Antioxidant Defense and Ionic Homeostasis Govern Stage-Specific Response of Salinity Stress in Contrasting Rice Varieties.

Salt stress is one of the most severe environmental stresses limiting the productivity of crops, including rice. However, there is a lack of information on how salt-stress sensitivity varies across different developmental stages in rice. In view of this, a comparative evaluation of contrasting rice varieties CSR36 (salt tolerant) and Jaya (salt sensitive) was conducted, wherein NaCl stress (50 mM) was independently given either at seedling (S-stage), tillering (T-stage), flowering (F-stage), seed-setting (SS-stage) or throughout plant growth, from seedling till maturity. Except for S-stage, CSR36 exhibited improved NaCl stress tolerance than Jaya, at all other tested stages. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the improved NaCl stress tolerance in CSR36 coincided with enhanced activities/levels of enzymatic/non-enzymatic antioxidants (root ascorbate peroxidase for T- (2.74-fold) and S+T- (2.12-fold) stages and root catalase for F- (5.22-fold), S+T- (2.10-fold) and S+T+F- (2.61-fold) stages) and higher accumulation of osmolytes (shoot proline for F-stage (5.82-fold) and S+T+F- (2.31-fold) stage), indicating better antioxidant capacitance and osmotic adjustment, respectively. In contrast, higher shoot accumulation of Na+ (14.25-fold) and consequent increase in Na+/K+ (14.56-fold), Na+/Mg+2 (13.09-fold) and Na+/Ca+2 (8.38-fold) ratio in shoot, were identified as major variables associated with S-stage salinity in Jaya. Higher root Na+ and their associated ratio were major deriving force for other stage specific and combined stage salinity in Jaya. In addition, CSR36 exhibited higher levels of Fe3+, Mn2+ and Co3+ and lower Cl- and SO42-, suggesting its potential to discriminate essential and non-essential nutrients, which might contribute to NaCl stress tolerance. Taken together, the findings provided the framework for stage-specific salinity responses in rice, which will facilitate crop-improvement programs for specific ecological niches, including coastal regions.

Rapid extraction of uranium from sea water using Fe3O4 and humic acid coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

Uranium is one of the most toxic elements present in the environment and a number of methods have been developed for its extraction. Herein we have demonstrated a new method using magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) that can be used for uranium extraction from water and sea water matrix. Fe3O4 and humic acid (HA) coated Fe3O4 NPs with different amount of HA coating were synthesized and uranium sorption from water and sea water matrix was demonstrated. It was observed that sorption increases with increase in amount of HA coating. NPs settlement in presence of magnetic field was monitored where only bare Fe3O4 and Fe3O4/HA 1 NPs settles while no settlement was observed for Fe3O4/HA 2 and Fe3O4/HA 3 NPs. Considering both sorption and particle separation from the matrix Fe3O4/HA 1 NPs are the best among synthesized ones with maximum sorption capacity of 10.5mg of U/g of NPs. The results presented here reveal the exceptional potential of magnetic NPs and functionalized magnetic NPs for environmental remediation of uranium and to extract uranium from sea water on which to the best of our knowledge no report is available till now.

A visual strip sensor for determination of iron.

A visual strip has been developed for sensing iron in different aqueous samples like natural water and fruit juices. The sensor has been synthesized by UV-radiation induced graft polymerization of acrylamide monomer in microporous poly(propylene) base. For physical immobilization of iron selective reagent, the in situ polymerization of acrylamide has been carried out in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline. The loaded strip on interaction with Fe(II) in aqueous solution turned into orange red color and the intensity of the color was found to be directly proportional to the amount of Fe(II) in the aqueous sample. The minimal sensor response with naked eye was found for 50ngmL(-1) of Fe in 15min of interaction. However, as low as 20ngmL(-1) Fe could be quantified using a spectrophotometer. The detection limit calculated using the 3s/S criteria, where 's' is the standard deviation of the absorbance of blank reagent loaded strip and 'S' is the slope of the linear calibration plot, was 1.0ngmL(-1). The strip was applied to measure Fe in a variety of samples such as ground water and fruit juices.

Synthesis and application of a unified sorbent for simultaneous preconcentration and determination of trace metal pollutants in natural waters.

A flat sheet sorbent with poly(hydroxamic acid) groups anchored on the microporous structure of poly(propylene) membrane was developed and applied for the preconcentration and determination of heavy elements from natural waters. The designing of the sorbent involved UV-irradiation induced graft polymerization of acrylamide using N,N'-methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBA) as the crosslinker on the poly(propylene) base followed by chemical modification of the grafted membrane to generate crosslinked poly(hydroxamic acid) (PHA) groups in its pores. The synthesized PHA-membrane was found to preconcentrate U, V, Cu, Cr, Fe and Pb quantitatively (95%) from aqueous samples over a wide pH range of 4-9. The sorbed trace elements were quantified by direct analysis of the membrane using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF). To test the applicability of the developed sorbent to real samples, interference effect of common matrix elements like Na, K, Ca and Mg on the uptake of the analytes at sub µg mL(-1) level was studied. The PHA sorbent was found to be immune to interferences from Na, K and Mg up to 1000 µg mL(-1) and Ca up to 100 µg mL(-1) for an analyte concentration of 1 µg mL(-1). The method detection limit for EDXRF measurement was 6-30 ng using a 2 cm × 2 cm sorbent.