Ethanologenic potential of the bacterium Bacillus cereus NB-19 in media comprising of sugar mill and dairy industrial wastes

Ethanologenic bacterium was cultivated in a suspension of sugarcane bagasse and processed yogurt whey under the predetermined growth optimized conditions. It was found that blending of processeddefatted yogurt whey with 2% sugarcane bagasse (MNCH-9 medium) caused significantly higher growth of the bacterium after 24 h of incubation as compared to the values obtained when the Bacillus cereus-NB-19 was cultivated in MNCH-2 (2% bagasse in distilled water) and MNCH-10 (only processed whey). Saccharification potential of the bacterium increased significantly when the bagasse was supplemented with whey. Glucose contents of the cultured MNCH-9 turned out significantly higher as compared to the corresponding values of MNCH-2 at various sampling periods. Provision of whey caused significant increase in xylose content, so that the media MNCH-9 and MNCH-10 attained 3.77 and 4.74 folds of thepentose sugar, respectively, as compared to the value obtained for the MNCH-2. Likewise, much elevated levels of proteins and lipids were found in the culture fluids of MNCH-9 and MNCH-10 as compared to the corresponding figures for the MNCH-2. Cellulase activities of cultivated MNCH-9 and MNCH-10 turned out to be 5.75 folds higher at first sampling period as compared to the value obtained for MNCH-2 culture. At 12th day of the fermentation, MNCH-9 culture fluid showed more than 30% higherethanol content as compared to the yield obtained in case of MNCH-2. The MNCH-10 expressed ethanol even less than the value found for the MNCH-2. Conclusively, blending of processed whey to sugarcanebagasse is very useful for obtaining yields of the different products including cell mass and ethanol as compared to the cultivation of the B. cereus NB-19 in media containing only bagasse or whey. Theseresults dictate the importance of blending agro-industrial wastes of varying nature for their efficient and economical upgradation tied up with the selection of suitable microorganism(s). Such trends are likely to gain more attention of the scientists in related areas

Fisheries geographical information system for Greater Mumbai region in Maharashtra, India

Geographical information system (GIS) is an invaluable decision support tool, designed to address spatially related problems for management of natural resources. The power of GIS lies in its ability to visualise and relate various types of geo-referenced spatial and non-spatial data allowing users to analyse them. In India, use of GIS in fisheries management is yet to find its rightful place. An effort has been made in the present study to design and organise a fisheries spatial information system for Greater Mumbai region in Maharashtra to serve as a macro-level database for the planners and administrators, which can be used for querying, analysing and displaying datasets in the form of graphs and summarised tabular data for all the fisheries infrastructural facilities. This GIS will be of immense help to planners, managers and administrators in quick storing, retrieving and updating the required information for management of fisheries in Greater Mumbai region

Bronchodilator, spasmolytic and calcium antagonist activities of Nigella sativa seeds (Kalonji): a traditional herbal product with multiple medicinal uses

Objective: The seeds of Nigella sativa locally known as Kalonji has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of a variety of diseases including diarrhoea and asthma. The crude extract of N. sativa seeds (Ns.Cr) was studied in vitro for its possible spasmolytic and bronchodilator activities to rationalize the folkloric uses.Methods: Isolated rabbit jejunum and guinea-pig tracheal preparations were set up in Tyrode\u27s and Kreb\u27s solutions respectively and aerated with 5% CO2 in oxygen. Isotonic and isometric responses were measured on Bioscience oscillograph and Grass polygraph respectively.Results: The Ns.Cr caused a dose-dependent (0.1-3.0 mg/ml) relaxation of spontaneous contractions in rabbit jejunum. Ns.Cr also inhibited K(+)-induced contractions in a similar dose range, suggestive of calcium channel blockade (CCB). This effect was confirmed when pretreatment of the tissue with Ns.Cr, produced a dose-dependent shift in the Ca++ dose-response curves to the right similar to that of verapamil, a standard calcium channel blocker. In guinea-pig trachea, it caused relaxation of carbachol-, histamine- or K(+)-induced contractions indicating CCB. Activity-directed fractionation revealed that the CCB activity is concentrated in the petroleum ether fraction, which was found to be approximately 10 times more potent than the crude extract both in jejunum and tracheal preparations.Conclusion: These data indicate that the crude extract of Nigella sativa seeds exhibits spasmolytic and bronchodilator activities mediated possibly through calcium channel blockade and this activity is concentrated in the organic fraction. Its usefulness for diarrhoea and asthma in traditional medicine, appears thus to be based on a sound mechanistic background

Does co-transcriptional regulation of alternative splicing mediate plant stress responses?

Plants display exquisite control over gene expression to elicit appropriate responses under normal and stress conditions. Alternative splicing (AS) of pre-mRNAs, a process that generates two or more transcripts from multi-exon genes, adds another layer of regulation to fine-tune condition-specific gene expression in animals and plants. However, exactly how plants control splice isoform ratios and the timing of this regulation in response to environmental signals remains elusive. In mammals, recent evidence indicate that epigenetic and epitranscriptome changes, such as DNA methylation, chromatin modifications and RNA methylation, regulate RNA polymerase II processivity, co-transcriptional splicing, and stability and translation efficiency of splice isoforms. In plants, the role of epigenetic modifications in regulating transcription rate and mRNA abundance under stress is beginning to emerge. However, the mechanisms by which epigenetic and epitranscriptomic modifications regulate AS and translation efficiency require further research. Dynamic changes in the chromatin landscape in response to stress may provide a scaffold around which gene expression, AS and translation are orchestrated. Finally, we discuss CRISPR/Cas-based strategies for engineering chromatin architecture to manipulate AS patterns (or splice isoforms levels) to obtain insight into the epigenetic regulation of AS

Differential nucleosome occupancy modulates alternative splicing in Arabidopsis thaliana

• Alternative splicing (AS) is a major gene regulatory mechanism in plants. Recent evidence supports co-transcriptional splicing in plants, hence the chromatin state can impact AS. However, how dynamic changes in the chromatin state such as nucleosome occupancy influence the cold-induced AS remains poorly understood. • Here, we generated transcriptome (RNA-Seq) and nucleosome positioning (MNase-Seq) data for Arabidopsis thaliana to understand how nucleosome positioning modulates cold-induced AS. • Our results show that characteristic nucleosome occupancy levels are strongly associated with the type and abundance of various AS events under normal and cold temperature conditions in Arabidopsis. Intriguingly, exitrons, alternatively spliced internal regions of protein-coding exons, exhibit distinctive nucleosome positioning pattern compared to other alternatively spliced regions. Likewise, nucleosome patterns differ between exitrons and retained introns pointing to their distinct regulation. • Collectively, our data show that characteristic changes in nucleosome positioning modulate AS in plants in response to cold

Observational Constraints and Cosmological Implications of Scalar-Tensor f(R,T)f(R, T) Gravity

Recently, the scalar-tensor representation of $f (R,T)$ gravity was used to explore gravitationally induced particle production/annihilation. Using the framework of irreversible thermodynamics of open systems in the presence of matter creation/annihilation, the physical and cosmological consequences of this setup were investigated in detail. In this paper, we test observationally the scalar-tensor representation of $f(R,T)$ gravity in the context of the aforementioned framework, using the Hubble and Pantheon+ measurements. The best fit parameters are obtained by solving numerically the modified Friedmann equations of two distinct cosmological models in scalar tensor $f(R, T)$ gravity, corresponding to two different choices of the potential, and by performing a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis. The best parameters are used to compute the cosmographic parameters, i.e., the deceleration, the jerk and the snap parameters. Using the output resulting from the Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis, the cosmological evolution of the creation pressure and of the matter creation rates are presented for both models. To figure out the statistical significance of the studied scalar-tensor $f(R,T)$ gravity, the Bayesian and the corrected Akaike information criteria are used. The latter indicates that the first considered model in scalar tensor $f(R,T)$ gravity is statistically better than $\Lambda$CDM, i.e., it is more favored by observations. Besides, a continuous particle creation process is present in Model 1. On the other hand, for large redshifts, in Model 2 the particle creation rate may become negative, thus indicating the presence of particle annihilation processes. However, both models lead to an accelerating expansion of the Universe at late times, with a deceleration parameter equivalent to that of the $\Lambda$CDM model.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA

Evaluation of the effect of plant growth retardants on vegetative growth, yield components, seed quality and crop maturity of kabuli chickpea

Non-Peer Reviewe

Promoting the adoption of improved ICM technologies in chickpea by poor farmers in Nepal

Chickpea is an important source of protein in Nepal for both poor rural and urban families. Yields of legumes including chickpea have decreased in recent years, primarily due to disease and insect pest problems, and the reluctance of farmers to invest time and money in a crop which increasingly fails. This project aimed to improve, validate and evaluate a complete integrated crop management (ICM) strategy for chickpea on farms; to persuade farmers to adopt the strategy through workshops and farm trials in some of the poorest areas of Nepal; and to promote the strategy widely to the press. and other stakeholders. The improved seed and technologies offered were in high demand by farmers, and the project produced evidence to show that the outputs (increased yield of a cash crop) have been translated into significant impacts on livelihood, including improved housing, debt repayment, education costs, clothes and healthcare. The value of the improved seed has been impressive and will benefit farmers in the longer term. An innovative promotional strategy promoted the findings to policymakers as well as farmers, and used the popular media in Nepal and the UK to publicise the wor