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Effects of microbial decomposer application were studied relative to in situ decomposition of paddy straw in the rice-wheat system using both paddy straw incorporation (i.e. mechanical mixing of leftover straw and stubble using rotavator) and retention (i.e. leftover straw and stubble without mechanical mixing) methods. An experiment was conducted on paddy straw degradation during 2020-2021 and 2021-22 using microbial consortium (decomposer) at four locations in Punjab, India using three different treatments. Lignin content, C/N ratio, and tensile strength after 30 days of incorporation and retention of paddy straw were recorded. Microbial treatment along with incorporation improved decomposition parameters from 32.0 to 32.6% (C/N ratio) and 47.5 to 36.6% (lignin), whereas a major share – 28.6 (C/N ratio) and 36.6 (lignin) per cent of decomposition was achieved by soil incorporation as such. Wheat grain yield with and without microbial decomposer was similar across sowing methods (incorporation vs retention) in all locations. Similar observations were recorded in 2021-22 also at the same site of PAU, Ludhiana. Microbial agents responsible for the degradation of straw are present in sufficient quantity in the soil and incorporation of paddy straw in the soil by incorporation using a rotavator can enhance the paddy straw decomposition.

This study investigates the potential of chromium (VI) resistant bacterial isolates to alleviate heavy metal stress in fodder maize plants and enhance phytoremediation. Twenty-one bacterial strains were isolated from contaminated water, with five strains; Bacillus thuringiensis (BHR1), Bacillus cereus (BHR2), Enterobacter cloacae (BHR4), Bacillus pumilus (BHR5), and Bacillus altitudinis (BHR6) selected based on their significant plant-growth promoting (PGP) traits and heavy metal tolerance. Under chromium (Cr VI) stress, the BHR1 strain significantly improved seed germination, seedling length and vigor index of fodder maize variety (J 1007) especially at 150 mg/L Cr (VI), where these parameters increased by 3.75, 3.23 and 6.44 folds, respectively. After 60 days, BHR1 also enhanced shoot and root lengths by 4.91 and 4.06 folds, respectively and increase fresh and dry biomass, especially at higher Cr (VI) concentrations. Photosynthetic pigments, chlorophyll a and b, were also elevated by 3.04 and 2.26 times, respectively. Additionally, BHR1 reduced oxidative stress markers, including proline and malondialdehyde (MDA), and decreased electrolyte leakage, thus improving membrane stability. The strain further increased antioxidant enzyme activities and chromium uptake in root and shoot tissues, enhancing the translocation factor by 95 %. This suggests that BHR1 can significantly promote fodder maize growth and accelerate chromium removal from contaminated soil, offering valuable insights into plant-microbe interactions under Cr (VI) stress.

This study elucidates the effective lignocellulose degrading potential of microbial consortium by using paddy straw as the sole source under submerged fermentation conditions. Straw degradation was enhanced by bioaugmentation procedures where consortia of isolated and standard cultures resulted in maximum enzyme activities of endoglucanase (1 U/ml), exoglucanase (1.31 U/ml), β-glucosidase (2.42 U/ml), xylanase (12.63 U/ml) and manganese peroxidase (5.43 U/ml) after 28 days of incubation along with laccase (4.36 U/ml) and lignin peroxidase (6.71 U/ml) after 21 days of incubation. By the action of consortium, maximum reduction of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin was found to be 35.31, 22.50 and 44.72%, respectively after 28 days of incubation. A significant increase in percentage loss in dry matter of paddy straw was observed till 4 weeks of fermentation. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) micrographs revealed sufficient loosening of cellulose and hemicellulose showing successful degradation of straw tissue. Overall, the above stated findings emphasize on potential of lignocellulosic microorganisms to be used as an alternative to traditional stubble burning practice. Although, these extracellular enzymes are well equipped in breaking down lignocelluloses to their monomeric or oligomeric subunits, but they may not be exploited at commercial level due to very slow rate of reaction. The efficacy of these cultures for straw degradation in field condition further needs elaborative experimental trials as environmental parameters are quite variable in the field.

Purpose Paddy (rice) straw burning is an alarming issue all over India because of its huge volume generated every year. Combine harvesting results in generation of about 5-7 ton/hectare paddy straw residue that needs to be managed with in a small period (3 weeks) before sowing of wheat crop.Method Six microbial decomposer preparations including four commercial (C-1 to C-4) and two in house culture (Delftia, Microbial consortium) have been evaluated at four different sites of Central Plain Zone of Punjab during 2018-19 and 2019-20. The microbial formulations were sprayed on the surface retained paddy straw and straw samples were evaluated after 30 days of spray for percent decrease in lignin and C/N ratio. Result A location and decomposer specific decrease in lignin (%) and C/N ratio during paddy straw surface retention trials was observed, without any significant change in wheat yield. In control (without spray), percent decrease in lignin was in the range of 2.11 to 13.57. Whereas, with microbial sprays, it varies from 7.51 to 35.79. At Ludhiana, maximum decrease in C/N ratio was obtained by C-1 and C-2 (55%), While, at Kapurthala maximum decrease in C/N ratio was obtained by Delftia (71.25%) followed by C-3 (62.62%).Conclusion The variable trend in delignification as well as C/N ratio during surface retained paddy straw trials, highlights that with microbial decomposer application the surface retained paddy straw is not appreciably decomposed in the provided window period of 3 weeks between paddy harvesting and wheat sowing.

Rice straw (RS) is a rich lignocellulosic biomass that can be employed for biogas generation through anaerobic digestion. However, lignin-silica encrustation around the holocellulose complex hinders its digestibility. Therefore, in this present study, RS was biologically pretreated with microbial consortium of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU decomposer), which is composed of Bacillus sp., Delftia sp., Pseudomonas sp., Lysinibacillus fusiform, Arthrobacter nicotianae, Paenibaccilus ehimensis, Aspergillus sp. and Trichoderma sp. Bio-digested slurry, the underutilized spent waste from cattle dung-based biogas plants was used as a growth medium for the mass multiplication of consortium. Soaked and chopped RS was pretreated with consortium and individual cultures in triplicate sets for 5 and 10 d and were analyzed for biochemical parameters along with cellulolytic activity. The pretreated straw was used for biogas production in 2 L capacity anaerobic digesters. Cellulolytic activities i.e., endoglucanase (0.071 IU/mL), exoglucanase (0.027 IU/mL) and β-glucosidase (3.734 IU/mL) of consortium treated RS were higher as compared to untreated RS. Biogas production from consortium pretreated RS was 187.45 L/kg RS which is 45.93% more as compared to untreated RS with 128.45 L/kg RS of biogas. This could be attributed to the synergistic cellulolytic activities of PAU decomposer leading to enhanced biogas production from RS.

Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are ectopic lymphoid structures that can arise in human cancers and are associated with improved overall survival (OS) and response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in several cancers, including non-desmoplastic metastatic melanoma (NDMM). Desmoplastic melanoma (DM) has one of the highest response rates to ICB, and we previously identified that primary DM (PDM) contains TLS. Despite the association of TLS with survival and ICB response, it is unknown whether TLS or associated markers of immune activity can differ between PDM and NDMM. We hypothesized that PDM would contain higher frequencies of TLS than NDMM, that T and B-cell densities and proliferation would be greater in TLS of PDM than TLS of NDMM, and that proliferation rates of T and B-cells in PDM TLS would be concordant with those of intratumoral lymphocytes. We found that four features of TLS in PDM distinguish them from TLS in NDMM. TLS were peritumoral in NDMM but intratumoral in PDM. CD8+ T-cell and CD20+ B-cell densities and proliferative fractions were higher in PDM TLS than NDMM TLS. Additionally, the proliferative fractions of T- and B-cells were concordant between the TLS and tumor site in PDM and discordant in NDMM. Collectively, these data suggest that TLS and associated immune markers can differ across melanoma subsets and suggest that PDM TLS may be more immunologically active and have enhanced immune cell trafficking between tumor and TLS compared to NDMM.

Background Immune-mediated melanoma regression relies on melanoma-reactive T cells infiltrating tumor. Cancer vaccines increase circulating melanoma-reactive T cells, but little is known about vaccine-induced circulating lymphocytes (viCLs) homing to tumor or whether interventions are needed to enhance infiltration. We hypothesized that viCLs infiltrate melanoma metastases, and intratumoral interferon (IFN)-γ or Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonism enhances infiltration.Methods Patients on two clinical trials (Mel51 (NCT00977145), Mel53 (NCT01264731)) received vaccines containing 12 class I major histocompatibility complex-restricted melanoma peptides (12MP). In Mel51, tumor was injected with IFN-γ on day 22, and biopsied on days 1, 22, and 24. In Mel53, dermal metastases were treated with topical imiquimod, a TLR7 agonist, for 12 weeks, and biopsied on days 1, 22, and 43. For patients with circulating T-cell responses to 12MP by IFN-γ ELISpot assays, DNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) pre-vaccination and at peak T-cell response, and from tumor biopsies, which underwent T-cell receptor sequencing. This enabled identification of clonotypes induced in PBMCs post-vaccination (viCLs) and present in tumor post-vaccination, but not pre-vaccination.Results Six patients with T-cell responses post-vaccination (Mel51 n = 4, Mel53 n = 2) were evaluated for viCLs and vaccine-induced tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (viTILs). All six patients had viCLs, five of whom were evaluable for viTILs in tumor post-vaccination alone. Mel51 patients had viTILs identified in day 22 tumors, post-vaccination and before IFN-γ (median = 2, range = 0–24). This increased in day 24 tumors after IFN-γ (median = 30, range = 4–74). Mel53 patients had viTILs identified in day 22 tumors, post-vaccination plus imiquimod (median = 33, range = 2–64). Three of five evaluable patients across both trials had viTILs with vaccination alone. All five had enhancement of viTILs with tumor-directed therapy. viTILs represented 0.0–2.9% of total T cells after vaccination alone, which increased to 0.6–8.7% after tumor-directed therapy.Conclusion Cancer vaccines induce expansion of new viCLs, which infiltrate melanoma metastases in some patients. Our findings identify opportunities to combine vaccines with tumor-directed therapies to enhance T-cell infiltration and T cell-mediated tumor control. These combinations hold promise in improving the therapeutic efficacy of antigen-specific therapies for solid malignancies.

For the assessment of physicochemical and microbiological quality of Buddha Nallah the water samples were drawn from 7 different sites and analysed during winter (December 2020) and summer (May 2021) for most probable number, heterotrophic plate count, total coliform, fecal coliform, indicator, emerging pathogens and physicochemical parameters. A strong correlation was found among the indicator organisms (r= 0.504-0.898), while relatively weak or no correlation was found between indicator and emerging pathogens. Moreover, the correlation between indicator and emerging pathogens was found to be heavily dependent on physicochemical parameters. Cluster analysis successfully classified the different polluted sites based on physicochemical and microbiological parameters. The water quality index (WQI) score of all sites was found between 0-25 indicating poor water quality and emergency treatment is required for reuse. Based on present study results, it has been concluded that water of study area is highly polluted and pose serious health risk concerns due to presence of fecal and emerging pathogens in samples.

In the present study, Monascus red biopigment produced by solid-state fermentation was evaluated for its anti-microbial and antioxidative potential. The antibacterial activity through Scanning Electron Microscopy against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus was found to show morphological damage in some cells, as evidenced by the outflow of cell contents, deep craters, burst cells, and cell death at concentration of 200 µg/ml of biopigment. Moreover, antibacterial activity through agar well diffusion method against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was in range of 2-6 mm by varying concentration of biopigment from 1 to 20 mg/ml.Next, the antifungal activity of the extracted biopigment was in the range of 2-9 mm for Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium oxysporum and Alternaria alternata. In addition, antioxidant efficacy of red biopigment through DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assay results was found to show 59.69 %, 91.1 %, and 15.22 % free radical scavenging activity. The results of this study revealed that red biopigment has potential to modulate the antimicrobial and antioxidative activity.