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The world population will increase by two billion in the year 2050 as per the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. To meet the needs of people, more efficient farming practices must be identified and implemented, which can increase the yield of crops in the field. A study shows that one in five deaths globally, equivalent to 11 million deaths, are because of poor diet and unavailability of food for the underprivileged. Automation in the agricultural field will not just ease the process but also increase the yield, helping many households to afford at least two meals a day. Implementation of artificial intelligence in agriculture can ease the process. Some countries like the United States, Singapore, etc. use AI in agriculture; they have reported a good impact on the yield of crops. The main objective of this work is to analyze the applications to implement artificial intelligence technology in farming, the advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence in agriculture, and the opportunity in India to implement these technologies in farming.

Gastric cancer is a pathological condition induced by the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. Targeting the key virulence factors of H. pylori causing gastric cancer is a promising method for treating gastric cancer. Recently, research has been focused on analyzing the adrenergic, cholinergic, and anti-cancer properties of their venom proteins. Testing the anti-cancer activity of the lethal proteins in the venom of P. volitans provides a bioactive compound for cancer treatment. Still, it is also helpful to eliminate the ecological imbalance caused by these fish in the marine environment. This study focuses on an in silico approach using Z-dock to analyze the bioactive prospective of the venom proteins of P. volitans against the essential virulence proteins of H. pylori responsible for inducing cancer. Our in silico docking study using a computational model of the venom proteins and H. pylori proteins has displayed the possible interactions between these proteins. The results revealed that P. volitans hyaluronidase and PV toxin's venom proteins effectively interact with H. pylori proteins Cag A, Cag L, GGT, Cag D, and urease that may be promising proteins in cancer therapy.

Across the globe, in both developed and developing countries, wheat provides the fundamental support for all other important foods. However, due to climate change, environmental stress, soil infertility, etc., the yield of wheat is affected. To overcome these issues, biofertilizers are recommended. They are eco-friendly, cost-efficient, and affordable by marginal farmers too when compared with chemical fertilizers. Biofertilizers are made up of living microorganisms that colonize the rhizosphere to promote plant yield and prevent plant disease. Pesticide degrading strains of bacteria are emerging as the best technique to overcome the negative effect of pesticides. Due to insufficient awareness among farmers, agricultural land and crops are cultivated through chemical fertilizers, which became a major threat to human health and agriculture. On the other hand, the government is implementing several measures in marketing bio-fertilizers for the betterment of agriculture and human health. In this chapter, the significance and future perspectives of biofertilizers have been covered.

Nanoemulsions are an attractive approach for the delivery of antiviral drugs in the treatment of various viral infections. Nanoemulsions are easy to plan and develop, and their components exhibit high variability. Nanoemulsion system and its components have certain biophysical properties which could increase the efficacy of drug therapy. Pulmonary surfactant (PS)-assisted antiviral drug delivery by nanoemulsion system could be another effective approach for the treatment of COVID-19. Antiviral drug delivery of nebulization using an animation system could increase the efficacy of antiviral drug against COVID-19. Ginkgo biloba polyprenol nanoemulsion was also found to be stable, non-toxic, and had strong antiviral activity against influenza A H3N2 and hepatitis B virus in vitro. Nanoemulsion systems possess certain properties that make their system suitable for drug delivery by mobilization and hence would be promising systems for therapeutics in the future.

Essential oil, endorsed as a natural cum powerful ingredient, encompasses incredible properties, and various approaches have been proposed and spurred over the last decades. One among them is the nano-emulsification of the essential oils, and the sub-micron size provides prolonged shelf life, ease of formulation and handling, nullification of the stated obstacles, as well as the augmentation of the essential oil antimicrobial activity. This chapter primarily reinforces and is well-articulated on (1) the components and its precise concentration adequate to fabricate nanoemulsion; (2) critical analysis on the experimentally inferred antimicrobial mechanism and the extent of contribution granted by the optimal concentration of the components in the nanoemulsion; (3) scrutinization of the possible impact rendered by the components on the other characteristics of nanoemulsion aside from antimicrobial potency. Altogether, the importance of careful formulation of the essential oil-loaded nanoemulsion is emphasized extensively.

Gastric cancer is a pathological condition induced by bacteria Helicobacter pylori. Targeting the key virulence factors of H.pylori causing gastric cancer is one such promising method for treating gastric cancer. Recently research has been focussed on analysing the adrenergeric, cholinergeric and anticancer properties of their venom proteins. Testing the anticancer activity of the lethal proteins in the venom of P.volitans not only provides a bioactive compound for cancer treatment but is also helpful to eliminate the ecological imbalance caused by this fish in marine environment. This study is focused on an in silico approach using Z-dock for analysing the bioactive prospective of the venom proteins of P.volitans against the key virulence proteins of H.pylori responsible for inducing cancer. Our in silico docking study using computational model of the venom proteins and H.pylori proteins has displayed the possible interactions between these proteins. The results revealed that the venom proteins of P.volitans hyaluronidase and PV toxin a effectively interacts with H.pylori proteins Cag A, Cag L, GGT, Cag D and Urease and may be promising proteins in cancer therapy.

The aim of this study is to biodegrade the reactive azo dyes- Reactive black 5 (B-GDN), Reactive red 120 (RP) and Reactive blue 19 (RNB) using bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii JC359. Optimization of the process variables such as pH, temperature, dye concentration, incubation time, inoculum volume and dynamic incubating conditions for dye decolorization were performed using One Factor At a Time (OFAT) approach. Box- Behnken Design (BBD) of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was further used to optimize the process variables. Decolorization rates of 98.8% for B-GDN, 96% for RP and 96.2% for RNB were observed after treating with A. baumannii for 48 h using the obtained design value. UV–Visible spectrophotometry and FT-IR spectral scan of dye and degraded metabolites confirmed that biodegradation had taken place. Further, the phytotoxicity evaluation was performed with Vigna radiata seeds and the degraded metabolites proved to be non-toxic. Docking studies were performed and it was found that there was significant binding affinity between the dyes and azoreductase enzyme of A. baumannii. Thus, the biodegradation of these reactive azo dyes was found to be a suitable alternative for the effective treatment of textile dyes.

Synthetic dyes are extensively used in several industries and the dyes are great concern for the ecosystem. During the dyeing process, a certain percentage of the used dye is released into the wastewater, causing severe environmental and health hazards. The physiochemical methods are not sustainable due to high-cost, high-energy requirements and hazardous by-products. Among all the alternative technologies to conventional wastewater treatment, bioremediation has emerged as the most desirable approach to clean up the environment and to restore its original status. The ability of microbes in decolorizing the textile effluents is significant. The decolorization can be further enhanced using immobilization techniques. Immobilization increases the stability and reusability of the microorganisms. The microorganisms can be entrapped in calcium alginate beads, that can be used to construct a packed bed reactor in which dye decolorization can be carried out on a large scale. Thus, bioremediation serves as an effective, eco-friendly solution for the pollution caused by textile dye effluents.

The objective of this study was to isolate a potent dye-degrading microbe that can be used to reduce the pollution caused by industrial dyes. Reactive red 198 is an extensively used textile dye and is a major environmental pollutant in water bodies. In this study, a bacterial strain was isolated from sea sediments and identified as Acinetobacter baumannii with 16S rRNA sequencing. The isolated bacteria were immobilized in calcium alginate and decolorization studies were carried out to determine the optimum pH, temperature, dye concentration, inoculum volume, and static/agitated condition using the one factor at a time (OFAT) approach. The Box-Behnken design, a type of response surface methodology, was adopted to improve the degradation efficiency. At 37°C using an inoculum volume of six beads, 96.20% decolorization was observed in 500 mg/L of reactive red 198 after 72 h. Dye degradation was confirmed with UV-visible spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy studies of the dye and degraded metabolites. Microbial toxicity studies using Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and phytotoxicity studies using Vigna radiata proved that the toxicity of the dye was significantly reduced after degradation. We can conclude that the isolated A. baumannii strain is an efficient dye-degrading microbe that can be used to reduce the pollution caused by industrial dyes. Keywords: Immobilization, Box-Behnken design, Response surface methodology, Microbial toxicity, Dye degradation

Background The current study aimed to produce AgNPs through a biogenic approach and assessed for their significant anti-pathogenic activities against multi-drug resistant ESKAPE pathogens. The biogenic AgNPs were synthesized through non-toxic manner and characterized by using UV-vis, XRD, DLS, TGA-DTA, FTIR, SEM along with EDX and UHRTEM were used to determine the absorption spectra, shape, size, thermal behaviour, functional groups, morphology, elemental constituents and defined particle size distribution profile, respectively. The AgNPs were evaluated for their anti-pathogenic effects against eleven strains of multi drug resistant ESKAPE pathogens by growth inhibition, biofilm adhesion, growth kinetics and Live/dead assays.Results The inhibitory range of AgNPs concentration was investigated as higher zones at escalating concentration (50 to 200 µg/ml). The growth kinetics of inhibition of all tested pathogens occurred after 4 hrs of treatment with AgNPs. Adherence assay exhibited highest inhibition in E. faecium (MCC 2763), P. aeruginosa (MTCC 1688) and E. species (MCC 2296) at 100µg/ml of AgNPs. The exposure of AgNPs increased the dead cell and consequently reduced cells density with AgNPs comparable with the effect of commercial antibiotics. The selected pathogens were found more sensitive to AgNPs than Cefotaxime/AgNO3 with the statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusion The emergence of drug resistance in ESKAPE pathogens are the extending reason for nosocomial infections, limiting the choice of antibiotics. Nanomaterials have been considered potential agents to prevent infections. Therefore, present study showed the broad spectrum potential and anti-pathogenic potency of biogenic AgNPs as an alternative to conventional antimicrobial agents.

The aim of current study is to explore the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) mediated by silver tolerant bacteria (AgTB) and its ameliorative efficacy against ESKAPE pathogens under in vitro condition. In present investigations, we have observed a metallic AgNPs from extracellular regimen via reduction of aqueous Ag+ events by using AgNO3 salt tolerated bacteria. This cascade was considered as potential candidates for the rapid synthesis of such AgNPs. In addition, the protective potential of AgNPs was evaluated with different procedures as MIC, MBC, and antibiofilm action against ESKAPE pathogen. In our results, AgTB identified as Bacillus cereus and displayed a well marked rapid synthesis of AgNPs within 3 h. The AgNPs was evaluated by using UV–vis spectroscopy and XRD. The DLS were applied to quantify the size distribution profile of AgNPs. And also, morphological were determined by using TEM study. In our result, TEM images exhibited well defined shape and size with an average particle size of about 17.51 nm. Likewise, FTIR analyses were shown marked validation with secondary metabolites which may bound to AgNPs and contributed for their stability. Our screened AgNPs showed both anti–microbial and anti–biofilm potency against multi–drug resistant ESKAPE pathogen. This bacterial mediated synthesis may be considered as an alternative approach for traditional chemical (toxic) and physical (high energy expensive) synthesis methods; and ultimately these nanoparticles can be applied for the treatment strategies for drug resistant ESKAPE pathogens.

12, 12, Walailak Journal of Science and Technology