Biological control: a sustainable and practical approach for plant disease management

This review deals with the mechanism of antagonistic action of bacterial and fungal biocontrol agents such as the production of antibiotics, siderophores, enzyme secretion, competition for nutrition, plant growth promotion by rhizosphere microorganism. The utilisation of synthetic pesticides has been the predominant control processor for diseases brought about by phytopathogenic microorganisms. Notwithstanding, their open and improper application in intensive agriculture has realised issues that have prompted ecological contamination, considerable residues in agricultural products and phytopathogen resistance. They are likewise disrupting the quantity of beneficial microorganism which is available in the soil and capable of expanding soil fertility. Along these lines, there is a need to look through the option of synthetic pesticides that are safe, environmental and monetarily feasible to confront this problem. Biocontrol agent’s utilisation is the best alternative method to control the different kinds of diseases, such as nematode infestation, fungal pathogen and bacterial pathogen. Nowadays, biocontrol agents assume a significant role in the field of agriculture. It is a financially savvy, environment-friendly and inhibits the advancement of pathogenic microorganism sustainably. This review emphasises the role of biocontrol agents against different pathogenic microorganisms and their significance potentiality to improve plant growth and enhance defence system of plants

Augmentation and Evaluation of an Olive Oil Based Polyherbal Combination against Diabetic Cardiomyopathy in Experimental Model of Rodents

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that is prima facie a cause for numerous macro and micro vascular complications. A common macroscopic complication associated with diabetes is cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy refers to diseases of the heart muscle, where the heart muscle becomes enlarged, thick, or rigid. As cardiomyopathy worsens, the heart becomes weaker and is unable to conduct the right amount of blood through the body and maintain a normal electrical rhythm. This can lead to heart failure or arrhythmias. Chronic diabetes is one of the instigating factors behind the etiology of this cardiac complication. Type-II diabetes is associated with impaired glucose metabolism that increases the dependence of a diabetic heart on fatty acid oxidation to meet its functional demands, resulting in mitochondrial uncoupling, glucotoxicity, lipotoxicity and initially subclinical cardiac dysfunction that finally gives way to heart failure. The increasing diabetic population with cardiac disorders and the ironically decreasing trend in newer medications to counter this complication leave us at a crossroads for pharmacological management of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Keeping this in view, the present study proclaims a newly developed polyherbal combination (PHC) with three herbs, namely Tinospora cordifolia, Withania somnifera and Boerhavia diffusa based in olive oil and administered in fixed dose (PHC-6 and PHC-10) to screen its cardioprotective potential against a well-established experimental model for diabetic cardiomyopathy. The three herbs mentioned have been known through the traditional literature for their antidiabetic and cardioprotective roles, hence they became the obvious choice. The study follows an experimental model proposed by Reed et al., where the capacity of the β-cell is unobtrusively impeded without totally compromising insulin release, bringing about a moderate disability in glucose resilience. Various sophisticated parameters, namely intraventricular septum thickness of hearts, Western blot of α/β- MHC monoclonal antibody (Ab), cardiac pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity, medium chain acyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase (MCAD) enzyme, etc. showed promising results where treatment with PHC (PHC-6 and PHC-10) significantly (*** p p < 0.0001) prevented the symptoms of cardiomyopathy in subsequent groups when compared to disease control group

Design and Experimental Studies on a Single Slope Solar Still for Water Desalination

Gulf countries experience an imbalance between water supply and demand, which leads to a dramatic decline in the amount of groundwater. Solar energy for water desalination is an attractive option in this region, where the climate is sunny all year. A very basic solar device called a single basin solar still is commonly used to convert available seawater into drinkable water. The issue of producing drinking water may be resolved by using this technique, but because of its low productivity, it is rarely used. The experiments were carried out on a south-facing, single slope solar still with a 23-degree inclination of the condensing cover from October to November 2022, on different days for different water depths. According to the findings, the solar still with 4 cm of depth (as compared to 5, 6, and 7 cm) exhibited the maximum water productivity (2.680 L/day) with an efficiency of 30%. When the solar still was equipped with an external mirror, the temperature in the basin was raised, and water productivity increased to 3.075 L/day with an improved efficiency of 35%. Further, the effects of wind velocity, ambient temperature, inner glass temperature, and intensity of solar radiation on daily productivity have been studied