Search

Boron nitride (BN) reinforced Al6061 aluminum-based composites are synthesized by conventional stir casting method followed by exposure to hot extrusion. The optical images confirmed the distribution of BN nanoparticles in the aluminum alloy matrix. The concentration of BN is varied from (0.5, 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6, 7.5, and 9 wt%) in the composites and its effect on the tensile strength was investigated. The results revealed that both extruded and heat-treated composites specimens showed enhanced toughness and tensile strength by increasing BN nanoparticle concentration. The heat-treated composite samples showed lower flexibility of up to 40%, and further, it exhibited 37% greater hardness and 32% enhancement in tensile strength over the extruded sample. The tensile properties of Al6061-BN composites were evaluated by temperature-dependent internal friction (TDIF) analysis and the results showed that the as-prepared composite's strength increased with temperature.

Leprosy affects mainly those areas of skin which have a relatively lower temperature and are more exposed to trauma. Certain zones like scalp, palms and soles, genitalia, groins, axillae, eyelids, transverse band of skin over lumboscaral area, midline of back and perineum have been described to be immune to the development of lesions in leprosy. But clinical, histological and bacteriological evidence of involvement of these so called immune zones though infrequent have been documented. Hence, these immune zones should be termed as relatively immune, rather than absolutely immune zones of leprosy.

The production of living cells or effective microorganisms that aid in the uptake of nutrients for plant growth is referred to as a biofertilizer. In order to successfully commercialize new microbial inoculants, the formulation process is difficult and frequently success-limiting. The success of microbial inoculants is dependent on a number of variables, with carrier material playing the most significant part. The purpose of the experiment was to compare the performance of a corn-rind-carrier based biofertilizer to existing carrier material talc on the growth and production of capsicum using various application methods, including seed treatment, root dipping, and soil application. There are ten treatments with complete randomized design (CRD) design. The treatment having soil application of corn rind carrier based biofertilizer + 100% NPK had the highest beneficial microbial populations including free living N2 fixers, PSB and KSB (49.0, 31.0, 30.66 ×105cfu g-1, respectively). Further, it had increased levels of nutrients soil viz., nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Greater biometric data including plant height and leaf count, yield characteristics like fruit yield per plant (1591.86) and fruit number (18). Hence, it leads to a conclusion that soil application of corn rind-carrier based biofertilizer + 100% NPK is comparable with soil application of talc carrier based biofertilizer + 100% NPK based on microbiological, nutritional, plant, and yield data. The findings of this study showed that corn rind powder can also be an alternate substrate for talc as a carrier material for the production of biofertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endophytes are one of the symbiotic associations which can be successfully utilized to mitigate negative effects of abiotic stress in agricultural crops. Habitat adapted symbiotic fungal endophytes are known to impart heavy metal stress tolerance in host plants. Besides, endophytic fungi secrete secondary metabolites and enhance the plant's ability to tolerate stressful conditions. Therefore, this study was aimed at evaluating fungal endophytes of arsenic stress adapted plants for their arsenic tolerance potential. Present study yielded 83 arsenic tolerant fungal endophytes from the plants grown in arsenic-contaminated areas of Karnataka. These isolates were screened for arsenic tolerance at different arsenic (Sodium arsenite) concentrations (100 ppm to 2000 ppm). Among the isolates, eight endophytes (S1P1R1, S3P1S1, S3P1S3, S4P2L2, S5P1S1, S6P1S3, S8P1L4 and S10P1L1) were found efficiently enduring metal stress up to 2000 ppm with tolerance index >0.5. These isolates were further re-evaluated for arsenic tolerance in biomass assay. Significantly higher biomass was achieved in all eight endophytes at 100 PPM arsenic concentration compared to non arsenic control. However, fungal biomass relatively reduced with subsequent increase in arsenic concentration from 250 ppm to 2000 ppm. Further, these endophytes were evaluated for their ability to alleviate arsenic stress and growth promotion of rice seedlings under in vitro arsenic stress condition. Rice seedlings inoculated with fungal endophytes showed significant increase in shoot length under arsenic stress compared to control. Among eight endophytes, the isolate S3P1S1 significantly enhanced shoot and root length of rice. Therefore, data obtained in the present study revealed that the fungal endophyte, isolated from arsenic adapted plant has ability to mitigate arsenic stress and improve the rice growth under arsenic condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actinobacteria are considered as a promising source for novel bioactive compounds and hydrolytic enzymes with a broad range of biological activities. Isolation and screening of actinobacteria for hydrolytic enzyme production was carried out and a total of one hundred and twenty isolates were obtained from different ecosystem like forest soil, compost and rhizosperic soils of vegetable crops. Out of 120 isolates, 39 showed amylase activity with dissolution factor varied from 0.10 - 3.50. Twenty five isolates exhibited cellulase activity with the dissolution factor ranged from 0.10-3.50. The actinobacteria isolate CA32 from compost showed maximum cellulolytic activity with dissolution factor of 3.50. Twenty one actino bacterial isolates showed chitinolytic activity ranging from 0.10-2.00 and maximum dissolution factor was recorded by isolate of rhizosperic soil SA12 (2.00) followed by the isolate of compost CA4 (1.43). Twenty six isolates exhibited lipolytic activity with the dissolution factor ranging from lowest 0.11 in SA22 to highest 1.64 in FA12. The hydrolysis of complex organic compounds by actinobacterial isolates in-vitro showed that the actinobacteria are good degraders of organic matter in the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we successfully synthesized a pyrazole derivative, specifically 4-phenylpiperidin-4-ol substituted pyrazole (CHP), through the reaction of Grignard reagents in combination with pyrazole. This newly synthesized molecule was subjected to a comprehensive evaluation for both its photophysical and biological applications. Notably, CHP exhibited promising invitro antifungal and antibacterial activities, primarily attributed to the presence of the 4-phenylpiperidin-4-ol moiety and resulting component contributed to an enhanced absorption rate of lipids, thereby improving the pharmacological activity of CHP. This correlation between structure and function was further supported by the outcomes of structure-activity relationship studies. Additionally, we conducted in silico studies to examine the molecular interactions of the synthesized molecule with key proteins, including DNA Gyrase, Lanosterol 14 α-demethylase, and KEAP1-NRF2. The results unveiled robust binding interactions at specific sites within these proteins, indicating potential therapeutic relevance. Furthermore, the photophysical properties of the synthesized compounds were thoroughly investigated using the ab-initio technique. This involved the determination of ground state optimization and HOMO-LUMO energy levels, all calculated with the DFT-B3LYP-6-31G(d) basis set. The assessment of the theoretically estimated HOMO-LUMO value provided insights into the global chemical reactivity descriptors, revealing that the synthesized molecule boasts a highly electronegative and electrophilic index. Taken together, our findings suggest that pyrazole derivatives with 4-phenylpiperidin-4-ol substitutions exhibit promising applications in both photophysical and biological contexts.

The main aim of this study was to know the effect of seed bacterization in color capsicum for the production of defence enzymes. The efficient actinobacterial isolates were used as both single inoculants and consortia for priming the seeds. The presence of enzymes was estimated at 3, 5 and 7 days after initiation for phytopathogens. The treatment T9 showed the highest activity of PAL in green capsicum at 7 DAI (148.22, μmol of cinnamic acid min-1 mg-1 of protein) which was on par with T1 (138.71 μmol of cinnamic acid min-1 mg-1 of protein). In red capsicum treatment T8 showed the highest activity of PPO at 7 DAI (9.97, change in OD min-1 g of leaf tissue-1) which was on par with T6 (9.34 change in OD min-1 g of leaf tissue-1) followed by T9 (9.09 change in OD min-1 g of leaf tissue-1) and in yellow capsicum treatment T8 showed the highest activity of PPO at 7 DAI (16.72, change in OD min-1 g of leaf tissue-1). The treatment T9 showed the highest β -1, 3-glucanase activity at 7 DAI (430.58, 365.33 and 410.06 nmol glucose released min-1 g-1 leaf tissue) followed by T8 (412.32, 333.40 and 389.22 nmol glucose released min-1 g-1 leaf tissue). The highest activity of the enzymes was reported in the treatment which was inoculated with consortia of efficient actinobacterial isolates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate change over the years has led to the occurrence of abiotic stresses in crops. Drought stress has become the main limiting factor for crop growth, development and production. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) establish symbiotic interaction with 80 per cent of known land plants. It has good impact on plant growth, water absorption and protection from abiotic stresses. In this view, a total of forty AM fungal isolates were isolated from the drought prone areas of Karnataka. Isolates were mass produced by using maize as host plant. MPN method was carried out to determine the number of infective propagules in each isolate. The efficient isolates were screened for drought tolerance in green gram at different levels of field capacity (FC) (25, 50, 75 and 100% FC). Plants were grown in polythene bags for 30 days under greenhouse condition and based on performance of mycorrhizal parameters and plant parameters, the efficient drought tolerant isolates were selected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finger millet is an important food crop that is grown in arid and semi-arid parts of Africa and Asia and it serves as a staple food source for millions of people. Blast is the most devastating disease affecting it at every stage of growth and development. In recent years, endophytes received attention because of their potential to increase crop yield without massive application of synthetic chemicals. Landraces are traditional, regional ecotypes that have adapted to their natural environment, some possess resistance to the blast disease. In this study, 42 bacterial endophytes were isolated from fifteen landraces and were screened for their antagonistic activity against Pyricularia grisea, causal agent of finger millet blast. Seed constitutes high number of bacterial colonies with the landrace, thenemundaga ragi. The isolates HMS-1 (91.04%), GPRS-1 (92.54%) and GPRR (92.54%) were efficient in inhibiting the pathogen growth in both dual culture plate and biomass assay by means of antibiosis and hyper parasitism. Hence, one can explore the microflora of these landraces and can utilize them as best microbial inoculants for management of blast disease, to improve plant growth and crop yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An assessment was made to identify a superior combination of microbial inoculants for attaining maximum quinoa yield based on the relationships among soil nutrients with different beneficial micro-flora and yield under semi-arid alfisols under green house conditions. Five microbial cultures viz., Azotobacter chroococcum, Bacillus megaterium, Fraturia aurantia, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Glomus fasciculatum were tested in the study. Pure cultures of selected isolates were sub-cultured on specific medium and maintained in slants for further studies. Seventeen treatments were tested for identifying a superior treatment for attaining maximum soil nutrients, apart from the beneficial microflora and quinoa yield. The Analysis of Variance indicated that the treatments differed significantly in influencing the different parameters and quinoa yield. Based on Duncan’s Multiple Range Test, T17 inoculated with Azotobacter chroococcum + Bacillus megaterium + Pseudomonas fluorescens was superior for attaining significantly higher soil N and P nutrients, seed calcium, magnesium and zinc, free living N fixers and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria, while T16 was superior for attaining significantly higher soil K, nutrients and potassium solubilizing bacteria. However, T15 was superior for chlamydospore count per 50 g of soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]