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Khan S, Sajjad M, Abbas N, Escorcia-Gutierrez J, Gamarra M, Muhammad K. Efficient leukocytes detection and classification in microscopic blood images using convolutional neural network coupled with a dual attention network. Comput Biol Med 2024; 174:108146. [PMID: 38608320 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.108146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Leukocytes, also called White Blood Cells (WBCs) or leucocytes, are the cells that play a pivotal role in human health and are vital indicators of diseases such as malaria, leukemia, AIDS, and other viral infections. WBCs detection and classification in blood smears offers insights to pathologists, aiding diagnosis across medical conditions. Traditional techniques, including manual counting, detection, classification, and visual inspection of microscopic images by medical professionals, pose challenges due to their labor-intensive nature. However, traditional methods are time consuming and sometimes susceptible to errors. Here, we propose a high-performance convolutional neural network (CNN) coupled with a dual-attention network that efficiently detects and classifies WBCs in microscopic thick smear images. The main aim of this study was to enhance clinical hematology systems and expedite medical diagnostic processes. In the proposed technique, we utilized a deep convolutional generative adversarial network (DCGAN) to overcome the limitations imposed by limited training data and employed a dual attention mechanism to improve accuracy, efficiency, and generalization. The proposed technique achieved overall accuracy rates of 99.83%, 99.35%, and 99.60% for the peripheral blood cell (PBC), leukocyte images for segmentation and classification (LISC), and Raabin-WBC benchmark datasets, respectively. Our proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy, highlighting the effectiveness of the strategies employed and their potential to enhance diagnostic capabilities and advance real-world healthcare practices and diagnostic systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siraj Khan
- Digital Image Processing Laboratory (DIP Lab), Department of Computer Science, Islamia College University, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Digital Image Processing Laboratory (DIP Lab), Department of Computer Science, Islamia College University, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan.
| | - Naveed Abbas
- Digital Image Processing Laboratory (DIP Lab), Department of Computer Science, Islamia College University, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
| | - José Escorcia-Gutierrez
- Department of Computational Science and Electronics, Universidad de la Costa, CUC, Barranquilla, 080002, Colombia
| | - Margarita Gamarra
- Department of System Engineering, Universidad del Norte, Puerto Colombia, 081007, Colombia
| | - Khan Muhammad
- Visual Analytics for Knowledge Laboratory (VIS2KNOW Lab), Department of Applied Artificial Intelligence, School of Convergence, College of Computing and Informatics, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, 03063, South Korea.
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Almanaa TN, Mubarak A, Sajjad M, Ullah A, Hassan M, Waheed Y, Irfan M, Khan S, Ahmad S. Design and validation of a novel multi-epitopes vaccine against hantavirus. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024; 42:4185-4195. [PMID: 37261466 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2219324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Hantavirus is a member of the order Bunyavirales and an emerging global pathogen. Hantavirus infections have affected millions of people globally based on available epidemiological data and research studies. Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) are the two main human diseases associated with hantavirus infections. Hence, efforts are required to develop a potent vaccine against the pathogen. The only vaccine that is in use for hantavirus is an inactivated virus vaccine, "Hantavax", but it failed to produce neutralizing antibodies. Vaccine development is of much importance in dealing with the surge of hantavirus globally. In this study, hantavirus five proteins (N protein, G1 and G2, L protein, and non-structural proteins) were used in NetCTL 1.2 program to predict T-cell epitopes. To predict major histocompatibility complex (MHC) binding alleles, an immune epitope database (IEDB) was used. All predicted epitopes were then investigated for different immunoinformatics analyses such as antigenicity and toxicity analyses. The good water-soluble, non-toxic, probable antigenic, and DRB*0101 binder was selected. A multi-epitopes-based vaccine designing was then done where linkers were used to connect the shortlisted epitopes. In addition, an adjuvant molecule was supplementary to the multi-epitopes peptide to improve the vaccine's immunogenic potential. The final vaccine construct's three-dimensional structure was modeled by ab initio method. The vaccine molecule was then evaluated for its binding potential with TLR-3 immune receptor, which is key for its recognition and processing by the host immune system. Docking studies were performed using HADDOCK software. The best-docked complex was selected and visualized for intermolecular binding and interactions using UCSF Chimera 1.16 software. The findings revealed that the designed vaccine might be a potential vaccine against hantavirus and can be used in experimental animal model testings.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taghreed N Almanaa
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ayman Mubarak
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Health and Biological Sciences, Abasyn University, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Asad Ullah
- Department of Health and Biological Sciences, Abasyn University, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Hassan
- Department of Pharmacy, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Pakistan
| | - Yasir Waheed
- Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), Islamabad, Pakistan
- Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon
| | - Muhammad Irfan
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Saifullah Khan
- Institute of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda, Pakistan
| | - Sajjad Ahmad
- Department of Health and Biological Sciences, Abasyn University, Peshawar, Pakistan
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
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Shad M, Rehman HM, Akhtar MW, Sajjad M. Structural and functional insights of starch processing α-amylase from hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcusabyssi. Carbohydr Res 2024; 539:109122. [PMID: 38657354 DOI: 10.1016/j.carres.2024.109122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
The genomic screening of hyper-thermophilic Pyrococcus abyssi showed uncharacterized novel α-amylase sequences. Homology modelling analysis revealed that the α-amylase from P. abyssi consists of an N-terminal GH57 catalytic domain, α-amylase central, and C-terminal domain. Current studies emphasize in-silico structural and functional analysis, recombinant expression, characterization, structural studies through CD spectroscopy, and ligand binding studies of the novel α-amylase from P. abyssi. The soluble expression of PaAFG was observed in the E. coli Rosetta™ (DE3) pLysS strain upon incubation overnight at 18 °C in an orbital shaker. The optimum temperature and pH of the PaAFG were observed at 90 °C in 50 mM phosphate buffer pH 6. The Km value for PaAFG against wheat starch was determined as 0.20 ± 0.053 mg while the corresponding Vmax value was 25.00 ± 0.67 μmol min-1 mg-1 in the presence of 2 mM CaCl2 and 12.5 % glycerol. The temperature ramping experiments through CD spectroscopy reveal no significant change in the secondary structures and positive and negative ellipticities of the CD spectra showing the proper folding and optimal temperature of PaAFG protein. The RMSD and RMSF of the PaAFG enzyme determined through molecular dynamic simulation show the significant protein's stability and mobility. The soluble production, thermostability and broad substrate specificity make this enzyme a promising choice for various industrial applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohsin Shad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, P.O. 54590, Lahore, Pakistan; Structural Biology, The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0QS, United Kingdom
| | - Hafiz Muzzammel Rehman
- School of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, P.O. 54590, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Waheed Akhtar
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, P.O. 54590, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, P.O. 54590, Lahore, Pakistan.
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Rauf A, Sher MA, Farooq U, Rasheed A, Sajjad M, Jing R, Khan Z, Attia KA, Mohammed AA, Fiaz S, Chen J, Rehman SU. An SNP based genotyping assay for genes associated with drought tolerance in bread wheat. Mol Biol Rep 2024; 51:527. [PMID: 38637351 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-024-09481-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND SnRK2 plays vital role in responding to adverse abiotic stimuli. The applicability of TaSnRK2.4 and TaSnRK2.9 was investigated to leverage the potential of these genes in indigenous wheat breeding programs. METHODS Genetic diversity was assessed using pre-existing markers for TaSnRK2.4 and TaSnRK2.9. Furthermore, new markers were also developed to enhance their broader applicability. KASP markers were designed for TaSnRK2.4, while CAPS-based markers were tailored for TaSnRK2.9. RESULTS Analysis revealed lack of polymorphism in TaSnRK2.4 among Pakistani wheat germplasm under study. To validate this finding, available gel-based markers for TaSnRK2.4 were employed, producing consistent results and offering limited potential for application in marker-assisted wheat breeding with Pakistani wheat material. For TaSnRK2.9-5A, CAPS2.9-5A-1 and CAPS2.9-5A-2 markers were designed to target SNP positions at 308 nt and 1700 nt revealing four distinct haplotypes. Association analysis highlighted the significance of Hap-5A-1 of TaSnRK2.9-5A, which exhibited association with an increased number of productive tillers (NPT), grains per spike (GPS), and reduced plant height (PH) under well-watered (WW) conditions. Moreover, it showed positive influence on NPT under WW conditions, GPS under water-limited (WL) conditions, and PH under both WW and WL conditions. High selection intensity observed for Hap-5A-1 underscores the valuable role it has played in Pakistani wheat breeding programs. Gene expression studies of TaSnRK2.9-5A revealed the involvement of this gene in response to PEG, NaCl, low temperature and ABA treatments. CONCLUSION These findings propose that TaSnRK2.9 can be effectively employed for improving wheat through marker-assisted selection in wheat breeding efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdul Rauf
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan
- SINO-PAK Joint Research Laboratory, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Ali Sher
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan
| | - Umar Farooq
- Department of Food Science and Technology, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan
| | - Awais Rasheed
- Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Islamabad 45550, Pakistan
| | - Ruilian Jing
- National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Zulqurnain Khan
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan
| | - Kotb A Attia
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Arif Ahmed Mohammed
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sajid Fiaz
- Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, the University of Haripur, Haripur, 22620, Pakistan
| | - Jing Chen
- Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China.
| | - Shoaib Ur Rehman
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan.
- SINO-PAK Joint Research Laboratory, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan.
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Sufyan A, Abbas G, Sajjad M, Larsson JA. V 4C 3 MXene: a Type-II Nodal Line Semimetal with Potential as High-Performing Anode Material for Mg-Ion Battery. ChemSusChem 2024; 17:e202301351. [PMID: 38009824 DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202301351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
We have used density functional theory simulations to explore the topological characteristics of a new MXene-like material, V4C3, and its oxide counterpart, assessing their potential as anode materials for Mg-ion batteries. Our research reveals that V4C3 monolayer is a topological type-II nodal line semimetal, protected by time reversal and spatial inversion symmetries. This type-II nodal line is marked by unique drumhead-like edge states that appear either inside or outside the loop circle, contingent upon the edge ending. Intriguingly, even with an increase in metallicity due to oxygen functionalization, the topological features of V4C3 remain intact. Consequently, the monolayer V4C3 has a topologically enhanced electrical conductivity that amplifies further upon oxygen functionalization. During the charging phase, a remarkable storage concentration led to a peak specific capacity of 894.73 mAh g-1 for V4C3, which only decreases to 789.33 mAh g-1 for V4C3O2. When compared to V2C, V4C3 displays a significantly lower specific capacity loss due to functionalization, demonstrating its superior electrochemical properties. Additionally, V4C3 and V4C3O2 exhibit moderate average open-circuit voltages (0.54 V for V4C3 and 0.58 V for V4C3O2) and energy barriers for intercalation migration (ranging between 0.29-0.63 eV), which are desirable for anode materials. Thus, our simulation results support V4C3 potential as an efficient anode material for Mg-ion batteries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Sufyan
- Applied Physics, Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå, University of Technology, Luleå, SE-97187, Sweden
| | - Ghulam Abbas
- Applied Physics, Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå, University of Technology, Luleå, SE-97187, Sweden
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Nottingham Ningbo China Beacons of Excellence Research and Innovation Institute, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, China
| | - J Andreas Larsson
- Applied Physics, Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå, University of Technology, Luleå, SE-97187, Sweden
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Shad M, Nazir A, Usman M, Akhtar MW, Sajjad M. Investigating the effect of SUMO fusion on solubility and stability of amylase-catalytic domain from Pyrococcus abyssi. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 266:131310. [PMID: 38569986 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 03/30/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Alpha amylase belonging to starch hydrolyzing enzymes has significant contributions to different industrial processes. The enzyme production through recombinant DNA technology faces certain challenges related to their expression, solubility and purification, which can be overcome through fusion tags. This study explored the influence of SUMO, a protein tag reported to enhance the solubility and stability of target proteins when fused to the N-terminal of the catalytic domain of amylase from Pyrococcus abyssi (PaAD). The insoluble expression of PaAD in E. coli was overcome when the enzyme was expressed in a fusion state (S-PaAD) and culture was cultivated at 18 °C. Moreover, the activity of S-PaAD increased by 1.5-fold as compared to that of PaAD. The ligand binding and enzyme activity assays against different substrates demonstrated that it was more active against 1 % glycogen and amylopectin. The analysis of the hydrolysates through HPLC demonstrated that the enzyme activity is mainly amylolytic, producing longer oligosaccharides as the major end product. The secondary structure analyses by temperature ramping in CD spectroscopy and MD simulation demonstrated the enzymes in the free, as well as fusion state, were stable at 90 °C. The soluble production, thermostability and broad substrate specificity make this enzyme a promising choice for various foods, feed, textiles, detergents, pharmaceuticals, and many industrial applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohsin Shad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, P.O. 54590, Pakistan; Structural Biology, The Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Science & Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0QS, United Kingdom
| | - Arshia Nazir
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, P.O. 54590, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Usman
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, P.O. 38000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Waheed Akhtar
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, P.O. 54590, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, P.O. 54590, Pakistan.
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Akhtar MA, Butt MQS, Afroz A, Rasul F, Irfan M, Sajjad M, Zeeshan N. Approach towards sustainable leather: Characterization and effective industrial application of proteases from Bacillus sps. for ecofriendly dehairing of leather hide. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 266:131154. [PMID: 38547938 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.131154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Tanneries are one of the most polluted industries known for production of massive amount of solid and liquid wastes without proper management and disposal. In this project we demonstrated the ecofriendly single step dehairing of leather hides with minimum pollution load. In this study, Bacillus species (Bacillus paralicheniformis strain BL.HK, Bacillus cereus strain BS.P) capable of producing proteases was successfully isolated by employing the new optimized selective media named M9-PEA as confirmed by 16sRNA genes sequencing. Sequence of 1493 bp long 16S rRNA genes of Bacillus paralicheniformis strain BL.HK and Bacillus cereus strain BS. P was submitted to GenBank under the accession number OP612692.1, OP612721.1 respectively The Bacillus paralicheniformis strain BL.HK, Bacillus cereus strain BS.P produced extracellur proteases of 28 and 37 KDa as resolved by SDS-PAGE respectively. The enzymes showed temperature optima at 50 °C and 55 °C and pH optima at 8.5, 9.5 respectively. The Proteases of Bacillus paralicheniformis strain BL.HK, Bacillus cereus strain BS.P were employed for dehairing of animal hides. The process resulted in significant removal of interfibriller substances without damage to collagen layer after one hour treatment, which was confirmed by histology, scanning electron microscopy. The quantification of various skin constituents (collagen, uronic acid, hexosamines, and GAGs) and pollution load parameters revealed that enzymatic treatment are more reliable. The results of skin application trials at industrial level with complete elimination of chemicals remark the biotechnological potential of these proteases for ecofriendly dehairing of animal hides without affecting the quality of the leathers produced.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Amber Afroz
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Gujrat, 50700, Pakistan
| | - Faiz Rasul
- School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Muhammad Irfan
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Gujrat, 50700, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Nadia Zeeshan
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Gujrat, 50700, Pakistan.
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Zulfiqar S, Ishfaq S, Raza Bukhari SA, Sajjad M, Akhtar M, Liu D, Rahman MU. New genetic resources for aphid resistance were identified from a newly developed wheat mutant library. Heliyon 2024; 10:e26529. [PMID: 38444497 PMCID: PMC10912258 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Reports on development of resilient wheat mutants to aphid infestation-causing heavy losses to wheat production in many parts of the world, are scanty. The present study aimed to identify genetic diversity of wheat mutants in terms of varying degree of resistance to aphid infestation which can help protect wheat crop, improve yields and enhance food security. Resistance response to aphid infestation was studied on newly developed 33 wheat mutants, developed through irradiating seed of an elite wheat cultivar "Punjab-11" with gamma radiations, during three normal growing seasons at two sites. Data on various traits including aphid count per plant, biochemical traits, physiological traits and grain yield was recorded. Meteorological data was also collected to unravel the impact of environmental conditions on aphid infestation on wheat plants. Minimum average aphid infestation was found on Pb-M-2725, Pb-M-2550, and Pb-M-2719 as compared to the wild type. High yielding mutants Pb-M-1323, Pb-M-59, and Pb-M-1272 supported the moderate aphid infestation. The prevailing temperature up to 25 °C showed positive correlation (0.25) with aphid count. Among biochemical traits, POD (0.34), TSP (0.33), TFA (0.324) exhibited a high positive correlation with aphid count. In addition, CAT (0.31), TSS (0.294), and proline content (0.293) also showed a positive correlation with aphid count. However, all physiological traits depicted negative correlation with aphid count, while, a very weak correlation (0.12) was found between mean aphid count and grain yield. In PCA biplots, the biochemical variables clustered together with aphid count, while physiological variables grouped with grain yield. Biochemical parameters contributed most, towards first dimension of the PCA (48.6%) as compared to the physiological variables (13%). The FAMD revealed that mutant lines were major contributor towards total variation; Pb-M-1027, Pb-M-1323, Pb-M-59 were found to be the most diverse lines. The PCA revealed that biochemical parameters played a significant role in explaining variations in aphid resistance, emphasizing their importance in aphid defense mechanisms. The identified mutants can be utilized by the international wheat community for getting insight into the molecular circuits of resistant mechanism against aphids as well as for designing new KASP markers. This study also highlights the importance of considering both genetic and environmental factors in the development of resilient wheat varieties and pave the way for further investigations into the molecular mechanisms underpinning aphid resistance in wheat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sana Zulfiqar
- Plant Genomics and Molecular Breeding Laboratory, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, 38000, Punjab, Pakistan
- Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (NIBGE-C, PIEAS), Faisalabad, 38000, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Shumila Ishfaq
- Plant Genomics and Molecular Breeding Laboratory, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, 38000, Punjab, Pakistan
| | | | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University, Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Akhtar
- Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Dongcheng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, College of Agronomy, Hebei Agriculture University, Baoding 071000, Hebei, China
| | - Mehboob-ur Rahman
- Plant Genomics and Molecular Breeding Laboratory, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, 38000, Punjab, Pakistan
- Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (NIBGE-C, PIEAS), Faisalabad, 38000, Punjab, Pakistan
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Haile N, Sajjad M, Zhang Y, AlAmoodi N, AlMarzooqi F, Zhang T. Pore-scale physics of ice melting within unconsolidated porous media revealed by non-destructive magnetic resonance characterization. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5635. [PMID: 38453999 PMCID: PMC10920668 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56294-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Melting of ice in porous media widely exists in energy and environment applications as well as extraterrestrial water resource utilization. In order to characterize the ice-water phase transition within complicated opaque porous media, we employ the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and imaging (MRI) approaches. Transient distributions of transverse relaxation time T2 from NMR enable us to reveal the substantial role of inherent throat and pore confinements in ice melting among porous media. More importantly, the increase in minimum T2 provides new findings on how the confinement between ice crystal and particle surface evolves inside the pore. For porous media with negligible gravity effect, both the changes in NMR-determined melting rate and our theoretical analysis of melting front confirm that conduction is the dominant heat transfer mode. The evolution of mushy melting front and 3D spatial distribution of water content are directly visualized by a stack of temporal cross-section images from MRI, in consistency with the corresponding NMR results. For heterogeneous porous media like lunar regolith simulant, the T2 distribution shows two distinct pore size distributions with different pore-scale melting dynamics, and its maximum T2 keeps increasing till the end of melting process instead of reaching steady in homogeneous porous media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natnael Haile
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Yadong Zhang
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Nahla AlAmoodi
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Faisal AlMarzooqi
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - TieJun Zhang
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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Sajjad M, Zhang J, Zhang S, Zhou J, Mao Z, Chen Z. Long-Life Lead-Carbon Batteries for Stationary Energy Storage Applications. CHEM REC 2024; 24:e202300315. [PMID: 38117027 DOI: 10.1002/tcr.202300315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Owing to the mature technology, natural abundance of raw materials, high recycling efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and high safety of lead-acid batteries (LABs) have received much more attention from large to medium energy storage systems for many years. Lead carbon batteries (LCBs) offer exceptional performance at the high-rate partial state of charge (HRPSoC) and higher charge acceptance than LAB, making them promising for hybrid electric vehicles and stationary energy storage applications. Despite that, adding carbon to the negative active electrode considerably enhances the electrochemical performance. However, carbon brings some adverse effects, such as the severe hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the NAM due to the low overpotential of carbon material, promoting severe water loss in LCBs. From a practical application point of view, the irreversible sulfation of the negative active material (NAM) and extreme shedding and softening of the positive active material (PAM) are the main obstacles for next-generation LCBs. Recently, a lead-carbon composite additive delayed the parasitic hydrogen evolution and eliminated the sulfation problem, ensuring a long life of LCBs for practical aspects. This comprehensive review outlines a brief developmental historical background of LAB, its shifting towards LCB, the failure mode of LAB, and possible potential solutions to tackle the failure problems. The detailed LCB's development towards long life was discussed in light of the reported literature to guide the researcher to date progress. More emphasis was directed toward the new applications of LCBs for stationary energy storage applications. Finally, state-of-the-art progress and further research gaps were pointed out for future work in this exciting era.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, China
| | - Shiwen Zhang
- College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, China
| | - Jieqing Zhou
- Chilwee Group Co., Ltd., 18 Chengnan Road, Huzhou, 313100, China
| | - Zhiyu Mao
- College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, China
- Power Battery & System Research Center, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
| | - Zhongwei Chen
- Power Battery & System Research Center, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada
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Mahmood T, He S, Abdullah M, Sajjad M, Jia Y, Ahmar S, Fu G, Chen B, Du X. Epigenetic insight into floral transition and seed development in plants. Plant Sci 2024; 339:111926. [PMID: 37984609 DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2023.111926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
Seasonal changes are crucial in shifting the developmental stages from the vegetative phase to the reproductive phase in plants, enabling them to flower under optimal conditions. Plants grown at different latitudes sense and interpret these seasonal variations, such as changes in day length (photoperiod) and exposure to cold winter temperatures (vernalization). These environmental factors influence the expression of various genes related to flowering. Plants have evolved to stimulate a rapid response to environmental conditions through genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Multiple epigenetic regulation systems have emerged in plants to interpret environmental signals. During the transition to the flowering phase, changes in gene expression are facilitated by chromatin remodeling and small RNAs interference, particularly in annual and perennial plants. Key flowering regulators, such as FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), interact with various factors and undergo chromatin remodeling in response to seasonal cues. The Polycomb silencing complex (PRC) controls the expression of flowering-related genes in photoperiodic flowering regulation. Under vernalization-dependent flowering, FLC acts as a potent flowering suppressor by downregulating the gene expression of various flower-promoting genes. Eventually, PRCs are critically involved in the regulation of FLC and FT locus interacting with several key genes in photoperiod and vernalization. Subsequently, PRCs also regulate Epigenetical events during gametogenesis and seed development as a driving force. Furthermore, DNA methylation in the context of CHG, CG, and CHH methylation plays a critical role in embryogenesis. DNA glycosylase DME (DEMETER) is responsible for demethylation during seed development. Thus, the review briefly discusses flowering regulation through light signaling, day length variation, temperature variation and seed development in plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tahir Mahmood
- State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang (CAAS), Anyang 455000, China; Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Shoupu He
- State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang (CAAS), Anyang 455000, China
| | - Muhammad Abdullah
- College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang (CAAS), Anyang 455000, China
| | - Yinhua Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang (CAAS), Anyang 455000, China
| | - Sunny Ahmar
- Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia, Jagiellonska 28, 40-032 Katowice, Poland
| | - Guoyong Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang (CAAS), Anyang 455000, China
| | - Baojun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang (CAAS), Anyang 455000, China
| | - Xiongming Du
- State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang (CAAS), Anyang 455000, China.
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Nazir A, Shad M, Rashid N, Azim N, Sajjad M. Recombinant production and characterization of a metal ion-independent Lysophospholipase from a hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus abyssi DSM25543. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 259:129345. [PMID: 38219941 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.129345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/07/2024] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Genome sequence of Pyrococcus abyssi DSM25543 contains a coding sequence (PAB_RS01410) for α/β hydrolase (WP_010867387.1). Structural analysis revealed the presence of a consensus motif GXSXG and a highly conserved catalytic triad in the amino acid sequence of α/β hydrolase that were characteristic features of lysophospholipases. A putative lysophospholipase from P. abyssi with its potential applications in oil degumming and starch processing was heterologously produced in E. coli Rosetta (DE3) pLysS in soluble form followed by its purification and characterization. The recombinant enzyme was found to be active at temperature of 40-90 °C and pH 5.5-7.0. However, the enzyme exhibited its optimum activity at 65 °C and pH 6.5. None of the metal ions (Mn2+, Mg2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Fe2+, Co2+, Zn2+ and Ca2+) being tested had stimulatory effect on lysophospholipase activity. Km and Vmax for hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl butyrate were calculated to be 1 ± 0.089 mM and 1637 ± 24.434 U/mg, respectively. It is the first report on the soluble production and characterization of recombinant lysophospholipase from P. abyssi which exhibits its lipolytic activity in the absence of divalent metal ions. Broad substrate specificity, activity and stability at elevated temperatures make recombinant lysophospholipase an ideal candidate for potential industrial applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arshia Nazir
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Mohsin Shad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Naeem Rashid
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Naseema Azim
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
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Abdelsalam MA, Sajjad M, Raza A, AlMarzooqi F, Zhang T. Sustainable biomimetic solar distillation with edge crystallization for passive salt collection and zero brine discharge. Nat Commun 2024; 15:874. [PMID: 38286989 PMCID: PMC10825211 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45108-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/31/2024] Open
Abstract
The urgency of addressing water scarcity and exponential population rise has necessitated the use of sustainable desalination for clean water production, while conventional thermal desalination processes consume fossil fuel with brine rejection. As a promising solution to sustainable solar thermal distillation, we report a scalable mangrove-mimicked device for direct solar vapor generation and passive salt collection without brine discharge. Capillarity-driven salty water supply and continuous vapor generation are ensured by anti-corrosion porous wicking stem and multi-layer leaves, which are made of low-cost superhydrophilic nanostructured titanium meshes. Precipitated salt at the leaf edge forms porous patch during daytime evaporation and get peeled by gravity during night when saline water rewets the leaves, and these salt patches can enhance vaporization by 1.6 times as indicated by our findings. The proposed solar vapor generator achieves a stable photothermal efficiency around 94% under one sun when treating synthetic seawater with a salinity of 3.5 wt.%. Under outdoor conditions, it can produce 2.2 L m-2 of freshwater per day from real seawater, which is sufficient for individual drinking needs. This kind of biomimetic solar distillation devices have demonstrated great capability in clean water production and passive salt collection to tackle global water and environmental challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed A Abdelsalam
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Aikifa Raza
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Faisal AlMarzooqi
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - TieJun Zhang
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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Naqvi SAA, Sajjad M, Tariq A, Sajjad M, Waseem LA, Karuppannan S, Rehman A, Hassan M, Al-Ahmadi S, Hatamleh WA. Societal knowledge, attitude, and practices towards dengue and associated factors in epidemic-hit areas: Geoinformation assisted empirical evidence. Heliyon 2024; 10:e23151. [PMID: 38223736 PMCID: PMC10784149 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 11/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Dengue is one of Pakistan's major health concerns. In this study, we aimed to advance our understanding of the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) in Pakistan's Dengue Fever (DF) hotspots. Initially, at-risk communities were systematically identified via a well-known spatial modeling technique, named, Kernel Density Estimation, which was later targeted for a household-based cross-sectional survey of KAPs. To collect data on sociodemographic and KAPs, random sampling was utilized (n = 385, 5 % margin of error). Later, the association of different demographics (characteristics), knowledge, and attitude factors-potentially related to poor preventive practices was assessed using bivariate (individual) and multivariable (model) logistic regression analyses. Most respondents (>90 %) identified fever as a sign of DF; headache (73.8 %), joint pain (64.4 %), muscular pain (50.9 %), pain behind the eyes (41.8 %), bleeding (34.3 %), and skin rash (36.1 %) were identified relatively less. Regression results showed significant associations of poor knowledge/attitude with poor preventive practices; dengue vector (odds ratio [OR] = 3.733, 95 % confidence interval [CI ] = 2.377-5.861; P < 0.001), DF symptoms (OR = 3.088, 95 % CI = 1.949-4.894; P < 0.001), dengue transmission (OR = 1.933, 95 % CI = 1.265-2.956; P = 0.002), and attitude (OR = 3.813, 95 % CI = 1.548-9.395; P = 0.004). Moreover, education level was stronger in bivariate analysis and the strongest independent factor of poor preventive practices in multivariable analysis (illiterate: adjusted OR = 6.833, 95 % CI = 2.979-15.672; P < 0.001) and primary education (adjusted OR = 4.046, 95 % CI = 1.997-8.199; P < 0.001). This situation highlights knowledge gaps within urban communities, particularly in understanding dengue transmission and signs/symptoms. The level of education in urban communities also plays a substantial role in dengue control, as observed in this study, where poor preventive practices were more prevalent among illiterate and less educated respondents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syed Ali Asad Naqvi
- Department of Geography, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Geography, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Aqil Tariq
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Forest Resources, Mississippi State University, 775 Stone Boulevard, Mississippi State, 39762-9690, MS, USA
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Centre for Geo-computation Studies and Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Liaqat Ali Waseem
- Department of Geography, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38000, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Shankar Karuppannan
- Department of Applied Geology, School of Applied Natural Sciences, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama P.O. Box 1888, Ethiopia
| | - Adnanul Rehman
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Earth Surface System and Environmental Carrying Capacity, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, 710127, China
| | - Mujtaba Hassan
- Department of Space Science, Institute of Space Technology, Main Islamabad Expressway, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Saad Al-Ahmadi
- Department of Computer Science, College of Computer and Information Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 51178, Riyadh, 11543, Saudi Arabia
| | - Wesam Atef Hatamleh
- Department of Computer Science, College of Computer and Information Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 51178, Riyadh, 11543, Saudi Arabia
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Khan AJ, Sajjad M, Khan S, Khan M, Mateen A, Shah SS, Arshid N, He L, Ma Z, Gao L, Zhao G. Telluride-Based Materials: A Promising Route for High Performance Supercapacitors. CHEM REC 2024; 24:e202300302. [PMID: 38010947 DOI: 10.1002/tcr.202300302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
As supercapacitor (SC) technology continues to evolve, there is a growing need for electrode materials with high energy/power densities and cycling stability. However, research and development of electrode materials with such characteristics is essential for commercialization the SC. To meet this demand, the development of superior electrode materials has become an increasingly critical step. The electrochemical performance of SCs is greatly influenced by various factors such as the reaction mechanism, crystal structure, and kinetics of electron/ion transfer in the electrodes, which have been challenging to address using previously investigated electrode materials like carbon and metal oxides/sulfides. Recently, tellurium and telluride-based materials have garnered increasing interest in energy storage technology owing to their high electronic conductivity, favorable crystal structure, and excellent volumetric capacity. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental properties and energy storage performance of tellurium- and Te-based materials by introducing their physicochemical properties. First, we elaborate on the significance of tellurides. Next, the charge storage mechanism of functional telluride materials and important synthesis strategies are summarized. Then, research advancements in metal and carbon-based telluride materials, as well as the effectiveness of tellurides for SCs, were analyzed by emphasizing their essential properties and extensive advantages. Finally, the remaining challenges and prospects for improving the telluride-based supercapacitive performance are outlined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdul Jabbar Khan
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huanggang Normal University, Huanggang, 438000, China
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, China
| | - Shaukat Khan
- College of Engineering, Dhofar University, Salalah, 211, Sultanate of, Oman
| | - Muhammad Khan
- Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 06800, Turkey
| | - Abdul Mateen
- Department of Physics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China
| | - Syed Shaheen Shah
- Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 615-8520, Japan
| | - Numan Arshid
- School of Engineering and Technology, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, 47500, Malaysia
| | - Liang He
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China
| | - Zeyu Ma
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China
| | - Ling Gao
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huanggang Normal University, Huanggang, 438000, China
| | - Guowei Zhao
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huanggang Normal University, Huanggang, 438000, China
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Sajjad M, Almufarij R, Ali Z, Sajid M, Raza N, Manzoor S, Hayat M, Abdelrahman EA. Magnetic solid phase extraction of aminoglycosides residue in chicken egg samples using Fe 3O 4-GO-Agarose-Chitosan composite. Food Chem 2024; 430:137092. [PMID: 37544153 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Revised: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Difficulties in identification of drug residues in food products arise due to their trace amounts in complex matrices. An eco-friendly and low-cost agarose-chitosan-magnetic graphene oxide based adsorbent was synthesized and employed for determination of aminoglycosides from chicken egg samples through HPLC. Synthesized adsorbent was characterized by SEM, FTIR, XRD, and VSM. Among two investigated aminoglycosides, streptomycin was derivatized with ninhydrin while gentamicin was detected without its derivatization. Impact of experimental variables such as adsorbent dose, extraction time, temperature, pH, and analyte concentration on extraction efficiency was investigated. Statistical analysis for determination of streptomycin and gentamicin demonstrated excellent linearity in the range of 0.2-1.6 µg kg-1, LOQ of 0.3 and 0.6 µg kg-1 for streptomycin and gentamicin, respectively and LOD of 0.1 and 0.19 µg kg-1 for streptomycin and gentamicin, respectively with RSD of 2.5% and recoveries up to 94%. Regeneration studies revealed that composite film can be used four times without considerable reduction in its extraction efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Sajjad
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
| | - Rasmiah Almufarij
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
| | - Zeeshan Ali
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajid
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan.
| | - Nadeem Raza
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 11623, Saudi Arabia; Department of Chemistry, Govt. Alamdar Hussain Islamia Degree College, Multan, Pakistan.
| | - Suryyia Manzoor
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Hayat
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
| | - Ehab A Abdelrahman
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 11623, Saudi Arabia; Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Benha University, Benha 13518, Egypt
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Shad M, Sajjad M, Gardner QA, Ahmad S, Akhtar MW. Structural engineering and truncation of α-amylase from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 256:128387. [PMID: 38000593 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.128387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023]
Abstract
Alpha amylases catalyse the hydrolysis of α-1, 4-glycosidic bonds in starch, yielding glucose, maltose, dextrin, and short oligosaccharides, vital to various industrial processes. Structural and functional insights on α-amylase from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii were computationally explored to evaluate a catalytic domain and its fusion with a small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO). The recombinant proteins' production, characterization, ligand binding studies, and structural analysis of the cloned amylase native full gene (MjAFG), catalytic domain (MjAD) and fusion enzymes (S-MjAD) were thoroughly analysed in this comparative study. The MjAD and S-MjAD showed 2-fold and 2.5-fold higher specific activities (μmol min-1 mg -1) than MjAFG at 95 °C at pH 6.0. Molecular modelling and MD simulation results showed that the removal of the extra loop (178 residues) at the C-terminal of the catalytic domain exposed the binding and catalytic residues near its active site, which was buried in the MjAFG enzyme. The temperature ramping and secondary structure analysis of MjAFG, MjAD and S-MjAD through CD spectrometry showed no notable alterations in the secondary structures but verified the correct folding of MjA variants. The chimeric fusion of amylases with thermostable α-glucosidases makes it a potential candidate for the starch degrading processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohsin Shad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan.
| | - Qurratulann Afza Gardner
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
| | - Saira Ahmad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Waheed Akhtar
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
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Maqbool S, Naseer S, Zahra N, Rasool F, Qayyum H, Majeed K, Jahanzaib M, Sajjad M, Fayyaz M, Naeem MK, Khan MR, Zhang H, Rasheed A, Li H. RNAseq of diverse spring wheat cultivars released during last 110 years. Sci Data 2023; 10:884. [PMID: 38065977 PMCID: PMC10709563 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02769-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Here, we performed RNA-seq based expression analysis of root and leaf tissues of a set of 24 historical spring wheat cultivars representing 110 years of temporal genetic variations. This huge 130 tissues RNAseq dataset was initially used to study expression pattern of 97 genes regulating root growth and development in wheat. Root system architecture (RSA) is an important target for breeding stress-resilient and high-yielding wheat cultivars under climatic fluctuations. However, root transcriptome analysis is usually obscured due to challenges in root research due to their below ground presence. We also validated the dataset by performing correlation analysis between expression of RSA related genes in roots and leaves with 25 root traits analyzed under varying moisture conditions and 10 yield-related traits. The Pearson's correlation coefficients between root phenotypes and expression of root-specific genes varied from -0.72 to 0.78, and strong correlations with genes such as DRO1, TaMOR, ARF4, PIN1 was observed. The presented datasets have multiple uses such as a) studying the change in expression pattern of genes during time, b) differential expression of genes in two very important tissues of wheat i.e., leaf and roots, and c) studying customized expression of genes associated with important phenotypes in diverse wheat cultivars. The initial findings presented here provided key insights into understanding the transcriptomic basis of phenotypic variability of RSA in wheat cultivars.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saman Maqbool
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), CIMMYT-China office, Beijing, China
- Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
| | - Samar Naseer
- Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
| | - Nageen Zahra
- National Institute of Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology (NIGAB), National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Fatima Rasool
- National Institute of Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology (NIGAB), National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Humaira Qayyum
- Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
| | - Khawar Majeed
- Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Jahanzaib
- Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan
- Oilseeds Research Program, Crop Sciences Institute (CSI), National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of BioSciences, COMSATS University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Fayyaz
- Crop Disease Research Institute, National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Kashif Naeem
- National Institute of Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology (NIGAB), National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Ramzan Khan
- National Institute of Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology (NIGAB), National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Hao Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), CIMMYT-China office, Beijing, China
- Nanfan Research Institute, CAAS, Sanya, Hainan, China
| | - Awais Rasheed
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), CIMMYT-China office, Beijing, China.
- Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan.
| | - Huihui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), CIMMYT-China office, Beijing, China.
- Nanfan Research Institute, CAAS, Sanya, Hainan, China.
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19
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Hayat M, Zhou Y, Ullah Shah MZ, Sana Ullah M, Hanif MB, Hou H, Arif U, Khan S, Hassan AM, Tighezza AM, Sajjad M, Vadla R. Exploring the electrochemical properties of CuSe-decorated NiSe 2 nanocubes for battery-supercapacitor hybrid devices. Chemosphere 2023; 340:139720. [PMID: 37567270 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/13/2023]
Abstract
Chalcogenides, a promising class of electrode materials, attracted massive popularity owing to their exciting features of high conductive nature, high capacity, rich redox activities, and structural functionalities, making them the first choice for the electrochemical energy domain. This paper reported a new NiSe2-CuSe nanocomposite prepared via a wet-chemical synthesis followed by a low-cost and simple hydrothermal reaction. The physical characterization showed cubes and nanoparticles type morphological features of NiSe2 and CuSe products, while their composite reveals a combined morphological characteristic. The electrochemical properties were tested in an aqueous solution, demonstrating that the NiSe2-CuSe nanocomposite exhibits a high capacity of 376 C g-1, low resistance, good reversibility and rate capability in a three-electrode mode than bulk counterparts. For practical aspects, a battery-hybrid supercapacitor (BHSC) is developed with NiSe2-CuSe nanocomposite, and activated carbon (AC) serves as cathode and anode in two-cell mode operation. The built NiSe2-CuSe||AC/KOH BHSC expanded the voltage to 1.8 V and delivered the highest capacitance of 148 F g-1 and 55 F g-1 from 1 to 10 A g-1, suppressing most of the previously existing literature reports. Also, our built NiSe2-CuSe||AC/KOH BHSC displayed a high-power delivery of 8928 W kg-1 at a maximum energy density of 66.6 W h kg-1 and retained 91.7% capacitance after a long way of 10,000 cycles. These outstanding results demonstrate that metal selenides can be effectively utilized as alternative electrodes with high energy, rate performance, and long-term durability for advanced energy conversion and storage devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mudassir Hayat
- College of Physical Science and Technology, Institute of Optoelectronics Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225002, China
| | - Yuxue Zhou
- College of Physical Science and Technology, Institute of Optoelectronics Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225002, China.
| | - Muhammad Zia Ullah Shah
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China
| | - Muhammad Sana Ullah
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China
| | - Muhammad Bilal Hanif
- Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, 842 15, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Hongying Hou
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China
| | - Umar Arif
- Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, P.R. China
| | - Shaukat Khan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Dhofar University, Salalah, 211, Sultanate of Oman
| | - Ahmed M Hassan
- Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Future University in Egypt, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt
| | - Ammar M Tighezza
- Department of Chemistry, P. O. Box 2455, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, PR China.
| | - Raghavender Vadla
- Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Hyderabad, India.
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20
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Qureshi MI, Jamil QA, Usman F, Wani TA, Farooq M, Shah HS, Ahmad H, Khalil R, Sajjad M, Zargar S, Kausar S. Tioconazole-Loaded Transethosomal Gel Using Box-Behnken Design for Topical Applications: In Vitro, In Vivo, and Molecular Docking Approaches. Gels 2023; 9:767. [PMID: 37754448 PMCID: PMC10530999 DOI: 10.3390/gels9090767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Revised: 09/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Tioconazole (TCZ) is a broad-spectrum fungicidal BCS class II drug with reported activity against Candida albicans, dermatophytes, and certain Staphylococci bacteria. We report the use of TCZ-loaded transethosomes (TEs) to overcome the skin's barrier function. TCZ-loaded TEs were fabricated by using a cold method with slight modification. Box-Behnken composite design was utilized to investigate the effect of independent variables. The fabricated TEs were assessed with various physicochemical characterizations. The optimized formulation of TCZ-loaded TEs was incorporated into gel and evaluated for pH, conductivity, drug content, spreadability, rheology, in vitro permeation, ex vivo permeation, and in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity. The fabricated TCZ-loaded TEs had a % EE of 60.56 to 86.13, with particle sizes ranging from 219.1 to 757.1 nm. The SEM images showed spherically shaped vesicles. The % drug permeation was between 77.01 and 92.03. The kinetic analysis of all release profiles followed Higuchi's diffusion model. The FTIR, DSC, and XRD analysis showed no significant chemical interactions between the drug and excipients. A significantly higher antifungal activity was observed for TCZ-loaded transethosomal gel in comparison to the control. The in vivo antifungal study on albino rats indicated that TCZ-loaded transethosomal gel showed a comparable therapeutic effect in comparison to the market brand Canesten®. Molecular docking demonstrated that the TCZ in the TE composition was surrounded by hydrophobic excipients with increased overall hydrophobicity and better permeation. Therefore, TCZ in the form of transethosomal gel can serve as an effective drug delivery system, having the ability to penetrate the skin and overcome the stratum corneum barrier with improved efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Imran Qureshi
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 66000, Pakistan; (M.I.Q.); (Q.A.J.)
| | - Qazi Adnan Jamil
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 66000, Pakistan; (M.I.Q.); (Q.A.J.)
| | - Faisal Usman
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan;
| | - Tanveer A. Wani
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mudassir Farooq
- Department of Manufacturing Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand;
| | - Hamid Saeed Shah
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Syed Abdul Qadir Jillani (Out Fall) Road, Lahore 54000, Pakistan;
| | - Hassan Ahmad
- Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Central Punjab, 1-Khayabaan-e-Jinnah Road, Johar Town, Lahore 54000, Pakistan;
| | - Ruqaiya Khalil
- Centro De Investigaciones Biomédicas, University of Vigo (CINBO), 36310 Vigo, Spain;
- Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Immunology, University of Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha 40100, Pakistan;
| | - Seema Zargar
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Safina Kausar
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan;
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21
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Shimpi MT, Sajjad M, Öberg S, Larsson JA. Physical binding energies using the electron localization function in 4-hydroxyphenylboronic acid co-crystals with aza donors. J Phys Condens Matter 2023; 35:505901. [PMID: 37659400 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/acf638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/04/2023]
Abstract
Binding energies are traditionally simulated using cluster models by computation of each synthon for each individual co-crystal former. However, our investigation of the binding strengths using the electron localization function (ELF) reveals that these can be determined directly from the crystal supercell computations. We propose a new modeling protocol for the computation of physical binding energies directly from bulk simulations using ELF analysis. In this work, we establish a correlation between ELF values and binding energies calculated for co-crystals of 4-hydroxyphenylboronic acid (4HPBA) with four different aza donors using density functional theory with varying descriptions of dispersion. Boronic acids are gaining significant interest in the field of crystal engineering, but theoretical studies on their use in materials are still very limited. Here, we present a systematic investigation of the non-covalent interactions in experimentally realized co-crystals. Prior diffraction studies on these complexes have shown the competitive nature between the boronic acid functional group and the para-substituted phenolic group forming heteromeric interactions with aza donors. We determine the stability of the co-crystals by simulating their lattice energies, and the different dispersion descriptions show similar trends in lattice energies and lattice parameters. Our study bolsters the experimental observation of the boronic acid group as a competitive co-crystal former in addition to the well-studied phenolic group. Further research on correlating ELF values for physical binding could potentially transform this approach to a viable alternative for the computation of binding energies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayura Talwelkar Shimpi
- Applied Physics, Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology, SE-97187 Luleå, Sweden
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, PO Box 591, 75124 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Applied Physics, Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology, SE-97187 Luleå, Sweden
- Nottingham Ningbo China Beacons of Excellence Research and Innovation Institute, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, People's Republic of China
| | - Sven Öberg
- Applied Physics, Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology, SE-97187 Luleå, Sweden
| | - J Andreas Larsson
- Applied Physics, Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University of Technology, SE-97187 Luleå, Sweden
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22
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Sajjad M, Ahmad A, Riaz MW, Hussain Q, Yasir M, Lu M. Recent genome resequencing paraded COBRA- Like gene family roles in abiotic stress and wood formation in Poplar. Front Plant Sci 2023; 14:1242836. [PMID: 37780503 PMCID: PMC10540467 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1242836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
A cell wall determines the mechanical properties of a cell, serves as a barrier against plant stresses, and allows cell division and growth processes. The COBRA-Like (COBL) gene family encodes a putative glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein that controls cellulose deposition and cell progression in plants by contributing to the microfibril orientation of a cell wall. Despite being studied in different plant species, there is a dearth of the comprehensive global analysis of COBL genes in poplar. Poplar is employed as a model woody plant to study abiotic stresses and biomass production in tree research. Improved genome resequencing has enabled the comprehensive exploration of the evolution and functional capacities of PtrCOBLs (Poplar COBRA-Like genes) in poplar. Phylogeny analysis has discerned and classified PtrCOBLs into two groups resembling the Arabidopsis COBL family, and group I genes possess longer proteins but have fewer exons than group II. Analysis of gene structure and motifs revealed PtrCOBLs maintained a rather stable motif and exon-intron pattern across members of the same group. Synteny and collinearity analyses exhibited that the evolution of the COBL gene family was heavily influenced by gene duplication events. PtrCOBL genes have undergone both segmental duplication and tandem duplication, followed by purifying selection. Promotor analysis flaunted various phytohormone-, growth- and stress-related cis-elements (e.g., MYB, ABA, MeJA, SA, AuxR, and ATBP1). Likewise, 29 Ptr-miRNAs of 20 families were found targeting 11 PtrCOBL genes. PtrCOBLs were found localized at the plasma membrane and extracellular matrix, while gene ontology analysis showed their involvement in plant development, plant growth, stress response, cellulose biosynthesis, and cell wall biogenesis. RNA-seq datasets depicted the bulk of PtrCOBL genes expression being found in plant stem tissues and leaves, rendering mechanical strength and rejoinders to environmental cues. PtrCOBL2, 3, 10, and 11 manifested the highest expression in vasculature and abiotic stress, and resemblant expression trends were upheld by qRT-PCR. Co-expression network analysis identified PtrCOBL2 and PtrCOBL3 as hub genes across all abiotic stresses and wood developing tissues. The current study reports regulating roles of PtrCOBLs in xylem differentiating tissues, tension wood formation, and abiotic stress latency that lay the groundwork for future functional studies of the PtrCOBL genes in poplar breeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Sajjad
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, College of Forestry and Biotechnology, Zhejiang A & F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Adeel Ahmad
- State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang, Henan, China
| | - Muhammad Waheed Riaz
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, College of Forestry and Biotechnology, Zhejiang A & F University, Hangzhou, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Resource Protection and Innovation of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Quaid Hussain
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresource and Eco-Environmental Science, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Muhammad Yasir
- The Key Laboratory for Quality Improvement of Agricultural Products of Zhejiang Province, College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Meng‐Zhu Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, College of Forestry and Biotechnology, Zhejiang A & F University, Hangzhou, China
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23
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Khan ZA, Hussain T, Ullah A, Ullah W, Del Ser J, Muhammad K, Sajjad M, Baik SW. Modelling Electricity Consumption During the COVID19 Pandemic: Datasets, Models, Results and a Research Agenda. Energy Build 2023; 294:113204. [PMID: 37342253 PMCID: PMC10226901 DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2023.113204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023]
Abstract
The COVID19 pandemic has impacted the global economy, social activities, and Electricity Consumption (EC), affecting the performance of historical data-based Electricity Load Forecasting (ELF) algorithms. This study thoroughly analyses the pandemic's impact on these models and develop a hybrid model with better prediction accuracy using COVID19 data. Existing datasets are reviewed, and their limited generalization potential for the COVID19 period is highlighted. A dataset of 96 residential customers, comprising 36 and six months before and after the pandemic, is collected, posing significant challenges for current models. The proposed model employs convolutional layers for feature extraction, gated recurrent nets for temporal feature learning, and a self-attention module for feature selection, leading to better generalization for predicting EC patterns. Our proposed model outperforms existing models, as demonstrated by a detailed ablation study using our dataset. For instance, it achieves an average reduction of 0.56% & 3.46% in MSE, 1.5% & 5.07% in RMSE, and 11.81% & 13.19% in MAPE over the pre- and post-pandemic data, respectively. However, further research is required to address the varied nature of the data. These findings have significant implications for improving ELF algorithms during pandemics and other significant events that disrupt historical data patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tanveer Hussain
- Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT Leeds, UK
| | - Amin Ullah
- CoRIS Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331, OR, USA
| | - Waseem Ullah
- Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea
| | - Javier Del Ser
- TECNALIA (Basque Research & Technology Alliance - BRTA), P. Tecnologico, Ed. 700, 48160 Derio, Bizkaia, Spain
- University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), 48013 Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Khan Muhammad
- Visual Analytics for Knowledge Laboratory (VIS2KNOW Lab), Department of Applied Artificial Intelligence, College of Computing and Informatics, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul 03063, South Korea
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Digital Image Processing Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, Islamia College Peshawar, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan
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Shah HS, Zaib S, Sarfraz M, Alhadhrami A, Ibrahim MM, Mushtaq A, Usman F, Ishtiaq M, Sajjad M, Asjad HMM, Gohar UF. Fabrication and Evaluation of Anticancer Potential of Eugenol Incorporated Chitosan-Silver Nanocomposites: In Vitro, In Vivo, and In Silico Studies. AAPS PharmSciTech 2023; 24:168. [PMID: 37552378 DOI: 10.1208/s12249-023-02631-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The expanding global cancer burden necessitates a comprehensive strategy to promote possible therapeutic interventions. Nanomedicine is a cutting-edge approach for treating cancer with minimal adverse effects. In the present study, chitosan-silver nanoparticles (ChAgNPs) containing Eugenol (EGN) were synthesized and evaluated for their anticancer activity against breast cancer cells (MCF-7). The physical, pharmacological, and molecular docking studies were used to characterize these nanoparticles. EGN had been effectively entrapped into hybrid NPs (84 ± 7%). The EGN-ChAgNPs had a diameter of 128 ± 14 nm, a PDI of 0.472 ± 0.118, and a zeta potential of 30.58 ± 6.92 mV. Anticancer activity was measured in vitro using an SRB assay, and the findings revealed that EGN-ChAgNPs demonstrated stronger anticancer activity against MCF-7 cells (IC50 = 14.87 ± 5.34 µg/ml) than pure EGN (30.72 ± 4.91 µg/ml). To support initial cytotoxicity findings, advanced procedures such as cell cycle analysis and genotoxicity were performed. Tumor weight reduction and survival rate were determined using different groups of mice. Both survival rates and tumor weight reduction were higher in the EGN-ChAgNPs (12.5 mg/kg) treated group than in the pure EGN treated group. Based on protein-ligand interactions, it might be proposed that eugenol had a favorable interaction with Aurora Kinase A. It was observed that C9 had the highest HYDE score of any sample, measuring at -6.8 kJ/mol. These results, in conjunction with physical and pharmacological evaluations, implies that EGN-ChAgNPs may be a suitable drug delivery method for treating breast cancer in a safe and efficient way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamid Saeed Shah
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan.
| | - Sumera Zaib
- Department of Basic and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, 54590, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sarfraz
- College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Al Ain, 64141, United Arab Emirates
| | - A Alhadhrami
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11090, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed M Ibrahim
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11090, Taif, 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Aamir Mushtaq
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Faisal Usman
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 66000, Pakistan
| | - Memoona Ishtiaq
- Leads College of Pharmacy, Lahore LEADS University, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Pharmacy, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan
| | - Hafiz Muhammad Mazhar Asjad
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, Pak-Austria Fachhochschule: Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, Mang, Khanpur Road, Haripur-KPK, Pakistan
| | - Umar Farooq Gohar
- Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan
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25
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Shad M, Hussain N, Usman M, Akhtar MW, Sajjad M. Exploration of computational approaches to predict the structural features and recent trends in α-amylase production for industrial applications. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023. [PMID: 37475649 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
Amylases are biologically active enzymes that can hydrolyze starch to produce dextrin, glucose, maltose, and oligosaccharides. The amylases contribute approximately 30% to the global industrial enzyme market. The globally produced amylases are widely used in textile, biofuel, starch processing, food, bioremediation of environmental pollutants, pulp, and paper, clinical, and fermentation industries. The purpose of this review article is to summarize recent trends and aspects of α-amylases, classification, microbial production sources, biosynthesis and production methods, and its broad-spectrum applications for industrial purposes, which will depict the latest trends in α-amylases production. In the present article, we have comprehensively compared the biodiversity of α-amylases in different model organisms ranging from archaea to eukaryotes using in silico structural analysis tools. The detailed comparative analysis: regarding their structure, function, cofactor, signal peptide, and catalytic domain along with their catalytic residues of α-amylases in 16 model organisms were discussed in this paper. The comparative studies on alpha (α) amylases' secondary and tertiary structures, multiple sequence alignment, transmembrane helices, physiochemical properties, and their phylogenetic analysis in model organisms were briefly studied. This review has documented the recent trends and future perspectives of industrially important novel thermophilic α-amylases. In conclusion, this review sheds light on the current understanding and prospects of α-amylase research, highlighting its importance as a versatile enzyme with numerous applications and emphasizing the need for further exploration and innovation in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohsin Shad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Naveed Hussain
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- School of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Usman
- Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad W Akhtar
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
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Waleed M, Sajjad M, Shazil MS, Tariq M, Alam MT. Machine learning-based spatial-temporal assessment and change transition analysis of wetlands: An application of Google Earth Engine in Sylhet, Bangladesh (1985–2022). ECOL INFORM 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2023.102075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
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27
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Sajjad M, Nair SS, Samad YA, Singh N. Colossal figure of merit and compelling HER catalytic activity of holey graphyne. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9123. [PMID: 37277397 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35016-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Herein, we have conducted a comprehensive study to uncover the thermal transport properties and hydrogen evolution reaction catalytic activity of recently synthesized holey graphyne. Our findings disclose that holey graphyne has a direct bandgap of 1.00 eV using the HSE06 exchange-correlation functional. The absence of imaginary phonon frequencies in the phonon dispersion ensures its dynamic stability. The formation energy of holey graphyne turns out to be - 8.46 eV/atom, comparable to graphene (- 9.22 eV/atom) and h-BN (- 8.80 eV/atom). At 300 K, the Seebeck coefficient is as high as 700 μV/K at a carrier concentration of 1 × 1010 cm-2. The predicted room temperature lattice thermal conductivity (κl) of 29.3 W/mK is substantially lower than graphene (3000 W/mK) and fourfold smaller than C3N (128 W/mK). At around 335 nm thickness, the room temperature κl suppresses by 25%. The calculated p-type figure of merit (ZT) reaches a maximum of 1.50 at 300 K, higher than that of holey graphene (ZT = 1.13), γ-graphyne (ZT = 0.48), and pristine graphene (ZT = 0.55 × 10-3). It further scales up to 3.36 at 600 K. Such colossal ZT values make holey graphyne an appealing p-type thermoelectric material. Besides that, holey graphyne is a potential HER catalyst with a low overpotential of 0.20 eV, which further reduces to 0.03 eV at 2% compressive strain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Physics, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Surabhi Suresh Nair
- Department of Physics, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Yarjan Abdul Samad
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Cambridge Graphene Centre, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Nirpendra Singh
- Department of Physics, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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28
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Zafer MZ, Tahir MHN, Khan Z, Sajjad M, Gao X, Bakhtavar MA, Waheed U, Siddique M, Geng Z, Ur Rehman S. Genome-Wide Characterization and Sequence Polymorphism Analyses of Glycine max Fibrillin ( FBN) Revealed Its Role in Response to Drought Condition. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:1188. [PMID: 37372368 DOI: 10.3390/genes14061188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The fibrillin (FBN) gene family is widely distributed in all photosynthetic organisms. Members of this gene family are involved in plant growth and development and their response to various biotic and abiotic stress factors. In this study, 16 members of FBN were identified in Glycine max and characterized by using different bioinformatics tools. Phylogenetic analysis classified FBN genes into seven groups. The presence of stress-related cis-elements in the upstream region of GmFBN highlighted their role in tolerance against abiotic stresses. To further decipher the function, physiochemical properties, conserved motifs, chromosomal localization, subcellular localization, and cis-acting regulatory elements were also analyzed. Gene expression analysis based on FPKM values revealed that GmFBNs greatly enhanced soybean drought tolerance and controlled the expression of several genes involved in drought response, except for GmFBN-4, GmFBN-5, GmFBN-6, GmFBN-7 and GmFBN-9. For high throughput genotyping, an SNP-based CAPS marker was also developed for the GmFBN-15 gene. The CAPS marker differentiated soybean genotypes based on the presence of either the GmFBN-15-G or GmFBN-15-A alleles in the CDS region. Association analysis showed that G. max accessions containing the GmFBN-15-A allele at the respective locus showed higher thousand seed weight compared to accessions containing the GmFBN-15-G allele. This research has provided the basic information to further decipher the function of FBN in soybean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Zeshan Zafer
- SINO-PAK Joint Research Laboratory, Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Hammad Nadeem Tahir
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
| | - Zulqurnain Khan
- SINO-PAK Joint Research Laboratory, Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University, Islamabad (CUI), Park Road, Islamabad 45550, Pakistan
| | - Xiangkuo Gao
- Institute of Food Crops, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming 650204, China
| | - Muhammad Amir Bakhtavar
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
| | - Ummara Waheed
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
| | - Maria Siddique
- Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
| | - Zhide Geng
- Institute of Food Crops, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming 650204, China
| | - Shoaib Ur Rehman
- SINO-PAK Joint Research Laboratory, Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
- Institute of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef, University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, Pakistan
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Inbanathan FPN, Cimatu KLA, Ingram DC, Erasquin UJ, Dasari K, Sultan MS, Sajjad M, Makarov V, Weiner BR, Morell G, Sharifi Abdar P, Jadwisienczak WM. Paramagnetism in Microwave-Synthesized Metal-Free Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Quantum Dots. Materials (Basel) 2023; 16:ma16093410. [PMID: 37176291 PMCID: PMC10179833 DOI: 10.3390/ma16093410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) have gained significant attention due to their various physical and chemical properties; however, there is a gap in the study of NGQDs' magnetic properties. This work adds to the efforts of bridging the gap by demonstrating the room temperature paramagnetism in GQDs doped with Nitrogen up to 3.26 at.%. The focus of this experimental work was to confirm the paramagnetic behavior of metal free NGQDs resulting from the pyridinic N configuration in the GQDs host. Metal-free nitrogen-doped NGQDs were synthesized using glucose and liquid ammonia as precursors by microwave-assisted synthesis. This was followed by dialysis filtration. The morphology, optical, and magnetic properties of the synthesized NGQDs were characterized carefully through atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM)), UV-VIS spectroscopy, fluorescence, X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The high-resolution TEM analysis of NGQDs showed that the NGQDs have a hexagonal crystalline structure with a lattice fringe of ~0.24 nm of (1120) graphene plane. The N1s peak using XPS was assigned to pyridinic, pyrrolic, graphitic, and oxygenated NGQDs. The magnetic study showed the room-temperature paramagnetic behavior of NGQDs with pyridinic N configuration, which was found to have a magnetization of 20.8 emu/g.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flavia P N Inbanathan
- School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
| | | | - David C Ingram
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
| | | | - Kiran Dasari
- Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925-2537, USA
| | - Muhammad Shehzad Sultan
- Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925-2537, USA
- Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926-2614, USA
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925-2537, USA
- Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926-2614, USA
| | - Vladimir Makarov
- Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925-2537, USA
- Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926-2614, USA
| | - Brad R Weiner
- Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925-2537, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925-2537, USA
| | - Gerardo Morell
- Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR 00925-2537, USA
- Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00926-2614, USA
| | - Payman Sharifi Abdar
- Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Flow Technology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
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Mehvish A, Aziz A, Bukhari B, Qayyum H, Mahmood Z, Baber M, Sajjad M, Pang X, Wang F. Identification of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) Associated with Heat Tolerance at the Reproductive Stage in Synthetic Hexaploid Wheats Using GWAS. Plants (Basel) 2023; 12:1610. [PMID: 37111833 PMCID: PMC10142051 DOI: 10.3390/plants12081610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
The projected rise in global ambient temperature by 3-5 °C by the end of this century, along with unpredicted heat waves during critical crop growth stages, can drastically reduce grain yield and will pose a great food security challenge. It is therefore important to identify wheat genetic resources able to withstand high temperatures, discover genes underpinning resilience to higher temperatures, and deploy such genetic resources in wheat breeding to develop heat-tolerant cultivars. In this study, 180 accessions of synthetic hexaploid wheats (SHWs) were evaluated under normal and late wheat growing seasons (to expose them to higher temperatures) at three locations (Islamabad, Bahawalpur, and Tando Jam), and data were collected on 11 morphological and yield-related traits. The diversity panel was genotyped with a 50 K SNP array to conduct genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for heat tolerance in SHW. A known heat-tolerance locus, TaHST1, was profiled to identify different haplotypes of this locus in SHWs and their association with grain yield and related traits in SHWs. There was a 36% decrease in grain yield (GY), a 23% decrease in thousand-grain weight (TKW), and an 18% decrease in grains per spike (GpS) across three locations in the population due to the heat stress conditions. GWASs identified 143 quantitative trait nucleotides (QTNs) distributed over all 21 chromosomes in the SHWs. Out of these, 52 QTNs were associated with morphological and yield-related traits under heat stress, while 15 of them were pleiotropically associated with multiple traits. The heat shock protein (HSP) framework of the wheat genome was then aligned with the QTNs identified in this study. Seventeen QTNs were in proximity to HSPs on chr2B, chr3D, chr5A, chr5B, chr6D, and chr7D. It is likely that QTNs on the D genome and those in proximity to HSPs may carry novel alleles for heat-tolerance genes. The analysis of TaHST1 indicated that 15 haplotypes were present in the SHWs for this locus, while hap1 showed the highest frequency of 25% (33 SHWs). These haplotypes were significantly associated with yield-related traits in the SHWs. New alleles associated with yield-related traits in SHWs could be an excellent reservoir for breeding deployment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ambreen Mehvish
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
- College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Abdul Aziz
- International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Pakistan Office, National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Park Road, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
| | - Birra Bukhari
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
- College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Humaira Qayyum
- Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
| | - Zahid Mahmood
- Institute of Crop Sciences, National Agriculture Research Center (NARC), Park Road, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Baber
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Biosciences, Comsats University, Islamabad 45550, Pakistan
| | - Xuequn Pang
- College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
| | - Fenglan Wang
- College of Life Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
- College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510408, China
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Ullah E, Ullah Shah MZ, Ahmad SA, Sajjad M, Khan S, Alzahrani FM, Yahya AEM, Eldin SM, Akkinepally B, Shah A, Guo S. Hydrothermal assisted synthesis of hierarchical SnO 2 micro flowers with CdO nanoparticles based membrane for energy storage applications. Chemosphere 2023; 321:138004. [PMID: 36731674 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Hierarchical nanostructures with appropriate morphology and surface functionalities are highly desired to achieve an optimized electrochemical property for active electrode materials. This work renders the facile hydrothermal synthesis of CdO, SnO2, and CdO-SnO2 nanocomposite, and their capacitive performance was tested. The formation of the pure samples and their composite was committed by low-temperature Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction studies which revealed the tetragonal and cubic structures of CdO and SnO2 powder samples with good crystallinity and purity. The morphological postmortem reveals the formation of nanoparticles morphology of CdO with a highly smooth surface appearance. Besides, the SnO2 illustrates the morphology of the micro flowers composed of ultrathin nanosheets. More specifically, the electrochemical properties indicate the pseudocapacitive charge storage mechanism based on cyclic voltammetry and chronopotentiometry analysis. The CdO-SnO2 composite electrode displayed a higher capacitance due to additional pores/space offered for active sites and continuously allowed electrolyte ions to interact with the inner/outer surface of the electrode. These exciting findings led us to design and fabricate battery hybrid supercapacitors (BHSC) from CdO-SnO2, and activated carbon (AC), referred to as CdO-SnO2//AC BHSC, attains a high power delivery (5717 W/kg), and a maximum energy density of 42 Wh/kg at low discharge rate. Noteworthy, a stable cycling performance was obtained with only 91.3% retention after 8000 cycling at a large discharge current of 10 A/g, denoting the magnificent durability of the active electrode material.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehsan Ullah
- Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China; National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad 45650, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Zia Ullah Shah
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad 45650, Pakistan; Faculty of Material Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China
| | - Syed Awais Ahmad
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad 45650, Pakistan; Faculty of Material Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, China
| | - Shaukat Khan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Dhofar University, Salalah, 211, Oman
| | - Fatimah M Alzahrani
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P. O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia
| | - Adel E M Yahya
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sayed M Eldin
- Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Future University in Egypt, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt
| | - Bhargav Akkinepally
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541, South Korea; School of General Education, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 38541, South Korea.
| | - A Shah
- Faculty of Material Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China.
| | - Shenghui Guo
- Faculty of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China.
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Mehmood MS, Rehman A, Sajjad M, Song J, Zafar Z, Shiyan Z, Yaochen Q. Evaluating land use/cover change associations with urban surface temperature via machine learning and spatial modeling: Past trends and future simulations in Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1115074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
While urbanization puts lots of pressure on green areas, the transition of green-to-grey surfaces under land use land cover change is directly related to increased land surface temperature–compromising livability and comfort in cities due to the heat island effect. In this context, we evaluate historical and future associations between land use land cover changes and land surface temperature in Dera Ghazi Khan–one of the top cities in Pakistan–using multi-temporal Landsat data over two decades (2002–2022). After assessing current land use changes and future predictions, their impact on land surface temperature and urban heat island effect is measured using machine learning via Multi-Layer Perceptron-Markov Chain, Artificial Neural Network and Cellular Automata. Significant changes in land use land cover were observed in the last two decades. The built-up area expanded greatly (874 ha) while agriculture land (−687 ha) and barren land (−253 ha) show decreasing trend. The water bodies were found the lowest changes (57 ha) and vegetation cover got the largest proportion in all the years. This green-grey conversion in the last two decades (8.7%) and prospect along the main corridors show the gravity of unplanned urban growth at the cost of vegetation and agricultural land (−6.8%). The land surface temperature and urban heat island effect shows a strong positive correlation between urbanization and vegetation removal. The simulation results presented in this study confirm that by 2032, the city will face a 5° C high mean temperature based on historical patterns, which could potentially lead to more challenges associated with urban heat island if no appropriate measures are taken. It is expected that due to land cover changes by 2032, ~60% of urban and peri-urban areas will experience very hot to hot temperatures (> 31.5°C). Our results provide baseline information to urban managers and planners to understand the increasing trends of land surface temperature in response to land cover changes. The study is important for urban resource management, sustainable development policies, and actions to mitigate the heat island effect. It will further asset the broader audience to understand the impact of land use land cover changes on the land surface temperature and urban heat island effect in the light of historic pattern and machine learning approach.
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Awais Ahmad S, Zia Ullah Shah M, Arif M, Sana Ullah Shah M, Ullah E, Shah A, Sajjad M, Aftab J, Song P. Rational design of a novel MnO2-FeSe2 nanohybrid with nanowires/cubic architecture as promising supercapattery electrode materials. J Electroanal Chem (Lausanne) 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jelechem.2023.117318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/13/2023]
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Ullah Shah MZ, Hou H, Sajjad M, Shah MS, Safeen K, Shah A. Iron-selenide-based titanium dioxide nanocomposites as a novel electrode material for asymmetric supercapacitors operating at 2.3 V. Nanoscale Adv 2023; 5:1465-1477. [PMID: 36866256 PMCID: PMC9972855 DOI: 10.1039/d2na00842d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
This study portrays a facile wet-chemical synthesis of FeSe2/TiO2 nanocomposites for the first time for advanced asymmetric supercapacitor (SC) energy storage applications. Two different composites were prepared with varying ratios of TiO2 (90 and 60%, symbolized as KT-1 and KT-2) and their electrochemical properties were investigated to obtain an optimized performance. The electrochemical properties showed excellent energy storage performance owing to faradaic redox reactions from Fe2+/Fe3+ while TiO2 due to Ti3+/Ti4+ with high reversibility. Three-electrode designs in aqueous solutions showed a superlative capacitive performance, with KT-2 performing better (high capacitance and fastest charge kinetics). The superior capacitive performance drew our attention to further employing the KT-2 as a positive electrode to fabricate an asymmetric faradaic SC (KT-2//AC), exceeding exceptional energy storage performance after applying a wider voltage of 2.3 V in an aqueous solution. The constructed KT-2/AC faradaic SCs significantly improved electrochemical parameters such as capacitance of 95 F g-1, specific energy (69.79 Wh kg-1), and specific power delivery of 11529 W kg-1. Additionally, extremely outstanding durability was maintained after long-term cycling and rate performance. These fascinating findings manifest the promising feature of iron-based selenide nanocomposites, which can be effective electrode materials for next-generation high-performance SCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Zia Ullah Shah
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology Kunming 650093 China
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences Nilore Islamabad 45650 Pakistan
| | - Hongying Hou
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology Kunming 650093 China
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University Jinhua 321004 P. R. China
| | - Muhammad Sanaullah Shah
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology Kunming 650093 China
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences Nilore Islamabad 45650 Pakistan
| | - Kashif Safeen
- Department of Physics, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan 23200 KPK Pakistan
| | - A Shah
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences Nilore Islamabad 45650 Pakistan
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Rehman F, Sajjad M, Akhtar MW. Orientation of Cel5A and Xyn10B in a fusion construct is important in facilitating synergistic degradation of plant biomass polysaccharides. J Biosci Bioeng 2023; 135:274-281. [PMID: 36828688 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiosc.2022.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2022] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
One approach to achieve efficient and economical saccharification of plant biomass would be using thermostable and multifunctional enzymes from hyperthermophiles such as Thermotoga maritima. Thus, the bifunctional constructs, Cel5A-Xyn10B and Xyn10B-Cel5A, were produced by fusing cellulase Cel5A at the N- and C-terminals of xylanase Xyn10B, respectively. The Cel5A-Xyn10B fusion construct showed cellulase activity of 1483 U μmol-1 against carboxymethyl cellulose, which was nearly the same as that of Cel5A in the free form. However, xylanase activity of this construct increased by 2-fold against beechwood xylan as compared to that of Xyn10B in free form. The synergistic effect between Cel5A and Xyn10B in the form of Cel5A-Xyn10B fusion resulted an overall increase in the release of reducing sugars. However, Xyn10B-Cel5A showed about 60% decrease in activities of both the component enzymes as compared to their activities in the free form. Both the fusion constructs were active in a wide range of pH from 4.0 to 9.0 and temperatures from 50 to 90 °C. Nearly 80% of cellulase and xylanase activities were retained in Cel5A-Xyn10B fusion after incubation at 60 °C for 1 h. Secondary structures of the component enzymes were retained in the Cel5A-Xyn10B fusion as observed by circular dichroism spectroscopy. Docking and simulation studies suggested that the enhanced xylanase activity in Cel5A-Xyn10B was due to the high binding energy, favorable orientation of the active sites, as well as relative positioning of the active site residues of Cel5A and Xyn10B in closer vicinity, which facilitated the substrate channeling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatima Rehman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Waheed Akhtar
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore-54590, Pakistan.
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Shahid S, Batool S, Khaliq A, Ahmad S, Batool H, Sajjad M, Akhtar MW. Improved catalytic efficiency of chimeric xylanase 10B from Thermotoga petrophila RKU1 and its synergy with cellulases. Enzyme Microb Technol 2023; 166:110213. [PMID: 36822057 DOI: 10.1016/j.enzmictec.2023.110213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/21/2023]
Abstract
TpXyl10B is a glycoside hydrolase family 10 xylanase of hyperthermophile Thermotoga petrophila RKU-1. This enzyme is of considerable importance due to its thermostability. However, in its native state, this enzyme does not possess any carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) for efficient binding to plant biomass. In this study CBM6 from Clostridium thermocellum was attached to the N- and C-termini of TpXyl10B, thereby producing the variants TpXyl10B-B6C and TpXyl10B-CB6, respectively. TpXyl10B-B6C showed 5-7 folds increased activity on Beechwood xylan and the different types of plant biomass as compared to that from the catalytic domain only. However, the activity of TpXyl10B-CB6 decreased 0.6-0.8 folds on Beechwood xylan and plant biomass compared to the catalytic domain. We explained these results through molecular modeling, which showed that binding residues of CBM6's cleft B, which were previously reported to show no contribution towards binding due to steric hindrance from a loop region, were exposed in a favorable position in TpXyl10B-B6C such that they efficiently bound the substrate. In contrast, these binding residues of CBM6 in TpXyl10B-CB6 were exposed opposite to the catalytic residues; thus, binding to the substrate resulted in decreased exposure of catalytic residues to the substrate. CD spectroscopy and thermostability assays showed that TpXyl10B-B6C was highly thermostable, having a melting point > 90 °C, which is relatively higher than that of the other variant, TpXyl10B-CB6. In addition, this xylanase variant showed synergism with cellulases for the hydrolysis of plant biomass. Therefore, TpXyl10B-B6C, an engineered xylanase in this study, can be a valuable candidate for industrial applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saher Shahid
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Sweden.
| | - Sana Batool
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Aasia Khaliq
- Department of Life Sciences, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.
| | - Sajjad Ahmad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan; DNA and Serology Lab, Punjab Forensic Science Agency, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Hina Batool
- Department of Life Sciences, School of Science, University of Management and Technology, Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan.
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan.
| | - Muhammad Waheed Akhtar
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan.
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Khan MA, Huang Q, Khan S, Wang Q, Huang J, Fahad S, Sajjad M, Liu Y, Mašek O, Li X, Wang J, Song X. Abundance, spatial distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in agricultural soils and their relationship with contributing factors. J Environ Manage 2023; 328:117006. [PMID: 36521215 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.117006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Agro-ecosystem contamination with microplastics (MPs) is of great concern. However, limited research has been conducted on the agricultural soil of tropical regions. This paper investigated MPs in the agro-ecosystem of Hainan Island, China, as well as their relationships with plastic mulching, farming practices, and social and environmental factors. The concentration of MPs in the study area ranged from 2800 to 82500 particles/kg with a mean concentration of 15461.52 particles/kg. MPs with sizes between 20 and 200 μm had the highest abundance of 57.57%, fragment (58.16%) was the most predominant shape, while black (77.76%) was the most abundant MP colour. Polyethylene (PE) (71.04%) and polypropylene (PP) (19.83%) were the main types of polymers. The mean abundance of MPs was significantly positively correlated (p < 0.01) with all sizes, temperature, and shapes except fibre, while weakly positively correlated with the population (p = 0.21), GDP (p = 0.33), and annual precipitation (p = 0.66). In conclusion, plastic mulching contributed to significant contamination of soil MPs in the study area, while environmental and social factors promoted soil MPs fragmentation. The current study results indicate serious contamination with MPs, which poses a concern regarding ecological and environmental safety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Amjad Khan
- College of Ecology and Environment, Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, Center for Eco-Environmental Restoration Engineering of Hainan Province, State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Key Laboratory for Environmental Toxicology of Haikou, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
| | - Qing Huang
- College of Ecology and Environment, Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, Center for Eco-Environmental Restoration Engineering of Hainan Province, State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Key Laboratory for Environmental Toxicology of Haikou, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China.
| | - Sardar Khan
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan
| | - Qingqing Wang
- College of Ecology and Environment, Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, Center for Eco-Environmental Restoration Engineering of Hainan Province, State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Key Laboratory for Environmental Toxicology of Haikou, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
| | - Jingjing Huang
- College of Ecology and Environment, Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, Center for Eco-Environmental Restoration Engineering of Hainan Province, State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Key Laboratory for Environmental Toxicology of Haikou, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
| | - Shah Fahad
- Department of Agronomy, The University of Haripur, Haripur, 22620, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Ecology and Environment, Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, Center for Eco-Environmental Restoration Engineering of Hainan Province, State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Key Laboratory for Environmental Toxicology of Haikou, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
| | - Yin Liu
- College of Ecology and Environment, Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, Center for Eco-Environmental Restoration Engineering of Hainan Province, State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Key Laboratory for Environmental Toxicology of Haikou, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
| | - Ondřej Mašek
- UK Biochar Research Centre, School of GeoSciences, Crew Building, The King's Buildings, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FF, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Xiaohui Li
- Hainan Inspection and Detection Center for Modern Agriculture, Haikou, 570100, China
| | - Junfeng Wang
- College of Ecology and Environment, Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province, Center for Eco-Environmental Restoration Engineering of Hainan Province, State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Key Laboratory for Environmental Toxicology of Haikou, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, China
| | - Xiaomao Song
- Pujin Environmental Engineering (Hainan) Co., Ltd. Haikou, 570125, China
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Ahmad S, Sajjad M, Altayb HN, Sarim Imam S, Alshehri S, Ghoneim MM, Shahid S, Usman Mirza M, Shahid Nadeem M, Kazmi I, Waheed Akhtar M. Engineering processive cellulase of Clostridium thermocellum to divulge the role of the carbohydrate-binding module. Biotechnol Appl Biochem 2023; 70:290-305. [PMID: 35483889 DOI: 10.1002/bab.2352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The processive cellulase (CelO) is an important modular enzyme of Clostridium thermocellum. To study the effect of the carbohydrate-binding module (CBM3b) on the catalytic domain of CelO (GH5), four engineered derivatives of CelO were designed by truncation and terminal fusion of CBM3b. These are CBM at the N-terminus, native form (CelO-BC, 62 kDa); catalytic domain only (CelO-C, 42 kDa); CBM at the C-terminus (CelO-CB, 54 kDa) and CBM attached at both termini (CelO-BCB, 73 kDa). All constructs were cloned into pET22b (+) and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) star. The expression levels of CelO-C, CelO-CB, CelO-BC, and CelO-BCB were 35%, 35%, 30%, and 20%, respectively. The enzyme activities of CelO-C, CelO-CB, CelO-BC, and CelO-BCB against 1% regenerated amorphous cellulose (RAC) were 860, 758, 985, and 1208 units per μmole of the enzyme, respectively. The enzymes were partially purified from the lysate of E. coli cells by heat treatment followed by anion exchange FPLC purification. Against RAC, CelO-C, CelO-CB, CelO-BC, and CelO-BCB showed KM values of 32, 33, 45, and 43 mg⋅mL-1 and Vmax values of 3571, 3846, 3571, and 4545 U⋅min-1 , respectively. CBM3b at the N-terminus of GH5 linked through a P/T-rich linker was found to enhance the catalytic activity and thermostability of the enzyme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sajjad Ahmad
- School of Biological Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Hisham N Altayb
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Syed Sarim Imam
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sultan Alshehri
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, AlMaarefa University, Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed M Ghoneim
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, AlMaarefa University, Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Saher Shahid
- School of Biological Science, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Usman Mirza
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Muhammad Shahid Nadeem
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Imran Kazmi
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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Rashid MAR, Sajjad M, Gul A, Zhao Y. Editorial: Genomic selection and characterization in cereals. Front Genet 2023; 13:1092095. [PMID: 36712864 PMCID: PMC9873959 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1092095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Abdul Rehman Rashid
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan,Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan,*Correspondence: Muhammad Abdul Rehman Rashid,
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Alvina Gul
- Plant Biotechnology Department, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Yan Zhao
- College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, China
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Rehman HM, Sajjad M, Ali MA, Gul R, Irfan M, Naveed M, Bhinder MA, Ghani MU, Hussain N, Said ASA, Al Haddad AHI, Saleem M. Identification of NS2B-NS3 Protease Inhibitors for Therapeutic Application in ZIKV Infection: A Pharmacophore-Based High-Throughput Virtual Screening and MD Simulations Approaches. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:vaccines11010131. [PMID: 36679976 PMCID: PMC9862652 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11010131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) pandemic and its implication in congenital malformations and severe neurological disorders had created serious threats to global health. ZIKV is a mosquito-borne flavivirus which spread rapidly and infect a large number of people in a shorter time-span. Due to the lack of effective therapeutics, this had become paramount urgency to discover effective drug molecules to encounter the viral infection. Various anti-ZIKV drug discovery efforts during the past several years had been unsuccessful to develop an effective cure. The NS2B-NS3 protein was reported as an attractive therapeutic target for inhibiting viral proliferation, due to its central role in viral replication and maturation of non-structural viral proteins. Therefore, the current in silico drug exploration aimed to identify the novel inhibitors of Zika NS2B-NS3 protease by implementing an e-pharmacophore-based high-throughput virtual screening. A 3D e-pharmacophore model was generated based on the five-featured (ADPRR) pharmacophore hypothesis. Subsequently, the predicted model is further subjected to the high-throughput virtual screening to reveal top hit molecules from the various small molecule databases. Initial hits were examined in terms of binding free energies and ADME properties to identify the candidate hit exhibiting a favourable pharmacokinetic profile. Eventually, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations studies were conducted to evaluate the binding stability of the hit molecule inside the receptor cavity. The findings of the in silico analysis manifested affirmative evidence for three hit molecules with -64.28, -55.15 and -50.16 kcal/mol binding free energies, as potent inhibitors of Zika NS2B-NS3 protease. Hence, these molecules holds the promising potential to serve as a prospective candidates to design effective drugs against ZIKV and related viral infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hafiz Muzzammel Rehman
- School of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
- Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid e Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Akhtar Ali
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid e Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Roquyya Gul
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Gulab Devi Educational Complex, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Irfan
- Kauser Abdulla Malik School of Life Sciences, Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Lahore 54600, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Naveed
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab Lahore, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Munir Ahmad Bhinder
- Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Usman Ghani
- Center for Applied Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Nadia Hussain
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Al Ain 64141, United Arab Emirates
- AAU Health and Biomedical Research Center, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi 112612, United Arab Emirates
| | - Amira S. A. Said
- AAU Health and Biomedical Research Center, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi 112612, United Arab Emirates
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Al Ain 64141, United Arab Emirates
- Clinical Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beni Suef University, Beni Suef 62521, Egypt
| | - Amal H. I. Al Haddad
- Chief Operations Office, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC) in Partnership with Mayo Clinic, Abu Dhabi 11001, United Arab Emirates
| | - Mahjabeen Saleem
- School of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
- School of Medical Lab Technology, Minhaj University Lahore, Lahore 54770, Punjab, Pakistan
- Correspondence:
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Mubeen K, Shah MZU, Sajjad M, Irshad A, Ali Z, Zafar Z, Shah A. Boosting the electrochemical performance of ZnO nanomaterials through a conductive CuS matrix for aqueous supercapacitors. NEW J CHEM 2023. [DOI: 10.1039/d2nj05744a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/07/2023]
Abstract
The impressive electrochemical performance of metal oxides/metal sulfides and their derivatives are proven to be innovative electrodes for achieving a remarkable performance for supercapacitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khalida Mubeen
- Department of Physics and Mathematics Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Islamabad, Pakistan
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad 45650, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Zia Ullah Shah
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad 45650, Pakistan
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, China
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, P. R. China
| | - Afshan Irshad
- Department of Physics and Mathematics Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Zahid Ali
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad 45650, Pakistan
| | - Zainab Zafar
- Experimental Physics Labs, National Centre for Physics, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - A. Shah
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad 45650, Pakistan
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Shah MZU, Sajjad M, Shah MS, Rahim M, Rahman SU, Hou H, Khan AU, Shah A. Wet-chemical assisted synthesis of MnSe/ZnO nanostructures as low-resistance robust novel cathode material for advanced hybrid supercapacitors. NEW J CHEM 2023. [DOI: 10.1039/d2nj05682h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
We proposed a novel MnSe–ZnO-based binary nanocomposite synthesized via a wet-chemical assisted method which deliver high power and energy densities, suppressing previous reports on MnSe and ZnO with decent cycling durability with good rate performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Zia Ullah Shah
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad, 45650, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, P. R. China
| | - Muhammad Sanaullah Shah
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad, 45650, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Rahim
- Department of Physics, International Islamic University, H10, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Shams ur Rahman
- Department of Physics, COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Hongying Hou
- Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China
| | - Afaq Ullah Khan
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road Zhenjiang, 212013, China
| | - A. Shah
- National Institute of Lasers and Optronics College, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nilore, Islamabad, 45650, Pakistan
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Sajjad M, Khan AJ, Eldin SM, Alothman AA, Ouladsmane M, Bocchetta P, Arifeen WU, Javed MS, Mao Z. A New CuSe-TiO 2-GO Ternary Nanocomposite: Realizing a High Capacitance and Voltage for an Advanced Hybrid Supercapacitor. Nanomaterials (Basel) 2022; 13:nano13010123. [PMID: 36616031 PMCID: PMC9824226 DOI: 10.3390/nano13010123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
A high capacitance and widened voltage frames for an aqueous supercapacitor system are challenging to realize simultaneously in an aqueous medium. The severe water splitting seriously restricts the narrow voltage of the aqueous electrolyte beyond 2 V. To overcome this limitation, herein, we proposed the facile wet-chemical synthesis of a new CuSe-TiO2-GO ternary nanocomposite for hybrid supercapacitors, thus boosting the specific energy up to some maximum extent. The capacitive charge storage mechanism of the CuSe-TiO2-GO ternary nanocomposite electrode was tested in an aqueous solution with 3 M KOH as the electrolyte in a three-cell mode assembly. The voltammogram analysis manifests good reversibility and a remarkable capacitive response at various currents and sweep rates, with a durable rate capability. At the same time, the discharge/charge platforms realize the most significant capacitance and a capacity of 920 F/g (153 mAh/g), supported by the impedance analysis with minimal resistances, ensuring the supply of electrolyte ion diffusion to the active host electrode interface. The built 2 V CuSe-TiO2-GO||AC-GO||KOH hybrid supercapacitor accomplished a significant capacitance of 175 F/g, high specific energy of 36 Wh/kg, superior specific power of 4781 W/kg, and extraordinary stability of 91.3% retention relative to the stable cycling performance. These merits pave a new way to build other ternary nanocomposites to achieve superior performance for energy storage devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Sajjad
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Abdul Jabbar Khan
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huanggang Normal University, Huangggang 438000, China
| | - Sayed M. Eldin
- Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Future University in Egypt, New Cairo 11835, Egypt
| | - Asma A. Alothman
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed Ouladsmane
- Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Patrizia Bocchetta
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Innovazione, Università del Salento, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
| | - Waqas Ul Arifeen
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Daehak-ro, Gyeongsan-si 38541, Gyeongbuk-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Muhammad Sufyan Javed
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
- Correspondence: (M.S.J.); (Z.M.)
| | - Zhiyu Mao
- College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
- Correspondence: (M.S.J.); (Z.M.)
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Khan I, Wu J, Sajjad M. Pollen viability-based heat susceptibility index (HSIpv): A useful selection criterion for heat-tolerant genotypes in wheat. Front Plant Sci 2022; 13:1064569. [PMID: 36531405 PMCID: PMC9751600 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1064569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Terminal heat stress during reproductive stage in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) causes pollen grain sterility and has a drastic impact on wheat crop production. Finding genotypes with high pollen viability under heat stress is crucial to cope with the impact of climate change through developing heat-tolerant cultivars. To assess the effect of terminal heat stress on pollen viability in a panel of spring wheat genotypes (N = 200), RCBD (randomized complete block design) field trials were conducted under normal and heat stress conditions for two consecutive years (2020-2021 and 2021-2022). Analysis of variance showed significant variation in genotypes, treatments, and genotype × treatment interaction. Fifty and 46 genotypes were categorized as heat tolerant (HSI pv < 0.5) in the first and second year, respectively. Twelve genotypes, namely, Chenab-70, Pari-73, Pak-81, MH-21, Punjab-76, NIFA-Aman, NUWYT-63, Swabi-1, Nisnan-21, Frontana, Amin-2000, and Pirsabak-2004, were found to be heat tolerant across the years. The violin plot displayed a trend of improvement in heat tolerance (HSI pv < 0.5) over the period of time in many modern wheat varieties. However, some modern wheat varieties released after 2001 such as Janbaz-09 (57%), Ghazi-2019 (57%), and Sindhu-16 (43%) had very low pollen viability under heat stress conditions. The results of phenotypic coefficient of variance (PCV%), genotypic coefficient of variance (GCV%), broad sense heritability (h2 bs), and genetic advance (GA) suggested the major contribution of genetic factors in controlling pollen viability trait. Higher values of h2 bs and GA under heat stress conditions suggested pollen viability as a heat tolerance trait controlled by additive genetic effects. Taken together, these results suggested pollen viability as a useful trait for selection in early generations under elevated temperatures. The genotypes identified as heat tolerant in both years can be used as genetic resources for breeding cultivars with higher pollen viability under elevated temperature conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irum Khan
- Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Jiajie Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong, China
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
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Hussain Q, Zheng M, Hänninen H, Bhalerao RP, Riaz MW, Sajjad M, Zhang R, Wu J. Effect of the photoperiod on bud dormancy in Liriodendron chinense. J Plant Physiol 2022; 279:153835. [PMID: 36257086 DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2022.153835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2022] [Revised: 09/27/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Bud dormancy and its release are complex physiological phenomena in plants. The molecular mechanisms of bud dormancy in Liriodendron chinense are mainly unknown. Here, we studied bud dormancy and the related physiological and molecular phenomena in Liriodendron under long-day (LD) and short-day (SD). Bud burst was released faster under LD than under SD. Abscisic acid (ABA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione reductase (GR) activities were increased significantly under LD in Liriodendron buds. In contrast, the contents of gibberellic acid (GA3), ascorbic acid (AsA), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity decreased under LD but increased under SD. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were up-regulated under LD and down-regulated under SD and these changes correspondingly promoted (LD) or repressed (SD) cell division and the number and/or size of cells in the bud. Transcriptomic analysis of Liriodendron buds under different photoperiods identified 187 DEGs enriched in several pathways such as flavonoid biosynthesis and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant hormone and signal transduction, etc. that are associated with antioxidant enzymes, non-enzymatic antioxidants, and subsequently promote the growth of the buds. Our findings provide novel insights into regulating bud dormancy via flavonoid and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, plant hormone and signal transduction pathways, and ABA content. These physiological and biochemical traits would help detect bud dormancy in plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quaid Hussain
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, 666 Wusu Street, Hangzhou, 311300, China; Key Laboratory of Modern Silvicultural Technology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 311300, China
| | - Manjia Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, 666 Wusu Street, Hangzhou, 311300, China; Key Laboratory of Modern Silvicultural Technology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 311300, China
| | - Heikki Hänninen
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, 666 Wusu Street, Hangzhou, 311300, China; Key Laboratory of Modern Silvicultural Technology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 311300, China
| | | | - Muhammad Waheed Riaz
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, 666 Wusu Street, Hangzhou, 311300, China
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, 666 Wusu Street, Hangzhou, 311300, China
| | - Rui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, 666 Wusu Street, Hangzhou, 311300, China; Key Laboratory of Modern Silvicultural Technology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 311300, China.
| | - Jiasheng Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, 666 Wusu Street, Hangzhou, 311300, China; Key Laboratory of Modern Silvicultural Technology of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 311300, China.
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Sajjad M, Li H, Raza A, AlMarzooqi F, Zhang T. Insights into capillary-driven motion of micro-particles interacting with advancing meniscus on a substrate. Soft Matter 2022; 18:8894-8905. [PMID: 36377732 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm01134d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Liquid-particle interactions at the micro-scale are quite different from the corresponding macro-scale interactions due to the substantial role of capillary forces. Herein, we explore the interaction of a single micro-particle with an air-liquid-substrate contact line. The interaction features ballistic-like motion of micro-particles toward the interacting three-phase contact line with velocities as high as 0.46 m s-1. Through high-speed optical imaging, we elucidate the interaction mechanism and associated intertwined dynamics, including evolution and backward dragging of the transient air-liquid-particle contact line, capillary-inertial launch of micro-particles and its subsequent trapping at the air-liquid-substrate contact line. Based on the force analysis, we build a model to predict the particle velocity profile during the interaction. Our experimental results show that both hydrophilic and hydrophobic micro-particles exhibit capillary-driven motion. The maximum velocity of the hydrophobic particle, as well as its total displacement, is smaller than that of the hydrophilic one with the same particle size. Micro-particle lifting, like dust removal from self-cleaning surfaces, is observed when the dynamic contact angle of the air-liquid-substrate contact line is sufficiently high (i.e. >100°). We also develop criteria for the capillary-driven motion of particles and predict the critical size for particle motion. These findings are valuable to various applications including capillary-driven self-cleaning, pickering emulsions, micro-scale fluid structure interactions and capillary dynamics in porous media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Masdar Institute, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, P. O. Box 64200, Pakistan
| | - Hongxia Li
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Masdar Institute, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Aikifa Raza
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Masdar Institute, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Faisal AlMarzooqi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Masdar Institute, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - TieJun Zhang
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Masdar Institute, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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Al-Jayyousi H, Eswaran MK, Ray A, Sajjad M, Larsson JA, Singh N. Exploring the Superior Anchoring Performance of the Two-Dimensional Nanosheets B 2C 4P 2 and B 3C 2P 3 for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries. ACS Omega 2022; 7:38543-38549. [PMID: 36340124 PMCID: PMC9631748 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c03898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Potential anchoring materials in lithium-sulfur batteries help overcome the shuttle effect and achieve long-term cycling stability and high-rate efficiency. The present study investigates the two-dimensional nanosheets B2C4P2 and B3C2P3 by employing density functional theory calculations for their promise as anchoring materials. The nanosheets B2C4P2 and B3C2P3 bind polysulfides with adsorption energies in the range from -2.22 to -0.75 and -2.43 to -0.74 eV, respectively. A significant charge transfer occurs from the polysulfides, varying from -0.74 to -0.02e and -0.55 to -0.02e for B2C4P2 and B3C2P3, respectively. Upon anchoring the polysulfides, the band gap of B3C2P3 reduces, leading to enhanced electrical conductivity of the sulfur cathode. Finally, the calculated barrier energies of B2C4P2 and B3C2P3 for Li2S indicate fast diffusion of Li when recharged. These enthralling characteristics propose that the nanosheets B2C4P2 and B3C2P3 could reduce the shuttle effect in Li-S batteries and significantly improve their cycle performance, suggesting their promise as anchoring materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiba Al-Jayyousi
- Department
of Mechanical Engineering, Khalifa University
of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi 127788, United Arab Emirates
| | - Mathan Kumar Eswaran
- SRM
Research Institute, SRM Institute of Science
and Technology, Kattankulathur 603203, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Avijeet Ray
- Department
of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology
Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department
of Physics, Khalifa University of Science
and Technology, Abu Dhabi 127788, United Arab Emirates
| | - J. Andreas Larsson
- Applied
Physics, Division of Materials Science, Department of Engineering
Sciences and Mathematics, Luleå University
of Technology, Luleå SE-97187, Sweden
| | - Nirpendra Singh
- Department
of Physics, Khalifa University of Science
and Technology, Abu Dhabi 127788, United Arab Emirates
- Center for
Catalysis and Separations, Khalifa University
of Science and Technology, Abu
Dhabi 127788, United Arab
Emirates
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48
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Yasir M, Kanwal HH, Hussain Q, Riaz MW, Sajjad M, Rong J, Jiang Y. Status and prospects of genome-wide association studies in cotton. Front Plant Sci 2022; 13:1019347. [PMID: 36330239 PMCID: PMC9623101 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1019347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Over the last two decades, the use of high-density SNP arrays and DNA sequencing have allowed scientists to uncover the majority of the genotypic space for various crops, including cotton. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) links the dots between a phenotype and its underlying genetics across the genomes of populations. It was first developed and applied in the field of human disease genetics. Many areas of crop research have incorporated GWAS in plants and considerable literature has been published in the recent decade. Here we will provide a comprehensive review of GWAS studies in cotton crop, which includes case studies on biotic resistance, abiotic tolerance, fiber yield and quality traits, current status, prospects, bottlenecks of GWAS and finally, thought-provoking question. This review will serve as a catalog of GWAS in cotton and suggest new frontiers of the cotton crop to be studied with this important tool.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Yasir
- The Key Laboratory for Quality Improvement of Agricultural Products of Zhejiang Province, College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hafiza Hamrah Kanwal
- School of Computer Science, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, China
| | - Quaid Hussain
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Muhammad Waheed Riaz
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Junkang Rong
- The Key Laboratory for Quality Improvement of Agricultural Products of Zhejiang Province, College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yurong Jiang
- The Key Laboratory for Quality Improvement of Agricultural Products of Zhejiang Province, College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China
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49
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Gohar S, Sajjad M, Zulfiqar S, Liu J, Wu J, Rahman MU. Domestication of newly evolved hexaploid wheat—A journey of wild grass to cultivated wheat. Front Genet 2022; 13:1022931. [PMID: 36263418 PMCID: PMC9574122 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1022931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Domestication of wheat started with the dawn of human civilization. Since then, improvement in various traits including resistance to diseases, insect pests, saline and drought stresses, grain yield, and quality were improved through selections by early farmers and then planned hybridization after the discovery of Mendel’s laws. In the 1950s, genetic variability was created using mutagens followed by the selection of superior mutants. Over the last 3 decades, research was focused on developing superior hybrids, initiating marker-assisted selection and targeted breeding, and developing genetically modified wheat to improve the grain yield, tolerance to drought, salinity, terminal heat and herbicide, and nutritive quality. Acceptability of genetically modified wheat by the end-user remained a major hurdle in releasing into the environment. Since the beginning of the 21st century, changing environmental conditions proved detrimental to achieving sustainability in wheat production particularly in developing countries. It is suggested that high-tech phenotyping assays and genomic procedures together with speed breeding procedures will be instrumental in achieving food security beyond 2050.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasha Gohar
- Plant Genomics and Molecular Breeding Laboratory, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Department of Biotechnology, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Sana Zulfiqar
- Plant Genomics and Molecular Breeding Laboratory, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Department of Biotechnology, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Jiajun Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, Shandong, China
| | - Jiajie Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, Shandong, China
- *Correspondence: Jiajie Wu, ; Mehboob-ur- Rahman,
| | - Mehboob-ur- Rahman
- Plant Genomics and Molecular Breeding Laboratory, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Department of Biotechnology, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Islamabad, Pakistan
- *Correspondence: Jiajie Wu, ; Mehboob-ur- Rahman,
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50
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BiBi S, Shah MZU, Sajjad M, Shafi HZ, Amin B, Bajaber MA, Shah A. A new ZnO-ZnS-CdS heterostructure on Ni substrate: A binder-free electrode for advanced asymmetric supercapacitors with improved performance. Electrochim Acta 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2022.141031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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