Financial progress, inward remittances, and economic growth in Bangladesh: Is the nexus asymmetric?

Prior studies in Bangladesh examined the effects of financial progress and inward remittances on economic growth and postulated a symmetrical relationship, ignoring the potential asymmetrical relationship between variables. Therefore, this study intends to explore the asymmetrical effects of financial progress and remittances on economic growth in Bangladesh. The study used yearly time series data from 1988 to 2020 and employed the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model. Our study confirmed the asymmetrical effects of financial progress and remittances on economic growth and revealed a long-run association between the variables being studied. The study's novelties are that both positive and negative fluctuations in financial progress and remittances boost Bangladesh's economic growth. Thus, it is essential to enact policies that support financial progress by ensuring sustainable development in financial institutions and financial markets. In addition, remittances should be employed for productive purposes rather than only for consumption to improve the country's economic backbone.

Identification and quantification of phytochelatins in roots of rice to long-term exposure: evidence of individual role on arsenic accumulation and translocation.

Rice has the predilection to take up arsenic in the form of methylated arsenic (o-As) and inorganic arsenic species (i-As). Plants defend themselves using i-As efflux systems and the production of phytochelatins (PCs) to complex i-As. Our study focused on the identification and quantification of phytochelatins by HPLC-ICP-MS/ESI-MS, relating them to the several variables linked to As exposure. GSH, 11 PCs, and As-PC complexes from the roots of six rice cultivars (Italica Carolina, Dom Sofid, 9524, Kitrana 508, YRL-1, and Lemont) exposed to low and high levels of i-As were compared with total, i-As, and o-As in roots, shoots, and grains. Only Dom Sofid, Kitrana 508, and 9524 were found to produce higher levels of PCs even when exposed to low levels of As. PCs were only correlated to i-As in the roots (r=0.884, P <0.001). However, significant negative correlations to As transfer factors (TF) roots-grains (r= -0.739, P <0.05) and shoots-grains (r= -0.541, P <0.05), suggested that these peptides help in trapping i-As but not o-As in the roots, reducing grains' i-As. Italica Carolina reduced i-As in grains after high exposure, where some specific PCs had a special role in this reduction. In Lemont, exposure to elevated levels of i-As did not result in higher i-As levels in the grains and there were no significant increases in PCs or thiols. Finally, the high production of PCs in Kitrana 508 and Dom Sofid in response to high As treatment did not relate to a reduction of i-As in grains, suggesting that other mechanisms such as As-PC release and transport seems to be important in determining grain As in these cultivars.

Rice-arsenate interactions in hydroponics: a three-gene model for tolerance.

In this study, the genetic mapping of the tolerance of root growth to 13.3 muM arsenate [As(V)] using the BalaxAzucena population is improved, and candidate genes for further study are identified. A remarkable three-gene model of tolerance is advanced, which appears to involve epistatic interaction between three major genes, two on chromosome 6 and one on chromosome 10. Any combination of two of these genes inherited from the tolerant parent leads to the plant having tolerance. Lists of potential positional candidate genes are presented. These are then refined using whole genome transcriptomics data and bioinformatics. Physiological evidence is also provided that genes related to phosphate transport are unlikely to be behind the genetic loci conferring tolerance. These results offer testable hypotheses for genes related to As(V) tolerance that might offer strategies for mitigating arsenic (As) accumulation in consumed rice.