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This research work aims to assess antibacterial potential of five liverwort species that have been collected from District Bagh Azad Jammu and Kashmir. For this purpose, two bacterial strains includingAchromobacter xylosoxidans(Gram- negative) andBacillus licheniformis(Gram- positive) were used by following disc diffusion method. The extract of the species was prepared in ethanol, methanol and water. The results showed that ethanol and methanol extracts of all liverworts have stronger and broader spectrum for the zone of inhibition against both bacteria. Among all investigated species,Marchantia emarginataandPellia epiphyllashowed most promising results, whereas lowest activity was shown byPlagiochasma rupestre. In aqueous extract, onlyMarchantia paleaceaandPlageochasma rupestreshowed positive results. In general, resistance shown by Gram-positive strains was superior to Gram-negative strains. This study proved that the investigated liverwort species possess strong defensive mechanism against bacteria and can be used to prepare novel antibiotics.

Real-time imaging of viruses in living cells considerably facilitates the study of virus-host interactions. However, generating a fluorescently labeled recombinant virus is challenging, especially for Zika virus (ZIKV), which causes microcephaly in neonates. The monocistronic nature of the ZIKV genome represents a major challenge for generating a replication-competent genetically engineered ZIKV suitable for real-time imaging. Here, we generated a fluorescent ZIKV by introducing the biarsenical tetracysteine (TC) tag system. After separately inserting the TC tag at six sites in the capsid protein, we found that only when we inserted the TC tag at the site of amino acids 27/28 (AA27/28, or TC27) could the genetically engineered ZIKV be rescued. Importantly, the TC27 ZIKV is characterized as replication and infection competent. After labeling the TC tag with the fluorescent biarsenical reagents, we visualized the dynamic nuclear import behavior of the capsid protein. In addition, using the single-particle tracking technology, we acquired real-time imaging evidence that ZIKV moved along the cellular filopodia and entered into the cytoplasm via endocytosis. Thus, we provide a feasible strategy to generate a replication-competent TC-tagged ZIKV for real-time imaging, which should greatly facilitate the study of ZIKV-host interactions in living cells.

Additional file 1. Radiographic and pathologic case definitions of emphysema, ILA and ILD.

The new design of internal flotation components and the use of biogas were employed to develop a novel anaerobic self-flotation (ASF) reactor. Compared with the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, the removal efficiencies of total chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids (SS) of the ASF reactor were higher than 90% under high SS concentration and high volumetric organic loading rate (OLR). The biogas flotation, sludge bed retention, and effluent washout accounted for 60%, 30%, and 10% of SS mass, respectively, proving that the biogas flotation was the main mechanism of SS removal in the ASF reactor. Extracellular polymer substance, mainly consisting of polysaccharide (PS) and protein (PN), was found to promote the SS removal by biogas flotation via the scum formation at the ratio of 294.12 g-VS/g-PS and 103.09 g-VS/g-PN. The EPS yield was determined as 2.3 ± 0.6 g-PS/g-COD and 11.5 ± 2.6 g-PN/g-COD at the OLR of 60 kg/(m3 day). The biogas production was revealed to enhance the SS removal by providing flotation driving force and by decreasing the scum density. A model was established to describe the quantitative relationship between flotation scum and OLR. This work would shed light on the high SS wastewater treatment challenge of high-rate anaerobic processes by using biogas flotation.

Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is the most prominent technology that enhances massive connectivity and spectral efficiency in 5G cellular communication. It provides services to the multi-users in time, frequency, and code domain with significant power level. Message Passing Algorithm (MPA) detection in a multi-user uplink grant-free system requires user activity information at the receiver that makes it impractical. To circumvent this problem, (MPA) is combined with Compressed Sensing (CS) based detection which not only detects the user activity but also the signal data. However, the Compressive Sampling Matching pursuit (CoSaMP) algorithm uses Zero Forcing (ZF) detector to estimate the signal but its performance degrades with increment in Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). Therefore, Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) detector in CoSaMP algorithm is deployed in this paper that enhances detection accuracy and BER performance. The simulation results validate that the proposed algorithm attains better performance than MPA and conventional CoSaMP algorithm in high SNR.

For the treatment of low C/N wastewaters, methanol or acetate is usually dosed as electron donor for denitrification but such organics makes the process costly. To decrease the cost, iron which is the fourth most abundant element in lithosphere is suggested as the substitution of methanol and acetate. The peak v olumetric r emoval r ate (VRR) of nitrate nitrogen in the fe rrous iron-dependent ni trate r emoval (FeNiR) reactor was 0.70 ± 0.04 kg-N/(m3·d), and the corresponding removal efficiency was 98%. Iron showed toxicity to cells by decreasing the live cell amount (dropped 56%) and the live cell activity (dropped 70%). The toxicity of iron was mainly expressed by the formation of iron encrustation. From microbial community data analysis, heterotrophs (Paracocccus, Thauera and Azoarcus) faded away while the facultative chemolithotrophs (Hyphomicrobium and Anaerolineaceae_uncultured) dominated in the reactor after replacing acetate with ferrous iron in the influent. Through s canning e lectron m icroscope (SEM) and t ransmission e lectron m icroscope (TEM), two iron oxidation sites in FeNiR cells were observed and accordingly two FeNiR mechanisms were proposed: 1) extracellular FeNiR in which ferrous iron was bio-oxidized extracellularly; and 2) intracellular FeNiR in which ferrous iron was chemically oxidized in periplasm. Bio-oxidation (extracellular FeNiR) and chemical oxidation (intracellular FeNiR) of ferrous iron coexisted in FeNiR reactor, but the former one predominated. Comparing with the control group without electron donor in the influent, FeNiR reactor showed 2 times higher and stable nitrate removal rate, suggesting iron could be used as electron donor for denitrification. However, further research works are still needed for the practical application of FeNiR in wastewater treatment.

Nitrate-dependent anaerobic iron oxidation (NAIO) is a chemolithotrophic bioprocess that converts nitrate to nitrogen gas using zero-valent/ferrous iron, making it valuable for autotrophic denitrification. Seeding sludge is vital for the application of NAIO process, but scarce information is available about the capability of active sludge. In this work, activated sludge (AS) and anaerobic granular sludge (AGS) were investigated for their NAIO performance, and AGS was preferred as inocula after systematic evaluation on three aspects. AGS demonstrated higher nitrogen removal performance with nitrate removal rate of 0.20 ± 0.02 kg-N/(m3·d) and removal efficiency of 95.58 ± 2.29%. The AGS system showed robustness facing NAIO operation conditions, exhibiting stable sludge characteristics (e.g. particle size and shape factors) with variation range of −14.75% to +26.43%. The AGS system demonstrated high economical efficiency with lower iron consumption for nitrate removal and higher iron content for resource recycling. 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing was applied to investigate the microbial community. Nitrosomonadales_unclassified, Geothrix in AS and Nitrosomonadales_unclassified, Desulforhabdus in AGS were supposed to play important roles in NAIO process. The present work clarifies about the choice of seeding sludge for the application of the chemolithotrophic NAIO process and for the development of biotechnology.

Among three monofluoroanilines, 2-fluoroaniline (2-FA) and 3-fluoroaniline (3-FA) exhibit relatively poor biodegradability. This work examined their degradation characteristics in a mixed culture system and also analyzed the microorganism community. After acclimation for 58 d and 43 d, the high removal efficiency of 100% of 2-FA and 95.3% of 3-FA was obtained by adding 25 mg L

Phosphorous (P) recovery from industrial wastewaters solves both P deficiency and P pollution problems. A sequencing batch iron-air fuel cell was set up to recover P from synthetic wastewater containing 0.6 g-P/L Na2HPO4. In the cell, ferrous iron goes into the liquor from iron-anode to precipitate soluble P and form vivianite. Electrons travel from iron-anode to air-cathode through external circuit thus to generate energy. During 3 months' continuous operation, the P removal efficiency stably achieved at around 97.6%, and the average output voltage of cell was 404 mV. After long time operation, performance degradation of iron-air fuel cell was observed due to the electrode passivation caused by the accumulation of P precipitate on the iron-anode surface. The precipitate layer on the iron-anode impeded, but it did not block the mass transfer of ferrous iron to the anode liquor. The cell still worked with 25% decrease of output voltage, 86% decrease of current density, 87% decrease of power density and 9 times increase of internal resistance. Further analyses by XRD, FITR and Mossbauer illustrated that vivianite was the main component in both precipitates on the iron-anode surface and at the bottom of anode chamber with respective content of 66% and 30%. Vivianite on the iron-anode surface was a preferable choice due to higher content for P recovery. The iron-air fuel cell system could be a feasible option for achieving the multiple goals of P pollution control, resource recovery as vivianite, and energy generation, thereby contributing to the sustainable development of wastewater treatment.

It is highly significant to investigate the toxicity of inorganic salts to denitrifying granular sludge (DGS) and its mechanism since the application of high-rate denitrification is seriously limited in the treatment of saline nitrogen-rich wastewaters. The batch experiments showed that the IC50 (half inhibition concentration) and LC50 (half lethal concentration) of NaCl, Na2SO4 and Na3PO4 on DGS were 11.46, 21.72, 7.46 g/L and 77.35, 100.58, 67.92 g/L respectively. Based on the analysis of specific denitrifying activity, the live cell percentage, the cell structure, and the DNA leakage, the toxicity of low salinity was ascribed to the inhibition of denitrifying activity and the toxicity of high salinity was ascribed to both the inhibition of denitrifying activity and the lethality of denitrifying cell.

A series of acyl selenoureido benzensulfonamides was evaluated as carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) inhibitors against two Vibrio cholerae such enzymes (VchCAα over VchCAβ) belonging to the α- and β-classes, potential novel targets for anti-infective drugs development. These compounds showed strong inhibitory action against VchCAα over VchCAβ and excellent selectivity over the human (h) off-target isoforms hCA I and II. Identification of potent and possibly selective inhibitors of VchCAα and/or VchCAβ over the human counterparts may lead to pharmacological tools useful for understanding the physiological role(s) of these under-investigated proteins, possibly involved in the virulence of the bacterium and colonization of the host in bicarbonate rich regions of the gastro-intestinal tract.

Additional file 2: Table S2. This table presents list of predicted physiochemical properties of 38 human adenovirus hypothetical proteins.

Utilisation of Anagrus nilaparvatae is a promising and effective method for planthoppers manipulation. Twenty-seven components of remote lemongrass (Cymbopogon distans) oil were identified by GC/MS and nine volatiles were selected for behavioural experiments. In this study, we noted that the remote lemongrass oil was attractive to female A. nilaparvatae at concentrations of 0.1 and 1 mg/L. α-Pinene, β-pinene, eucalyptol, carveol and D-carvone attracted female wasps in the dose-dependent bioassays. Blend 1 (a mixture of eucalyptol, D-carvone, carveol, α-pinene, and β-pinene with ratios of remote lemongrass oil volatiles of 625:80:11:5:3) attracted female wasps at 10 mg/L, while blend 2 (a mixture of the same five volatiles at the same loading ratio) attracted them at 0.1 and 1 mg/L. These results suggested that plant essential oils could be attractants for natural enemies to control pests. The ratios of volatiles in the mixtures affect the attractiveness of the synthetic mixtures.

Additional file 5: Table S5. This table presents list of functionally annotated domain and motifs of HPs 38Â s from human adenovirus by CATH, SUPERFAMILY, Pfam, CDART, ProtNet and SVMprot.

Additional file 4: Table S4. This table details list of annotated function of 38 human adenovirus using BLASTp, SMART, INTERPROSCAN and MOTIF.

Additional file 7: Table S7. Sequence and structure motif prediction by pro-func.

Additional file 1: Table S1. This table reports list of 38 hypothetical proteins of human adenovirus along with their UniProt ID, corresponding genome and protein length.

Additional file 3: Table S3. This table reports list of predicted sub-cellular localization of the 38 HPs from human adeno viruses (HADVs).

Additional file 6: Table S6. This table presents ligand binding sites prediction of hypothetical proteins of human adenovirus.

Denitrification plays a key role in the biological nitrogen removal from the wastewater using granular sludge as the integral part of a high-rate denitrification technology. It is helpful to evaluate the effect of typical organic toxicants on the activity of denitrifying granular sludge for the application of denitrification technology. In this study, four typical organic toxicants, namely, penicillin, chloramphenicol, 2,4-dinitrophenol and polymyxin B sulphate were used to assess the effect of organic toxicants on the activity of denitrifying granular sludge. The results of individual toxicity indicated that penicillin, chloramphenicol and 2,4-dinitrophenol had significant inhibition, whose half-inhibitory concentrations were 0.534, 0.162 and 0.474 g/L with respective inhibitory magnitudes of 90.79%/(g/L), 282.5%/(g/L) and 138.83%/(g/L). Polymyxin B sulphate showed no significant inhibition. The results of combined toxicity indicated that the binary mixture of penicillin and chloramphenicol had an antagonistic effect, both the binary mixture of penicillin and 2,4-dinitrophenol and the binary mixture of chloramphenicol and 2,4-dinitrophenol had additive effects. The ternary mixture of penicillin, chloramphenicol and 2,4-dinitrophenol had a partial additive effect.

The physical characteristics of denitrifying granular sludge and their granulation mechanism were investigated in two denitrifying reactors (R1 and R2). The results showed that the denitrifying granular sludge was streamlined in shape with the aspect ratio (AR) of 0.62 ± 0.05, large in size with the diameter of 2.39 ± 0.05 mm, and fast in settlement with the average settling velocity (VS) of 126.36 ± 13.32 m/h at the nitrate loading rate (NLR) of 35.14 ± 0.38 kg/(m3 d). The dominance of denitrifying granular sludge with good settleability was attributed to the enhanced growth of granular sludge by extracellular polymers (EPS) and the shaping of granular sludge by shear force.

A feeding trial was conducted in a recirculating water system to investigate the effects of dietary protein levels on growth, feed utilization, hepatosomatic index and liver lipid deposition of juvenile red snapper, Lutjanus argentimaculatus (average initial wet weight 8.0 ± 0.39 g and total length 3.14 ± 0.3 cm). In the experiment, six fishmeal-based diets were formulated to contain various protein levels (20% to 45% in 5% increments), with dietary energy ranging from 2210.7kJ lOOg to 2250.2kJlOOg dry matter. The protein to energy ratios of diets ranged from 8.58 mg protein kJ−1 to 20.03 mg protein kJ−1. Diets were fed for 90d to triplicate groups of fish stocked in 0.128m3 seawater tanks, 25 individuals each. The daily ration of 2% wet body weight was offered to the fish thrice a day. The fish at the end of the study had more than ten-fold (77.0g) increase in weight compared to the initial (8.0g). Fish fed diets of 40% and 45% protein produced significantly (P 0.05); GEI ranging from 677.31 kJ to 663.20 kJ at remaining four diets (20% to 35% protein) did not appear to differ significantly (P>0.05). The highest energy gain of 518.33 kJ was obtained with fish fed 40% protein, resulting in the highest energy retention efficiency of 85.26%. The hepatosomatic index of fish fed diets of 20%, 25%, 30% and 35% protein were significantly (P

The fluorinated compounds are becoming a ubiquitous class of environmental contaminants because of their widespread applications, and their fate is a matter of great concern under anaerobic environment. In this work, the biotransformation of five fluoronitrobenzenes (FNBs), i.e., 2-fluoronitrobenzene (2-FNB), 3-fluoronitrobenzene (3-FNB), 4-fluoronitrobenzene (4-FNB), 2,4-difluoronitrobenzene (2,4-DFNB), and 2,3,4-trifluoronitrobenzene (2,3,4-TFNB), under methanogenic conditions had been studied by semicontinuous and batch tests for the first time. In 245 days, the five FNBs except 3-FNB were transformed mainly via nitro-reduction, and the reductive defluorination was not observed. During the biotransformation of 3-FNB, the reductive defluorination occurred after 98 days; however, its product was not aniline. The maximum transformation rates of 2-FNB, 3-FNB, 4-FNB, 2,4-DFNB, and 2,3,4-TFNB were 21.21 ± 1.73, 32.14 ± 2.33, 21.33 ± 2.48, 33.89 ± 6.87, and 10.87 ± 0.84 mg FNB (g VSS h)(-1), respectively. With the increase in the number of the fluorous groups, the transformation rates did not increase. Besides, the microbial communities were characterized by means of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Results showed that the predominant archaea were Methanobacterium, Methanosphaerula, Methanofollis, Methanospirillum, Methanolinea, and Methanosaeta; the predominant bacteria were Sphingbacteriales, Flavobacteriales, bacteroidales, Deltaproteobacteria, Desulfovibrionales, Clostridates, and Pseudomonadates. Few bacteria found were with high similarity to dechlorinating microorganisms reported. The results demonstrated that the pathways of FNBs biotransformation were different from those of the chloronitrobenzenes under methanogenic conditions.

The fate of fluorinated compounds in the environment, especially polyfluorinated aromatics, is a matter of great concern. In this work, 4-Fluoroaniline (4-FA), 2,4-Difluoroanilines (2,4-DFA), and 2,3,4-Trifluoroanilines (2,3,4-TFA), were chosen as the target pollutants to study their biodegradability under aerobic conditions. The required enriched time of the mixed bacterial culture for degrading 4-FA, 2,4-DFA, and 2,3,4-TFA was 26, 51, and 165 days, respectively, which suggested that the longer enrichment time was required with the increase of fluorine substitution. At the initial concentrations of 100-200 mg L(-1), the 4-FA, 2,4-DFA, and 2,3,4-TFA could be degraded completely by the mixed bacterial culture. The maximum specific degradation rates of 4-FA, 2,4-DFA, and 2,3,4-TFA were 22.48 ± 0.55, 15.27 ± 2.04, and 8.84 ± 0.93 mg FA (g VSS h)(-1), respectively. Also, the three FAs enriched cultures showed certain potential of degrading other two FAs. The results from enzyme assay suggested the expression of meta-cleavage pathways during three FAs degradation. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis revealed that unique bacterial communities were formed after FAs enrichment and these were principally composed of β-Proteobacteria, Oscillatoriophycideae, δ-Proteobacteria, α-Proteobacteria, Thermales, Xanthomonadales, Deinococci, Flavobacteriia, and Actinobacteridae. The Shannon-Wiener indexes in three FAs enriched culture decreased with the increase of fluorine substitution, indicating the significant effect of fluorine substitution on the microbial diversity. These findings supply important information on the fate of three FAs under aerobic environment, and the bacterial communities in their degradation systems.

Nitrification-based microbial fuel cell (N-MFC) is a novel inorganic microbial fuel cell based on nitrification in the anode compartment. So far, little information is available on the substrates and pathway of N-MFC. The results of this study indicated that apart from the primary nitrification substrate (ammonium), the intermediates (hydroxylamine and nitrite) could also serve as anodic fuel to generate current, and the end product nitrate showed an inhibitory effect on electricity generation. Based on the research, a pathway of electricity generation was proposed for N-MFC: ammonium was oxidized first to nitrite by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), then the nitrite in anolyte and the potassium permanganate in catholyte constituted a chemical cell to generate current. In other words, the electricity generation in N-MFC was not only supported by microbial reaction as we expected, but both biological and electrochemical reactions contributed.

We obtained an alkali-tolerant denitrifying bacterium, and determined its denitrifying activity and alkali-tolerance.An alkali-tolerant denitrifying bacterial strain was obtained by isolation and purification. We identified the bacterial strain by morphological observation, physiological test and 16S rRNA analysis. We determined the denitrifying activity and alkali-tolerance by effects of initial nitrate concentration and initial pH on denitrification.An alkali-tolerant denitrifier strain R9 was isolated from the lab-scale high-rate denitrifying reactor, and it was identified as Diaphorobater nitroreducens. The strain R9 grew heterotrophically with methanol as the electron donor and nitrate as the electron acceptor. The nitrate conversion was 93.25% when strain R9 was cultivated for 288 h with initial nitrate concentration 50 mg/L and initial pH 9.0. The denitrification activity could be inhibited at high nitrate concentration with a half inhibition constant of 202.73 mg N/L. Strain R9 showed a good alkali tolerance with the nitrate removal rate at pH 11.0 remained 86% of that at pH 9.0.Strain R9 was identified as Diaphorobater nitroreducens, and it was an alkali-tolerant denitrifying bacterium with optimum pH value of 9.0.

The compartmentalized anaerobic reactor (CAR) is a patent novel high-rate reactor, which consists of three compartments. The reactor has a great potential for application due to its many advantages. In this work, the microbial consortium, spatial distribution, and their relationship with performance of CAR were investigated by means of polymerase chain reaction, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, and fluorescence in situ hybridization. The results showed that the predominant archaea were Methanobacterium, Methanosaeta, and Methanospirillum, and the predominant bacteria were Firmicutes, Deltaproteobacteria, Spirochaetes, Actinobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria in the microbial consortium. The methanogenic archaea (MA), the hydrogen-producing acetogenic bacteria (HAB), and the hydrolytic fermentative bacteria (HFB) were found to be predominant in the upper, middle, and bottom compartments, respectively. The results revealed that the granular sludge took on a stratified microbial structure. The HFB, HAB, and MA were located in the outer shell, middle layer, and core, respectively. The microbial populations from the bottom compartment were relatively homogeneous in the granular sludge, and from the middle and upper compartments, they were relatively heterogeneous in the granular sludge. The microbial consortia and their spatial distribution were in accordance with the organic loading rate and chemical components in the three compartments.

Many herbal remedies have been employed in the treatment and management of various human ailments since the beginning of human civilization. Vismia is an extensive genus of the family Hypericaceae and consists of small trees inhabiting the tropical and subtropical regions of South and Central America. Within the framework of an International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups project, three Vismia species were studied for their potential anticancer activity.This review is an extensive study of the available scientific literature published and comprises of the ethnopharmacological, phytochemical and therapeutic potential of genus of plants under the umbrella Vismia.The present review includes 134 natural products with 47 references compiled from the major databases, viz., Chemical Abstracts, Science Direct, SciFinder, PubMed, Dr. Dukes Phytochemical and Ethnobotany, CIMER, and InteliHealth.An exhaustive survey of the accessed literature revealed that flavonoids, flavanols, xanthones, anthraones, anthraquinones, benzophenones, lignans, steroids, monoterpenes and triterpenes constituted the major classes of phytoconstituents of this genus. Pharmacological reports revealed that it is used for skin diseases such as dermatitis, leprosy, syphilis, herpes, scabies and eczemas, and as an anticancer for human breast, CNS, and lung cancer cell lines.Genus Vismia plants seem to hold great potential for an in-depth investigation towards discovering biological activities, especially for the treatment of cancers affecting our society. Through this review, the authors hope to attract the attention of natural product researchers throughout the world to focus on the unexplored potential of Vismia plants, with the view of developing new formulations with an improved therapeutic value.

To determine the efficacy of antiviral therapy in hepatitis C virus associated glome-rulopathy, we studied 30 patients with HCV-associated glomerulopathy at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan from June 2004 to February 2007. Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) was the commonest kidney lesion, being reported in 25/30 (83%), followed by membra-nous glomerulonephritis (MGN) in 3/30 (10%) and mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis (MesGN) in 2/30 (7%). Cryoglobulinaemia was positive in 8/20 (40%) cases. Most common HCV genotype was 3a. All the patients received interferon alpha combined with ribavirin therapy for 6-12 months based on viral genotypes and doses were adjusted according to renal function. Anti-viral response was achieved in the form of aviremia at completion of 6 months treatment in 8/30 (26.6%), decreased transaminases levels from a mean of 96.4 ± 72.2 to 60.1 ± 44.3 IU/L, p= 0.005, 24-hour proteinuria decreased significantly from a mean of 4.8 g to 1.20 g, p= 0.001, and complement C3 and C4 concentrations returned to normal in those subjects who responded to treatment. The rate of relapse was 50%. We conclude that though the overall antiviral response of HCV was not high, there was a significant reduction in proteinuria suggesting indirectly an improvement in renal patho-logy. Further studies with large number of patients with follow-up renal biopsies are warranted.

Refereed/Peer-reviewed Potentially hazardous element (PHE) contamination of aquifers is an issue of global concern, as this not only affects soil and plants but also exerts a negative impact on livestock. The current study assessed the extent of PHE (cadmium, copper, nickel, and lead) contamination of groundwater, soil, and forage crops in Shorkot, Punjab, Pakistan. Low concentrations of PHEs, particularly Cd and Cu, were found in drinking water which remained below detection limits. The concentrations of Ni and Pb in water samples were 0.1 and 0.06 mg L−1, respectively. Calculated risk indices showed that there was a high carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk to livestock (sheep and cow/buffalo) from the ingestion of Ni- and Pb-contaminated water. Soil irrigation with contaminated water resulted in PHE accumulation (Cd: 0.4 mg kg−1, Cu: 16.8 mg kg−1, Ni: 17.6 mg kg−1, Pb: 7.7 mg kg−1) in soil and transfer to forage crops. The potential impact of PHE contamination of the groundwater on fodder plants was estimated for animal health by calculating the average daily dose (ADD), the hazard quotient (HQ), and the cancer risk (CR). While none of the PHEs in forage plants showed any carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic risk to livestock, a high exposure risk occurred from contaminated water (HQ: 12.9, CR: 0.02). This study provides baseline data for future research on the risks of PHE accumulation in livestock and their food products. Moreover, future research is warranted to fully understand the transfer of PHEs from livestock products to humans.