Pantoea tagorei sp. nov., a Rhizospheric Bacteria with Plant Growth-Promoting Activities.

A Gram-negative, short-rod, non-motile, facultatively anaerobic, potassium-solubilizing bacterium MR1 (Mine Rhizosphere) was isolated from rhizospheric soil of an open-cast coal mine of Jharia, Jharkhand, India. Isolate MR1 can grow in a broad range of temperature, pH, and NaCl concentrations. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the strain showed 99.24% similarity with Pantoea septica LMG 5345T. However, maximum-likelihood tree constructed using 16S rRNA gene sequence, multilocus sequence analysis using concatenated sequences of ten housekeeping genes, whole-genome based phylogenetic reconstruction, digital DNA-DNA hybridization, and average nucleotide identity (ANIm and ANIb) values indicated segregation of MR1 from its closest relatives. Fatty acid profile of MR1 also suggested the same, with clear variation in major and minor fatty acid contents, having C13:0 anteiso (10-Methyldodecanoic acid) as the unique one. Thus, considering all polyphasic data, strain MR1T (= MTCC 13265T, where 'T' stands for Type strain) is presented as a novel species of the genus Pantoea, for which the name Pantoea tagorei sp. nov. is proposed. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12088-023-01147-9.

Reconfigurable and real-time high-bandwidth Nyquist signal detection with low-bandwidth in silicon photonics.

We demonstrate for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, reconfigurable and real-time orthogonal time-domain detection of a high-bandwidth Nyquist signal with a low-bandwidth silicon photonics Mach-Zehnder modulator based receiver. As the Nyquist signal has a rectangular bandwidth, it can be multiplexed in the wavelength domain without any guardband as a part of a Nyquist-WDM superchannel. These superchannels can be additionally multiplexed in space and polarization. Thus, the presented demonstration can open a new possibility for the detection of multidimensional parallel data signals with silicon photonics. No external pulse source is needed for the receiver, and frequency-time coherence is used to sample the incoming Nyquist signal with orthogonal sinc-shaped Nyquist pulse sequences. All parameters are completely tunable in the electrical domain. The feasibility of the scheme is demonstrated through a proof-of-concept experiment over the entire C-band (1530 nm-1560 nm), employing a 24 Gbaud Nyquist QPSK signal due to experimental constraints on the transmitter side electronics. However, the silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator with a 3-dB bandwidth of only 16 GHz can process Nyquist signals of 90 GHz optical bandwidth, suggesting a possibility to detect symbol rates up to 90 GBd in an integrated Nyquist receiver.

Agnostic sampling transceiver.

Increasing demands for data centers, backbone, access, and wireless networks require inventive concepts to transmit and distribute digital or analog signal waveforms. We present a new, extremely simple transceiver concept, fundamentally different from conventional approaches. It does not rely on high-speed electronics and enables transmission of various time multiplexed analog waveforms or digital data signals with the maximum possible symbol rate in the same rectangular optical spectral band B. The aggregate symbol rate of N signal channels corresponds to B or twice the used modulator's electro-optical bandwidth. By a modification of the system, it can be increased to three times the modulator bandwidth. The rectangular spectra can be further multiplexed into wavelength-superchannels without guardbands. To time demultiplex single signal channel, just another intensity modulator and a detector with an electrical bandwidth corresponding to the channel's baseband width (B/(2N)) is required. No optical filter, high-speed signal processing, or unconventional photonic devices are needed; thus, it has the potential to be easily integrated into any platform and provides an economical and energy-efficient solution for future communication networks and microwave photonic links.

Poorly known microbial taxa dominate the microbiome of hypersaline Sambhar Lake salterns in India.

Inland athalassohaline solar salterns provide unique opportunity to study microbial successions along salinity gradients that resemble transition in natural hypersaline lakes. We analyzed for the first time 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequences of bacteria (V1-V2) and archaea (V4-V5) in saltern brines of India's largest inland hypersaline Sambhar Lake. Brines of the salterns (S1-S4) are alkaline (pH 9.5-10.5) with salinities of 130, 170, 280 and 350 gL-1 respectively. 16S rRNA gene copy-number of archaea outnumbered that of bacteria in all salterns. Their diversity also increased along S1 through S4, while that of bacteria decreased. Brines of S3 and S4 were dominated by specialized extreme halophilic bacterial (Halanaerobiales, Rhodothermaceae) and archaeal (Halobacteriales, Haloferacales) members with recognized salt-in strategy for osmoadaptation. Microbial assemblages positively correlated to saltern pH, total salinity, and ionic composition. Archaea in S1 and S2 were unprecedentedly represented by poorly known as-yet uncultivated groups, Woesearchaeota (90.35-93.51%) and Nanohaloarchaeota that belong to the newly proposed nano-sized superphylum DPANN. In fact, these taxa were identified in archaeal datasets of other athalassohaline salterns after re-analysis using latest RDP database. Thus, microbial compositions in hypersaline lakes are complex and need revisit particularly for their archaeal diversity to understand their hitherto unknown ecological function in extreme environments.

Integrated source-free all optical sampling with a sampling rate of up to three times the RF bandwidth of silicon photonic MZM.

Source-free all optical sampling, based on the convolution of the signal spectrum with a frequency comb in an electronic-photonic, co-integrated silicon device will be presented for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The method has the potential to achieve very high precision, requires only low power and can be fully tunable in the electrical domain. Sampling rates of three and four times the RF bandwidths of the photonics and electronics can be achieved. Thus, the presented method might lead to low-footprint, fully-integrated, precise, electrically tunable, photonic ADCs with very high-analog bandwidths for the digital infrastructure of tomorrow.

Increased productivity in poultry birds by sub-lethal dose of antibiotics is arbitrated by selective enrichment of gut microbiota, particularly short-chain fatty acid producers.

Antibiotics are widely used at sub-lethal concentrations as a feed supplement to enhance poultry productivity. To understand antibiotic-induced temporal changes in the structure and function of gut microbiota of chicken, two flocks were maintained for six weeks on a carbohydrate- and protein-rich diet. The feed in the conventional diet (CD) group was supplemented with sub-lethal doses of chlorotetracycline, virginiamycin and amoxicillin, while the organic diet (OD) had no such addition. Antibiotic-fed birds were more productive, with a lower feed conversion ratio (FCR). Their faecal samples also had higher total heterotrophic bacterial load and antibiotic resistance capability. Deep sequencing of 16S rDNA V1-V2 amplicons revealed Firmicutes as the most dominant phylum at all time points, with the predominant presence of Lactobacillales members in the OD group. The productivity indicator, i.e. higher Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio, particularly in the late growth phase, was more marked in CD amplicon sequences, which was supported by culture-based enumerations on selective media. CD datasets also showed the prevalence of known butyrate-producing genera such as Faecalibacterium, Ruminococcus, Blautia, Coprococcus and Bacteroides, which correlates closely with their higher PICRUSt-based in silico predicted 'glycan biosynthesis and metabolism'-related Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) orthologues. Semi-quantitative end-point PCR targeting of the butyryl-CoA: acetate CoA-transferase gene also confirmed butyrate producers as being late colonizers, particularly in antibiotic-fed birds in both the CD flocks and commercial rearing farms. Thus, antibiotics preferentially enrich bacterial populations, particularly short-chain fatty acid producers that can efficiently metabolize hitherto undigestable feed material such as glycans, thereby increasing the energy budget of the host and its productivity.

Characterization and antimicrobial activity of essential oils extracted from lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) using microwave-assisted hydro distillation.

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) essential oil (LGEO) contains α-citral, ß-citral and other phytochemicals extracted using various methods. This research extracted essential oils using steam distillation (SD) and microwave-assisted hydro distillation (MAHD) to maximize quantity and purity. LGEO was tested for antibacterial properties. LGEO was extracted using SD and compared to MAHD output based on oil production and chemical composition. We performed GCMS to characterize LGEO. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) used for quantum chemical analysis. Spectroscopic analysis showed that SD extracted secondary metabolites (ethyl-linalool, isogeranial, ß-citral, α-citral, geranyl acetate, and caryophyllene) yielded 9.7 %, 11.5 %, 35.4 %, 13.4 %, 6.4 %, and 6.4 %, respectively, while MAHD yielded 10.2 %, 13.4 %, 43.2 %, 17.3 %, 6.9 %, and 7.3 %. MAHD extracted α and ß citral content was better than SD extraction technique. FTIR spectroscopy and quantum chemistry analysis showed extracted oil chemical composition, electronic structure of α and ß citral isomers. In the disc-diffusion experiment, both extracts were effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and harmful fungi. LGEO from SD and MAHD extraction (30 mg/mL) demonstrated disc diffusion assay antibacterial efficacy against microorganisms. The two extracts effectively inhibited microorganisms with MIC values of 3.75 and 7.5 µg/mL. It can be concluded that, LGEO have greater antimicrobial activity in MAHD extraction.

Genetic transfection, hairy root induction and solasodine accumulation in elicited hairy root clone of Solanum erianthum D. Don.

An efficient genetic transfection technique has been established using A4 strain of Agrobacterium rhizogenes for the first time in a medicinally valuable plant Solanum erianthum D. Don. The explants were randomly pricked with sterile needle, inoculated with bacterial suspension. The infected leaves were then washed and transferred to MS basal medium fortified with cefotaxime for hairy root induction. A maximum transformation efficiency of 72 % has been recorded after two days of co-cultivation period. The transfer of rolA and rolB genes from the bacterium to the plant genome has been confirmed in five transformed hairy rootlines by standard Polymerase Chain Reaction technique. On the basis of growth analysis and secondary metabolite study two potential rhizoclones (A4-HR-A and A4-HR-B) were selected. Rhizoclone A4-HR-A can produce highest amount of alkaloid, phenolic and flavonoid, whereas A4-HR-B was observed to be highest tannin producer. Alkaloid like solasodine, commercially important for steroidal drug synthesis, was quantified from leaf and A4-HR-A clone by an improved High Performance Liquid Chromatography method. This showed a sustainable increase (1.33 fold) in production of solasodine in hairy rootline.

A Bacillus strain TCL isolated from Jharia coalmine with remarkable stress responses, chromium reduction capability and bioremediation potential.

Microbial reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) can mitigate environmental chromium toxicity. A chromium, cadmium and nickel tolerating strain TCL with 97% 16S rRNA gene sequence homology to Bacillus cereus was isolated from a derelict open-cast, Tasra Coalmine Lake of Jharia, India. It could tolerate up to Cr2000 [2,000 mg L-1 Cr(VI)] and completely reduce Cr200 within 16 h under heterotrophic condition. TCL grown in ≥ Cr500 exhibited multifarious stress responses particularly in its prolonged lag-phase, like cell aggregation, up to two-fold elongation, increased exopolysaccharide production, and stress enzyme activities. These were relieved by increasing inoculum size or nutrient content. Chromium reduction was constitutive, with maximum activities detected in loosely-bound exopolysaccharides and membrane fractions, followed by cytoplasm and spent media. Cr(VI) was efficiently reduced to Cr(III) and >90% was released in spent media. Cells also expressed Cr-induced active efflux pumps. Growing cells or its crude enzyme extracts could efficiently reduce Cr(VI) in diverse temperatures (15-45 °C), pH (5-9); and in presence of other metals (Cd, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb), oxyanions (SO4-2, NO2-), and metabolic inhibitors (phenol, NaN3, EDTA). Growth and reduction were also detected in nutrient-limited minimal salt media, and contaminated leather industry effluent thereby making TCL a potential candidate for bioremediation.

Nonlinearity- and dispersion- less integrated optical time magnifier based on a high-Q SiN microring resonator.

The ability to measure optical signals with fast dynamics is of significant interest in many application fields. Usually, single-shot measurements of non-periodic signals can be enabled by time magnification methods. Like an optical lens in the spatial domain, a time magnifier, or a time lens, stretches a signal in the time domain. This stretched signal can then be further processed with low bandwidth photonics and electronics. For a robust and cost-effective measurement device, integrated solutions would be especially advantageous. Conventional time lenses require dispersion and nonlinear optical effects. Integration of a strong dispersion and nonlinearities is not straightforward on a silicon photonics platform and they might lead to signal distortions. Here we present a time magnifier based on an integrated silicon nitride microring resonator and frequency-time coherence optical sampling, which requires neither a dispersion, nor a nonlinearity. Sampling of signals with up to 100 GHz bandwidth with a stretching factor of more than 100 is achieved using low bandwidth measurement equipment. Nevertheless, with already demonstrated integrated 100 GHz modulators, the method enables the measurement of signals with bandwidths of up to 400 GHz. Since amplitude and phase can be sampled, a combination with the spectrum slicing method might enable integrated, cost-effective, small-footprint analog-to-digital converters, and measurement devices for the characterization of single irregular optical signals with fast dynamics and bandwidths in the THz range.