Exogenous application of ascorbic acid improves physiological and productive traits of Nigella sativa

For thousands of years, plants have been utilized for medicinal purposes. For its naturally existing antibacterial properties, Nigella sativa is one of the most researched herbs. A study was conducted during rabi 2020-21 at The University of Haripur in order to evaluate the potential of ascorbic acid as plant growth enhancer. Two concentrations of ascorbic acid i-e 350 μm and 400 μm were sprayed along with control and water only spray on Nigella sativa crop. The study was arranged in RCBD two factor factorial arrangement. Factor A: ascorbic acid concentrations along with control and water spray, factor B: Growth stages (Stage1 = 40 days after sowing, Stage 2 = 80 DAS, Stage 3 = 120 DAS, Stage 4 = 40 + 80 DAS, Stage 5 = 40 + 120 DAS, Stage 6 = 80 + 120 DAS, Stage 7 = 40 + 80 + 120 DAS). Crop was sown in first week of November. Results reviled that chlorophyll b content, fixed oil content, 1000 seed weight, grain yield, Photosynthetic rate (μ mole m-2s-1), Transpiration rate (mmole m-2s-1), photosynthetic water use efficiency, Internal CO2 concentration (Ci) of leaf tissue and Stomatal conductance (mmole m-2s-1) were significantly affected by ascorbic acid concentrations and stage of application. Crop growth rate increased by 19.88% and 17.29%, chlorophyll b by 12.3% and 11.2%, fixed oil by 11.7% and 9%, grain yield by 10.29% and 9.8%, harvest index by 4% and 5.7% photosynthetic rate by 33%, 20% and stomatal conductance by 24.24% and 24.25 with application of ascorbic acid @ 350 μm, over control and water spray respectively. On the basis of these results it is concluded that application of ascorbic acid at the rate of 350 μm, followed by ascorbic acid at the rate of 400 μm significantly improves black cumin (Nigella sativa) yield and production. Hence it is recommended to apply ascorbic acid at the rate of 350 μm at 40 + 80+120 days after sowing of Nigella sativa crop for obtaining maximum results.

Evaluation of different Kabuli chickpea genotypes against Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in relation to biotic and abiotic factors

Background

The chickpea pod borer Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) is a significant insect pest of chickpea crops, causing substantial global losses.

Methods

Field experiments were conducted in Central Punjab, Pakistan, to investigate the impact of biotic and abiotic factors on pod borer population dynamics and infestation in nine kabuli chickpea genotypes during two cropping seasons (2020-2021 and 2021-2022). The crops were sown in November in both years, with row-to-row and plant-to-plant distances of 30 and 15 cm, respectively, following a randomized complete block design (RCBD).

Results

Results showed a significant difference among the tested genotypes in trichome density, pod wall thickness, and leaf chlorophyll contents. Significantly lower larval population (0.85 and 1.10 larvae per plant) and percent damage (10.65% and 14.25%) were observed in genotype Noor-2019 during 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, respectively. Pod trichome density, pod wall thickness, and chlorophyll content of leaves also showed significant variation among the tested genotypes. Pod trichome density and pod wall thickness correlated negatively with larval infestation, while chlorophyll content in leaves showed a positive correlation. Additionally, the larval population positively correlated with minimum and maximum temperatures, while relative humidity negatively correlated with the larval population. Study results explore natural enemies as potential biological control agents and reduce reliance on chemical pesticides.

Hot Water Treatment Improves Date Drying and Maintains Phytochemicals and Fruit Quality Characteristics of Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera)

Fresh date fruits (cvs. Hillawi and Khadrawi) were harvested at the khalal stage and treated with hot water treatment (HWT) for different time durations (control, HWT-1 min, HWT-3 min, HWT-5 min, and HWT-7 min) to investigate the physicochemical characteristics, phytochemical properties, and sensory attributes. The results revealed that both date cultivars took less time to reach the tamar stage in response to HWT-7 min compared to control. However, Hillawi date fruit showed a higher fruit ripening index (75%) at HWT-3 min, while Khadrawi fruit had a higher ripening index (80%) at HWT-5 min than untreated fruit (10%). Higher weight loss and lower moisture contents were observed in Hillawi (25%) and Khadrawi (20%) date fruit as the immersion period increased in both cultivars. Moreover, soluble solid content was higher in Hillawi (11.77° Brix) in response to HWT-3 min and Khadrawi (10.02° Brix) date fruit immersed in HWT-5 min in contrast with the control group, whereas significantly lower levels of titratable acidity and ascorbic acid content were observed in Hillawi (0.162%, 0.67 mg/100 g) and Khadrawi (0.206%, 0.73 mg/100 g) date fruit in response to HWT (HWT-1 min, HWT-3 min, HWT-5 min, and HWT-7 min) than untreated fruit. Furthermore, noticeably higher levels of reducing sugar (69.83%, 57.01%), total sugar (34.47%, 31.14%), glucose (36.84%, 29.42%), fructose (33.99%, 27.61%), and sucrose (3.16%, 1.33%) were found in hot water-treated Hillawi (immersed for 3-min) and Khadrawi (immersed for 5-min) date fruit, respectively. In addition, total phenolic content, total flavonoids, total antioxidants, and total tannins were substantially superior in date fruits subjected to HWT-3 min (in Hillawi, 128 mg GAE/100 g, 61.78%, 20.18 mg CEQ/100 g) and HWT-5 min (in Khadrawi, 139.43 mg GAE/100 g, 72.84%, and 18.48 mg CEQ/100 g) compared to control. Overall, sensory attributes were recorded to be higher in Hillawi and Khadrawi date fruit after treatment for 3 min and 5 min, respectively. Our findings suggest that HWT is a promising technique that can be adopted commercially to improve fruit ripening and preserved nutritional quality of dates after harvest.

Amassing of heavy metals in soils, vegetables and crop plants irrigated with wastewater: Health risk assessment of heavy metals in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan

Human health is the main concern related to use of crop products irrigated with contaminated irrigation sources. Present research has been conducted to explore heavy metal status of sewage and industrial wastewater being used up for irrigation purpose in the peri-urban areas of the district Dera Ghazi Khan which has not been explored widely before. The analysis also followed heavy metal detection in the subsequent irrigated soil and vegetables/crop plants in relation to assessment of health risk to the consumer to plan the future monitoring in this area. An unremitting boost of heavy metals into the environment from wastewater irrigation has become a global issue. These heavy metals enter the food chain and pose health assumptions to consumers upon utilization. In the present study, an investigation has been conducted to determine metal concentrations in the wastewater, soil, and different plant species. For wastewater samples, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), and selected heavy metals such as Al, As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, and Ni were determined. The mean values of heavy metals in the soil samples were within the WHO/FAO safe limit, while Cr and Pb were the most frequent (100%) among the metals. However, differentiating the sites, the concentration of Cr and Cu, Ni, and Fe were elevated. The metal transfer was highly effective from soil to the growing plants i.e. brinjal, red corn, wheat, tomato, and spinach than other plant species. Among the metals, Cr, Ni, Mn, and Pb in plant samples were exceeding the WHO/FAO safe limit. Health risk index (HRI) have revealed the possible potential risk of heavy metal contaminated plant species in the order of spinach (6.4) > wheat (6.4) > brinjal (5.9) > tomato (4.7) > red corn (4.5) > apple gourd (4.3) > white corn (3.8) > cabbage (3.1) > luffa (2.9). Likewise, HRI of different metals was calculated as Cu (19.6) > Zn (17.9) > Cr (2.95) > Ni (0.85) > Mn (0.48) > Fe (0.15) > Cd (0.11) > Pb (0.05) > As (0.00001). The level of HRI through the use of dietary plants revealed an elevated risk level than the acceptable limit (HRI > 1) for Cu > Zn > Cr in adults. Our findings suggest that there would be a serious health risk to the consumers due to the consumption of these plant species being irrigated with the wastewater. Therefore, a strict regulatory mechanism is proposed for the safety of food plants in the study area including monitoring and recycling of crop plants, and building water treatment plants to remove pollutants and clean wastewater.

Coronavirus and its terrifying inning around the globe: The pharmaceutical cares at the main frontline

A novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is an acute life-threatening disease, emerged in China, which imposed a potentially immense toll in terms of public health emergency due to high infection rate and has a devastating economic impact that attracts the world's attention. After that, on January 30, 2020, it was officially declared as a global pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO). The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) recognized it as a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease named Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19). Several studies have been ameliorated the active role of COVID-19 transmission, etiology, pathogenicity, and mortality rate as serious impact on human life. The symptoms of this disease may include fever, fatigue, cough and some peoples are severely prone to gastrointestinal infection. The elderly and seriously affected peoples are likely concerned with serious outcomes. In this review, we mainly aimed to provide a benchmark summary of the silent characteristics and findings of some candidates for antiviral drugs and immunotherapies such as plasma therapy, cytokine therapy, antibodies, intravenous immunoglobulin, and pharmaceutical health concerns that are related to this disease.

First report of brown leaf spot of rice caused by Bipolaris zeicola in Pakistan

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the highly consumed cereal grain crops in Pakistan. In September 2017, leaf samples of cultivar Basmati-385 showing brown to dark brown spots (5 to 9 mm in diameter) that were oval or cylindrical in shape with a chlorotic yellow halo and grayish tan centers were collected from fields near the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (31.43633 N 73.05981 E). Average disease incidence was 69% in six rice fields that were sampled for diseased plants with visible symptoms. To isolate the pathogen, from 20 diseased leaves, 5 mm2 segments from the margins of lesions were cut, rinsed with sterile distilled water (SDW), surface disinfected by 70% ethanol and again rinsed with SDW. The samples were dried on sterilized filter paper discs, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 27°C for 5 to 7 days. Twelve isolates were sub-cultured and single-sporing was performed to obtain pure cultures. Fungal isolates with light to dark gray in color, thick or fluffy aerial mycelium, circular and smooth margins were obtained after 7 days of incubation. Conidia were 47-83 μm × 10-17 μm (n=100), with 4 to 10 distosepta, dark or olivaceous brown, straight or moderately curved, and the cells at the ends occasionally looked paler than those in the middle. Conidiophore of the fungus were simple, smooth, cylindrical, septate, and straight to flexuous. These characteristics resembled those of Bipolaris zeicola (Stout) Shoemaker (Manamgoda et al. 2014). For molecular identification, genomic DNA (isolate SU-11) was extracted and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, large subunit (LSU) of ribosomal DNA, translation elongation factor (tef), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2) genes were amplified and sequenced by using the primers ITS1-F/ITS4-R (White et al. 1990), LROR-F/LR5-R (Schoch et al. 2012), EF1-983F/EF1-2218R (Rehner and Buckley 2005), GPD1F/GPD2R (Berbee et al. 1999), and 5F2/7CR (O'Donnell et al. 2007), respectively. BLASTn searches showed 100% homology with the LSU and rpb2 sequences of B. zeicola (GenBank Accession Nos. MH876201 and HF934842) and 98-99% similarity with ITS, tef, and gpd sequences of B. zeicola (GenBank Accession Nos. KM230398, KM093752 and KM034815). The sequences of ITS, LSU, tef, gpd, and rpb2 were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers MN871712, MN877767, MN867685, MN904511 and MT349837, respectively. To fulfill Koch's postulates, 25 greenhouse-grown rice plants (cv. Basmati-385) at 2- to 3-leaf stage were spray inoculated with a spore suspension (105 spores/ml; isolate SU-11) prepared in SDW. Plants were covered with plastic wraps to maintain humid conditions for 24 hours and incubated at 27°C for one week. Similarly, ten non-inoculated plants sprayed with SDW served as controls. After one week, observed symptoms were similar to those from natural infections and no disease symptoms were observed on the non-inoculated plants. The experiment was repeated twice and the pathogen was re-isolated from the infected leaves and characterized morphologically. Globally, B. zeicola has also been reported to cause the leaf spot of rice and maize plants (Sivanesan 1987; Kang et al. 2018). To our information, this is the first report of B. zeicola causing brown leaf spot of rice in Pakistan. The increasing risk of this fungal pathogen in the rice-growing areas of Pakistan need a rigorous exploration and outreach effort to develop effective management practices.

Effect of nabumetone on humoral immune responses in mice

ABSTRACT Nabumetone is used to reduce the pain and inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. In the current study, immunomodulatory effect of Nabumetone is investigated in mice. The control group was administered normal saline orally as placebo. Nabumetone was administered orally via gavage in two treatment groups at 14mg/kg.b.w. doses and 28mg/kgb.w., respectively. Haemagglutination (HA) assay, Jerne hemolytic plaque and mice lethality assays were applied. In HA assay, the titer was significantly decreased in Nabumetone treatment groups (P< 0.001). In Jerne hemolytic plaque formation assay, there was a significant reduction (P< 0.001) in number of plaques in Nabumetone treated groups when compared with control. In mice lethality assay, there was a significant difference in mortality ratio of mice in control and Nabumetone treated groups (P< 0.001). Therefore, it is concluded that Nabumetone suppresses the humoral immune response in mice.

First record and taxonomic description of the genus Thysanoplusia (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Plusiinae) from Pakistan

Species belonging to genus, Thysanoplusia Fabricius of the subfamily Plusiinae which are polyphagous in nature and pest of vegetables, foods, legumes, fodder, fruits, ornamental plants and cotton crops. Samples were collected from different localities of district Bahawalpur. For collection, comprehensive and comparative surveys were carried out during 2017–18 on taxonomic account of species of the genus Thysanoplusia Fabricius and resulted identified one species Thysanoplusia orichalcea (Fabricius) first time from Pakistan. Morphological characters viz., vertex, frons, labial palpi, antennae, compound eyes, ocelli, proboscis, wing venation, male and female genital characteristics were used for the identification and classification. Dichotomous keys and photographs are also provided. There is hardly any substantial research work on taxonomic studies of subfamily Plusiinae Pakistan. So to fill this gap the present proposal was designed to study the diversity of Noctuid moths from Pakistan and very fruitful results have been obtained.

In vitro antimicrobial activities of different solvent extracted samples from Iris germinica

Antibacterial and antifungal activities of different solvents extracted samples of Iris germinica were carried out through disc diffusion assay. For this purpose five different solvent extracts were prepared with two concentrations (1 and 2 mg disc(-1)) and their antimicrobial activity was tested using disc diffusion assay against eight pathogenic bacteria viz. Staphylococcus aureus, B. subtilis, Bacillus atrophaeus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Erwinia carotovara, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi and one fungal specie (Candida albicans). Butanol and ethyl acetate fraction were more effective to control the growth of different pathogens followed by chloroform, hexane and aqueous fractions respectively. C. albicans, S. aureus E. carotovara, B. atrophaeus and E. coli were comparatively susceptible inhibited by all extracts of I. germinica compared with the rest of microbes. Maximum activity was shown by ethyl acetate extracted samples against B. atrophaeus followed by the same solvent against E. carotovara. Butanol extracted samples were effective against B. subtilis showing 62% reduction in growth at 1 or 2mg disc(-1) concentration. From these results it can be concluded that different solvent extracted samples from the leaves of I. germinica possess varying degree of antimicrobial against different micro-organisms and can be a good sources of antibiotics for the treatment of certain bacterial and fungal diseases.

Comparative analysis of virus-specific small RNA profiles of three biologically distinct strains of Potato virus Y in infected potato (Solanum tuberosum) cv. Russet Burbank

Deep sequencing technology has enabled the analysis of small RNA profiles of virus-infected plants and could provide insights into virus-host interactions. Potato virus Y is an economically important viral pathogen of potato worldwide. In this study, we investigated the nature and relative levels of virus-derived small interfering RNAs (vsiRNAs) in potato cv. Russet Burbank infected with three biologically distinct and economically important strains of PVY, the ordinary strain (PVY-O), tobacco veinal-necrotic strain (PVY-N) and tuber necrotic strain (PVY-NTN). The analysis showed an overall abundance of vsiRNAs of 20-24nt in PVY-infected plants. Considerable differences were present in the distribution of vsiRNAs as well as total small RNAs. The 21nt class was the most prevalent in PVY-infected plants irrespective of the virus strain, whereas in healthy potato plants, the 24nt class was the most dominant. vsiRNAs were derived from every position in the PVY genome, though certain hotspots were identified for each of the PVY strains. Among the three strains used, the population of vsiRNAs of different size classes was relatively different with PVY-NTN accumulating the highest level of vsiRNAs, while PVY-N infected plants had the least population of vsiRNAs. Unique vsiRNAs mapping to PVY genome in PVY-infected plants amounted to 3.13, 1.93 and 1.70% for NTN, N and O, respectively. There was a bias in the generation of vsiRNAs from the plus strand of the genome in comparison to the negative strand. The highest number of total vsiRNAs was from the cytoplasmic inclusion protein gene (CI) in PVY-O and PVY-NTN strains, whereas from PVY-N, the NIb gene produced maximum total vsiRNAs. These findings indicate that the three PVY strains interact differently in the same host genetic background and provided insights into virus-host interactions in an important food crop.

Effect of seedling age and water depth on morphological and physiological aspects of transplanted rice under high temperature

To study the effect of high temperature, rice seedlings 20, 30, 40 and 50 d were kept at 5, 10, 15 and 20 cm water depth in a water pool. Meteorological findings indicated that water temperature varied up to 10 cm but became stable below this depth. Deep water inflicted higher tiller mortality, minimal increase in dry weight of aerial parts and leaf area, decrease in root length, and decrease in root dry weight especially at 20 cm water depth and produced an unbalanced T/R ratio (top versus root dry weight). However, deep water tended to increase plant length. These parameters, however, excel in shallow water. Older seedlings, with the exception of root dry weight, could not perform well compared to young seedlings in all physiological and morphological aspects. The study revealed that seedlings, particularly young ones, stand well in shallow water and can cope with high temperature.