Chromium stress in Brassica juncea L. cv. 'Pusa Jai Kissan' under hydroponic culture

Chromium (Cr) entering plant tissue inhibits most physiological processes at all levels of metabolism including inhibition of growth, photosynthesis and nitrate assimilation. Since Cr exists in many forms, its toxicity to plants depends on its valence state, with Cr (VI) found to be highly toxic and mobile than Cr (III). Different concentrations of Cr (0, 25, 50 and 100 μM) in the form of K2Cr2O7 was added to 30 days old Brassica juncea plant and harvested on the 3rd and 5th days after treatment for estimation of plant growth, chlorophyll, total soluble protein, free amino acids and nitrate reductase activity. Cr was found to cause deleterious effects on whole plant growth. The potential of plants with the capacity to accumulate or to stabilize Cr compounds for bioremediation of Cr contamination has gained interest in recent years. The biochemical aspects like photosynthetic pigments (Chl a and Chl b), total protein and amino acids content decreased with Cr concentration. A significant increase in nitrate reductase activity was observed corresponding to Cr concentration.Key words: Brassica juncea, chromium, heavy metal, phytoremediation

Fungal Endophytes to Combat Biotic and Abiotic Stresses for Climate-Smart and Sustainable Agriculture

The agricultural sustainability concept considers higher food production combating biotic and abiotic stresses, socio-economic well-being, and environmental conservation. On the contrary, global warming-led climatic changes have appalling consequences on agriculture, generating shifting rainfall patterns, high temperature, CO2, drought, etc., prompting abiotic stress conditions for plants. Such stresses abandon the plants to thrive, demoting food productivity and ultimately hampering food security. Though environmental issues are natural and cannot be regulated, plants can still be enabled to endure these abnormal abiotic conditions, reinforcing the stress resilience in an eco-friendly fashion by incorporating fungal endophytes. Endophytic fungi are a group of subtle, non-pathogenic microorganisms establishing a mutualistic association with diverse plant species. Their varied association with the host plant under dynamic environments boosts the endogenic tolerance mechanism of the host plant against various stresses via overall modulations of local and systemic mechanisms accompanied by higher antioxidants secretion, ample enough to scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) hence, coping over-expression of defensive redox regulatory system of host plant as an aversion to stressed condition. They are also reported to ameliorate plants toward biotic stress mitigation and elevate phytohormone levels forging them worthy enough to be used as biocontrol agents and as biofertilizers against various pathogens, promoting crop improvement and soil improvement, respectively. This review summarizes the present-day conception of the endophytic fungi, their diversity in various crops, and the molecular mechanism behind abiotic and biotic resistance prompting climate-resilient aided sustainable agriculture.Peer reviewe

Role of Salicylic Acid in Combating Heat Stress in Plants : Insights into Modulation of Vital Processes

Peer reviewe

Radical scavenging potential and DNA damage protection of wild edible mushrooms of Kashmir Himalaya

The edible mushrooms Verpa bohemica and Morchella esculenta are locally used for dietary and antioxidant in tribal areas of Kashmir Himalaya. In the present study, sequences of solvents on the basis of their polarity were used for the extraction from selected mushrooms. The comprehensive antioxidant activity of all edible mushroom extracts was evaluated by seven different methods. V. bohemica exhibited significant inhibitory activity of radicals among all the mushrooms while Morchella extracts protected the DNA damage from OH· radicals. This study provides us the substantiation for the use of these mushrooms as antioxidants besides being already eaten as food

Differential response of terpenes and anthraquinones derivatives in <i>Rumex dentatus</i> and <i>Lavandula officinalis</i> to harsh winters across north-western Himalaya

<div><p>Herbs adapted to diverse climates exhibit distinct variability to fluctuating temperatures and demonstrate various metabolic and physiological adaptations to harsh environments. In this research, <i>Rumex dentatus</i> L. and <i>Lavandula officinalis</i> L. were collected before snowfall in September–November to evaluate variability in major phytoconstituents to diverse seasonal regime. LC-MS was used for simultaneous determination of eight anthraquinone derivatives in <i>R. dentatus</i>, i.e. emodin, physcion, chrysophanol, physcion glucoside, endocrocin, emodin glucoside, chrysophanol glucoside and chromone derivatives and monoterpenes in <i>L. officinalis</i> i.e. (<i>Z</i>)-β<i>-ocimene,</i> (<i>E</i>)-β-ocimene, terpene alcohol, terpin-4-ol, acetate ester-linalyl acetate and bicyclic sesquiterpene (<i>E</i>)-caryophyllene. The correlation analysis confirmed significant variation in anthraquinone glucoside and terpene content within <i>Rumex</i> and Lavender, respectively, and altitude was established as the determinant factor in secondary metabolism of both herbs. The study concludes the propagation of herbs in bioclimatic belts which favour accumulation of major constituents and validate their greater pharmacological activity.</p></div

Cloning and Expression of the Organophosphate Pesticide-Degrading α-β Hydrolase Gene in Plasmid pMK-07 to Confer Cross-Resistance to Antibiotics

Pesticide residual persistence in agriculture soil selectively increases the pesticide-degrading population and transfers the pesticide-degrading gene to other populations, leading to cross-resistance to a wide range of antibiotics. The enzymes that degrade pesticides can also catabolize the antibiotics by inducing changes in the gene or protein structure through induced mutations. The present work focuses on the pesticide-degrading bacteria isolated from an agricultural field that develop cross-resistance to antibiotics. This cross-resistance is developed through catabolic gene clusters present in an extrachromosomal plasmid. A larger plasmid (236.7 Kbp) isolated from Bacillus sp. was sequenced by next-generation sequencing, and important features such as α-β hydrolase, DNA topoisomerase, DNA polymerase III subunit beta, reverse transcriptase, plasmid replication rep X, recombination U, transposase, and S-formylglutathione hydrolase were found in this plasmid. Among these, the α-β hydrolase enzyme is known for the degradation of organophosphate pesticides. The cloning and expression of the α-β hydrolase gene imply nonspecific cleavage of antibiotics through a cross-resistance phenomenon in the host. The docking of α-β hydrolase with a spectrum of antibiotics showed a high G-score against chloramphenicol (−3.793), streptomycin (−2.865), cefotaxime (−5.885), ampicillin (−4.316), and tetracycline (−3.972). This study concludes that continuous exposure to pesticide residues may lead to the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains among the wild microbial flora