Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology

This article highlights the importance of traditional knowledge, culture and tradition practices in achieving sustainable development. Indian civilization is one of the most primitive and sustainable civilizations of the world. This review contains the description of eco-centric approach of different religions, community, ethnic groups and sects of India. It quotes the traditional practices to safeguard the environment. It has the description of sacred groves, environmental laws and some of the most significant environmental movements of India. The active participation of females in these environmental movements has also been mentioned. Every civilizations has its links with nature. We need to look back and incorporate the sustainable strategies our forefathers had adopted to establish peaceful coexistence with nature.

Microbes are omnipresent in nature with different forms of shape, size, colony morphology and substrate interaction modes. Microbial biofilm is a unique assemblage of microbes on the surface of the substrate. Recently it has fascinated the scientific community owing to its special properties which makes it notorious as well as a worthy living system. The establishment of the biofilm ecosystem is a multi step process which involves quorum sensing communication mechanism. The interaction of the biofilm with its immediate environment, its applications and some of the strategies to remove the notorious biofilm have been described in this article.

Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) is a genetic disorder of connective tissue. Damaging missense point mutations in ACVR1gene, which is accountable for FOP was examined by computational methods. Out of 19 variants of this gene obtained from NCBI; 3 variants namely R258S, G356D and R206H were found to bedeleterious. These variants were reported as probably damaging, deleterious and decreased DDG by PolyPhen 2.0, SIFT and I-mutant 2.0 respectively. The deleterious condition was further verified by usingPHD-SNP, PANTHER and SNPs&GO. Out of these 3 variants, only R206H was reported to be neutral by SNPs&GO. The results of computational analysis were alike to the wet lab result reported in research literatures.

Iron (Fe) is an essential mineral element which governs the composition of natural plant communities and limits crop yield in agricultural ecosystems due to its extremely low availability in most soils, particularly at alkaline pH. To extract sufficient Fe from the soil under such conditions, some plants including Arabidopsis thaliana secrete Fe-mobilizing phenylpropanoids, which mobilize sparingly soluble Fe hydroxides by reduction and chelation. We show here that ectopic expression of the IRONMAN peptides IMA1 and IMA2 improves growth on calcareous soil by inducing the biosynthesis and secretion of the catecholic coumarin fraxetin (7,8-dihydroxy-6-methoxycoumarin) through increased expression of MYB72 and SCOPOLETIN 8-HYDROXYLASE (S8H), a response which is strictly dependent on elevated environmental pH (pHe). By contrast, transcription of the cytochrome P450 family protein CYP82C4, catalyzing the subsequent hydroxylation of fraxetin to sideretin, which forms less stable complexes with iron, was strongly repressed under such conditions. Luciferase reporter assays in transiently transformed protoplasts showed that IMA1/IMA2 peptides are translated and modulate the expression of CYP82C4 and MYB72 by acting as transcriptional coactivators. It is concluded that IMA peptides regulate processes supporting Fe uptake at both acidic and elevated pH by controlling gene expression upstream of or in concert with a putative pHe signal to adapt the plant to the prevailing edaphic conditions. This regulatory pattern confers tolerance to calcareous soils by extending the pH range in which Fe can be efficiently absorbed from the soil. Altering the expression of IMA peptides provides a novel route for generating plants adapted to calcareous soils.

This article highlights the importance of traditional knowledge, culture and tradition practices in achieving
sustainable development. Indian civilization is one of the most primitive and sustainable civilizations of the
world. This review contains the description of eco-centric approach of different religions, community, ethnic
groups and sects of India. It quotes the traditional practices to safeguard the environment. It has the description
of sacred groves, environmental laws and some of the most significant environmental movements of India. The
active participation of females in these environmental movements has also been mentioned. Every civilizations
has its links with nature. We need to look back and incorporate the sustainable strategies our forefathers had
adopted to establish peaceful coexistence with nature.

Background Mushrooms are used as a common edible food and as a traditional Asian medicinal system across the globe (1). About 2000 varieties of edible mushrooms have been reported amongst which less than 100 varieties are cultivated, the rest are obtained from the wild varieties (2). Among the cultivated varieties of mushroom, the button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) dominates the global market (3). Mushrooms are rich in protein, minerals, vitamin D, unsaturated fatty acids, immunologically active polysaccharides and sterols (4-6). Further, low fat and presence of dietary fibers make it a good choice for calorie conscious people (3). Like plants, mushroom is also associated with some (mainly Mushroom Growth Promoting Bacteria) microbes known as endophytes, which help in its growth. Endophytes are mainly bacteria or fungi living inside plants, animals or other living system. They generally show endosymbiosis with the host, resulting in mutual benefit. Fungal endophytes in plant help the

Microbes are omnipresent in nature with different forms of shape, size, colony morphology and substrate interaction modes. Microbial biofilm is a unique assemblage of microbes on the surface of the substrate. Recently it has fascinated the scientific community owing to its special properties which makes it notorious as well as a worthy living system. The establishment of the biofilm ecosystem is a multi step process which involves quorum sensing communication mechanism. The interaction of the biofilm with its immediate environment, its applications and some of the strategies to remove the notorious biofilm have been described in this article.

The current work on Yellow Ornamental Lantana flowers focus on investigating its possible antimicrobial properties, the presence of active alkenes and long chain fatty acid molecules. It was observed to have effective antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, P. mirabilis, P. aeruginosa, B. cereus and E. coli. The presence of Erucamide and Cis-5, 8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid, tertbutyldimethylsilyl ester (a derivative of omega-3- fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid) was reported by the GC-MS analysis of the methanolic extract of the flowers.

This article highlights the importance of traditional knowledge, culture and tradition practices in achieving sustainable development. Indian civilization is one of the most primitive and sustainable civilizations of the world. This review contains the description of eco-centric approach of different religions, community, ethnic groups and sects of India. It quotes the traditional practices to safeguard the environment. It has the description of sacred groves, environmental laws and some of the most significant environmental movements of India. The active participation of females in these environmental movements has also been mentioned. Every civilizations has its links with nature. We need to look back and incorporate the sustainable strategies our forefathers had adopted to establish peaceful coexistence with nature.

Objective: The current work focuses on the role of citric acid and malic acid in enhancing the shelf life and sensory characteristics of orange juice. Methods: Orange juice was prepared manually and filtered using Whatman no 1 filter paper, it was stored in falcon tubes under refrigeration, it was evaluated for total microbial count by using spread plating method, sugar content by refractometer, pH by pH meter and sensory survey was also conducted. Results: A decrease in total soluble solid (TSS) was observed by refractometer. The sensory analysis using nine point Hedonic scale showed an overall preference towards the 90:10 citric: malic acid ratio. Agar plate colony count of the samples indicated a direct relationship between citric acid concentration and shelf life. Conclusion: Increasing concentration of citric acid was found to be favorable for an improved shelf life as well as taste. Keywords: Orange juice, acidic additives, citric acid, malic acid, sensory analysis, hedonic sc...

The current work focuses on investigating the effect of the different operational parameters on the removal of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) dye from textile wastewater using natural adsorbent (untreated sugarcane bagasse) and study of the adsorption kinetics involved. The effects of operational parameters such as pH, the amount of biosorbent, initial dye concentration, rotations per minute and temperature were examined. The kinetic study shows that the process under investigation follows the Langmuir adsorption isotherm more proficiently than the Freundlich isotherm. Further investigation of the sorption process was done using the UV-Vis spectra, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Out of several chosen parameters, the optimum conditions for efficient dye removal was found to be the dose of biosorbent (8 g), initial dye concentration (4 mg/100mL), initial pH (2.5) and temperature (30°C). This combination gave a reduction of O.D. (measured at 485 nm) by 85.42%. From the investigation sugarcane bagasse proved good biosorbent for the AO7 dye.

Iron (Fe) is an essential mineral element that governs the composition of natural plant communities and limits crop yield in agricultural ecosystems due to its extremely low availability in most soils, particularly at alkaline pH. To extract sufficient Fe from the soil under such conditions, some plants, including Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), secrete Fe-mobilizing phenylpropanoids, which mobilize sparingly soluble Fe hydroxides by reduction and chelation. We show here that ectopic expression of the peptides IRONMAN (IMA1) and IMA2 improves growth on calcareous soil by inducing biosynthesis and secretion of the catecholic coumarin 7,8-dihydroxy-6-methoxycoumarin (fraxetin) via increased expression of MYB72 and SCOPOLETIN 8-HYDROXYLASE, a response that is strictly dependent on elevated environmental pH (pHe). By contrast, transcription of the cytochrome P450 family protein CYP82C4, catalyzing the subsequent hydroxylation of fraxetin to sideretin, which forms less stable complex...

This article highlights the importance of traditional knowledge, culture and tradition practices in achieving sustainable development. Indian civilization is one of the most primitive and sustainable civilizations of the world. This review contains the description of eco-centric approach of different religions, community, ethnic groups and sects of India. It quotes the traditional practices to safeguard the environment. It has the description of sacred groves, environmental laws and some of the most significant environmental movements of India. The active participation of females in these environmental movements has also been mentioned. Every civilizations has its links with nature. We need to look back and incorporate the sustainable strategies our forefathers had adopted to establish peaceful coexistence with nature.

Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) is a genetic disorder of connective tissue. Damaging missense point mutations in ACVR1gene, which is accountable for FOP was examined by computational methods. Out of 19 variants of this gene obtained from NCBI; 3 variants namely R258S, G356D and R206H were found to bedeleterious. These variants were reported as probably damaging, deleterious and decreased DDG by PolyPhen 2.0, SIFT and I-mutant 2.0 respectively. The deleterious condition was further verified by usingPHD-SNP, PANTHER and SNPs&GO. Out of these 3 variants, only R206H was reported to be neutral by SNPs&GO. The results of computational analysis were alike to the wet lab result reported in research literatures.

Soil pH plays an important role in determining the availability of nutrients for plants. One of the essential micronutrients, iron (Fe), governs the composition of natural plant communities and limits crop yield in agricultural ecosystems due to its extremely low availability in most soils, particularly at alkaline pH. The ability to mobilize sparingly soluble Fe is a determining factor for tolerance to calcareous soil. To extract sufficient Fe from the soil under such conditions, some plants, including Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), secrete Fe-mobilizing compounds, which mobilize Fe hydroxides by reduction and chelation. However, limited information is available regarding the regulation of pH-mediated response of Fe-responsive genes and the regulation of coumarin biosynthesis. By studying the ectocipally expressed IRONMAN peptides IMA1 and IMA2, I investigated their role in improving plant growth on calcareous soil by inducing the biosynthesis and secretion of the catecholic coumarin fraxetin (7,8-dihydroxy-6-methoxycoumarin). This is achieved via increased expression of MYB72 and SCOPOLETIN 8-HYDROXYLASE (S8H), a response that is strictly dependent on elevated environmental pH (pHe). The cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP82C4, which is downregulated at elevated pH, was identified as a possible switch of the endproducts of the coumarin biosynthetic pathway. Luciferase reporter assays in transiently transformed protoplasts showed that IMA1/IMA2 peptides are translated to modulate the expression of CYP82C4 and MYB72, representative components of the acidic and circumneutral responses, respectively. Further, the C-terminus of IMA peptides was found to be essential for enhanced coumarin production and secretion. I concluded that IMA peptides regulate processes supporting Fe uptake at both acidic and elevated pH by controlling gene expression upstream of or in concert with a putative pHe signal, adapting the plant to prevailing edaphic conditions. Altering the expression of IMA peptides provides a route for generating plants adapted to calcareous soils.

Structured illumination microscopy is a method that can increase the spatial resolution of wide-field fluorescence microscopy beyond its classical limit by using spatially structured illumination light. Here we describe how this method can be applied in three dimensions to double the axial as well as the lateral resolution, with true optical sectioning. A grating is used to generate three mutually coherent light beams, which interfere in the specimen to form an illumination pattern that varies both laterally and axially. The spatially structured excitation intensity causes normally unreachable high-resolution information to become encoded into the observed images through spatial frequency mixing. This new information is computationally extracted and used to generate a three-dimensional reconstruction with twice as high resolution, in all three dimensions, as is possible in a conventional wide-field microscope. The method has been demonstrated on both test objects and biological specimens, and has produced the first light microscopy images of the synaptonemal complex in which the lateral elements are clearly resolved.