-term impact of conservation agriculture (CA) on soil C dynamics over the conventional practice. Research revealed that after short-term CA, total organic carbon (TOC), AC, PC, and total nitrogen (TN) showed significant (p < 0.05) improvement under the RM cropping system over the RW. The highest TOC content under the RM cropping system was recorded in the sites of Malda over the Coochbehar sites. The ZT significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the TOC in the upper layers (0–5 and 5–10 cm) and the CT showed improvements in the lower depths (10–20 cm). We observed some irregular variations in the interactions of the cropping system and tillage with respect to different sites. However, the ZT performed better in improving C fractions under RM and RW as compared to CT. The TOC and TN stocks were maximum in the lower depth which was evident in both soil types. The TOC linearly regressed on TN accounted for 94.2% variability (R2 = 0.942) of the C accumulation in soil and vice-versa. The PC was in a significant relationship with TN (R2 = 0.943), but AC was moderately regressed (R2 = 0.851). Lower stratification ratio values in Coochbehar soils (sandy loam in texture) indicated higher profile distribution of AC and PC in the soil profile; while in the Inceptisol, accumulation of the C fractions on the soil surface due to heavy texture resulted in the higher stratification values. The novelty of this study is that old alluvial Inceptisol showed a comparatively greater amount of AC and PC storage capability in comparison with the new alluvial Entisol. Conclusively, our study demonstrated that the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA practice/ZT) in cropping systems with higher C biomass input would significantly enhance the AC and PC fractions; however, the amount of storage is highly governed by the soil type and climatic factors

Active and Passive Carbon Fractions in Contrasting Cropping Systems, Tillage Practices, and Soil Types

The rate of change in the relative amount of active and passive carbon (AC and PC) due to the land management practices (cropping systems combined with tillage) may vary with soil types depending on their level of chemical and/or physical protection from the decomposition but has rarely been directly measured. We have quantified the C storage potentiality of different soil types, namely old alluvial Inceptisol of Malda and recent alluvial Entisol of Coochbehar in West Bengal (subtropical eastern India) under the influence of different cropping systems (rice-maize: RM and rice-wheat: RW) and tillage practices (zero-tillage: ZT and conventional tillage: CT). The key objective was to demonstrate the short-term impact of conservation agriculture (CA) on soil C dynamics over the conventional practice. Research revealed that after short-term CA, total organic carbon (TOC), AC, PC, and total nitrogen (TN) showed significant (p p 2 = 0.942) of the C accumulation in soil and vice-versa. The PC was in a significant relationship with TN (R2 = 0.943), but AC was moderately regressed (R2 = 0.851). Lower stratification ratio values in Coochbehar soils (sandy loam in texture) indicated higher profile distribution of AC and PC in the soil profile; while in the Inceptisol, accumulation of the C fractions on the soil surface due to heavy texture resulted in the higher stratification values. The novelty of this study is that old alluvial Inceptisol showed a comparatively greater amount of AC and PC storage capability in comparison with the new alluvial Entisol. Conclusively, our study demonstrated that the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA practice/ZT) in cropping systems with higher C biomass input would significantly enhance the AC and PC fractions; however, the amount of storage is highly governed by the soil type and climatic factors

Comparative Analysis of Soil Quality Assessment and Its Perception by Rice Farmers

The present study was conducted in three villages of district Budgam in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, to find out how farmers differentiate the quality of soils and to determine the level of concurrence between farmers perception and scientific assessment of soil quality. Five fields in each village were selected and ranked on the basis of soil quality indices computed from the minimum data set of indicators, including plant available nutrients N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, OC, BD, WHC (water holding capacity), CEC (cation exchange capacity) as well as microbial count. The respondents ranked the same 5 selected fields on the bases of their experience and perceptions of soil quality. The study reveals that 58% of farmers ranked the best soils correctly whereas, the percentage of farmers who ranked 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th soils correctly was 40, 30, 40, and 45%, respectively. The study found that a greater number of farmers from the remotest village Dalwash were able to judge the soils properly, thereby indicating more profound knowledge and better cognitive abilities to understand soils in the local context. The results divulged by the current study highlight the remarkable local soil knowledge of the farmers and therefore, linking this knowledge system with scientific concepts would prove valuable for sustained land-use management

Inhibition of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase (iNOS) by Andrographolide and In Vitro Evaluation of Its Antiproliferative and Proapoptotic Effects on Cervical Cancer

This work is aimed at investigating the expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in cervical cancer and identifying a potential iNOS inhibitor. The data mining studies performed advocated iNOS to be a promising biomarker for cancer prognosis, as it is highly overexpressed in several malignant cancers. The elevated iNOS was found to be associated with poor survival and increased tumor aggressiveness in cervical cancer. Immunohistochemical and RT-PCR investigations of iNOS showed significant upregulation of endogenous iNOS expression in the cervical tumor samples, thus making iNOS a potent target for decreasing tumor inflammation and aggressiveness. Andrographolide, a plant-derived diterpenoid lactone, is widely reported to be effective against infections and inflammation, causing no adverse side effects on humans. In the current study, we investigated the effect of andrographolide on the prognostic value of iNOS expression in cervical cancer, which has not been reported previously. The binding efficacy of andrographolide was analyzed by performing molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations. Multiple parameters were used to analyze the simulation trajectory, like root mean square deviation (RMSD), torsional degree of freedom, protein-root mean square fluctuations (P-RMSF), ligand RMSF, total number of intramolecular hydrogen bonds, secondary structure elements (SSE) of the protein, and protein complex with the time-dependent functions of MDS. Ligand-protein interactions revealed binding efficacy of andrographolide with tryptophan amino acid of iNOS protein. Cancer cell proliferation, cell migration, cell cycle analysis, and apoptosis-mediated cell death were assessed in vitro, post iNOS inhibition induced by andrographolide treatment (demonstrated by Western blot). Results. Andrographolide exhibited cytotoxicity by inhibiting the in vitro proliferation of cervical cancer cells and also abrogated the cancer cell migration. A significant increase in apoptosis was observed with increasing andrographolide concentration, and it also induced cell cycle arrest at G1-S phase transition. Our results substantiate that andrographolide significantly inhibits iNOS expression and exhibits antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects on cervical cancer cells