Search

Drought is a major problem worldwide for agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. In many cases, major physiological and biochemical changes occur due to drought stress. The plant’s response to drought stress includes a set of systems for intracellular regulation of gene expression and inter-tissue and inter-organ signaling, which ultimately leads to increased stress tolerance. Meanwhile, the role of plant growth-promoting bacteria in improving many harmful consequences of drought stress has been discussed. One of the new ways to increase tolerance to drought stress in plants is drug design using methods based on computer analysis, bioinformatics, pharmacokinetics, and molecular docking. The present study aimed to identify volatile and non-volatile compounds involved in drought tolerance using molecular docking methods. In this research, among the volatile and non-volatile compounds effective in increasing growth and inducing drought tolerance, compounds that have a high affinity for interacting with the active site of late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) protein were identified through molecular docking methods, and it was presented as a suitable inhibitor for this protein. Based on the docking results, the inhibition potentials of the studied compounds differed, and the most vital interaction in the case of LEA 3 protein was related to the gibberellic acid compound, whose energy is equivalent to −7.78 kcal/mol. Due to the basic understanding of many mechanisms operating in the interactions of plants and bacteria, it is expected that the practical use of these compounds will grow significantly in the coming years, relying on pharmacokinetic methods and molecular docking.

Plant biomass is the largest and amply available biomass on the earth. Petals of flowering plants serve as an excellent raw material to synthesize nanoparticles. Biologically prepared silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have garnered interest due to their simple and cost-effective green approach compared to chemical and physical methods. This investigation aimed to analyze the antibacterial, antioxidant, and antibiofilm properties of AgNPs synthesized from Hibiscus Sabdariffa L. petal extract and assess their potential as a stabilizing agent. A surface plasmon resonance peak at 421 nm confirmed the formation of AgNPs in the ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) range. Additionally, size and morphological studies of the AgNPs were obtained using Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The identification of functional groups that are responsible for the stabilizing layer of AgNPs was achieved through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The antioxidant activity of synthesized AgNPs was investigated using the DPPH and ABTS radicals; the best performance was found in the scavenging of the DPPH radical, with an IC50 value of 37.71 ± 0.07 μg/ml. AgNPs actively suppressed the growth of four pathogenic bacteria (Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella boydii, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli). Notably, Escherichia coli biofilm formation was absent at 40 and 80 g/ml of AgNPs up to 96 h. Finally, the overall findings of this present study confirmed that the AgNPs prepared from Hibiscus Sabdariffa petal extract can be used as antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antibiofilm preparations.

Cordyceps militaris, a medicinal fungus, has gained considerable attention owing to its potential health benefits, notably the production of bioactive compounds such as cordycepin. Cordycepin possesses significant antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties. The present study focused on optimizing the fermentation conditions for C. militaris to boost the production of mycelia and cordycepin, alongside investigating its antifungal properties using in silico and in vitro approaches. The optimal conditions, yielding the highest cordycepin and mycelial biomass, were a temperature of 20°C and a pH range of 4–6, with glucose and sucrose as carbon sources and yeast extract and casein hydrolysate as nitrogen sources. Under these conditions, cordycepin production peaked at low pH (600–1000 mg/L) and with carbon and maltose (400–500 mg/L). The low temperature favored cordycepin production (400 mg/L), whereas casein hydrolysate as a nitrogen source boosted cordycepin yield (600 mg/L). The docking analysis indicated that cordycepin had the highest binding affinity for the tubulin beta chain 2 (−10.4 kcal/mol) compared to the fungicide tebuconazole (−7.9 kcal/mol for both targets). The in silico results were corroborated by in vitro studies, where the mycelial extract of C. militaris inhibited approximately 75% of fungal growth at a concentration of 6000 ppm. These findings suggest that optimizing fermentation conditions significantly enhances cordycepin production, and cordycepin shows antifungal solid activity, making it a promising agent for biocontrol in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phosphate solubilizing properties of Lysinibacillus macroides ST-30, Pseudomonas pelleroniana N-26, and Bacillus cereus ST-6 were tested for the chickpea crop of the Tarai region of Uttarakhand. These microbially inoculated plants have shown significant (p > 0.05) improvement in the plant health and crop health parameters, viz., root length, shoot length, fresh weight, dry weight, nodule number, nodule fresh weight, nodule dry weight, chlorophyll content, and nitrate reductase. The highest shoot length (46.10 cm) and chlorophyll content (0.57 mg g-1 fresh weight) were observed in ST-30 at 75 DAS with 20 kg P2O5/ha. Similarly, for plant P content, an increase of 90.12% over control was recorded in the same treatment. Treatments consisting of Lysinibacillus macroides ST-30 along with 20 kg/ha P2O5 were found to be most suitable as phosphatic fertilizer. Conclusively, sustainable agriculture practices in the Tarai as well as the field region may be developed based on a strategy of exploring microbial inoculants from the pristine region of the Western Himalayas. The presence and abundance of bacterial inoculants were confirmed through qRT-PCT. We conclude that the effective plant growth-promoting bacterium Lysinibacillus macroides ST-30 broadens the spectrum of phosphate solubilizers available for field applications and might be used together with 20 Kg/ha P2O5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Malaysian population grows, there is a high demand for rice, the main staple food in this region. This has caused the overuse of agrochemicals that contain heavy metals and the utilization of contaminated groundwater to increase paddy yield, posing a risk to humans. This study reviewed the accumulated heavy metals in paddy fields of Malaysia's Selangor, Kedah and Sabah states and further calculated the consumption risks of rice grains from the selected areas. The study revealed that paddy soil in Ranau Valley (Sabah), Kota Marudu (Sabah) and Tanjung Karang (Selangor) showed presences of Cu and Cd in high concentration, respectively, creating higher potential to be uptake by paddy roots. These findings also revealed that Ranau Valley (Sabah) paddy grains contained high Cu and Cd concentrations, while Sabak Bernam (Selangor) contained high Pb concentrations. Further, a higher Cd concentration was reported from the Ranau Valley (Sabah), while the higher Pb concentrations were reported from the samples collected from Sabak Bernam (Selangor), Tanjung Karang (Selangor) and Kubang Pasu (Kedah). Based on the health risk indices calculation in this study, carcinogenic and non- carcinogenic health risks in all study areas except in Kubang Pasu (Kedah) and Langkawi (Kedah) are likely to occur due to Cu mining activities, ultrabasic soil contamination, utilization of contaminated groundwater and rock phosphate fertilizer and vehicular emission. Regular assessment of heavy metal content and consumption risks of paddy is essential to ensure the paddy field is free from contamination and will help protect the ecosystem and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia recorded 8904 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases and 124 deaths as of 27 July 2020. Globally, everyday there are thousands of new cases of COVID-19 being recorded. Due to the high number of infections globally and nationwide the increase in the amount of clinical waste (CW) generation was expected. Malaysia has reported a 27% (by weight) increase in the generation of CW which was mostly attributed to COVID-19 related waste. This article presents the impacts of COVID-19 in waste generation, policy and regulation of CW management (CWM) in Malaysia and a case study on the CWM at a selected hospital used as a COVID-19 focal point. The current practice of CWM due to COVID-19 related cases follows the existing policy and legislation of CWM detailed in the Schedule Waste Regulation (2005), Environmental Quality Act, 1974, and with the standard operating procedure provided by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. The case study conducted through survey and questionnaire interviews revealed that the CWM in government hospitals followed existing guidelines for CWM for COVID-19 waste, with some additional precautions and rules by the waste management contractors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane (CH) is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential that is 25 times higher than carbon dioxide (CO). Microbial oxidation of landfill CH is about 5 % and it plays a significant role in reducing emissions to the atmosphere. Previous studies have shown that microbial oxidation of CH in landfill cover soil can be enhanced using organic matter-rich substrates. This study aims to investigate the CH oxidation activity with the addition of different organic wastes in different combinations. Batch experiments with different organic wastes for CH oxidation activity showed that compost and sawdust required the shortest time to oxidize CH compared to empty fruit bunch and black soil. However, other organic wastes (spent yeast, sewage sludge and spent tea leaves) tested in this study produced CH instead. Compost and sawdust took 4 days for complete CH oxidation. Batch experiments with different combinations of organic waste showed potential CH reduction when combined with compost. The combination of 20 % spent yeast + 80 % compost was able to completely oxidize CH at day 16. CH was fully oxidized on day 1 by 20 % sewage sludge + 80 % compost, showing good CH oxidation potential; 100 % sawdust fully oxidized CH within 4 days, while a combination of 20 % sawdust + 80 % compost and 40 % sawdust + 60 % compost took 2 days for complete CH oxidation. From this study, it can be concluded that the addition of organic wastes at optimum ratio and combination with compost as landfill cover material will have a significant effect on CH emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]