Wheat (<em>Triticum aestivum</em> L.) in the Rice-Wheat Systems of South Asia Is Influenced by Terminal Heat Stress at Late Sown Condition: A Case in Bangladesh

Wheat plays an important role in attaining food and nutritional security in Bangladesh after rice. The demand of wheat has been increasing every year at the rate of 13% due to rapid changes in dietary habits, socio-economic upliftment, enhancement of per capita income, etc. Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI) has already released 34 high yielding, disease-resistant, and abiotic stress-tolerant wheat varieties, and improved management practices to the farmers. Although all the released varieties have climatic yield potential as high as 6.0 t ha−1 with the attainable average yield is 4.0–4.5 t ha−1, the national average yield in farmers’ field is only 3.49 t ha−1; it is specified that there is a huge yield gap existing among potential, attainable and actual yields. One of the most important reasons for this yield gap of wheat is the terminal high temperature stress (HS) in late sowing wheat. Generally, farmers in Bangladesh are sowing wheat lately due to delay in sowing monsoon rice and subsequent late harvest of the rice; as a result, late sown wheat faces terminal HS at reproductive stage. The chapter highlighted the consequences of terminal HS on wheat and potential approaches to mitigate the stress in Bangladesh

Plant health emergencies demand open science:Tackling a cereal killer on the run

Outbreaks of emerging plant diseases and insect pests are increasing at an alarming rate threatening the food security needs of a booming world population. The role of plant pathologists in addressing these threats to plant health is critical. Here, we share our personal experience with the appearance in Bangladesh of a destructive new fungal disease called wheat blast and stress the importance of open-science platforms and crowdsourced community responses in tackling emerging plant diseases. Benefits of the open-science approach include recruitment of multidisciplinary experts, application of cutting-edge methods, and timely replication of data analyses to increase the robustness of the findings. Based on our experiences, we provide some general recommendations and practical guidance for responding to emerging plant diseases

Unveiling the gut bacteriome diversity and distribution in the national fish hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) of Bangladesh

The field of fish microbiome research has rapidly been advancing, primarily focusing on farmed or laboratory fish species rather than natural or marine fish populations. This study sought to reveal the distinctive gut bacteriome composition and diversity within the anadromous fish species Tenualosa ilisha (hilsa), which holds the status of being the national fish of Bangladesh. We conducted an analysis on 15 gut samples obtained from 15 individual hilsa fishes collected from three primary habitats (e.g., freshwater = 5, brackish water = 5 and marine water = 5) in Bangladesh. The analysis utilized metagenomics based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing targeting the V3-V4 regions. Our comprehensive identification revealed a total of 258 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The observed OTUs were represented by six phyla, nine classes, 19 orders, 26 families and 40 genera of bacteria. Our analysis unveiled considerable taxonomic differences among the habitats (freshwater, brackish water, and marine water) of hilsa fishes, as denoted by a higher level of shared microbiota (p = 0.007, Kruskal-Wallis test). Among the identified genera in the gut of hilsa fishes, including Vagococcus, Morganella, Enterobacter, Plesiomonas, Shigella, Clostridium, Klebsiella, Serratia, Aeromonas, Macrococcus, Staphylococcus, Proteus, and Hafnia, several are recognized as fish probiotics. Importantly, some bacterial genera such as Sinobaca, Synechococcus, Gemmata, Serinicoccus, Saccharopolyspora, and Paulinella identified in the gut of hilsa identified in this study have not been reported in any aquatic or marine fish species. Significantly, we observed that 67.50% (27/40) of bacterial genera were found to be common among hilsa fishes across all three habitats. Our findings offer compelling evidence for the presence of both exclusive and communal bacteriomes within the gut of hilsa fishes, exhibiting potential probiotic properties. These observations could be crucial for guiding future microbiome investigations in this economically significant fish species

Enhancement of Growth and Grain Yield of Rice in Nutrient Deficient Soils by Rice Probiotic Bacteria

Plant associated bacteria are promising alternatives to chemical fertilizers for plant growth and yield improvement in an eco-friendly manner. In this study, rice associated bacteria were isolated and assessed for mineral phosphate solubilizationand indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production activity in vitro. Six promising strains, which were tentatively identified as phylotaxon Pseudochrobactrum sp. (BRRh-1), Burkholderia sp. (BRRh-2), Burkholderia sp. (BRRh-3), Burkholderia sp. (BRRh-4), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (BRRh-5 and BRRh-6) based on their 16S rRNA gene phylogeny, exhibited significant phosphate solubilizing activity in National Botanical Research Institute phosphate growth medium, and BRRh-4 displayed the highest phosphate solubilizing activity, followed by BRRh-5. The pH of the culture broth declined, resulting in increase of growth rate of bacteria at pH 7, which might be due to organic acid secretion by the strains. In presence of L-tryptophan, five isolates synthesized IAA and the maximum IAA was produced by BRRh-2, followed by BRRh-1. Application of two most efficient phosphate solubilizing isolates BRRh-4 and BRRh-5 by root dipping (colonization) of seedling and spraying at the flowering stage significantly enhanced the growth and grain yield of rice variety BRRI dhan-29. Interestingly, application of both strains with 50% of recommended nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers produced equivalent or higher grain yield of rice compared to the control grown with full recommended fertilizer doses, which suggests that these strains may have the potential to be used as bioinoculants for sustainable rice production

An Estimation of Five-decade Long Monkeypox Case Fatality Rate: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

On July 23, 2022 the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the Monkeypox disease (MPXD) as a worldwide public health issue. This study conducts a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the overall case fatality rate (CFR) of MPXD worldwide during 1970–2022. The tenure-tracked MPXD outbreaks associated with CFR were calculated based on available published data from six different periods (i.e., 1970-79, 1980-89, 1990-99, 2000-09, 2010-19, and 2000-2022). A total of 229 peer-reviewed accessible articles were investigated, of which, 17 articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Most of the studies on MPXD CFR were published in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) providing 47% of data for the current meta-analysis. The overall pooled CFR of MPXD was 4.14% (range: 0.62% – 9.51%) during 1970–2022. In this study, total of 379 death cases were found from published MPXV based research articles where the pooled estimate CFR was 1.87%. The pooled CFR was higher during the earlier outbreak of the MPXD such as 10.71% in 1970-1979. With the progress of time, the CFR from MPXD followed a decreasing trend and reached 5.38% in 1980-1999 and 4.45% in 2000-2022. Young male children aged73.0%. This is the first meta-analysis using 52 years of data which indicates that the CFR of MPXV is decreasing from previous years. The findings of this meta-analysis might be paramount for the policymakers to tackle MPXD and minimize the overall CFR of MPXD through strategic actions

Anti-Staphylococcal Calopins from Fruiting Bodies of Caloboletus radicans

Three new and seven known calopins were isolated from Caloboletus radicans. The structures of the new cyclocalopins, 8-deacetylcyclocalopin B (1), cyclocalopin A-15-ol (2), and 12,15-dimethoxycyclocalopin A (3), were mainly elucidated by NMR and MS data analysis. The stereochemistry of 1–3 was assigned based on ROE correlations, coupling constants and by comparison of their CD spectra with those of similar known calopins. While 1–10 were inactive against two cancer cell lines, they displayed antistaphylococcal activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains (MRSA) with MIC values of 16−256 μg/mL. Moreover, some calopins were active against the fish pathogen Enterococcus faecalis F1B1

Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Rice under Abiotic Stress: Plant Breeding Approach

Nitrogenous fertilizer has remarkably improved rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield across the world since its discovery by Haber-Bosch process. Due to climate change, future rice production will likely experience a wide range of environmental plasticity. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is an important trait to confer adaptability across various abiotic stresses such as flooding, drought and salinity. The problem with the increased N application often leads to a reduction in NUE. New solutions are needed to simultaneously increase yield and maximize the NUE of rice. Despite the differences among flooding, salinity and drought, these three abiotic stresses lead to similar responses in rice plants. To develop abiotic stress tolerant rice varieties, speed breeding seems a plausible novel approach. Approximately 22 single quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and 58 pairs of epistatic QTLs are known to be closely associated with NUE in rice. The QTLs/genes for submergence (SUB1A) tolerance, anaerobic germination (AG, TPP7) potential and deepwater flooding tolerance (SK1, SK2) are identified. Furthermore, phytochrome-interacting factor-like14 (OsPIL14), or loss of function of the slender rice1 (SLR1) genes enhance salinity tolerance in rice seedlings. This review updates our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance and discusses possible approaches for developing N-efficient rice variety

Endophytic Bacillus spp. from medicinal plants inhibit mycelial growth of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and promote plant growth

Plant growth promoting bacteria that are also capable of suppressing plant pathogenic fungi play an important role in sustainable agriculture. There is a critical need of conducting research to discover, characterize and evaluate efficacy of new strains of such bacteria in controlling highly aggressive plant pathogens. In this study, we isolated endophytic bacteria from medicinal plants of Bangladesh and evaluated their antagonistic capacity against an important phytopathogenic fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Growth promoting effects of those isolates on cucumber and rice seedlings also were assessed. Among 16 morphologically distinct isolates, BDR-2, BRtL-2, and BCL-1 significantly inhibited the growth of S. sclerotiorum through induction of characteristic morphological alterations in hyphae and reduction of mycelial dry weight. When cucumber and rice seeds were treated with these endophytic bacteria, seven isolates (BCL-1, BDL-1, BRtL-2, BRtL-3, BDR-1, BDR-2 and BBoS-1) enhanced seed germination, seedling vigor, seedling growth, and number of roots per plant at varying level compared to untreated controls. All isolates produced high levels of indole-3-acetic acid (6.3 to 63μg mL−1) in vitro. Two most potential isolates, BDR-2 and BRtL-2 were identified 34 as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and B. subtilis, respectively based on the 16S rRNA gene sequencing. These results suggest that endophytic Bacillus species from native medicinal plants have great potential for using as natural plant growth promoter and biopesticides in sustainable crop production

Jute-derived microporous/mesoporous carbon with ultra-high surface area using a chemical activation process

Here, we report the synthesis of nanoporous carbons (NCs) derived from a low-cost and renewable biomass, jute, by a chemical activation process using KOH. Jute is one of the least expensive and most abundant crops, with a staggering 2.8 million metric tons of jute produced each year. In this study, we synthesize NCs from three different parts of jute fibers through a chemical activation technique using KOH. The NCs prepared from the bottom portion of the fiber show a high surface area (2682 m g) with the presence of both micropores and mesopores. The ultra-high surface area of jute makes it an economically viable, environmentally friendly precursor for NCs, with a wide variety of applications from energy storage to environmental and biomedical applications