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The coronavirus disease is a respiratory tract disorder which causes pneumonia-like symptoms in severe patients and mild flu-like symptoms in mild symptomatic cases first noticed in Wuhan, China. DNA sequencing and further analysis shows it to be 79% like the 2002 SARS-CoV and 50% like the 2012 MERS-CoV. It was also observed that the novel coronavirus’s spike protein was larger and very different from its previously known strains. For diagnosis, multiple strategies were developed and real time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique was determined to be the best technique. The CT scan was also found effective majorly for the continuous assessment of the disease. Treatment strategies used in previous outbreaks were looked into and put to trial like convalescent plasma therapy. Vaccine development using various genetic engineering strategies are going on across the world. To contain the spread of the disease, countries with positive cases were put under lockdown to break the chain of spread. These lockdowns forced industries, offices, schools, religious places, stadiums, travel, and many more to close which impacted the economies of all the major countries. Lesser human interaction and more use of social media has impacted the social aspects of human life. Cases of domestic violence and mental stress increased among households. Economic stimulus package was announced by various countries to curb the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fly ash (FA) is a problematic solid waste, possessing essential elements which modifies the properties of soil and improve the plant growth. FA also contains toxic heavy metals, thus there is an urgent need to study the influence of heavy metals present in FA on the growth of plant. The present study was designed to analyze improvement in chemical composition and antioxidant defense mechanism of seed oil extracts from Jatropha curcas grown in different doses of FA (0% FA, 25% FA, 50% FA, 75% FA and 100% FA) along with garden soil (GS). A comparison of methyl esters of fatty acids was analyzed in oil extracts using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Sixteen compounds were detected, constituting 99.94% of the total oil constituents. Methyl esters of oleic acid, linoleic acid and hexadecanoic acid were the major compounds present. Comparative GC–MS analysis of the three samples showed an increase of 2.15 and 87.84-fold in 25% FA and 50% FA. The antioxidant potential was determined using 2–2′-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing potential (FRAP). Highest scavenging activity and lowest IC50 were observed in 50% FA sample followed by 25% FA and 100% GS. Activity of various antioxidant defense enzymes like SOD, CAT, POD and APX was analyzed. Treatment (50% FA with 50% GS) demonstrated enhanced chemical contents and antioxidant defense enzymes. These results suggest the utilization of FA as soil amendment for the growth of non-food crop J. curcas. altered chemical composition and antioxidative defense enzymes induced in response to FA amendment to soil reflects its suitability for phytoremediation.

A total of sixty-four bacterial isolates producing enzyme protease were isolated and screened from soil samples obtained from industries. A new potent solvent stable and alkaline protease producing isolate PI-C4 was isolated from Ghazipur Poultry waste site which was identified to be Bacillus cereus based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Consensus sequence of 1398 bp of the strain PI-C4 has been deposited in GenBank with accession number KM211501. Furthermore, the PI-C4 enzyme was subjected to precipitation using ammonium sulphate (70% saturation), dialysis and was further concentrated by ion exchange chromatography which resulted in purification fold of 2.47 and 57.7% yield. The alkaline protease was found to be 46 kDa. Enzyme PI-C4 was also characterized with respect to temperature and pH and was found to be active at pH 9.0 and 450C. The protease possesses significant stability (64.7-82.2%) in the presence of surfactants tested. The alkaline protease possesses higher stability in solvent DMSO (107%) followed by acetone (91%) and isopropanol (82%). The protease could therefore be useful for various applications like enzymatic leather treatment, feather degradation and recovery of silver.

Soybean oil has high contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids and hence susceptible to deterioration due to the presence of lipase and lipoxygenase (LOX) enzymes. These enzymes cause the severe impact in the reduction of shelf life. Therefore it is indispensable to adopt a stabilization step to increase antioxidant levels and to decrease the activity of lipase and LOX enzymes. To carry out this study soybean varieties were irradiated by low gamma doses radiation (0.5 kGy and 1.0 kGy) and oil was stored up to 60 days at 40 °C with 45% relative humidity. Results indicated the lowest activities of lipase (20.9%) and LOX (17.1%) at 60 days of storage respectively and also observed significantly low hydrolytic (22.6%) and oxidative rancidity (64%) respectively in Bragg oil under the condition of 0.5 kGy gamma irradiation. Total antioxidants were found to be increased including lipid soluble antioxidants like tocopherols and also found low level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) deposition in Bragg seeds irradiated with 0.5 kGy which suggests that low dose of gamma irradiation is highly effective in enhancing the oil stability and also in retaining antioxidants.

Fly ash (FA) is a solid waste generated from coal combustion processes every year from thermal power plant. FA was considered as a problem for the environment, but also proves to be beneficial for the agricultural crops. This review begins with the utilization of FA as a soil ameliorant, its role in enhancing the plant growth and impact of elemental uptake from FA on plant growth. FA improves the physical, chemical and biological property of the soil which thereby enhances the crop productivity. Then, it focusses on phytotoxicity of various heavy metals in plants such as chromium, arsenic, lead, zinc, etc., followed by analyzing the defense mechanism of the plants against these heavy metal stresses which is due to the presence of toxic heavy metals present in FA resulting in the generation of reactive oxygen species which further causes oxidative stress. Finally, the review analyzes the influence of heavy metals on the antioxidative system of various plant species which helps in understanding the usage of optimum concentration of FA amendment in the soil for plant cultivation and to further explore the key features regulating the heavy metal damage and utilization of FA in agriculture.

Worldwide, environmental pollution due to a complex mixture of xenobiotics has become a serious concern. Several xenobiotic compounds cause environmental contamination due to their severe toxicity, prolonged exposure, and limited biodegradability. From the past few decades, microbial-assisted degradation (bioremediation) of xenobiotic pollutants has evolved as the most effective, eco-friendly, and valuable approach. Microorganisms have unique metabolism, the capability of genetic modification, diversity of enzymes, and various degradation pathways necessary for the bioremediation process. Microbial xenobiotic degradation is effective but a slow process that limits its application in bioremediation. However, the study of microbial enzymes for bioremediation is gaining global importance. Microbial enzymes have a huge ability to transform contaminants into non-toxic forms and thereby reduce environmental pollution. Recently, various advanced techniques, including metagenomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics are effectively utilized for the characterization, metabolic machinery, new proteins, metabolic genes of microorganisms involved in the degradation process. These advanced molecular techniques provide a thorough understanding of the structural and functional aspects of complex microorganisms. This review gives a brief note on xenobiotics and their impact on the environment. Particular attention will be devoted to the class of pollutants and the enzymes such as cytochrome P450, dehydrogenase, laccase, hydrolase, protease, lipase, etc. capable of converting these pollutants into innocuous products. This review attempts to deliver knowledge on the role of various enzymes in the biodegradation of xenobiotic pollutants, along with the use of advanced technologies like recombinant DNA technology and Omics approaches to make the process more robust and effective.

The presence of excessive pharmaceutical contaminants in released wastewater has developed a risk to marine organisms as well as humans. Their presence in drinking water has although raised substantial concerns, very little is known about the fate and ecological impacts of these pollutants. As a result, these pollutants are inevitably introduced to our food chain at trace concentrations. Unfortunately, the conventional wastewater treatment techniques are unable to treat pharmaceuticals completely with practical limitations. The focus has now been shifted towards nanotechnology for the successful remediation of these persistent pollutants. Thus, the current review specifically focuses on providing readers brief yet sharp insights into applications of various nanomaterials for the removal of pharmaceutical contaminants. The occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other hazardous substances in surface waters and drinking water and the long-term exposure may represent a potential risk for both the environment and human health. Many studies have evidenced that conventional technologies used for wastewater treatment do not completely remove pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) residues, which can be detected in receiving waters at concentrations ranging from few ng L-1 until more than μg L-1. Nanomaterials are of fundamental importance in the current research efforts to develop more efficient water treatment and remediation systems in place of conventional technologies. This chapter will provide a comprehensive overview of the most relevant works available in literature reporting the use of nanosorbents (nanotubes and zeolites), nanofiltration (NF) and advanced oxidation processes for the removal of PPCPs compounds from water and wastewater. The literature review of laboratory- and pilot-scale studies have shown that nanomaterials are promising tools in environmental cleaning processes and water purification, even if more research is necessary.

Phytoremediation of fly ash (FA) deposits using metal tolerant plant species has become an important eco-friendly technique for reclamation nowadays. The present study was carried out to determine the impact of FA application on photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoids), biochemical parameters (soluble protein, reducing sugar, nitrate and nitrate reductase (NR) activity), metal accumulation (Fe, Zn, Cu, Co, Cd, Cr, and Mn) and antioxidant defense activity (SOD, CAT, POD, and APX) of Calendula officinalis. With this aim in mind, under pot culture conditions, Calendula officinalis was grown in different combinations of FA and soil which include: Control, 10%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% FA. The results from the study indicated that the addition of FA (40%) in soil not only improved the physico-chemical properties of soil but also increased the photosynthetic pigment and other biochemical parameters in plants, however, these parameters declined under high FA applications. On the other hand, antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, CAT, APX and Peroxidase) of Calendula increased with increasing FA application to combat heavy metal stress from fly ash. At high FA applications, antioxidant enzyme levels increased in leaves thereby reflecting heavy metal stress and mitigation of reactive oxygen species.

Endophytes are beneficial microbes that possess important function in crop health, therefore attracting huge interest among scientists of various fields around the globe. A novel endophyte or endophytic consortiums which are constantly associated with diverse crops play significant part in improving the crop health, which is also essential for sustainable agriculture. This chapter highlights the importance of fungal endophytes for sustainable agriculture. Endophytes can increase the crop growth through direct or indirect plant growth-promoting (PGP) attributes including phytohormone, antimicrobial compounds production and solubilization of phosphorus, potassium and zinc. In the fungal endophytic relationships, growth-promoting fungi colonize in the host plants and present asymptomatically are often functional in nutrients uptake, increases plant growth, enhances stress resistance in plants, suppresses soil-borne pathogenic organisms and development of competitor and enhances resistance to disease. Sustainable agriculture requires different approaches that help to enhance food production and decreases the damages caused to the crop, soil and human health. Utilization of fungal endophytes as plant growth promoters is a remedial alternative for traditional chemical farming, which is based on toxic and deadly chemical pesticides/fertilizers that start their journey as soil microbiomes by different mechanisms whenever crops deal with adverse biotic and abiotic stress factors such as drought, cold, salinity and pathogenesis. Fungal endophytes help plants to adapt under such abiotic stress via induced systemic resistance, bioremediation and biocontrol.

Wastewater treatment has now become an important aspect worldwide with the increasing human population. Today, most wastewater treatment processes make use of the complex microbial communities for removing the contaminants. Microbial communities in wastewater treatment bioreactors have long been regarded as “black boxes.” Thorough understanding of the structure and properties, along with the function, of these complex communities is needed for scientists, researchers, and engineers working toward future plant optimization. Up to now, the understanding of microbial communities in the biological wastewater treatment reactors is insufficient due to the use of conventional techniques, which are time-consuming and involves laborious characterization experiments. However, the use of molecular biology techniques eliminates these limitations and provides benefits to microbial ecology research. Various molecular biology-based techniques have been used for analyzing the microbial community, including 16S rRNA cloning, denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis, fluorescent in situ hybridization, Dot-blot hybridization, real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and next-generation sequencing techniques. These tools have promising potential for future applications to analyze the microbial diversity in the wastewater reactors. The techniques discussed in this chapter will expand our knowledge of the microbial diversity of biological wastewater treatment.

Fly ash is an important combustion residue and the most familiar industrial by-product. It is a source of various micronutrients and macronutrients which are essential for plant growth. The striking variations towards the sensitivity of fly ash are observed in the plant growth performance as fly ash comprises heavy metals which may alter the physical, biochemical, and biological properties of the plant thereby alter the plant growth. The growth and metabolism of different plant species were studied by various researchers in different soil–fly ash amendments. Certain observations were made for cotton yield and grain yield of wheat which revealed that 20% fly ash application is significant for increased growth and rice yield or wheat crops. An improved yield and growth in potato, barley and rye was reported at optimum rate of application of fly ash. Ten percent fly ash doses with soil increased the growth of tomato, petunia, and Boston fern as it increased the height of seedling and plant, increased the girth, enhanced the number of leaves, area of leaves, length of spike, and the plant dry weight. Plant growth and yield, carotenoids and chlorophyll contents of leaves were significantly increased at high fly ash rates in chilly, eggplant, and tomato. Changes in the soil characteristics and the cropping system due to the addition of fly ash were also studied and investigated by various workers that show an enhanced production of food crops. This study is an attempt to know the impact of fly ash on morphological and biochemical parameters of different plant species and also to determine the possible utilization in various agricultural practices. At high concentration of fly ash–soil doses, the experiment shows deleterious effect, the maximum being 100% fly ash with no amendment of soil. This shows that at high concentration of heavy metals generated from fly ash can cause genetic damage to plants due to their toxic concentration. At low concentration of fly ash–soil doses, heavy metals are better for the plant growth performance as well as plant productivity. Large-scale use of fly ash in agriculture holds the prospective to increase on an average 10–15% of yield and growth performance of the plants. This agro based technique can also be used with the concept of sustainable waste management by using fly ash–soil combination as a suitable growing medium for growing different plant species.

Fly ash (FA), solid waste residue, is a by-product of thermal power plant, and its disposal is considered to be the current biggest challenge faced by the entire world. Various studies have revealed that addition of FA to the soil may improve the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil mixture. FA is also considered to provide readily available soil micro- and macronutrients. Lower doses of FA enhance the nutritional status of agricultural soil, thereby promoting plant growth, whereas higher doses of FA result in heavy metal pollution leading to deleterious effects which hinder the soil microbial communities and related enzymatic activity. Practically, FA is utilized in agriculture due to its usage as “ecofriendly and cost-effective” soil/fertilizer amendment which depends upon various factors like soil types, climatic conditions, plant selected for growth, etc. However, combined biotechnological approaches (organic and inorganic) need to be applied to soil-FA mixtures in order to reduce the amount of toxic elements present in FA and also to maintain the nutrient status as well as soil microbial activity. Overall, the lower doses of FA application could be utilized to revamp the soil structure, soil microflora, N-cycling process, and enzymatic activity which have a significant role in promoting the growth of plants.

An experiment in pot culture was conducted to analyze the ameliorative impact of different doses of fly ash (FA) in soil on the plant growth performance, total phenolics and flavonoids, and elemental uptake in Calendula officinalis. To determine the growth status of Calendula officinalis, various concentrations of FA and soil [100% garden soil (T1), 20% FA+ 80% garden soil (T2), 40% FA+ 60% garden soil (T3), 60% FA+ 40% garden soil (T4), 80% FA+ 20% garden soil (T5), and 100% FA (T6)] were selected. The physico-chemical properties of FA and soil and elemental concentrations (Ca, Mg, Al, As, Co, Zn, Fe, Mn, and Ni) in all FA treatments were determined. The results showed that under low ratio of FA amendment to the soil (40% FA treatment), the plant growth performance was increased in comparison to plants grown in control (garden soil). However, at high FA doses in soil (60%, 80% and 100% FA treatments), these parameters tend to decrease. Fly ash at 40% concentration did not contain toxic concentrations of these elements such as Co, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg, Al, As, and Ni, therefore, beneficial effects of fly ash in terms of improved growth and yield were evident. Furthermore, the leaves showed increasing trend of total phenolic and flavonoid content with increasing FA application up to 60% FA treatment. Therefore, this study showed that 40% FA treatment to the soil is suitable for the growth and yield of Calendula officinalis. Thus, this plant has the phytoremediation potential that can promote cleanup of FA polluted sites for sustainable development.

Late blight of potato caused by fungal pathogen Phytophthora infestans is an important disease in potato growing areas around the globe resulting in food shortage, hunger and atleast 50% of crop losses. In the present investigation, two strains of Trichoderma, indigenously isolated Trichoderma harzianum (Th9) and commercial strain of same species tested were used against destructive fungus, Phytopthera infestans through in-vitro studies. Both strains of fungal bioagents showed variation in their potentiality against the rot causing fungus Phytopthera infestans. Trichoderma harzianum (Th9) exhibited highly potential properties as compared to the commercial strain. Biochemical studies revealed that enzymes chitinase and β 1,3 glucanase known for systemic resistance were found in higher concentration in healthy plants of potato as compared to the diseased one. The Th9 strain was, therefore, selected for further Integrated pest management studies either for pure applications and/or as core component of IPM packages on potato crops under field conditions.

Objective: The inhibitory properties of successive extracts from Dioscorea bulbifera (Dioscoreaceae) tubers have been evaluated for the presence of phytochemical constituents and antimicrobial efficacy against multidrug-resistant (MDR) clinical isolates was evaluated. Methods: The tuber of D. bulbifera was oven dried and extracted successively with n-hexane, chloroform, methanol, ethanol, and water. The antimicrobial potential of successive extracts against MDR isolates was studied by agar well-diffusion method. Qualitative phytochemical analysis was performed. Results: Qualitative phytochemical analysis demonstrated the presence of steroids, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, saponins, and reducing sugars in almost all the extracts tested. Anthraquinones, phlobatanins, and tannins were not reported in any extracts tested. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of various solvents and water extracts of D. bulbifera was further investigated against ten MDR bacteria and three fungi, respectively. Aqueous and chloroform extracts were found to be more potent being capable of exerting significant inhibitory activities against the majority of the isolates such as Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter sp., Salmonella paratyphi, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Candida albicans. The highest inhibitory activity was observed for K. pneumoniae with wide inhibition zone diameters (17 ± 0.15 mm), followed by E. coli 1(13 ± 0.11) mm, and Acinetobacter sp. (11 ± 0.12). Conclusion: Based on the present study, the extracts of D. bulbifera tubers have shown excellent activity against MDR microbial cultures tested. Further study is recommended for clinical evaluation, of the efficacy of crude extract in herbal medicine that can serve as a base for the development of novel potent drugs and phytomedicines.