Deciphering the genetic diversity of Avicennia officinalis L. across the salinity gradient in the Sundarbans mangrove forest of Bangladesh

Wetlands Ecology and Management - Mangroves adaptive plasticity in the changing environmental conditions is of vital importance for conservation management. Genetic diversity of mangrove brings...     

Esterase activity and interaction of human hemoglobin with diclofenac sodium: A spectroscopic and molecular docking study

To get an idea about the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, it is important to study the drug‐protein interaction. Therefore, herein, we studied the interaction of diclofenac sodium (DIC) with human hemoglobin. The binding study of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug, DIC with human hemoglobin (HHB) was done by utilizing fluorescence, UV–visible, time‐resolved fluorescence and far‐UV circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). Various thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy change (ΔH), entropy change (ΔS), and Gibbs free energy change (ΔG) were also calculated. CD results showed that DIC induces secondary structure change in HHB. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer was also performed. Additionally, it was also observed that DIC inhibits the esterase‐like enzymatic activity of HHB via competitive inhibition.     

Allelopathy and its coevolutionary implications between native and non‐native neighbors of invasive Cynara cardunculus L.

Invasive plants apply new selection pressures on neighbor plant species by different means including allelopathy. Recent evidence shows allelopathy functions as remarkably influential mediator for invaders to be successful in their invaded range. However, few studies have determined whether native and non‐native species co‐occurring with invaders have evolved tolerance to allelopathy. In this study, we conducted germination and growth experiments to evaluate whether co‐occurring native Juncus pallidus and non‐native Lolium rigidum species may evolve tolerance to the allelochemicals induced by Cyanara cardunculus in Australian agricultural fields. The test species were germinated and grown in pots filled with collected invaded and uninvaded rhizosphere soil of C. cardunculus with and without activated carbon (AC). Additionally, a separate experiment was done to differentiate the direct effects of AC on the test species. The soil properties showed invaded rhizosphere soils had higher total phenolic and lower pH compared with uninvaded soils. We found significant reduction of germination percentage and seedling growth in terms of above‐ and belowground biomass, and maximum plant height and root length of native in the invaded rhizosphere soil of C. cardunculus, but little effect on non‐native grass species. Even soil manipulated with AC showed no significant differences in the measured parameters of non‐native except aboveground biomass. Taken together, the results indicate allelochemicals induced by C. cardunculus exert more suppressive effects on native than non‐native linking the coevolved tolerance of those.     

Optimization of the demineralization process for the extraction of chitin from Omani Portunidae segnis

Chitin is an organic polymer and it is the most frequent marine natural polysaccharide after cellulose. The main natural sources of chitin are exoskeletons of insects, mollusks, the cell walls of certain fungi and crustaceans such as crabs, shrimps and lobsters. The waste of these marine exoskeletons are pollutant for the environment, but these waste raw materials could be useful for production of commercial products like chitin. Chitin is an important raw material used for water treatment, agricultural, biomedical, biotechnological purposes, food and paper industry and cosmetics. Based on the variety of importance, the present targets of this study are to optimize the demineralization process for the removal of calcium and phosphate contents from the waste of Portunidae segnis (P. segnis) by using acid at ambient temperature and to characterize the isolated demineralized sample as well as the percentage of remaining calcium and phosphorus contents by using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). The prepared waste carbs coarse powder samples of P. segnis were demineralized with seven different concentrations of hydrochloric acid at ambient temperature for 1 h. All the demineralization samples by the different concentrations were analyzed by using sensitive ICP-OES. The results based on ICP-OES showed that among the seven different concentrations used in the demineralization process for the isolation of chitin, the best was 2 M of HCl concentration for the production of chitin. The results also showed that the optimized concentration 2 M HCl gave the minimum concentration of calcium and phosphorus compared to other concentrations applied in this experiment. In conclusion, the optimized concentration for demineralization process could be used commercially for the isolation or commercial production of chitin for agricultural, biomedical and biotechnological purposes.     

The Enhancement of Soil Fertility,Dry Matter Transport and Accumulation,Nitrogen Uptake and Yield in Rice via Green Manuring

Readily available chemical fertilizers have resulted in a decline in the use of organic manure (e.g., green manures), a traditionally sustainable source of nutrients. Based on this, we applied urea at the rate of 270 kg ha⁻¹ with and without green manure in order to assess nitrogen (N) productivity in a double rice cropping system in 2017. In particular, treatment combinations were as follows: winter fallow rice-rice (WF-R-R), milk vetch rice-rice (MV-R-R), oil-seed rape rice-rice (R-R-R) and potato crop rice-rice (P-R-R). Results revealed that green manure significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved the soil chemical properties and net soil organic carbon content increased by an average 117.47%, total nitrogen (N) by 28.41%, available N by 26.64%, total phosphorus (P) by 37.77%, available P by 20.48% and available potassium (K) by 33.10% than WF-R-R, however pH was reduced by 3.30% across the seasons. Similarly, net dry matter accumulation rate enhanced in green manure applied treatments and ranked in order: P-R-R > R-R-R > MV-R-R > WF-R-R. Furthermore, the total leaf dry matter transport (t ha⁻¹ ) for the P-R-R in both seasons was significantly higher by an average 11.2%, 7.2% and 36 % than MV-R-R, R-R-R, and WF-R-R, respectively. In addition, net total nitrogen accumulation (kg ha⁻¹ ) was found higher in green manure applied plots compared to the control. Yield and yield attributed traits were observed maximum in green manure applied plots, with treatments ranking as follows: P-R-R > R-R-R > MV-R-R > WF-R-R. Thus, results obtained highlight ability of green manure to sustainably improve soil quality and rice yield.     

Phenotypic and Molecular Assessment of Wheat Genotypes Tolerant to Leaf Blight,Rust and Blast Diseases

Globally among biotic stresses, diseases like blight, rust and blast constitute prime constraints for reducing wheat productivity especially in Bangladesh. For sustainable productivity, the development of disease-resistant lines and high yielding varieties is vital and necessary. This study was conducted using 122 advanced breeding lines of wheat including 21 varieties developed by Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BAMRI) with aims to identify genotypes having high yield potential and resistance to leaf blight, leaf rust and blast diseases. These genotypes were evaluated for resistance against leaf blight and leaf rust at Dinajpur and wheat blast at Jashore under field condition. Out of 122 genotypes tested, 20 lines were selected as resistant to leaf blight based on the area under the diseases progress curve (AUDPC) under both irrigated timely sown (ITS) and irrigated late sown (ILS) conditions. Forty-two genotypes were found completely free from leaf rust infection, 59 genotypes were identified as resistant, and 13 genotypes were identified as moderately resistant to leaf rust. Eighteen genotypes were immune against wheat blast, 42 genotypes were categorized as resistant, and 26 genotypes were identified as moderately resistant to wheat blast. Molecular data revealed that the 16 genotypes showed a positive 2NS segment among the 18 immune genotypes selected against wheat blast under field conditions. The genotypes BAW 1322, BAW 1295, and BAW 1203 can be used as earlier maturing genotypes and the genotypes BAW 1372, BAW 1373, BAW 1297 and BAW 1364 can be used for lodging tolerant due to short plant height. The genotypes WMRI Gom 1, BAW 1349 and BAW 1350 can be selected for bold grain and the genotypes WMRI Gom 1, BAW 1297, BAW 1377 can be used as high yielder for optimum seeding condition but genotypes BAW 1377 and BAW 1366 can be used for late sown condition. The selected resistant genotypes against specific diseases can be used in the further breeding program to develop wheat varieties having higher disease resistance and yield potential.     

Correction to: Sodium nitroprusside enhances biomass and gymnemic acids production in cell suspension of Gymnema sylvestre (Retz.) R.Br. ex. Sm.

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) -     

Three New Records of Cardinalfish (Apogonidiae) from the Northern Bay of Bengal,Bangladesh

Journal of Ichthyology - Three species of cardinalfishes viz. Ostorhinchus cookii (Macleay, 1881), Lepidamia kalosoma (Bleeker, 1852) and Apogonichthyoides sialis (Jordan et Thompson, 1914)...     

Screening and Assessment of Selected Chilli (<i>Capsicum annuum</i> L.) Genotypes for Drought Tolerance at Seedling Stage

This study was undertaken to investigate oxidative stress tolerant mechanisms in chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) under drought genotypes through evaluating morphological, physiological, biochemical and stomatal parameters. Twenty genotypes were evaluated for their genetic potential to drought stress tolerant at seedling stage. Thirty days old seedlings were exposed to drought stress induced by stop watering for the following 10 days and rewatering for the following one week as recovery. Based on their survival performance, two tolerant genotypes viz. BD-10906 and BD-109012 and two susceptible genotypes viz. BD-10902 and RT-20 were selected for studying the oxidative stress tolerance mechanism. Drought reduced root and shoot length, dry weight, ratio, petiole weight and leaf area in both tolerant and susceptible genotypes, and a higher reduction was observed in susceptible genotypes. Lower reduction of leaf area and photosynthetic pigments were also found in tolerant genotypes. Moreover, tolerant genotypes showed higher recovery than susceptible genotypes after the removal of stress. A higher reduction of relative water content (RWC) may cause an imbalance between absorbed and transpirated water in susceptible genotypes. Higher accumulation of proline in tolerant genotypes might be helpful to for better osmotic maintenance than that in susceptible genotypes. Tolerant genotypes showed higher antioxidant activity as they showed DPPH radical scavenging percentage than the susceptible genotypes. Moreover, closer stomata in tolerant genotypes than susceptible ones helped to avoid dehydration in tolerant genotypes. Thus, the above morphological, physiological, biochemical and stomatal parameters helped to show better tolerance in chilli under drought stress.