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Abstract: Fly ash (FA) generated as a waste produced from thermal power plants globally has started gaining as a potentially significant anthropogenic source of arsenic (As). In India electricity generation is predominantly dependent upon coal-based thermal power plants and are being producing huge amount of FA. Coal contains many toxic metals, arsenic is one of those, which is significantly toxic for aquatic and terrestrial life including human being. Coal used in Indian thermal power plants is mainly bituminous and sub-bituminous and which on combustion generate over 40% of FA. Generated FA is being disposed to open ash pond in thin slurry form. More than 65,000 acre of land in India is occupied for storage of this massively generated quantity of FA. Dumping of FA in open ash pond causes serious adverse environmental impacts owing to its elevated trace element contents, in particular the As which causes ecological problems. Although, the As problem in our country is not new, in recent years the occurrence of As contamination cases of agricultural soil, ground water as well as human health has resulted a great concern for its mitigation. Very recently India has been charged for being a “dumping hub for As”. Utilization of FA in India is still infancy (more than 38%) as compared to developed countries (more than 70%). In India FA is used particularly in cement production, brick industry, as road base, as amendments in the restoration ecology and forestry. This review emphasized on the concentration of As in FA, its fate and behaviour as hazardous element on human health, environment quality and on mitigation strategies to accomplish environmental management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Samples of surface (0-20 cm) soils were collected from six sites (forest and savanna) in seasonally dry tropical Vindhyan regions of India, to evaluate the effects of different sites and seasons on the dynamics of nitrifier population size and nitrification on comparative basis. The sites selected for the present investigation are situated along a gradient of dominant vegetation cover, soil physico-chemical characteristics, soil nutrient status and moisture content of soils. The results showed that forest soils had significantly higher water-holding capacity, organic-C, total-N and total-P, but lower bulk density than the savanna sites. A significant difference in the population size of nitrifying bacteria and nitrification rate was observed across different study sites and seasons. Amongst the different sites investigated, the viable population size of ammoniumand nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (AOB and NOB) and nitrification rate recorded were maximum at Hathinala moist site (forest) and minimum at Telburva (savanna) site. During an annual cycle the soil moisture content, nitrifier population size and nitrification rate observed were highest during rainy season and lowest during summer season in all the sites. The numbers of free-living cells of AOB and NOB were significantly related with each other as well as with soil moisture content and nitrification rates. There was a significant site and season interaction, indicating that the effect of different seasons differed across the studied sites. The combination of low moisture content, organic-C and total-N suppressed the number of freeliving cells of AOB and NOB and nitrification rates at the savanna sites. Our results support earlier findings that vegetation cover, soil characteristics, nutrient status and moisture content of soils govern the population dynamics of nitrifiers (AOB and NOB) and nitrification in seasonally dry tropical forest and savanna ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Salt-tolerant Curtobacterium albidum SRV4 strain was isolated from saline soils. • C. albidum SRV4 showed strong plant growth promoting attributes in salinity stress. • Inoculation of C. albidum SRV4 induces salt stress tolerance in paddy plants. • C. albidum SRV4 inoculation significantly enhance paddy yields under soil salinity. Present study examined the inoculation of halo-tolerant plant-growth-promoting-rhizobacteria (PGPR) on paddy plant growth parameters and physiology under different salinity (0, 100, 200 and 300 mM) conditions. Twenty-nine promising halo-tolerant PGPRs were isolated and screened for their PGP traits from the rhizosphere of naturally growing plants of saline soils located at Sandila region of Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Out of 29 isolates, one most efficient salt-tolerant isolate having potential PGP attributes, was selected for further study. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing and BLASTn analysis, the isolate was identified as Curtobacterium albidum SRV4 strain. The SRV4 expressed positive attribute for nitrogen (N 2) fixation, exopolysaccharide production (EPS), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity. The higher doses of NaCl negatively affected paddy plant physiology and growth parameters. Paddy plants treated with SRV4 showed significant differences (P < 0.001) in improvement in plant growth parameters, photosynthetic pigment efficiency, membrane stabilization index and proline content. A significant variation (P < 0.001) in enhancement in antioxidative enzymatic activities catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and K+ uptake in paddy plants was noted due to C. albidum SRV4 inoculation. Paddy plant growth parameters (plant root and shoot length, dry weight and tiller number) and antioxidative enzymatic activities were negatively correlated. In conclusion, C. albidum SRV4 has been found as effective microbial agent to improve photosynthetic efficiency, modulation of osmolytes and antioxidative enzymes due to efficient PGP attributes, development of induced systemic tolerance and alleviating salt stress in paddy plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use changes such as transformation of natural landscapes, forest degradation and increase in croplands due to human activities are considered amongst the most influential ecological disturbances affecting soil, ecosystems and environmental sustainability. The previous works from India are limited to show that soil disturbances influence abiotic and biotic factors along a rural–urban gradient. However, variations in soil microbial biomass (SMB) –C, –N and –P quantity due to land use changes at different soil depths across different land use types remain poorly understood on comparative ground. We investigated the impact of land use types on soil properties and SMB –C, –N and –P levels across different soil depths (0–10, 10–20 and 20–30 cm) in dry tropical uplands. Four land use types/covers (natural forest, mixed forest, savanna and agriculture land) were selected. The present study is based on two hypotheses: i) different land use types affect SMB levels in top surface soil (0–10 cm), but have less effects in deeper soil profiles (20–30 cm); and ii) SMB levels in top surface soil are highest in natural forest, followed by mixed forest and then savanna and agriculture lands. ANOVA showed significant differences in SMB values due to land use covers (P < 0.001), soil depths (P < 0.001) and land use types × soil depths interaction (P < 0.001). Although, there had no effect of land use types on SMB levels in deeper soil profiles (20–30 cm) but soil parameters (soil pH, soil moisture, soil temperature, total-N, C/N ratio and organic-C) significantly affect SMB levels in top surface (0–10 cm) soil. The study suggests that SMB may be considered as a key indicator of soil fertility index, while land use practices are a major cause for loss of microbial community composition/biomass in dry tropical upland soil. Image 1 • Land use changes (LUCs) involve manipulation of forests to farmlands. • Organic matter decrease due to LUCs reduces soil microbial biomass levels. • Higher soil organic matter supports greater soil microbial biomass in forest. • Reforestation may restore beneficial soil microbial communities and biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer (BC) has emerged as the most common malignancy among females. The genomic profile of BC is diverse in nature and complex due to heterogeneity among various geographically different ethnic groups. The primary objective of this study was to carry out a comprehensive mutational analysis of Indian BC cases by performing whole exome sequencing. The cohort included patients with a median age of 48 years. TTN, TP53, MUC16, SYNE1, and OBSCN were the frequently altered genes found in our cohort. The PIK3CA and KLC3 genes are driver genes implicated in various cellular functions and cargo transportation through microtubules, respectively. Except for CCDC168 and PIK3CA, several gene pairings were found to be significantly linked with co-occurrence. Irrespective of their hormonal receptor status, RTK/RAS was observed with frequently altered signaling pathways. Further analysis of the mutational signature revealed that SBS13, SBS6, and SBS29 were mainly observed in our cohort. This study supplements the discovery of diagnostic biomarkers and provides new therapeutic options for the improved management of BC., (© 2024. The Author(s).)