Assessment of halotolerant bacterial and fungal consortia for augmentation of wheat in saline soils.

Adaptations of green technologies to counter abiotic stress, including salinity for crops like wheat by using halotolerant microbes, is a promising approach. The current study investigated 17 salt-affected agroecological zones from the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan to explore the potential of indigenous microbial flora, with their multiple biochemical characteristics in addition to plant growth promoting (PGP) traits, for enhanced wheat production in saline areas. Initially, 297 isolated pure bacterial colonies were screened for salt tolerance, biochemical, and PGP traits. Three bacterial strains belonging to Pantoea spp. and Erwinia rhaphontici with possession of multiple characteristics were selected for the development of the halotolerant bacterial consortium. Inoculation of two local wheat varieties, Faisalabad 2008 and Galaxy 2013, with the consortium for in vitro seed germination assay and sand microcosm experiments exhibited significant improvement of selected plant growth parameters like germination percentage and root structure. Two previously reported PGP fungal strains of Trichoderma harzianum and T. viridae were also used as fungal consortium separately for pot experiments and field trials. The pot experiments exhibited a positive correlation of consortia with metabolic viz. catalase, peroxidase, and proline and agronomical parameters including shoot length, dry weight, number of spikes, spike length, and 100 grain weight. To evaluate their performance under natural environmental conditions, field trials were conducted at three salt-affected sites. Agronomical attributes including days of flowering and maturity, flag leaf weight, length and width, shoot length, number of spikes, spike length, spike weight, number of seeds spike-1, 1,000 grain weight, and plot yield indicated the efficiency of these microbes to enhance wheat growth. Concisely, the bacterial consortium showed better performance and Faisalabad 2008 was a more resistant variety as compared to Galaxy 2013. Initial promising results indicate that further extensive research on indigenous microbes might lead to the development of Pakistan's first saline-specific biofertilizers and sustainable eco-friendly agriculture practices.

Efficient adsorption of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons by electrospun hydrophobic PTFE-NiO composite nanofiber filter mats.

Aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons (AAHs) are comprised of a variety of gaseous chemicals that may affect human and environmental health. To remove AAHs from air, polytetrafluoroethylene-nickel oxide (PTFE-NiO) composite nanofiber filter mats (NFMs) were synthesized and characterized for their ability to effectively adsorb AAHs. The NiO-nanoparticle-doped mats were fabricated by green electrospinning of PTFE and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) mixtures added with nickel (II) nitrate hexahydrate in the spinning solution followed by surface heat treatment. FE-SEM FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, sessile drop and Jar methods were applied as characterization techniques. The diameter of the electrospun nanofibers without NiO dopant ranged from 0.34 ± 21.61 to 0.23 ± 10.12 µm, whereas a reduction in diameter of NiO-doped nanofibers was obtained, ranging between pristine to 0.25 ± 24.12 µm and 0.12 ± 85.75 µm with heat treatment. 6% (by weight) NiO-doped PTFE composite NFMs exhibited a high water-contact angle of 120 ± 2.20 degrees; the high hydrophobicity value aided self-cleansing property of NFMs for practical applications. UV adsorption capability for heat-treated PTFE-NiO NFMs was evaluated for three AAHs, and the results showed that 6 wt% NiO adsorbed 1.41, 0.67, and 0.73 µg/mg of toluene, formaldehyde and acetone, respectively. These findings reveal the potential applicability of the prepared filter mats for capturing various AAHs from polluted air.

Transporters and transcription factors gene families involved in improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and assimilation in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Nitrogen (N) as a macronutrient is an important determinant of plant growth. The excessive usage of chemical fertilizers is increasing environmental pollution; hence, the improvement of crop's nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is imperative for sustainable agriculture. N uptake, transportation, assimilation, and remobilization are four important determinants of plant NUE. Oryza sativa L. (rice) is a staple food for approximately half of the human population, around the globe and improvement in rice yield is pivotal for rice breeders. The N transporters, enzymes indulged in N assimilation, and several transcription factors affect the rice NUE and subsequent yield. Although, a couple of improvements have been made regarding rice NUE, the knowledge about regulatory mechanisms operating NUE is scarce. The current review provides a precise knowledge of how rice plants detect soil N and how this detection is translated into the language of responses that regulate the growth. Additionally, the transcription factors that control N-associated genes in rice are discussed in detail. This mechanistic insight will help the researchers to improve rice yield with minimized use of chemical fertilizers.

Patterns of Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Direct Antiviral Agents and Pegylated-Interferon Therapy.

INTRODUCTION:  The impact of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) on the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is controversial and a part of the scientific community believes it as a biased interpretation of data. Many studies have reported an aggressive pattern of HCC after DAA use. In this study, we attempted to assess the changes in the pattern of HCC after treatment with DAAs or PI (PEG, pegylated-interferon). METHODS:  A total of 37 HCC patients after DAA treatment and 21 HCC patients after PI treatment were included. The diagnosis of HCC was made and information about demographics, HCC infiltrative pattern, portal vein thrombosis (PVT), time at initial presentation, Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score, and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage were compared in the two groups. RESULTS:  The total number of male patients in the DAA group was 62% while either gender was almost equal in PI. The age group of 40-60 was more prevalent in the DAA group while the PI group comprised more patients who were above 60 years. Patients in the DAA group presented after 3.35 years on average while patients in the PI group presented after about seven years. Most of the patients presented with the CTP stage of A. That is true for both groups. For BCLC staging, most of the patients had stage C, which means multiple lesions. At the initial presentation, most of the patients presented with multifocal lesions. CONCLUSION:  Our study found no significant difference in the initial presentation between both groups. However, HCC patients with prior DAA therapy presented early than those with PI therapy.

Comparison of in Vitro and in Planta Toxicity of Vip3A for Lepidopteran Herbivores.

Agricultural pest infestation is as old as domestication of food crops and contributes a major share to the cost of crop production. In a transgenic pest control approach, plant production of Vip3A, an insecticidal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis, is effective against lepidopteran pests. A synthetic Vip3A gene was evaluated for efficacy against Spodoptera litura Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae; cotton leafworm), Spodoptera exigua Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae; beet armyworm), Spodoptera frugiperda Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae; fall armyworm), Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae; cotton bollworm), Helicoverpa zea Boddie (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae; corn earworm), Heliothis virescens Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae; tobacco budworm), and Manduca sexta L. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae; tobacco hornworm) in tobacco. In artificial diet assays, the concentration required to achieve 50% mortality was highest for H. zea followed by H. virescens > S. exigua > H. armigera > M. sexta > S. frugiperda > S. litura. By contrast, in bioassays with detached leaves from Vip3A transgenic tobacco, the time until 50% lethality was M. sexta > H. virescens > S. litura > H. zea > H. armigera > S. exigua. There was no significant correlation between the artificial diet and transgenic plant bioassay results. Notably, the two insect species that are best-adapted for growth on tobacco, M. sexta and H. virescens, showed the greatest time to 50% mortality on Vip3A-transgenic tobacco. Together, our results suggest that artificial diet assays may be a poor predictor of Vip3A efficacy in transgenic plants, lepidopteran species vary in their sensitivity to Vip3A in diet-dependent manner, and host plant adaptation of the targeted herbivores should be considered when designing transgenic plants for pest control.

Social network utilization (Facebook) & e-Professionalism among medical students.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the frequency and contents of online social networking (Facebook) among medical students of Dow University of Health Sciences. METHODS: The sample of the study comprised of final year students of two medical colleges of Dow University of Health Sciences - Karachi. Systematic search for the face book profiles of the students was carried out with a new Facebook account. In the initial phase of search, it was determined whether each student had a Facebook account and the status of account as ''private'' ''intermediate'' or ''public'' was also sought. In the second phase of the study, objective information including gender, education, personal views, likes, tag pictures etc. were recorded for the publicly available accounts. An in depth qualitative content analysis of the public profiles of ten medical students, selected randomly with the help of random number generator technique was conducted. RESULTS: Social networking with Facebook is common among medical students with 66.9% having an account out of a total 535 students. One fifth of profiles 18.9% were publicly open, 36.6% profiles were private and 56.9% were identified to have an intermediate privacy setting, having customized settings for the profile information. In-depth analysis of some public profiles showed that potentially unprofessional material mostly related to violence and politics was posted by medical students. CONCLUSION: The usage of social network (Facebook) is very common among students of the university. Some unprofessional posts were also found on students' profiles mostly related to violence and politics.