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Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, an emerging multidrug-resistant opportunistic bacterium in humans is of major concern for immunocompromised individuals for causing pneumonia and bloodborne infections. This bacterial pathogen is associated with a considerable fatality/case ratio, with up to 100%, when presented as hemorrhagic fever. It is resistant to commonly used drugs as well as to antibiotic combinations. In-silico based functional network analysis is a key approach to get novel insights into virulence and resistance in pathogenic organisms. This study included the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis of 150 specific genes identified for antibiotic resistance mechanism and virulence pathways. Eight proteins, namely,pilL,fliA,Smlt2260,Smlt2267,cheW,Smlt2318,cheZ, andfliMwere identified as hub proteins. Further docking studies of selected phytochemicals were performed against the identified hub proteins. Deoxytubulosine and Corosolic acid were found to be potent inhibitors of hub proteins of pathogenicS. maltophiliabased on protein-ligand interactive study. Further pharmacophore studies are warranted with these molecules to develop them as novel antibiotics againstS. maltophilia.

Objectives Hyperandrogenism, a key feature of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), is caused by excess androgen secretion, most commonly of ovarian origin. Although the serum total testosterone (TT) levels have long been used as a traditional measure of hyperandrogenemia in women with PCOS, it is associated with many fallacies due to the fact that a component of TT is linked to sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Recent research has discovered that measuring free testosterone levels and computing the free androgen index (FAI), which is a ratio of TT and SHBG, are better predictors of androgen excess in PCOS. The aim of this meta-analysis is to determine the association of FAI in diagnosing hyperandrogenism and its ability to discriminate PCOS from controls. Materials and Methods The publicly available databases PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were searched using MeSH terms, ‘Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome’ OR ‘PCOS’ OR ‘PCOD’ AND ‘Testosterone’ AND ‘Sex Hormone Binding Globulin’ OR ‘SHBG’ to collect the full-text articles for the retrieval of related data of case–control and cross-sectional studies. The studies quality was assessed using the Newcastle–Ottawa scale, and a sub-group analysis and publication bias between the studies was evaluated by funnel plot. Statistical Analysis The R program (v4.0.3) and R packages ‘metafor’ and ‘dmetar’ were used for statistical analyses of quantitative data and the plots were generated using ‘ggplot2’ package through a comparison of pooled SMD by Egger's linear regression and Beggs-Mazumdar tests. Results Twenty-four studies involving 7,847 participants including 3,290 controls and 4,557 PCOS were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled data analysis of the included studies showed that the PCOS women had higher FAI than controls, with SMD of 1.56 (95%CI 1.08–2.04; p Conclusion Overall, this meta-analysis indicates that FAI could be a reliable marker to differentiate PCOS patients from controls in Asian and European ethnicities.

Despite a million infections every year and an estimated one billion people at risk, scrub typhus is regarded as a neglected tropical disease. The causative bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi, a member of rickettsiae, seems to be intrinsically resistant to several classes of antibiotics. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant scrub typhus is likely to become a global public health concern. Yet, it is unknown as to how common antibiotic resistance genes are in O. tsutsugamushi, and how variable these loci are among the genomes of rickettsiae. By using the comprehensive antibiotic resistance database, we explored 79 complete genomes from 24 species of rickettsiae for antibiotic resistance loci. There were 244 unique antibiotic resistance genes in rickettsiae. Both the total and unique antibiotic resistance genes in O. tsutsugamushi were significantly less compared to other members of rickettsiae. However, antibiotic resistance genes in O. tsutsugamushi genomes were more unique and highly variable. Many genes such as resistant variants of evgS, and vanS A/G were present in numerous copies. These results will have important implications in the context of antibiotic-resistant scrub typhus.

The recent widespread emergence of monkeypox, a rare and endemic zoonotic disease by monkeypox virus (MPXV), has made global headlines. While transmissibility (R0 ≈ 0.58) and fatality rate (0-3%) are low, as it causes prolonged morbidity, monkeypox is leading to considerable public health anxiety. Thus, effective containment and disease management require quick and efficient detection of MPXV. In this bioinformatic overview, we summarize the numerous molecular tests available for MPXV, and discuss the diversity of genes and primers used in the PCR-based detection. Over 90 primer/probe sets are used for the detection of poxviruses. While hemagglutinin and A-type inclusion protein are the most common target genes, TNF receptor and complement binding protein genes are frequently used for distinguishing Congo and west-African clades of MPXV. Problems and possibilities in the detection of MPXV have been discussed.

Enterobacter cloacae is normally considered to be an opportunistic human pathogen. Here, we report on the whole-genome sequence of an endophytic E. cloacae, strain "Ghats1", isolated from leaves of the medicinal plant Coscinium fenestratum Gaertn. Functional analysis of the Ghats1 genome revealed an enrichment for genes involved in the uptake and exchange of nutrients, for chemotaxis and for plant colonization. Unexpectedly though, there were no ORFs belonging to the "virulence factors and antibiotic resistance". Moreover, the presence of hydrolytic enzymes and motility functions reveals the characteristics of an endophyte lifestyle of a bacterium that can colonize and adapt to plant environment. These results provide a better understanding of an endophytic lifestyle through plant-microbe interaction, which can be further exploited as a biocontrol agent.

Structural complexity of ecological networks facilitate the functional robustness of natural ecosystems. Threatened by the human actions such as habitat destruction and climate change, species may be more or less prone to ecological perturbations depending on the nature of their interactions. We examined the host network of tropical butterflies from the Indian region to see their level of interconnectedness. We manually curated larval host utilization data for 1053 butterflies of India. About 98.8% of species that occur pan-India and 90.6% of species exclusive to the Western Ghats had known hosts whereas it was only 25.9% for species exclusive to north-east India. There were 2589 unique butterfly-host interactions comprising 519 butterfly species and their 1091 known hosts. However, nearly 30% of the species had only single hosts. The Fabaceae and Poaceae were the key host families that accounted for 32.8% of the interactions. There were clear host preferences and monocots hosted disproportionately more butterfly species and interactions. Vanessa cardui had at least 39 known hosts while Ochlandra travancorica supported 19 butterfly species. There were 2693 species-pairs and 4226 interactions among 469 butterflies due to shared hosts. Many butterfly species that have relatively few/unique hosts might be vulnerable in the context of habitat destruction and climate change. This work has great relevance to the ecology and conservation of butterflies in India.

Fungi occur in mangroves as saprobes, pathogens, and endophytes of a wide range of timber host substrates and may also be isolated from the water column and bottom sediments. In this study, we explore their biodiversity within a single mangrove forest at Muthupet, Tamil Nadu, India. The study showed a rich diversity of fungi on five decaying host substrates (out of seven host substrates) collected in the intertidal zone, resulting in 78 marine fungal taxa in 67 genera from 11 field collections and 6215 samples. Of the 78 taxa, 56 species (in 47 genera) belong to the Ascomycota and two species (2 genera) to Basidiomycota with the remaining 20 species representing asexual fungi (18 genera). Some fungal species were repeatedly reported: Verruculina enalia (21.65%) was the most frequently collected fungus; Marinosphaera mangrovei (9.2%), Rimora mangrovei (9.15%), Okeanomyces cucullatus (8.7%), Halocryptosphaeria bathurstensis (6%) in the frequent category, Paraconiothyrium cyclothyroides (4.5%), Hysterium rhizophorae (3.5%), Sclerococcum haliotrephum (3.6%), Lulworthia sp. (3.6%), and Farasanispora avicenniae (3%) were infrequently collected. Of the host substrates, Avicennia marina wood pieces harbored 49 fungal species of which 19 were unique. Two-way ANOVA revealed that fungal species richness was not affected irrespective of the collection season (P = 0.239) but was significantly dependent on the wood species (P

The endemic Indian white shrimp (Penaeus indicus) is an economically important shrimp species, distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region. Knowledge of gut microbial composition helps in dietary interventions to ensure improved health and production. Here we analyzed V3-V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene to examine intestinal microbiota in the wild and farmed P. indicus. The study revealed Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, Tenericutes, and Bacteroidetes, were the dominant phyla in both the groups; though the differences in relative abundance were evident. The dominant genera in case of the wild group were Photobacterium (29.5%) followed by Propionigenium (13.9%), Hypnocyclicus (13.7%) and Vibrio (11.1%); while Vibrio (46.5%), Catenococcus (14%), Propionigenium (10.3%) and Photobacterium (8.7%) were dominant in the farmed group. The results of the study suggest the role of environment on the relative abundance of gut bacteria. This is the first report characterizing gut microbial diversity in P. indicus, which can be used to understand the role of gut microbiota in health, nutrition, reproduction, and growth.

Bacterial resistance to various drugs and antibiotics has become a significant issue in the fight against infectious diseases. Due to the presence of diverse toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems, bacteria undergo adaptive metabolic alterations and can tolerate the effects of drugs and antibiotics. Bacterial TA systems are unique and can be therapeutic targets for developing new antimicrobial agents, owing to their ability to influence bacterial fate. With this background, our study aims to identify novel drug targets against Escherichia coli K12 MG1655 antitoxin using homology modelling approach. In this study, the protein-protein interaction network of 87 E. coli K12 MG1655 TA systems identified through literature mining was screened for the identification of hub proteins. The model evaluation, assessment, and homology modelling of the hub proteins were evaluated. Furthermore, computer-aided mathematical models of selected phytochemicals have been tested against the identified hub proteins. The TA system was functionally enriched in regulation of cell growth, negative regulation of cell growth, regulation of mRNA stability, mRNA catabolic process and RNA phosphodiester bond hydrolysis. RelE, RelB, MazE, MazF, MqsR, MqsA, and YoeB were identified as hub proteins. The robustness and superior quality of the RelB and MazE modelled structure were discovered by model evaluation, quality assessment criteria, and homology modelling of hub proteins. Clorobiocin was found to be a strong inhibitor by docking these modelled structures. Clorobiocin could be utilized as an antibacterial agent against multidrug resistant E. coli which may inactivate antitoxins and cause programmed cell death.

Vanillin and its derivative, (4-((

Vanillin and its derivative, (4-((E)-(4-hydroxy-2-methylphenylimino) methyl)-2-methoxyphenol (MMP) were showed clear inhibition of violacein and pyocyanin at sub-MICs indicating a possible quorum quenching effect of both the compounds. MMP was able to inhibit the biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 at 125 μg/mL (p < 0.05), while vanillin at 250 μg/mL (p < 0.05) indicating that they act against quorum sensing regulated biofilm formation. The inhibition of biofilm was confirmed by visualization through fluorescence microscopy followed by docking analysis of molecules against quorum sensing activator proteins. Caenorhabditis elegans survival assay revealed that vanillin and MMP were able to increase survival of C. elegans from P. aeruginosa PAO1 infection. The study showed that the potent features of the MMP and vanillin in inhibiting the quorum sensing regulated virulence and biofilm, which was proved in C. elegans infection model as well as molecular docking studies.

Additional file 3: Table S2. Summary of 16S rRNA reads from soil DNA extracted from CA, TA, and SA soils between November 2016 and May 2017 according to the Illumina MiSeq analysis.

Additional file 4: Fig. S2. Venn diagram representing the OTUs obtained from CA, TA, and SA soils between November 2016 and May 2017. The diagrams were implemented by the R software.

Additional file 1: Fig. S1. Geographical maps of three tea plantations including CA, TA, and SA managements. The red frames indicate the experimental fields. The maps were obtained from the Google map.

Additional file 6: Table S3. Modeling the enzymatic activity and bacterial community with soil chemical properties by multivariate linear regression ANOVA with the stepwise method.

Additional file 5: Fig. S3. Box plot showing (a) the distribution top six phyla at three soils and (b) at different sampling times.

Additional file 2: Table S1. The agricultural management practices from conventional (CA), transformational (TA), and sustainable (SA) agriculture between 2016–2017.

UNSTRUCTURED The novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2 infection has shown discernible variability across the globe. While in some countries people are recovering relatively quicker, in others, recovery times have been comparatively longer and numbers of those succumbing to it high. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the likely association between an individual’s ancestry and the extent of COVID-19 manifestation employing Europeans as the case study. We employed 10,215 ancient and modern genomes across the globe assessing 597,573 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) between various ancestry proportions of European genomes and COVID-19 death/recovery ratio was calculated and its significance was statistically evaluated. We found significant positive correlation (p=0.03) between European Mesolithic hunter gatherers (WHG) ancestral fractions and COVID-19 death/recovery ratio and a marginally significant negative correlation (p=0.06) between Neolithic Iranian ancestry fractions and COVID-19 death/recovery ratio. We further identified 404 immune response related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by comparing publicly available 753 genomes from various European countries against 838 genomes from various Eastern Asian countries in a genome wide association study (GWAS). Prominently, we identified that SNPs associated with Interferon stimulated antiviral response, Interferon-stimulated gene 15 mediated antiviral mechanism and 2′-5′ oligoadenylate synthase mediated antiviral response show large differences in allele frequencies between Europeans and East Asians. Overall, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating the likely association between genetic ancestry and COVID-19 manifestation. While our current findings improve our overall understanding of the COVID-19, we note that the development of effective therapeutics will benefit immensely from more detailed analyses of individual genomic sequence data from COVID-19 patients of varied ancestries.

BackgroundThe novel coronavirus: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread rapidly throughout the world leading to catastrophic consequences. However, SARS-CoV-2 infection has shown discernible variability across the globe. While in some countries people are recovering relatively quickly, in others, recovery times have been comparatively longer and number of individuals succumbing to it are high. This variability in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) susceptibility is suggestive of a likely association between the genetic-make up of affected individuals modulated by their ancestry and the severity of COVID-19 manifestations.ObjectiveIn this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential association between an individual’s genetic ancestry and the extent of COVID-19 disease presentation employing Europeans as the case study. In addition, using a genome wide association (GWAS) approach we sought to discern the putative single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and genes that may be likely associated with differential COVID-19 manifestations by comparative analyses of the European and East Asian genomes.MethodTo this end, we employed 10,215 ancient and modern genomes across the globe assessing 597,573 SNPs obtained from the databank of Dr. David Reich, Harvard Medical School, USA to evaluate the likely correlation between European ancestry and COVID-19 manifestations. Ancestry proportions were determined using qpAdm program implemented in AdmixTools v5.1. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) between various ancestry proportions of European genomes and COVID-19 death/recovery ratio was calculated and its significance was statistically evaluated. Genome wide association study (GWAS) was performed in PLINK v1.9 to investigate SNPs with significant allele frequency variations among European and East Asian genomes that likely correlated with differential COVID-19 infectivity.ResultsWe found significant positive correlation (r=0.58, P=0.03) between West European hunter gatherers (WHG) ancestral fractions and COVID-19 death/recovery ratio for data as of 5th April 2020. This association discernibly amplified (r=0.77, P=0.009) upon reanalyses based on data as of 30th June 2020, removing countries with small sample sizes and adding those that are a bridge between Europe and Asia. Using GWAS we further identified 404 immune response related SNPs by comparing publicly available 753 genomes from various European countries against 838 genomes from various Eastern Asian countries. Prominently, we identified that SNPs associated with immune-system related pathways such as interferon stimulated antiviral response, adaptive and innate immune system and IL-6 dependent immune responses show significant differences in allele frequencies [Chi square values (≥1500; P≈0)] between Europeans and East Asians.ConclusionSo far, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the likely association between host genetic ancestry and COVID-19 severity. These findings improve our overall understanding of the putative genetic modifiers of COVID-19 clinical presentation. We note that the development of effective therapeutics will benefit immensely from more detailed analyses of individual genomic sequence data from COVID-19 patients of varied ancestries.

Nitrogen species such as ammonia and nitrite are considered as major stressors in modern aquaculture practices. We developed enrichments of ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidising bacteria (NOB) for effective mitigation of nitrogenous wastes in the shrimp culture operations. The objective of this study was to understand the microbial community composition of AOB and NOB enrichments using the V3-V4 region of the 16S rDNA gene by Illumina MiSeq sequencing. The analysis revealed 2948 and 1069 OTUs at 97% similarity index and Shannon alpha diversity index of 7.64 and 4.85 for AOB and NOB enrichments, respectively. Comparative analysis showed that a total of 887 OTUs were common among AOB and NOB enrichments. The AOB and NOB enrichment were dominated by Eubacteria at 96% and 99.7% respectively. Proteobacterial phylum constituted 31.46% (AOB) and 39.75% (NOB) and dominated by α-Proteobacteria (20%) in AOB and γ-Proteobacteria (16%) in NOB. Among the species in AOB enrichment (2,948) two sequences were assigned to ammonia oxidising bacterial group belonging to Nitrosomonas, and Nitrosococcus genera and two belonged to archaeon group comprising Nitrosopumilus and Candidatus Nitrososphaeraea genera. The NOB enrichment was predominated by Nitrospiraceae and Thermodesulfovibrionaceae. Further, the data revealed the presence of heterotrophic bacteria contributing to the process of nitrification and form microcosm with the AOB and NOB. PICRUSt analysis predicted the presence of 24 different nitrogen cycling genes involved in nitrification, denitrification, ammonia and nitrogen transporter family, nitrate reduction and ammonia assimilation. The study confirms the presence of many lesser known nitrifying bacteria along with well characterised nitrifiers.

Oxalate degradation by bacteria has medical and environmental applications, specifically the presence of oxalate degrading enzymes. Novel oxalotrophic bacteria are being increasingly studied as potential probiotic candidates directed towards the management of kidney stone diseases. In this study, oxalate tolerating/degrading bacteria were isolated as endophytes from Colocasia esculenta and Remusatia vivipara leaf samples. A set of degenerate primers were used to detect frc and oxc genes in the oxalotrophic endophytic bacteria and optimized to detect through colony PCR. The obtained results allowed for the detection of frc and oxc genes in seven endophytic bacteria and results were well correlated with In-Vitro oxalate tolerance and degradation assays. A rapid and sensitive colony PCR assay was developed for the detection of frc and oxc genes in oxalotrophic endophytic bacteria.

The current study aimed to determine the presence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Salmonella species isolated from green leafy vegetables in coastal India through a rapid culture-independent method. Salmonella sp. from leaf samples were preliminarily screened for the presence of ESBL genes such as blaCTX-M, blaSHV, blaTEM and blaOXA. The multidrug resistance pattern was determined by the disk diffusion test and the susceptibility of the species was evaluated against 12 antimicrobials from four different classes. The highest rates of resistance were against Penicillin G (100%) and Ampicillin (100%) followed by Amoxicillin (80%) respectively. In contrast, all the bacteria showed sensitivity to Ciprofloxacin. In this study, high rates of multidrug resistance and ESBL production were observed in Salmonella species. All the isolates also exhibited swimming and swarming motility along with the ability to produce biofilms. Culture independent analysis carried out with the leaf samples revealed a presence of a high number of tested ESBL genes in all four samples with a significantly high number in coriander leaf samples. Results indicate that the currently developed method is a good alternative to existing screening techniques owing to its rapid and efficient differentiation of ESBLs.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected >235 million people and killed over 4.8 million individuals worldwide. Although vaccines have been developed for prophylactic management, there are no clinically proven antivirals to treat the viral infection. Continuous efforts are being made all over the world to develop effective drugs but these are being delayed by periodic outbreak of mutated SARS-CoV-2 and a lack of knowledge of molecular mechanisms underlying viral pathogenesis and post-infection complications. In this regard, the involvement of Annexin A2 (AnxA2), a lipid-raft related phospholipid-binding protein, in SARS-CoV-2 attachment, internalization, and replication has been discussed. In addition to the evidence from published literature, we have performed in silico docking of viral spike glycoprotein and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase with human AnxA2 to find the molecular interactions. Overall, this review provides the molecular insights into a potential role of AnxA2 in the SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and post-infection complications, especially thrombosis, cytokine storm, and insulin resistance.

Background The National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) in India apply adult cutoffs of nutritional status for the estimation of undernutrition/overweight in the 15-19 age group. The prevalence of thinness in boys and girls thus estimated is 58.1% and 46.8% in NFHS-3, and 45% and 42% in NFHS-4 respectively. But the WHO recommends using age and sex-specific reference for adolescents. We reanalyzed the nutritional status of the adolescents using the WHO 2007 Growth Reference to obtain revised estimates of thinness, overweight and stunting across states, rural-urban residence, and wealth quintiles. Methods and findings Demographic information, anthropometric data, and wealth index were accessed from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) database. We re-analyzed the anthropometric data using WHO AnthroPlus software which uses the WHO 2007 Growth reference. The revised estimates of thinness assessed by BMI-for-age z-scores in boys and girls was 22.3% (95%CI: 21.6, 23.0) and 9.9% (95%CI: 9.5, 10.3) in NFHS-3 and 16.5% (95%CI: 16.0,17.0) and 9% (95%CI: 8.9, 9.2) in NFHS-4 respectively. Stunting was found to be 32.2% (95% CI: 31.6, 32.9) in boys and 34.4% (95% CI: 34.2, 34.7) in girls in NFHS-4. This was higher than that in NFHS-3; 25.2% (95% CI: 24.4, 26) in boys and 31.2 (95% CI: 30.6, 31.8) in girls. There was a clear socioeconomic gradient as there were higher thinness and stunting in rural areas. There was wide variation among the states with pockets of a double burden of malnutrition. Conclusion Using the adult cutoffs significantly overestimates thinness in adolescents in the age group of 15-19 years old in India. Stunting, which is an indicator of long term nutrition is also widely prevalent in them. Future editions of DHS and NFHS should consider adolescents as a separate age group for nutritional assessment for a better understanding of nutritional transition in the population.

Enterobacter cloacae is normally considered to be an opportunistic human pathogen. Here, we report on the whole-genome sequence of an endophytic E. cloacae, strain "Ghats1", isolated from leaves of the medicinal plant Coscinium fenestratum Gaertn. Functional analysis of the Ghats1 genome revealed an enrichment for genes involved in the uptake and exchange of nutrients, for chemotaxis and for plant colonization. Unexpectedly though, there were no ORFs belonging to the "virulence factors and antibiotic resistance". Moreover, the presence of hydrolytic enzymes and motility functions reveals the characteristics of an endophyte lifestyle of a bacterium that can colonize and adapt to plant environment. These results provide a better understanding of an endophytic lifestyle through plant-microbe interaction, which can be further exploited as a biocontrol agent.

In this study, the basic bacterial community composition associated with aquatic sediments of the freshwater, mangrove and marine ecosystems of a coastal region in the Southwest coast of India (Mangalore, Karnataka) was explored using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The V3–V4 hypervariable regions of 16S rRNA gene analysis revealed that freshwater and marine ecosystems had a higher abundance of phyla Planctomyces and Proteobacteria which are known to play a major role in the nitrogen cycle, improving the global nitrogen bioavailability in aquatic ecosystems. Functional prediction of xenobiotic degradation pathways using KEGG database from all three samples suggest the resident microbial tolerance to organic contaminants, xenobiotics and pesticides that play a major role in balancing ecological systems by metabolizing the xenobiotics or contaminants to maintain the resilience of the ecosystem. The study highlights the importance of investigating the bacterial community composition across the aquatic ecosystems as it can serve as an indicator of environmental health as well as provide a valuable gene pool for biotechnological applications.

Bubble chamber incubation of surface sterilized segments of root bark and xylem of 10 riparian tree species of the Sampaje (475–500 m asl) and VʼBadaga (765–800 m asl) stream reaches of the Western Ghats yielded 20 species of endophytic aquatic hyphomycetes. Anguillospora crassa, A. longissima and Cylindrocarpon sp. were among the top five species in streams. A two-way ANOVA showed significantly higher species richness and counts of conidium in the tree species of Sampaje compared to VʼBadaga (p

Aquatic hyphomycete conidial trapping efficiency by the banyan (F. benghalensis L.) latex-coated glass slides was tested diurnally (3 h intervals) in the Western Ghats (Sampaje) and west coast (Konaje) streams in relation to abiotic factors (humidity, air temperature and water temperature). The conidial trapping efficiency of latex-coated slides was compared with plain glass slides and drift conidia in water. Three methods of assessment showed higher species richness, conidial richness and diversity in Sampaje than in Konaje stream. In both streams, species richness, conidial richness and diversity in latex-coated slides were the highest followed by conidia in water and plain slides. Three-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in overall species and conidial richness between the streams, sampling methods and time of sampling (p

Fortnightly survey in control and fire-impacted regions of scrub jungle of south-west coast of India during south-west monsoon (50 m2 quadrats up to 10 weeks) yielded 34 and 25 species of macrofungi, respectively. The species as well as sporocarp richness were the highest during the fourth week, while the diversity attained the highest during the second week in control region. In fire-impacted region, the species and sporocarp richness and diversity peaked at sixth week. Seven species common to both regions were Chlorophyllum molybdites, Lepiota sp., Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, Marasmius sp. 3, Polyporus sp., Schizophyllum commune and Tetrapyrgos nigripes. The overall sporocarp richness was higher in fire-impacted than in control region. The Jaccard’s similarity between regions was 13.5%, while fortnights of regions ranged from 0% (10th week) to 11.7% (eighth week). Control region showed single-species dominance by Xylaria hypoxylon, while multispecies dominance by Cyathus striatus and Lentinus squarrosulus in fire-impacted region. Except for air temperature, nine abiotic factors significantly differed between control and fire-impacted regions. The Pearson correlation was positive between species richness and phosphorus content in fire-impacted region (r = 0.696), while sporocarp richness was negatively correlated with pH in control region (r = −0.640). Economically viable species were 12 and 10 without overlap in control and fire-impacted regions, respectively.

Assemblages of aquatic hyphomycetes in streambed sediments of nine temporary streamlets in Southwest India were monitored during the wet and dry seasons. Sediments were baited with sterile banyan ( Ficus benghalensis ) leaf disks followed by conidial induction in bubble chambers. Species richness as well as conidial output were higher during the wet than dry season, while it was opposite for diversity. Anguillospora longissima , Cylindrocarpon sp. and Flagellospora curvula were common among the top five spore producers in both seasons. During the wet season, species richness was higher in sandy clay loam sediments than in loam and sandy loam sediments, while species similarity showed a decreasing trend from loam > sandy clay loam > sandy loam sediments. This corresponds to greater dispersal ability of filiform conidia than branched conidia in sediments. The conidial output positively correlated with organic carbon in sediments during the wet season.

International audience; Perennial rivers and streams make a disproportionate contribution to global carbon (C) cycling. However, the contribution of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES), which sometimes cease to flow and can dry completely, is largely ignored although they represent over half the global river network. Substantial amounts of terrestrial plant litter (TPL) accumulate in dry riverbeds and, upon rewetting, this material can undergo rapid microbial processing. We present the results of a global research collaboration that collected and analysed TPL from 212 dry riverbeds across major environmental gradients and climate zones. We assessed litter decomposability by quantifying the litter carbon-to-nitrogen ratio and oxygen (O2) consumption in standardized assays and estimated the potential short-term CO2 emissions during rewetting events. Aridity, cover of riparian vegetation, channel width and dry-phase duration explained most variability in the quantity and decomposability of plant litter in IRES. Our estimates indicate that a single pulse of CO2 emission upon litter rewetting contributes up to 10% of the daily CO2 emission from perennial rivers and stream, particularly in temperate climates. This indicates that the contributions of IRES should be included in global C-cycling assessments.

Forty-six species of macrofungi (27 genera) were recorded in 25 quadrats (625 m2) in five mangroves of the southwest India (Paduhithlu, Nadikudru, Sasihithlu, Thokottu and Batapady). A maximum of 20 species occurred in Sasihithlu with a highest diversity value. Four species belong to coregroup ( ≥ 10 sporocarps/quadrat), while 29 species were confined to specific mangrove (exclusive species). Out of 1591 sporocarps, Paduhithlu supported the highest number of sporocarps (564) followed by Nadikudru (502). Rarefaction curves showed a steep increase in the expected number of species against the number of sporocarps in Sasihithlu. Pearson correlation between biotic factors (species richness, sporocarp richness and species diversity) and edaphic factors (air and soil) was not significantly correlated. Woody litter supported the highest number of macrofungi (26 species) followed by soil (22 species) and least in leaf litter (7 species). Up to one-third of macrofungi recovered in mangroves are economically valuab...

This paper documents the distribution and diversity of macrofungi in coastal sand dunes characterized by less, moderate and severe disturbance regimes of the south-western India. Diversity was higher in moderately disturbed dunes compared to less or severely disturbed dunes. Among the 38 macrofungi recovered, ten, six, two and one species were edible, ectomycorrhizal, medicinal and considered to be of decorative value, respectively. Ten macrofungi were dominant (≥5 fruit bodies/625 m 2 ) on the coastal sand dunes. These were Amanita sp., Collybia dryophila var. extuberans, C. fusipes, Coprinus plicatilis, Dacryopinax spathularia, Lactarius sp., Lentinus squarrosulus, Marasmius kisangensis, Marasmius sp. 2 and Scleroderma citrinum). The coastal sand dunes are under severe anthropogenic pressure, especially urbanization, sand extraction, agricultural activities and seawall construction. The revegetated dunes are mainly represented by exotic tree species (e.g., Acacia and Casuarina), which are often harvested. Due to the removal of native vegetation and the ‘grow and harvest’ policy associated with exotic trees, the native flora, fauna and macrofungi of the coastal sand dunes are severely threatened. The results obtained in the present pilot study point out the need for long-term temporal and spatial investigation of the macrofungal resource of coastal sand dunes to gain a more comprehensive knowledge on their abundance, diversity, ecological significance, benefits and what must be done to implement strategies necessary for conservation.

Background: This study compares the composition of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) in seeds of Sesbania speciosa (dry and mature) after processing (uncooked and cooked) and extraction (hot and cold). Methods: Among PUFA, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids were common to uncooked and cooked dry seeds which were high on cold extraction. Only two fatty acid ratios were favorable in hot extraction [(C 14:0 + C 15:0 + (C 16:0 / C 18:0 ) and C 18:1 / C 18:2 ]. Results: Cold extraction yielded docosahexaenoic acid in uncooked as well as cooked dry seeds and all fatty acid ratios were nutritionally favorable. In mature seeds, lauric and myristic acids were high on hot extraction, while palmitic and stearic acids were high on cold extraction. Except for ω-6/ ω-3 ratio, the rest fatty acid ratios in mature seeds on hot extraction were not favorable, while cold extraction resulted in three favorable ratios (TUFA/TSFA, TPUFA/TMUFA and ω-6/ ω-3). Three-way ANOVA on the impact of seeds, process and extraction of major fatty acids revealed significant difference only between extraction methods (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Overall, the cold extraction for dry as well as mature seeds were advantageous for essential fatty acids profile. Some of the recent patents are dealing with antineoplastic compounds as well as radioprotective drugs derived from Sesbania speciosa.

Correction to: Nature Geoscience https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0134-4, published online 21 May 2018. In the version of this Article originally published, the affiliation for M. I. Arce was incorrect; it should have been: 5Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany. This has now been corrected in the online versions of the Article.

Edible wild mushrooms of the Western Ghats of India (Auricularia auricula-judae and Termitomyces umkowaan) were evaluated for bioactive potential in uncooked and cooked conditions. In spite of low quantities of total phenolics and tannins, uncooked A. auricula showed significantly higher total antioxidant activity (TAA), ferric-ion chelation, DPPH (diphenyl- i -picrylhydrazyl) radical-scavenging capacity and reducing power than cooked A. auricula due to presence of other bioactive principles like flavonoids, vitamin C, and l -DOPA (dihydroxyphenylalanine). Although total phenolics, tannins, vitamin C, and l -DOPA contents were lower in cooked than in uncooked T. umkowaan, TAA, ferric-ion chelation, DPPH radical-scavenging activity, and reducing power were considerably high in cooked samples indicating bioactive principles were not affected by pressure cooking. Besides, A. auricula-judae and T. umkowaan possess high nutritional components (eg, fiber, carbohydrates, essential amino acids, and unsaturated fatty acids), devoid of trypsin inhibition, possess very low hemagglutinin activity, and serve as potential nutraceutical sources in combating human ailments.

We examined the pattern of adherence of aquatic hyphomycetes conidia on six latex-coated slides (Artocarpus heterophyllus, A. hirsutus, Calotropis gigantea, Ficus benghalensis, Manilkara zapota and Plumeria rubra) with plain slides (control) exposed up to 18 h in a tropical coastal stream. Conidia of 21 species were trapped on latex-coated slides against seven on control slides. The total conidia adhered on latex-coated slides was higher than control slides. Latex-coated slides showed the highest diversity of aquatic hyphomycetes than control slides (1.805) and water (0.729). The top five species of aquatic hyphomycetes in latex-coated slides and drift conidia were comparable. Sørensen’s similarity of species in control slides against latex-coated slides ranged from 25% (P. rubra) to 62.5% (C. gigantea) indicating superiority of latex-coated slides in conidial trapping. Among the latex-coated slides, similarity varied between 13.3% (A. hirsutus vs. P. rubra) and 89.6% (F. benghalensis vs. M. zapota). One-way ANOVA showed significant difference in richness of species (P