Soil and Mineral Nutrients in Plant Health: A Prospective Study of Iron and Phosphorus in the Growth and Development of Plants.

Plants being sessile are exposed to different environmental challenges and consequent stresses associated with them. With the prerequisite of minerals for growth and development, they coordinate their mobilization from the soil through their roots. Phosphorus (P) and iron (Fe) are macro- and micronutrient; P serves as an important component of biological macromolecules, besides driving major cellular processes, including photosynthesis and respiration, and Fe performs the function as a cofactor for enzymes of vital metabolic pathways.

Pollutants in aquatic system: a frontier perspective of emerging threat and strategies to solve the crisis for safe drinking water.

Water is an indispensable natural resource and is the most vital substance for the existence of life on earth. However, due to anthropogenic activities, it is being polluted at an alarming rate which has led to serious concern about water shortage across the world. Moreover, toxic contaminants released into water bodies from various industrial and domestic activities negatively affect aquatic and terrestrial organisms and cause serious diseases such as cancer, renal problems, gastroenteritis, diarrhea, and nausea in humans.

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria in Plant Health: A Perspective Study of the Underground Interaction.

Plants are affected by various environmental stresses such as high or low temperatures, drought, and high salt levels, which can disrupt their normal cellular functioning and impact their growth and productivity. These stressors offer a major constraint to the morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters; thereby attributing serious complications in the growth of crops such as rice, wheat, and corn. Considering the strategic and intricate association of soil microbiota, known as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), with the plant roots, PGPR helps plants to adapt and survive under changing environmental conditions and become more resilient to stress.

Gut Microbiota and Cardiovascular System: An Intricate Balance of Health and the Diseased State.

Gut microbiota encompasses the resident microflora of the gut. Having an intricate relationship with the host, it plays an important role in regulating physiology and in the maintenance of balance between health and disease. Though dietary habits and the environment play a critical role in shaping the gut, an imbalance (referred to as dysbiosis) serves as a driving factor in the occurrence of different diseases, including cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Myxobacteria as a Source of New Bioactive Compounds: A Perspective Study.

Myxobacteria are unicellular, Gram-negative, soil-dwelling, gliding bacteria that belong to class δ-proteobacteria and order They grow and proliferate by transverse fission under normal conditions, but form fruiting bodies which contain myxospores during unfavorable conditions. In view of the escalating problem of antibiotic resistance among disease-causing pathogens, it becomes mandatory to search for new antibiotics effective against such pathogens from natural sources. Among the different approaches, Myxobacteria, having a rich armor of secondary metabolites, preferably derivatives of polyketide synthases (PKSs) along with non-ribosomal peptide synthases (NRPSs) and their hybrids, are currently being explored as producers of new antibiotics.

Mechanistic insights of CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome editing towards enhancing abiotic stress tolerance in plants.

Abiotic stresses such as temperature (high/low), drought, salinity, and others make the environment hostile to plants. Abiotic stressors adversely affect plant growth and development; and thereby makes a direct impact on overall plant productivity. Plants confront stress by developing an internal defense system orchestrated by compatible solutes, reactive oxygen species scavengers and phytohormones.

Screening of natural compounds for identification of novel inhibitors against β-lactamase CTX-M-152 reported among Kluyvera georgiana isolates: An in vitro and in silico study.

Multidrug resistance due to the expression of extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) by bacterial pathogens is an alarming health concern with huge socio-economic burden. Here, 102 bacterial isolates from Wastewater treatment plants (WTPs) were screened for resistance to different antibiotics. Kirby-Bauer method and phenotypic disc confirmatory test confirmed the prevalence of 20 ESBLs.

Coronavirus Disease -2019 (COVID-19) in 2020: A Perspective Study of a Global Pandemic.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease- 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which was first reported from Wuhan, China, in late 2019. This infection spread to thousands of people globally within a short span of time with a progressive trend to mortality of citizens. Posing a potential public health threat, SARS-CoV-2 progressed from animal-to-human to human-tohuman transmission with symptoms ranging from little or no illness to persons being severely ill and many deaths, confirming two criteria for declaring COVID-19 a pandemic.

The era of editing plant genomes using CRISPR/Cas: A critical appraisal.

The versatility of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/Cas (CRISPR/Cas) genome editing tool ushered biologists into an exciting era of editing genomes with great efficiency and at a pace that was never imagined before. Though the CRISPR/Cas genome editing was developed after Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and Transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), it is more popular and successful than these genome editing systems. The advent of targetable nucleases such as Cas9 has enabled manipulation of genomes in an accurate and precise manner.

Mechanistic Insights of the Interaction of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) With Plant Roots Toward Enhancing Plant Productivity by Alleviating Salinity Stress.

Agriculture plays an important role in a country's economy. The sector is challenged by many stresses, which led to huge loss in plant productivity worldwide. The ever-increasing population, rapid urbanization with shrinking agricultural lands, dramatic change in climatic conditions, and extensive use of agrochemicals in agricultural practices that caused environmental disturbances confront mankind of escalating problems of food security and sustainability in agriculture.

Expedition into Taurine Biology: Structural Insights and Therapeutic Perspective of Taurine in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are characterized by the accumulation of misfolded proteins. The hallmarks of protein aggregation in NDs proceed with impairment in the mitochondrial function, besides causing an enhancement in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, neuroinflammation and synaptic loss. As accumulation of misfolded proteins hampers normal neuronal functions, it triggers ER stress, which leads to the activation of downstream effectors formulating events along the signaling cascade-referred to as unfolded protein response (UPRER) -thereby controlling cellular gene expression.