Assessment of Penicillium bilaii inoculation in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) for improving growth, yield and phosphorus availability in Mollisols of India

A field experiment was carried out with an aim to study the influence of two strains of Penicillium bilaii (PB -201 and PB-208) inoculation along with superphosphate application on growth, yield and P uptake of wheat (cv. PBW-343) and, also to examine the inoculation effect on P availability, forms of P and soil properties in Mollisols of Uttarakhand, India. The results showed that both strains of P. bilaii effectively solubilized tri-calcium phosphate in Pikovskaya agar medium, which was much higher over native fungal isolates. Wheat seed inoculation with P. bilaii strains along with superphosphate levels significantly influenced shoot height, shoot dry weight, number of total and effective tillers, yield attributes, yield components, tissue content and uptake of P. The treatment T7 (P. bilaii, strain PB-208 + 50% P) has resulted into the highest amount of shoot height (87.9 cm at 90 DAS), shoot dry weight (1.5 and 3.8 g at 60 and 90 DAS, respectively), grain (66.8 q ha-1) and straw yield (42.7 q ha-1) and P uptake (26.5 kg ha-1). The Olsen-P, organic carbon, dehydrogenase activity and fungal populations also increased in soil inoculated with P. bilaii strains combined with superphosphate application compared to the control soil. The conjoint use of the fungal strains with or, without P fertilization has developed an antagonistic interaction that has caused decline in yield, tissue content and uptake of P and its availability in soil. In conclusion, it is possible to reduce the rate of soluble P-fertilizer added by 50% without reducing yield, if wheat is inoculated with P-solubilizing fungi like P. bilaii

Synergistic impact of nanomaterials and plant probiotics in agriculture: A tale of two-way strategy for long-term sustainability

Modern agriculture is primarily focused on the massive production of cereals and other food-based crops in a sustainable manner in order to fulfill the food demands of an ever-increasing global population. However, intensive agricultural practices, rampant use of agrochemicals, and other environmental factors result in soil fertility degradation, environmental pollution, disruption of soil biodiversity, pest resistance, and a decline in crop yields. Thus, experts are shifting their focus to other eco-friendly and safer methods of fertilization in order to ensure agricultural sustainability. Indeed, the importance of plant growth-promoting microorganisms, also determined as “plant probiotics (PPs),” has gained widespread recognition, and their usage as biofertilizers is being actively promoted as a means of mitigating the harmful effects of agrochemicals. As bio-elicitors, PPs promote plant growth and colonize soil or plant tissues when administered in soil, seeds, or plant surface and are used as an alternative means to avoid heavy use of agrochemicals. In the past few years, the use of nanotechnology has also brought a revolution in agriculture due to the application of various nanomaterials (NMs) or nano-based fertilizers to increase crop productivity. Given the beneficial properties of PPs and NMs, these two can be used in tandem to maximize benefits. However, the use of combinations of NMs and PPs, or their synergistic use, is in its infancy but has exhibited better crop-modulating effects in terms of improvement in crop productivity, mitigation of environmental stress (drought, salinity, etc.), restoration of soil fertility, and strengthening of the bioeconomy. In addition, a proper assessment of nanomaterials is necessary before their application, and a safer dose of NMs should be applicable without showing any toxic impact on the environment and soil microbial communities. The combo of NMs and PPs can also be encapsulated within a suitable carrier, and this method aids in the controlled and targeted delivery of entrapped components and also increases the shelf life of PPs. However, this review highlights the functional annotation of the combined impact of NMs and PPs on sustainable agricultural production in an eco-friendly manner

Oxidation of paracetamol by N-chloro-p-toluene sulfonamide (Chloramine-T) in aqueous acid perchlorate medium: A kinetic and mechanistic pathway

780-787Kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of paracetamol by N-chloro-p-toluene sulfonamide (chloramine-T) have been studied in acid medium. Accounting for all such observations, a plausible reaction mechanism has been suggested. The activation parameters such as energy and entropy of activation have been calculated to be (58.63 ± 0.91) kJ mol−1 and (−88.75 ± 4.54) J K−1 mol−1 respectively employing Eyring equation. The stoichiometry of the reaction has been observed to be two moles of the oxidant for a mole of the substrate. The rate of the reaction is retarded by toluene- p-sulfonamide as well as hydrogen ion concentration. The oxidation product of paracetamol has been spectrally confirmed to be quinine oxime. To further support our proposed mechanism, density functional theory (DFT) computations at M06-2X/6-31G(d,p) level of theory have been performed, showing that activation energy barriers predict the same reactivity trend as shown by the kinetic experiments

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Next Generation Sequencing: Potential and Application in Drug Discovery

The world has now entered into a new era of genomics because of the continued advancements in the next generation high throughput sequencing technologies, which includes sequencing by synthesis-fluorescent in situ sequencing (FISSEQ), pyrosequencing, sequencing by ligation using polony amplification, supported oligonucleotide detection (SOLiD), sequencing by hybridization along with sequencing by ligation, and nanopore technology. Great impacts of these methods can be seen for solving the genome related problems of plant and animal kingdom that will open the door of a new era of genomics. This may ultimately overcome the Sanger sequencing that ruled for 30 years. NGS is expected to advance and make the drug discovery process more rapid