Enrichment of Zinc and Iron Micronutrients in Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) through Biofortification

Biofortification of pulse crops with Zn and Fe is a viable approach to combat their widespread deficiencies in humans. Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is a widely consumed edible crop possessing a high level of Zn and Fe micronutrients. Thus, the present study was conducted to examine the influence of foliar application of Zn and Fe on productivity, concentration, uptake and the economics of lentil cultivation (LL 931). For this, different treatment combinations of ZnSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) and FeSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%), along with the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), were applied to the lentil. The results of study reported that the combined foliar application of ZnSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) + FeSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) at pre-flowering (S1) and pod formation (S2) stages was most effective in enhancing grain and straw yield, Zn and Fe concentration, and uptake. However, the outcome of this treatment was statistically on par with the results obtained under the treatment ZnSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) + FeSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) at S1 stage. A single spray of ZnSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) + FeSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) at S1 stage enhanced the grain and straw yield up to 39.6% and 51.8%, respectively. Similarly, Zn and Fe concentrations showed enhancement in grain (10.9% and 20.4%, respectively) and straw (27.5% and 27.6% respectively) of the lentil. The increase in Zn and Fe uptake by grain was 54.8% and 68.0%, respectively, whereas uptake by straw was 93.6% and 93.7%, respectively. Also the benefit:cost was the highest (1.96) with application of ZnSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) + FeSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) at S1 stage. Conclusively, the combined use of ZnSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) + FeSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) at S1 stage can contribute significantly towards yield, Zn and Fe concentration, as well as uptake and the economic returns of lentil to remediate the Zn and Fe deficiency.     

Autoacetylation of Purified Calreticulin Transacetylase Utilizing Acetoxycoumarin as the Acetyl Group Donor

Our earlier reports documented that calreticulin, a multifunctional Ca²⁺-binding protein in endoplasmic reticulum lumen, possessed protein acetyltransferase function termed Calreticulin Transacetylase (CRTAase). The autoacetylation of purified human placental CRTAase concomitant with the acetylation of receptor proteins by a model acetoxycoumarin, 7,8-Diacetoxy-4-methylcoumarin, was observed. Here, we have examined the autoacetylation property of CRTAase by immunoblotting and mass spectrometry. Ca²⁺ was found to inhibit CRTAase activity. The inhibition of both autoacetylation of CRTAase as well as acetylation of the receptor protein was apparent when Ca²⁺ was included in the reaction mixture as visualized by interaction with anti-acetyl lysine antibody. The acetylation of lysines residues: −48, −62, −64, −153, and −159 in N-domain and −206, −207, −209, and −238 in P-domain of CRTAase were located by high-performance liquid chromatography-electronspray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Further, computer assisted protein structure modeling studies were undertaken to probe the effect of autoacetylation of CRTAase. Accordingly, the predicted CRTAase 3D model showed that all the loop regions of both N- and P-domain bear the acetylated lysines. Energy minimization of the acetylated residues revealed charge neutralization of lysines due to the N-ε-acetylation which may facilitate the interaction of CRTAase with the protein substrate and the subsequent transacetylase action. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Purification and characterization of an exoinulinase from Aspergillus fumigatus

An extracellular exoinulinase was purified from the crude extract of Aspergillus fumigatus by ammonium sulfate precipitation, followed by successive chromatographies on DEAE-Sephacel, Sephacryl S-200, concanavalin A-linked amino-activated silica, and Sepharose 6B columns. The enzyme was purified 25-fold, and the specific activity of the purified enzyme was 171 IU/mg of protein. Gel filtration chromatography revealed a molecular weight of about 200 kDa, and native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) showed an electrophoretic mobility corresponding to a molecular weight of about 176.5 kDa. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE analysis revealed three closely moving bands of about 66, 62.7, and 59.4 kDa, thus indicating the heterotrimeric nature of this enzyme. The purified enzyme appeared as a single band on isoelectric focusing, with a pI of about 8.8. The enzyme activity was maximum at pH 5.5 and was stable over a pH range of 4.0–9.5, and the optimum temperature for enzyme activity was 60°C. The purified enzyme retained 35.9 and 25.8% activities after 4 h at 50 and 55°C, respectively. The inulin hydrolysis activity was completely abolished with 1 mM Hg⁺⁺, whereas EDTA inhibited about 63% activity. As compared to sucrose, stachyose, and raffinose, the purified enzyme had lower K _m (0.25 mM) and higher V _max (333.3 IU/mg) values for inulin.     

An alternate approach to solve two-level hierarchical time minimization transportation problem

This paper discusses a two-level hierarchical time minimization transportation problem, which is an important class of transportation problems arising in industries. This problem has been studied by various researchers (Sharma et al. in Eur J Oper Res 246:700–707, 2015; Sonia and Puri in TOP 12(2):301–330, 2004; Xie et al. in Comput Oper Res 86:124–139, 2017) and therefore, a number of polynomial time iterative algorithms are available to find its solution. All the existing algorithms, though efficient, have some shortcomings. The current study proposes an alternate solution algorithm for the problem that is more efficient in terms of computational time than the existing algorithms. The results justifying the underlying theory of the proposed algorithm are given. Further, a detailed comparison of the computational behaviour of all the algorithms for randomly generated instances of this problem, of different sizes validates the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

     

Steric control of coordination: Unusual coordination mode of dimethylpyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate in a new dinuclear copper(II) complex [(dmpc)(Cl)(μ-Cl)Cu2(μ-Cl)(Cl)(dmpc)] and reversal of the coordination mode in [Cu(dmpc) (H2O)3] (ClO4)2

A series of dinuclear copper(II) complexes (1), (2), (3) and (4) containing dimethylpyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate were synthesised and structurally characterised to delineate the role of the steric demand in deciding the observed coordination mode. In contrast to the bulky isopropyl derivative with symmetrical O-sp² carbonylic coordination, the less sterically demanding methyl derivative adopts an unusual asymmetric coordination involving both O-sp² carbonylic and O-sp³ alkoxy atoms of the ester moiety. However, the symmetric O-sp² carbonylic coordination is reestablished upon dissolution in MeOH. In the absence of a sterically encumbered [Cu₂(-Cl)₂] core in (2), (3) and (4), the coordination reverts to the symmetrical carbonylic oxygen coordinating mode, underscoring the importance of overall space availability (steric demand) in and around the coordination sphere of the metal atom. Associated with these differential coordination modes, interesting structural dissimilarities are encountered in both the coordinating ligand and the coordination sphere of the copper centre. Besides X-ray crystallographic investigations on (1) and (2), culminating evidence is gathered through i.r., u.v.–vis. spectra and magnetic susceptibility measurements.     

Interactive Effects of Molybdenum,Zinc and Iron on the Grain Yield,Quality, and Nodulation of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) in North-Western India

Micronutrient deficiency is a major constraint for the growth, yield and nutritional quality of cowpea which results in nutritional disorders in humans. Micronutrients including molybdenum (Mo), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) play a pivotal role in crop nutrition, and their role in different metabolic processes in crops has been highlighted. In order to increase the nutritional quality of cowpea, a field experiment was conducted for two years in which the effect of Mo along with iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) on productivity, nitrogen and micronutrient uptake, root length and the number of nodules in cowpea cultivation was investigated. It was found that the foliar application of Fe and Zn and their interaction with Mo application through seed priming as well as soil application displayed increased yield, nutrient concentration, uptake and growth parameters which helped to enhance the nutritional quality of cowpea for consumption by the human population. The results of the above experiments revealed that among all the treatments, the soil application of Mo combined with the foliar application of 0.5% each of FeSO₄·7H₂O and ZnSO₄·7H₂O (M₂F₃ treatment) enhanced the grain and stover yield of cowpea, exhibiting maximum values of 1402 and 6104.7 kg ha⁻¹, respectively. Again, the M₂F₃ treatment resulted in higher Zn, Fe and Mo concentrations in the grain (17.07, 109.3 and 30.26 mg kg⁻¹, respectively) and stover (17.99, 132.7 and 31.22 mg kg⁻¹, respectively) of cowpea. Uptake of Zn, Fe and Mo by the grain (25.23, 153.3 and 42.46 g ha⁻¹, respectively) as well as the stover (104.2, 809.9 and 190.6 g ha⁻¹, respectively) was found to be maximum for the M₂F₃ treatment. The root length (30.5 cm), number of nodules per plant (73.0) and N uptake in grain and stover (55.39 and 46.15 kg ha⁻¹) were also higher for this treatment. Overall, soil application of Mo along with the foliar application of FeSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) and ZnSO₄·7H₂O (0.5%) significantly improved yield outcomes, concentration, uptake, root length, nodules plant⁻¹ and N uptake of cowpea to alleviate the micronutrient deficiency.     

Functionalized polymeric magnetic nanoconstructs for selective capturing and sensitive detection of Salmonella typhimurium

Rapid detection and enumeration of pathogens is essential for monitoring contamination and spoilage of food products to ensure improved quality control management. Functionalized polymeric magnetic nanoconstructs (FPMNCs) were developed as an effective immunomagnetic separator and sensing platform for the selective capturing of Salmonella typhimurium. Novel FPMNCs were prepared in three stages involving synthesis of iron oxide (IO) dispersion, capping with sodium oleate and encapsulation of preformed IO nanoparticles by in-situ free radical emulsion polymerization of styrene (St), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and acetoacetoxy ethylmethacrylate (AAEM). PMMA improves the stability of FPMNCs by bridging extremely hydrophobic PS and hydrophilic PAAEM. Core-shell morphology of hydrophobic core of IO, PS & PMMA and hydrophilic shell of PAAEM was demonstrated by SEM, TEM and FTIR studies. FPMNCs with surface functionalized acetoacetoxy groups were covalently attached with polyclonal antibodies against Salmonella common structural antigen (CSA-1-Ab) without using any linker and catalyst. Colorimetric readout signal was acquired using CSA-1-Ab-HRP as secondary antibody after formation of sandwich immunocomplex with bacteria where the optical density of the samples were recorded using ELISA plate reader at 450 nm. The developed immunoassay was specific and selective which captures only targeted S. typhimurium with a detection limit of 10 cells/mL lower than infectious dose of salmonellosis infection. Minimal interference of food matrix with high signal to noise ratio was shown by various food samples. In addition, the performance of developed FPMNC based immunoassay was superior to commercially available immunomagnetic microbeads demonstrating undisputed advantage for capturing and detecting specific bacteria without any pre-enrichment of sample.     

Synthesis,Cytotoxic Evaluation,and In Silico Studies of 4‐Substituted Coumarins

Two series of coumarins possessing the aniline‐ and heterocyclic ring at 4^th position have been synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against MCF‐7 cancer cell line in MTT assay. Structure activity relationship (SAR) studies reveal that the electron donor group at position‐8 of coumarin played an important role in cytotoxic activity. Compound VIId showed the potent cytotoxic activity followed by compound Xa with IC₅₀ = 6.25 and 6.50 μM, respectively. A docking study has also been carried out for the most potent compound to get an insight into molecular interactions with p50 subunit of NF‐κB protein.     

Radionuclide contents and their correlation with radon-thoron exhalation in soil samples from mineralized zone of Himachal Pradesh,India

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The radionuclides have been evaluated by utilizing NaI(Tl) gamma spectrometric technique from soil samples, mainly used in construction purposes....