Pharmacology, phytochemistry, and toxicity of Rhazya Stricta Decne.

Shoot formation of garlic (Allium sativum L.) tissue culture was studied in Murashige and Skoog (MS) and Gamborg's basal medium (B5) which are supplemented with a different combination of growth hormones namely 6-benzyl aminopurine (BAP) and a-Naphtaleneacetic acid (\)AA) with and w'ithout cold pretreatments A stem-disc of shoot tips \vas used as explants for the induction ofgarlic shoot formation in the six weeks period.. A number of shoots, bulbs and fresh weight of bulb were observed. The shoot and bulbs formation were rapidly induced via organogenesis for the cold-pretreated bulbs at 4°C grown in a half MS media which contained 0.1 ppm of BAP in combination with 0.1 ppm NAA. Apparently, the induction of shoot and bulbs ofgarlic were influenced by temperature, hormones composition and nitrogen source

Humic Acid Coated Phosphatic Fertilizers Enhance Growth, Yield and Phosphorus Uptake of Maize Crop in Alkaline Soil

Phosphorus availability to crop is one of the major causes of poor crop production worldwide. Effect of inorganic phosphorus (P) fertiliser sources, i.e., nitro phosphate (NP), di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and single superphosphate (SSP) coated with different humic acid levels on crop production and P utilization efficiency (PUE) of maize was studied

Improvement in physical properties of eroded agricultural soils through agronomic management practices

Arable land in Pakistan is shrinking due to construction of houses and development of infrastructure, there has been a trend of shifting agriculture towards steep lands in order to feed the increasing population. Soil erosion on these lands is one of the most significant ecological restrictions to sustainable agriculture. A study was conducted during 2006-2008 to test the agronomic management practices for mitigating the adverse effects of soil erosion on arable soil. The experiment was designed in RCB with split plot arrangements. Cropping patterns, i e maize (Zea mays L.)-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-maize (C1), maize-lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.)-maize (C2) and maizewheat+ lentil intercrop-maize (C3) were kept in main plots while fertilizer treatments; the control (T1), 50% NP also called farmers' practice (T2), 100% NPK or the recommended dose (T3) and 20 tonnes/ha farmyard manure integrated with 50% mineral N and 100% P and K (T4) were kept in sub-plots. Fertilizer treatments significantly improved soil physical properties in both depths. T4 showed the maximum improvement (13, 12, 22 and 31%) in bulk density, porosity, saturation and available water over the control and 3, 3, 8 and 7% over the T3 in surface soil. Cereal-legume rotation showed the maximum improvement while significant improvement in soil physical properties was noted with time, i e from kharif 2006 to rabi 2007. Highly significant negative correlation was observed between bulk density and saturation percentage (r2=0.97) and bulk density and AWHC (r2=0.93). It was concluded that NPK fertilizer alone cannot restore the physical environment of eroded soil to its maximum limit, but this objective could, rather, be achieved through mixed application of farmyard manure and mineral fertilizers. For this purpose, being an unstable nutrient element, recommended dose of mineral N must be reduced by 50% to avoid its over-application. In addition to other benefits of legumes in rotation, its improvement of physical properties further assert their importance in farming on such eroded lands

EFFECT OF SLOPE STEEPNESS AND WHEAT CROP ON SOIL, RUNOFF AND NUTRIENT LOSSES IN ERODED LAND OF MALAKAND AGENCY, NWFP, PAKISTAN

ABSTRACT Field experiment was conducted during 2003-2005 on slopping land near Thana Malakand Agency, NWFP on wheat plots in comparison with bare plots. The test plots were maintained at three slope positions, i.e. top-slope (6 %), mid-slope (3 %) and bottom-slope (0 %). The effect of both slope position and wheat crop was statistically significant on runoff, soil and nutrient losses. The respective losses of runoff and soil were 33 and 42% higher from mid-slope as compared to bottom-slope, 24 and 30 % higher from top-slope as compared to mid-slope, and 49 and 59 % higher from top-slope as compared to bottom-slope. Wheat crop reduced runoff losses by 60 % and soil losses by 64% as compared to bare plots. The order of nutrient losses from all plots during the experimental period was: K > OM > N > Fe > P > Cu > Mn > Zn. Nutrient enrichment ratio of the sediments was greater than 1 for all the nutrients which indicated higher losses of nutrients through surface runoff. From the effect of slope and wheat crop on soil and runoff losses, empirical equations were developed which can be expressed as: E

Ethnobotanical Profile of Weed Flora of District Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

District Charsadda is a very important center of plant biodiversity in the central plain of Peshawar valley, Pakistan. The present study was carried out during March 2015 to April 2016 to investigate the ethnobotanical profile of common weed flora present in district Charsadda, KP, Pakistan. The study revealed that there were 40 weed species belonging to 21 families. Among them 25 weeds were annual herb, 9 weeds were perennial herb, three were annual grass, one was climbing herb, one was the parasitic weed, and one was rhizomatic grass. The dominant families were Asteraceae, Fabaceae and poaceae having 5 species (12.5%) each followed by Ranunculaceae 3 species (7.5%). plants were systematically arranged into botanical names, local names, families, habit, habitat, partly used, flowering periods, locality and ethnobotanical uses. The main aim of the study is the documentation and ethnobotanical information of the weed flora growing in the area

Linkage analysis of hearing impairment in families of Bannu Distric

Objective: To link congenital hearing loss with known loci to establish a platform for future research

Transcriptomic in silico analysis of bovine Escherichia coli mastitis highlights its immune-related expressed genes as an effective biomarker

Abstract Background Mastitis is one of the major diseases causing economic loss to the dairy industry by reducing the quantity and quality of milk. Thus, the objective of this scientific study was to find new biomarkers based on genes for the early prediction before its severity. Methods In the present study, advanced bioinformatics including hierarchical clustering, enrichment analysis, active site prediction, epigenetic analysis, functional domain identification, and protein docking were used to analyze the important genes that could be utilized as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for mastitis. Results Four differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in different regions of the mammary gland (teat cistern, gland cistern, lobuloalveolar, and Furstenberg’s rosette) that resulted in 453, 597, 577, and 636 DEG, respectively. Also, 101 overlapped genes were found by comparing 27 different expressed genes. These genes were associated with eight immune response pathways including NOD-like receptor signaling pathway (IL8, IL18, IL1B, PYDC1) and chemokine signaling pathway (PTK2, IL8, NCF1, CCR1, HCK). Meanwhile, 241 protein-protein interaction networks were developed among overlapped genes. Fifty-seven regulatory events were found between miRNAs, expressed genes, and the transcription factors (TFs) through micro-RNA and transcription factors (miRNA-DEG-TF) regulatory network. The 3D structure docking model of the expressed genes proteins identified their active sites and the binding ligands that could help in choosing the appropriate feed or treatment for affected animals. Conclusions The novelty of the distinguished DEG and their pathways in this study is that they can precisely improve the detection biomarkers and treatments techniques of cows’ Escherichia coli mastitis disease due to their high affinity with the target site of the mammary gland before appearing the symptoms. Graphical abstrac

PERFORMANCE OF MUNGBEAN IN WHEAT-MUNGBEAN SYSTEM UNDER INTEGRATED PLANT NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT ON ERODED LANDS

ABSTRAC

Synthesis and characterization of palm oil fuel ash (POFA) and metakaolin based geopolymer for possible application in nanocoating

The main aim of this study was to synthesize and characterize highly amorphous geopolymer from palm oil fuel ash (POFA) and metakaolin, to be used as nanocoating. Geopolymers are man-made aluminosilicate materials that are amorphous analogues of zeolites. The geopolymers were made by condensing a mixture of raw materials metakaolin and palm oil fuel ash (POFA) with alkaline activator at a fixed ratio at room temperature. The kaolin type clay was calcined at 700°C for 4hrs to transform it into amorphous metakaolin which is more reactive precursor for geopolymer formation. The characteristics of metakaolin and geopolymers (metakaolin and palm oil fuel ash based geopolymers) were analyzed by using x-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier transform infra-red spectrometry (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTA) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray analysis (SEM-EDX). FTIR revealed the presence of Al-O and Si-O stretching vibrations of amorphous alumino-silicate structure for metakaolin, palm oil fuel ash and geopolymers. SEM-EDX images showed the presence of reaction product complementary to NASH (N = Na2O, A = Al2O3, S = SiO2, H = H2O) solid. The resulting geopolymers that were synthesized with NaOH/Na2SiO3 solution cured at 60°C for 3 days. The results demonstrated the suitability of metakaolin and palm oil fuel ash (POFA) for synthesis of geopolymer at room temperatures

Enhancing wheat productivity and soil physical properties of water eroded agricultural land through integrated nutrient management

Agricultural land in Pakistan is decreasing due to development of infrastructure and in order to feed its masses, agricultural activities are shifting towards sloping land where soil loss through surface runoff process is the sternest ecological threat to sustainable agriculture. Improving soil fertility and crop productivity through integrated nutrients management (INM) is a globally accepted practice. The reported study was conducted during 2014-15 for field investigations in the improvement of eroded soil’s physical characteristics and crop productivity using integrated nutrients management techniques. The treatments contained combinations of NPK (% of recommended dose 120:90:60 kg NPK ḥa-1), FYM (t ha-1) and Poultry manure PM (t ha-1) respectively as; 0:0:0, 100%:0:0, 0:20:0, 25%:15:0, 50%:10:0, 75%:5:0, 0:0:10, 25:0:7.5, 50%:0:5, 75%:0:2.5, 0:5:2.5, 25%:5:2.5, 50%:5:2.5, 75%:5:2.5. Results revealed that 50%:5:2.5 combination of nutrient sources significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved spike m-2 (by 34%), grains spike-1 (by 38%) and grain yield (by 90%) over the control treatment. Regarding soil physical properties, 0:20:0 combination reduced soil bulk density while improving available water, organic matter content and saturation water percentage at 0-15 cm soil depth. Positive correlation of soil organic matter was observed with available water holding capacity (ṙ = 0.92) and saturation percentage (ṙ = 0.93) while negatively co-related with ṣoil bulk density (ṙ = -0.96). It was concluded that chemical fertilizer’s improvement in physical properties of eroded soil and the resultant production was significantly lagging behind that achieved with integrated nutrient management. Under the current experimental conditions, 50%:5:2.5 combination of nutrient sources application restituted the physical properties of eroded soil and showed asset over rest of the INM and their unshared applications