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Not AvailableDespite the fact that the world has achieved adequate food grain production to fight the battle against caloric hunger, still, a significant fraction of population is suffering with deficiency of micronutrients like Fe and Zn. However, the dietary intake of these micronutrients could be sufficient to meet the nutritional demand if the bioavailability was not low due to the strong inhibition by phytic acid and phenolics. Another cause behind inadequate intake is the scarcity of plant-available micronutrients in soil and genetic makeup of plants impeding high accumulation. Postharvest fortification is the major strategy to enrich staple food crops with micronutrients, but biofortification of food crops using breeding and agronomic strategies is also gaining popularity. However, one important issue remained unaddressed as none of them could really increase the plant-available micronutrients like Fe or Zn which otherwise remain insoluble in soil. Microorganisms due to their enormous metabolic diversity are known to be key players in biogeochemical cycling. Their roles in improving the uptake of major nutrients by plants are well-known and understood. Enrichment of edible crops with Fe and Zn can be achieved through microorganisms by any of the three following strategies—(a) increased availability of micronutrients due to microbial activity such as production of acids, chelators, and phytohormones; (b) microbe-mediated modulation of micronutrient transporters; and (c) de-complexation of micronutrients from compounds like phytate through microbial activity during postharvest processing. Microbe-mediated biofortification can potentially complement the agronomic and genetic biofortification of staple crops

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Not AvailableDNA barcoding has proven to be a versatile tool for plant disease diagnostics in the genomics era. As the mass parallel and next generation sequencing techniques gained importance, the role of specific barcodes came under immense scrutiny. Identification and accurate classification of phytopathogens need a universal approach which has been the main application area of the concept of barcode. The present review entails a detailed description of the present status of barcode application in plant disease diagnostics. A case study on the application of Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) as barcode for Aspergillus and Fusarium spp. sheds light on the requirement of other potential candidates as barcodes for accurate identification. The challenges faced while barcoding novel pathogens have also been discussed with a comprehensive outline of integrating more recent technologies like meta-barcoding and genome skimming for detecting plant pathogens.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableAppropriate amino acid substitutions are critical for protein engineering to redesign catalytic properties of industrially important enzymes like lipases. The present study aimed for improving the environmental stability of lipase from Pseudomonas plecoglossicida S7 through site-directed mutagenesis driven by computational studies. lipA gene was amplified and sequenced. Both wild type (WT) and mutant type (MT) lipase genes were expressed into the pET SUMO system. The expressed proteins were purified and characterized for pH and thermostability. The lipase gene belonged to subfamily I.1 lipase. Molecular dynamics revealed that Y12F-palmitic acid complex had a greater binding affinity (-6.3 Kcal/mol) than WT (-6.0 Kcal/mol) complex. Interestingly, MDS showed that the binding affinity of WT-complex (-130.314 ± 15.11 KJ/mol) was more than mutant complex (-108.405 ± 69.376 KJ/mol) with a marked increase in the electrostatic energy of mutant (-26.969 ± 12.646 KJ/mol) as compared to WT (-15.082 ± 13.802 KJ/mol). Y12F mutant yielded 1.27 folds increase in lipase activity at 55 °C as compared to the purified WT protein. Also, Y12F mutant showed increased activity (~ 1.2 folds each) at both pH 6 and 10. P. plecoglossicida S7. Y12F mutation altered the kinetic parameters of MT (Km- 1.38 mM, Vmax- 22.32 µM/min) as compared to WT (Km- 1.52 mM, Vmax- 29.76 µM/min) thus increasing the binding affinity of mutant lipase. Y12F mutant lipase with better pH and thermal stability can be used in biocatalysis.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThe genus Bacillus is one of the predominant bacterial genera found in soil, and several species of this genus have been reported from diverse ecological niches. Endowed with tremendous genetic and metabolic diversity, Bacillus spp. serve multiple ecological functions in soil ecosystem from nutrient cycling to conferring stress tolerance to plants. Members of the genus Bacillus are known to have multiple beneficial traits which help the plants directly or indirectly through acquisition of nutrients, overall improvement in growth by production of phytohormones, protection from pathogens and other abiotic stressors. This functionally versatile genus is one of the most commercially exploited bacteria in the agro-biotechnology industry. Still its potential has not been realized sufficiently and requires an emphasis towards translating the relevant technologies from laboratory to land for the benefit of mankind.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableMicrosatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have been the most widely applied class of molecular markers used in genetic studies, having applications in genetic conservation, population studies, as well as diagnostics of fungi. Mining and analysis of SSRs of the whole genome sequence have been carried out in this study for the fungus Alternaria arborescens causing early blight of tomato and well known for producing mycotoxins like alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), etc. A total of 4097 microsatellites were identified in A. Arborescens genome. Contig 1 was identified as the most SSR-rich region which was further analyzed to correlate the presence of SSRs with different biological processes. A total of 246 putative genes were predicted in this study and KEGG pathway analysis of 155 predicted genes indicated that SSRs can be linked with important metabolic pathways, molecular functioning, signal transduction, and cellular processes. The prediction of fungal mycotoxin inducer gene Polyketide synthase (PksJ) linked with SSR in this study may be a potential candidate participating in oncogenic signal transduction in human. Our study is the first report of PksJ gene in A. arborescens, a precursor of AOH and AME.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableIn this study, we screened 26 bioactive compounds present in various spices for activity against SARS-CoV-2 using molecular docking. Results showed that piperine, present in black pepper had a high binding affinity (-7.0 kCal/mol) than adenosine monophos-phate (-6.4 kCal/mol) towards the RNA-binding pocket of the nucleocapsid. Molecular dynamics simulation of the docked complexes confirmed the stability of piperine docked to nucleocapsid protein as a potential inhibitor of the RNA-binding site. Therefore, piperine seems to be potential candidate to inhibit the packaging of RNA in the nucleocapsid and thereby inhibiting the viral proliferation. This study suggests that consumption of black pepper may also help to combat SARS-CoV-2 directly through possible antiviral effects, besides its immunomodulatory functions.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableAlternaria species are a major plant pathogen and their precise detection and identification is crucial for effective management. In the present study, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic technique has been developed for detection of Alternaria species. Four primers were designed for four genes viz. noxB, AMK1, AKT3 and NIK1. In gradient PCR, only the primer sets for noxB gene showed specific amplicon of ~ 200 bp in all the isolates of Alternaria, while no amplification was observed in related fungal species such as Ulocladium botrytis, Ulocladium consortiale, Stemphylium vesicarium, Cochliobolus tuberculatus, Curvularia prasadii, and Bipolaris sorokiniana. The noxB primer set was used as diagnostic marker to discriminate and diagnose Alternaria species in nine different crop plants. Real-time assay revealed that the primer set was able to detect Alternaria noxB genes in leaves with no characteristic visible symptoms. Through real-time PCR, the noxB gene of Alternaria could be detected even in 0.5 ng of host DNA. This is the first report of noxB gene for molecular detection of Alternaria spp.Not Availabl