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Background Genetically modified (GM) crops have become a common tool for managing insect pests of economic importance. However, before their commercialization, bio-safety evaluation on non-target arthropods such as pollinators and biological control agents is a pre-requisite to save services rendered by them in agro-ecosystem. Results In the present experiment, the potential adverse effects of Bt protein (Vip3Aa) were studied on the life table parameters (pupation and emergence rates, 7-day larval weights, larval development time, and adult weight) of a predatory beetle, Propylea japonica (Thunberg) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in the laboratory. P. japonica was exposed to Bt protein incorporated in synthetic diet at the rate of 200 µg/g of fresh weight of diet. Temporal stability, bioactivity and the uptake of insecticidal protein were confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a sensitive insect bioassay. The results indicated that pupation and adult emergence rates did not differ significantly from that of negative control (pure synthetic diet). Similarly, the fresh weight of male and female adults emerged in Vip3Aa treatment (2.87 mg and 3.86 mg, respectively) did not vary significantly from that of the negative control treatment (2.66 mg, 3.75 mg). However, the time taken by the larvae to complete their development (12.70 days) was significantly extended than that of the negative control (10.21 days). In contrast, the tested life-table parameters of P. japonica were adversely affected when fed on synthetic diet containing boric acid (positive control) indicating experimental fitness to detect adverse effects. Conclusions On the basis of the results, it is suggested that GM crops expressing Bt protein (Vip3Aa) are safe for non-target insects such as P. japonica and are compatible with other biological programs for the integrated management of insect pests.

Recent postharvest studies have shown that adding an antioxidative agent in a polysaccharide-based edible coating reduces postharvest losses and extends the shelf life of a coated fruit. Therefore, the effect of addition of ascorbic acid (AA, 1%) in chitosan-based coating (CH, 1%) on strawberry fruits under cold storage conditions at 4 ± 1 °C and 85 ± 5% RH was investigated for 15 days. It was observed that addition of AA in CH coating reduced weight loss, decay percentage, malondialdehyde content and hydrogen peroxide compared to CH alone. The combined CH + AA application also suppressed fruit softening by reducing cell wall degrading enzymes (i.e. polygalacturonase, cellulase and pectin methyl esterase) activities. In addition, AA incorporation catalyzed ROS scavenging enzymes (i.e. ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) activities. CH + AA treatment also maintained fruit quality by conserving higher total soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, total phenolics and antioxidant activity. Sensory quality (color, taste, glossiness and overall acceptability) of fruits coated with CH + AA treatment was also stable during storage. Conclusively, the combined CH + AA application is an effective approach to maintain the postharvest quality of strawberry fruits under cold storage.

Colour vision is common phenomenon in living animals, but varies in insect species, depending on their vision sensitivity and photoreceptors involved. The sensitivity of the photoreceptor is determined through the absorption of visual colour pigments expressed. Photoreceptors are involved in filtering pigments, transverse wavelength, retinal image and colour signals. We have evaluated the colour attraction of two important stored grains insects, Red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum H) and Pulse beetle (Callosobruchus chinensis L) to determine their visual sensitivity toward various colour surfaces. The data was recorded after 24hrs of releasing the insects in a chamber in which various colour surfaces were provided. The results showed that the T. castaneum was highly attracted toward green colour with maximum (17.3%) and (8.7%) of insects observed outside and inside the bags respectively. Whereas, minimum (4.3%) and (3.0%) T. castaneum found outside and inside the blue colour bags respectively. Similarly, C. chinensis was greatly attracted toward blue colour with the maximum (16.0%) and (7.7%) insects found attached outside and inside the bags respectively. Whereas, minimum (9.0%) and (2.0%) C. chinensis were recorded outside and inside the black colour bags respectively.

Red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) is the major insect pest of store grain, and its single larvae can attack 88 grains during its life which leads to a considerable loss of quality and viability of grain. Therefore, to manage this insect pest present research was designed to check the effects of different colours of lights on the developmental stages of red flour beetle and their attraction on lights. Six (White, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue and Black) colours of light were used in the present experiment at 30±2oC and 60%±10% relative humidity (RH). Results revealed that a longer incubation period (4.17±0.18, less hatching (78.66±0.50%) and highest mortality (21.34±1.11%) of T. castaneum eggs were observed on blue light, while a short incubation period (3.03±0.51), highest hatching (89.99±1.92%) and lowest mortality (10.01±0.22%) were observed on white colour of light. However, a longer duration (32.01±0.15, 12.33±0.31) and maximum (28.10±2.50 ,14.66±0.52) mortality of T. castaneum was found in larval and pupae stages on blue colour of light, while a short duration (21.27±0.27, 7.33±0.13) and minimum (8.30±2.5, 8.00±0.65) larval and pupal mortality (%) were seen by red and yellow colour of lights. Similarly, an adult’s longevity significantly reduced (48.33±1.76) when beetles were exposed on blue light, whereas a significant (62.33±1.66) increase in adult longevity was found on white colour of light. A highest (33.33±0.56) attraction of red flour beetle was found on red colour of light, whereas, a lowest attraction was observed on blue (6.00±0.85) and black (10.00±1.55) colours of lights.

Custard apple is the most delicious fruit of tropical and subtropical areas. The storage life of custard apple is very limited due to fast ripening and attack of several diseases after harvesting. Anthracnose caused by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is the most damaging postharvest disease of custard apple. The effects of postharvest nitric oxide (NO) treatment on anthracnose disease and quality of custard apple were investigated in this study. The fruit were dipped in 50, 100 and 200 µM sodium nitroprusside (SNP), the NO-donor compound, and stored for 8 days at 25 °C. The results showed that custard apple treated with 100 µM SNP treatment significantly reduced anthracnose disease incidence (97.25%) and disease severity (92.88%) after 8 days of storage. However, SNP did not exhibit substantial effect on mycelial growth and spore germination of C. gloeosporioides. Custard apple treated with SNP effectively reduced weight loss and total soluble solids. SNP treatment retained a higher level of firmness, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and total phenolics compared to the control fruit. Additionally, the same treatment enhanced DPPH and FRAP antioxidant activities of custard apple. These results indicated that exogenous NO treatment could be a promising approach to increase resistance against fungal pathogens and maintain postharvest quality of custard apple.

Banana is a tropical fruit that suffers from several postharvest diseases during transportation and storage. Anthracnose caused by the fungus Colletotrichum musae is the most destructive postharvest disease of banana. The aim of this study was to determine the antifungal activities of Aloe vera (AV) gel coating alone or in combination with garlic oil (GO) at two concentrations (AV + GO 0.05% and AV + GO 0.1%) in vitro and in vivo against anthracnose disease of banana fruit. The results showed that the AV gel coating incorporated with GO was more effective as a fungicide than AV gel alone. The highest antifungal activity was observed in AV + GO 0.1% treatment, which significantly inhibited the mycelial growth and spore germination by 87.7 and 91.2%, respectively, compared to the control. In vivo study indicated that AV gel combined with GO 0.1% effectively reduced anthracnose disease incidence (92.5%) and severity (81.0%) in artificially inoculated banana fruit after 15 days of storage. The same treatment delayed the changes in weight loss, firmness, soluble solids concentration, and titratable acidity. Moreover, AV gel coating and GO enhanced total phenolic contents and total antioxidant activities of banana fruit. These results suggested that AV gel combined with GO can be used as an effective biofungicide for controlling anthracnose disease of banana fruit.

The effect of Aloe vera (AV) gel (at 50% or 100%) alone or enriched with Fagonia indica (FI) plant extract at 1% on physiological and biochemical responses of sapodilla fruit were studied during storage at 20 °C for 12 days. Sapodilla fruit treated with AV 100% and FI 1% significantly reduced weight loss, decay incidence, soluble solids concentration, and kept a high level of firmness and titratable acidity compared to the untreated fruit. FI 1% added to AV 50% or AV 100% efficiently maintained higher ascorbic acid, total flavonoids, total phenolics and radical scavenging activity of sapodilla fruit. The panelists did not detect any negative effect of AV gel and FI plant extract on the sensory attributes of sapodilla fruit. Therefore, the addition of FI plant extract to AV gel coating could be a promising approach to prolong the shelf life and preserve the quality of sapodilla fruit during storage.

This study tested a novel combination of hydrocolloid gum arabic (GA) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to extend postharvest life of tomatoes. For this purpose, tomato fruits were coated with GA 10%, CMC 0.5% and GA 10% + CMC 0.5%, and stored for 20 days at 20 °C and 90 ± 2% RH. Application of biocomposite hydrocolloid coating reduced physiological weight loss, respiration rate, ethylene production, decay percentage and stress markers viz. malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide. Biocomposite hydrocolloid coating inhibited change in bioactive compounds (phenolics, ascorbic acid, and lycopene), color, organic acids, soluble sugars and up-regulated enzymatic ROS scavenging mechanism in tomato fruit more than GA or CMC coating. Moreover, biocomposite coatings delayed senescence by reducing activity of cell wall degrading enzymes and maintaining cell wall fractions. Conclusively, the biocomposite coating based on GA and CMC was superior to their individual coating in prolonging ripening phase, delaying senescence and increasing the acceptability of tomato fruits for longer duration.

The effect of carboxymethyl cellulose [(1%) CMC] was evaluated on mango fruits under storage at 20 ± 1 °C for 20 days. The CMC coating noticeably reduced weight loss and disease incidence. Application of CMC delayed climacteric peak of ethylene and respiration rate with significantly reduced relative ion leakage, malondialdehyde, superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide content. The treated mangoes showed significantly lower L*, a*, b* and total carotenoids. The CMC treatment reduced the increase in cellulase, pectin methylesterase and polygalacturonase activity that delayed softening of mango fruits. In addition, activities of peroxidase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase were substantially higher in CMC-treated mango fruits. The treated fruits showed significantly lower soluble solids and higher titratable acidity which thereby reduced the ripening index of mangoes. In conclusion, CMC treatment could be considered a potential pre-storage treatment to delay postharvest ripening and to conserve the eating quality of ambient stored mango fruits.

Chitosan is a deacetylated form of chitin and increasingly important amino-polysaccharide used in many various sectors including agriculture, food, and biomedicine. However, chitosan from marine sources has several adverse effects, including allergenic components harmful to human health. Furthermore, marine resources are seasonal, and availability is limited due to dependency on environmental conditions and climate change. In addition, shell infection in crustaceans and environmental contamination make the harvesting of chitin and chitosan problematic. In recent years, chitosan from terrestrial insects has attracted considerable interest. The discoveries show insect chitosan is more advantageous compared to crustacean chitosan. In addition, we were unable to find any literature about the adverse effects of insect chitosan thus far. This review aims to reveal information regarding crustacean and terrestrial insect chitosan and recent advances in chitosan sources. Applications from specific insect orders and perspectives for further study will also be highlighted, including medical and sensing applications.

DC-SIGN receptor articulated by macrophages and dendritic cells is encoded by CD209 gene and plays a role to activate and proliferate the T-lymphocytes in response of virus attack. The dysfunctional activity of DC-SIGN receptor because of missense SNPs can lead to cause dengue haemorrhage fever, HIV-1 infection etc. Out of 11 transcripts of CD209, all missense SNPs of canonical transcript were retrieved from Ensembl database and evaluated by their deleteriousness by using Polyphen-2, PMut, SIFT, MutPred, PROVEAN and PhD-SNP together with stimulation of its complete 3D structure. 10 nsSNPs were chosen depending on both the significance value of nsSNP and their prediction among SNPs evaluating servers which are based on different algorithms. Moreover, the position and native role of 10 nsSNPs in wild 3D model has been described which assist to acknowledge their importance. This study urges the researcher’s community to experimentally validate these SNPs and their association in causing the diseases like dengue fever, Tuberculosis etc.

Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (the skittering frog) is one of the most widespread species in Pakistan. Present study was aimed to know the presence of Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis in urban and rural areas of Lower Dir, the North-western Pakistan. A total of 33 frogs were collected, including 15 from rural and 18 from urban areas. The frogs were caught by hands covered with gloves instead of using nets. The collection was managed from August to October 2016 and from April to May 2018. Morphometric analysis, coloration as well as photographs of the frogs have been provided in detail. Skittering frogs were seen frequent in swampy areas near the water bodies. These frogs were mostly seen after sunset. Resumo Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (a rã que desliza) é uma das espécies mais comuns no Paquistão. O presente estudo teve como objetivo conhecer a presença de Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis em áreas urbanas e rurais de Lower Dir, noroeste do Paquistão. Um total de 33 sapos foram coletados, incluindo 15 de áreas rurais e 18 de áreas urbanas. As rãs foram apanhadas com as mãos cobertas com luvas em vez de redes. A coleta foi gerenciada de agosto a outubro de 2016 e de abril a maio de 2018. Análises morfométricas, coloração e também fotografias das rãs foram fornecidas em detalhes. Rãs saltitantes foram vistas freqüentemente em áreas pantanosas próximas aos corpos d'água. Essas rãs eram vistas principalmente após o pôr do sol.

We designed this review to describe a compilation of studies to enlighten the concepts of plant–microbe interactions, adopted protocols in smart crop farming, and biodiversity to reaffirm sustainable agriculture. The ever-increasing use of agrochemicals to boost crop production has created health hazards to humans and the environment. Microbes can bring up the hidden strength of plants, augmenting disease resistance and yield, hereafter, crops could be grown without chemicals by harnessing microbes that live in/on plants and soil. This review summarizes an understanding of the functions and importance of indigenous microbial communities; host–microbial and microbial–microbial interactions; simplified experimentally controlled synthetic flora used to perform targeted operations; maintaining the molecular mechanisms; and microbial agent application technology. It also analyzes existing problems and forecasts prospects. The real advancement of microbiome engineering requires a large number of cycles to obtain the necessary ecological principles, precise manipulation of the microbiome, and predictable results. To advance this approach, interdisciplinary collaboration in the areas of experimentation, computation, automation, and applications is required. The road to microbiome engineering seems to be long; however, research and biotechnology provide a promising approach for proceeding with microbial engineering and address persistent social and environmental issues.

The effect of guggul gum (GG) 5, 10 and 15 % (w/v) enriched with basil oil (BO) 0.1 % on physico-chemical and qualitative properties of jamun (Syzgium cumini L.) fruit were investigated during storage at 20 °C for 12 days. Jamun fruit treated with GG 10 % + BO 0.1 % or GG 15 % + BO 0.1 %, significantly reduced weight loss, decay incidence and total soluble solids compared to the control fruit. The same treatment delayed depolymerisation of pectin content, and inhibited the activity of polygalacturonase (PG) and cellulase (CEL) enzymes. BO added to GG 10 % or GG 15 % efficiently maintained higher firmness, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, phenolics and total antioxidant activity of jamun fruit. Moreover, the experts have not observed any negative effects of GG and BO on the sensory quality of jamun fruit. The results disclose that GG and BO could be an innovative technology for retarding the physico-chemical changes and extending the shelf life of jamun fruit during storage.

Effects of gum arabic (GA) 10% and calcium chloride (CA) 3% on the physiological, biochemical and quality responses of mango ( Mangifera indica L. cv. Choke Anan) fruit were investigated. Fruit were stored at 6 °C and 90% relative humidity for 28 d and then transferred to 25 °C for an additional 5 d shelf life. Significant ( P ≤ 0.05) differences were observed in fruit treated with CA 3% and GA 10% as compared to the control. The combined treatment of CA 3% and GA 10%, significantly alleviated chilling injury, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and electrolyte leakage than the control fruit. This treatment reduced the increase in hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) content, superoxide anion (O 2 − ) production rate and enhanced DPPH radical scavenging activity. Furthermore, GA 10% alone or in combination with CA 3% effectively inhibited the loss of total phenolic content and ascorbic acid. The result of transmission electron microscopy confirmed that treated fruit maintained cell membrane integrity. These results suggest that application of GA 10% coating combined with CA 3% might be enhanced low temperature tolerance by improving the antioxidant defense system and reducing oxidative damage of mango fruit.

Effect of gum arabic (GA) 10% and calcium chloride (CA) 3% on the physiological and biochemical properties of mango (Mangifera indica L. CV. Choke Anan) fruits stored at 6 ± 1 °C and 90 ± 3% relative humidity for 28 days and then transferred to 25 ± 2 °C for 5 days shelf life were investigated. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) differences were observed in fruits treated with GA 10% and CA 3% as compared to control. The combined treatment of CA 3% + GA 10% significantly alleviated the increase in decay incidence. Furthermore, GA 10% alone or combined with CA 3% effectively reduced weight loss, color changes, soluble solid concentration, respiration rate, ethylene production and maintained high firmness, titratable acidity and ascorbic acid. The result of transmission electron microscopy revealed that these treatments also protected the ultrastructure of mitochondria. These results suggest that application of GA 10% coating combined with CA 3% might be a simple and effective technique for preserving mango fruit quality during low temperature storage.

Mango is a tropical fruit and deteriorates very fast after harvest due to ripening and senescence. This study investigated the effect of different concentration of chitosan coatings 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% on postharvest quality and activities of cell wall degrading enzyme on mango cv. Choke Anan fruit stored at 25°C for 12 days. Fruit not treated with chitosan served as the control. The results showed that pre-storage application of chitosan coatings, especially at 1.5% significantly reduced decay symptoms, weight loss, respiration rate, ion leakage, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and maintained higher firmness of mango fruit as compared to the control. Chitosan coating treatment inhibited polygalactronase (PG) and pectin methylesterase (PME) enzyme activities. Moreover, chitosan coatings had a positive effect on retaining higher total phenolic and antioxidant activity, which reduced in the control fruit. These results suggest that chitosan coatings might be protected the fruit from quick deterioration and maintained the quality of mango by enhancing the antioxidant defense system during storage.

Background Endoscopists use different methods for reporting their findings after a gastrointestinal endoscopy. These may result in handwritten, dictated, or computerized reports. The time needed to create the report is an important parameter for acceptance of the method used. It is also important to be aware of the possible advantages and disadvantages of these different methods. The aim of this study was to compare time aspects of different methods of report writing. Methods Three different methods of report writing, i.e., handwritten, dictated, and computerized, were compared. In three different endoscopy departments, one investigator recorded the time needed to compose the report and to send it to the referring doctor. The time needed to describe different diagnoses at endoscopy was compared between the systems. Results Handwritten reports were completed in an average time of 113 s, free text dictated reports by the endoscopist in 65 s with an additional 172 s allowed for the typist, and computerized, pre-defined reports were completed in 86 s. The incidences of abnormalities found in the reports of the different hospitals were comparable. Conclusion To a large extent, computerized, pre-defined reports could be composed in almost the same amount of time as handwritten and dictated reports. Free text dictated and computerized, pre-defined reports are both stored in the hospital information system, but only computerized, pre-defined reports including endoscopic pictures are stored in a structured database, which makes statistical analysis possible.