Screen a dehalogenase gene using isolated bacterium from sea-shore soil of caspian sea

Halogenated organic compound are widely used in agriculture and industry over the past 100 years. The use of these compounds in the environment led to human health problems and environmental pollution because of their persistence and toxicity. Dalapon or 2,2-dichloropropionic acid is widely used as herbicides and plant growth regulator which cause environmental pollution. In this research, bacterium NR1 was isolated from soil sample taken from Bandar-e Anzali seashore in north of Iran. The result has shown that this bacterium grow in minimal media containing 20mM 2, 2-DCP with doubling time of 0.89 hours, which indicated its ability to degrade 2, 2-DCP. Based on microscopic observation and Gram staining, strain NR1 was identified as rod Gram positive bacterium. Biochemical tests for the bacterium NR1 were positive for oxidase, catalase, gelatin liquefaction, nitrate reduction, TSI, oxidation- fermentation glucose, starch and casein test, while the tests result were negative for lactose utilization, citrate, indole, and urease test. Genomic DNA from bacterium NR1 was extracted and 16S rRNA PCR amplification was carried out using universal primers, Fd1 (5‟ - AGA GTT TGA TCC TGGCTC AG - 3‟) and rP1 (5‟- ACG GTC ATA CCT TGT TAC GAC TT - 3‟) before sending for sequencing. NR1 strain 16S rRNA sequences were applied for Basic Local Alignment Search Tool nucleotide (BLASTn) and further analyzed using phylogenetic tree of Neighbour-Joining method (MEGA 5). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that NR1 strain clearly shared 97% homology to the genus of Bacillus cereus and therefore designated as Bacillus cereus sp. NR1. The PCR analysis of dehalogenase using dhlb_F_314/dhlB_R_637 primers showed a band with approximate size of >200 bp, suggesting this bacterium carries dehalogenase from class I

Application of digital technologies for ensuring agricultural productivity

Over the decades, agri-food security has become one of the most critical concerns in the world. Sustainable agri-food production technologies have been reliable in mitigating poverty caused by high demands for food. Recently, the applications of agri-food system technologies have been meaningfully changing the worldwide scene due to both external strengths and internal forces. Digital agriculture (DA) is a pioneering technology helping to meet the growing global demand for sustainable food production. Integrating different sub-branches of DA technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, sensors, Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics into agriculture practices to reduce waste, optimize farming inputs and enhance crop production. This can help shift from tedious operations to continuously automated processes, resulting in increasing agricultural production by enabling the traceability of products and processes. The application of DA provides agri-food producers with accurate and real-time observations regarding different features influencing their productivity, such as plant health, soil quality, weather conditions, and pest and disease pressure. Analyzing the results achieved by DA can help agricultural producers and scholars make better decisions to increase yields, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and manage resources. The core focus of the current work is to clarify the benefits of some sub-branches of DA in increasing agricultural production efficiency, discuss the challenges of practical DA in the field, and highlight the future perspectives of DA. This review paper can open new directions to speed up the DA application on the farm and link traditional agriculture with modern farming technologies

Physical, optical and electrical studies on hybrid Ag NPs/NiSi NWs electrode as a DNA template for biosensor

By means of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Nickel silicide nanowires (NiSi NWs) were grown on silica substrate followed by a solid-diffusion controlled growth mechanism at different substrate temperatures ranging from 400 to 520 °C. The NWs were then subsequently decorated with Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) via a simple thermal evaporation technique. The morphologies of the NiSi NWs and Ag NPs/NiSi NWs showed noticeable dependence on the growth substrate temperatures. NiSi NWs grown at 470 °C exhibited the highest NW density with a uniform decoration of spherical Ag NPs of ∼13.7 ± 1.5 nm of diameter. The Ag NPs/NiSi NWs appeared to exhibit a better crystallinity compared to the as-grown NiSi NWs, which could be attributed to metal induced crystallization. Moreover, the decoration of Ag NPs on NiSi NWs showed a significant enhancement in Raman peak intensities mainly in the Ni2Si, NiSi, and NiSi2 phases. The Ag NPs/NiSi NWs demonstrated a well-defined surface plasmon resonance absorption bands centered at around 420 nm, which elucidate the effectiveness of the decoration of Ag NPs on NiSi NW surfaces with a thin amorphous dielectric barrier layer. Using current-voltage (I-V) measurement, Ag NPs/NiSi NWs and NiSi NWs shown to exhibit a surface type Schottky diode with rectifying behavior. The values of ideality factor for the NiSi NWs and Ag NPs/NiSi NWs Schottky diodes were calculated to be 6.992 and 2.559 respectively. Additionally, the values of series resistances were also calculated , where the series resistance obtained are 91.856 and 38.697 kΩ for NiSi NWs and Ag NPs/NiSi NWs DNA electrodes, respectively. © 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd

Electro-catalytic and structural studies of DNA templated gold wires on platinum/ITO as modified counter electrode in dye sensitized solar cells

DNA templated gold wires (AuWs) were fabricated on Pt sputtered ITO (Pt/ITO) substrates using ‘scribing’ or ‘writing’ method to be used as a modified counter electrode (CE) in Dye sensitized solar cells. The gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) bind to DNA in aqueous solution due to the polyanionic nature of DNA. When a scribe is made on the dropcasted Au-DNA solution, the diffusion of Au-DNA complex occurs towards the edges of the scribe due to the coffee ring effect. Capillary force induces evaporation of water that also forces the Au-DNA complex to migrate towards the scribed edges. Meanwhile, the AuNPs are reduced on the surface of DNA to form active seed for nucleation and growth of AuWs. DNA molecules act as a scaffold to arrange the nanoparticles into well-connected submicron to nanoscale wires. The cyclic voltammetry measurements showed that AuWs/Pt/ITO CE exhibited better electro-catalytic activity and higher conductivity than conventional Pt/ITO CE due to the synergistic effect of Pt and AuWs network on ITO. The DSSC fabricated using TiO2 photoanode, N719 dye, I3 −/I− electrolyte and AuWs/Pt/ITO CE showed a 36% increase in efficiency as compared to the cells made under same parameters but using conventional (Pt/ITO) CE

Fabrication of capillary force induced DNA template Ag nanopatterns for sensitive and selective enzyme-free glucose sensors

The self-patterned silver (Ag) nanowires on Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) were developed and exploited as the enzyme-free sensor probes for glucose detection. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) template increased the capillary force channels of Ag and facilitated the homogeneous and high mobility of Ag-DNA toward the scribe via the coffee ring effect. The subsequent removal of DNA template from Ag-DNA/ITO through the enzymatic hydrolysis process led to the formation of Ag nanowires on ITO. Under alkaline conditions, Ag nanopatterns developed on ITO realized the considerable enzyme-free glucose sensor performances. The fabricated sensor system is reproducible and stable and was pertained with an analysis of spiked human blood serum, where it provided excellent recoveries. Thus these findings have not only showered insights on the self assembly of Ag nanoparticles without the exploitation of any surfactants and harsh conditions but have also provided the fundamental perceptive on the influences of self-assembled nanowires in enzyme free glucose sensor applications

Electronic Properties of Synthetic Shrimp Pathogens-derived DNA Schottky Diodes

The exciting discovery of the semiconducting-like properties of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and its potential applications in molecular genetics and diagnostics in recent times has resulted in a paradigm shift in biophysics research. Recent studies in our laboratory provide a platform towards detecting charge transfer mechanism and understanding the electronic properties of DNA based on the sequence-specific electronic response, which can be applied as an alternative to identify or detect DNA. In this study, we demonstrate a novel method for identification of DNA from different shrimp viruses and bacteria using electronic properties of DNA obtained from both negative and positive bias regions in current-voltage (I-V) profiles. Characteristic electronic properties were calculated and used for quantification and further understanding in the identification process. Aquaculture in shrimp industry is a fast-growing food sector throughout the world. However, shrimp culture in many Asian countries faced a huge economic loss due to disease outbreaks. Scientists have been using specific established methods for detecting shrimp infection, but those methods do have their significant drawbacks due to many inherent factors. As such, we believe that this simple, rapid, sensitive and cost-effective tool can be used for detection and identification of DNA from different shrimp viruses and bacteria