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The ultra durable monolithic dendritic anatase TiO2 provides a mechanistic inner-view via a rotational moiré pattern, resulting in 99.55% coulombic efficiency with only 41 mV polarization loss at the 1000th cycle, while retaining the columnar morphology.

The present study characterises sorption of two pesticides, namely, paraquat (PQ) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) by an Oscillatoria sp.-dominated cyanobacterial mat. Sorption of PQ onto the test mat was not significantly affected by the pH of the solution within the pH range 2-7. However, 2,4-D sorption was strongly influenced by the solution pH and was maximum at pH 2. Whereas PQ sorption increased with increase in temperature, 2,4-D sorption showed an opposite trend. The sorption of PQ and 2,4-D achieved equilibrium within 1 h of incubation, independent of concentration of pesticide and mat biomass in the solution. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model better defined PQ sorption than the pseudo-first-order model, whereas 2,4-D sorption was well defined by both the models. Sorption isotherms of both the pesticides showed L-type curve. Freundlich model more precisely defined PQ sorption than Langmuir model, thereby suggesting heterogeneous distribution of PQ binding sites onto the biomass surface. However, the Langmuir model more correctly defined 2,4-D sorption, thus, indicating homogeneous distribution of 2,4-D binding sites onto the biomass surface. The test biomass is a good sorbent for the removal of PQ because it could, independent of pH of the solution, sorb substantial amount of PQ (q(max) = 0.13 mmol g(-1)).

Although nitrogen (N) is the most limiting nutrient for agricultural production, its overuse is associated with environmental pollution, increased concentration of greenhouse gases, and several human and animal health implications. These implications are greatly affected by biochemical transformations and losses of N such as volatilization, leaching, runoff, and denitrification. Half of the globally produced N fertilizers are used to grow three major cereals—rice, wheat, and maize—and their current level of N recovery is approximately 30–50%. The continuously increasing application of N fertilizers, despite lower recovery of cereals, can further intensify the environmental and health implications of leftover N. To address these implications, the improvement in N use efficiency (NUE) by adopting efficient agronomic practices and modern breeding and biotechnological tools for developing N efficient cultivars requires immediate attention. Conventional and marker-assisted selection methods can be used to map quantitative trait loci, and their introgression in elite germplasm leads to the creation of cultivars with better NUE. Moreover, gene-editing technology gives the opportunity to develop high-yielding cultivars with improved N utilization capacity. The most reliable and cheap methods include agronomic practices such as site-specific N management, enhanced use efficiency fertilizers, resource conservation practices, precision farming, and nano-fertilizers that can help farmers to reduce the environmental losses of N from the soil–plant system, thus improving NUE. Our review illuminates insights into recent advances in local and scientific soil and crop management technologies, along with conventional and modern breeding technologies on how to increase NUE that can help reduce linked N pollution and health implications.

AbstractHerbicides inhibiting either aromatic or branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis trigger similar physiological responses in plants, despite their different mechanism of action. Both types of herbicides are known to activate ethanol fermentation by inducing the expression of fermentative genes; however, the mechanism of such transcriptional regulation has not been investigated so far. In plants exposed to low-oxygen conditions, ethanol fermentation is transcriptionally controlled by the ethylene response factors-VII (ERF-VIIs), whose stability is controlled in an oxygen-dependent manner by the Cys-Arg branch of the N-degron pathway. In this study, we investigated the role of ERF-VIIs in the regulation of the ethanol fermentation pathway in herbicide-treated Arabidopsis plants grown under aerobic conditions. Our results demonstrate that these transcriptional regulators are stabilized in response to herbicide treatment and are required for ethanol fermentation in these conditions. We also observed that mutants with reduced fermentative potential exhibit higher sensitivity to herbicide treatments, thus revealing the existence of a mechanism that mimics oxygen deprivation to activate metabolic pathways that enhance herbicide tolerance. We speculate that this signaling pathway may represent a potential target in agriculture to affect tolerance to herbicides that inhibit amino acid biosynthesis.

Citrus is an important horticultural crop of India and is often prone to diseases, particularly under increased temperature scenarios. For developing disease-resistant Citrus varieties, conservation of wild relatives is extremely important. However, our knowledge on temperature tolerance of these wild relatives of Citrus to varied climate change scenarios is extremely limited. Therefore, we determined the climatic niche of six wild relatives of cultivated Citrus species (C. indica Tanaka, C. karna Rafin., C. latipes (Swingle) Tanaka, C. macroptera Montrouz., C. medica L., and C. sinensis (L.) Osbeck.) and identified the geographical areas in India that would remain climatically stable in future through ecological niche modeling (ENM). Raster data on 19 bioclimatic variables with a resolution of 0.04° were used to generate niche models for each Citrus species that delineated their potential distribution areas. Future species distribution predictions for the year 2050 were made using the climate change scenarios from the most appropriate climate models, i.e., IPSL-CM5A-LR and NIMR-HADGEM2-AO with four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). Ensemble of current and future projections was used to identify climatically stable areas for each species. Precipitation-related bioclimatic variables were the key climatic determinants for the modeled distribution pattern. The consensus of current and future projections suggests that most areas with stable climates for the species in the future would be available in the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura. Efforts for in situ conservation and establishment of germplasm banks and citrus orchards may be encouraged in these identified areas.

In this article a system of retarded differential equations is proposed as a predator-prey model. We investigate the model, representing a resource (prey) and a two predator system with delay due to gestation. The response function is assumed here to be concave in nature. Since global stability of positive equilibrium is of great interest, we provide sufficient conditions in terms of parameters of the system to guarantee it. By the simulation process the bifurcation occurring are discussed in terms of two bifurcation parameters. We have also shown that the time delay can cause a stable equilibrium to become unstable and even switching of stabilities. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate the results.

Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) such as caproic, heptanoic, and caprylic acids are monocarboxylic acids, which can be used as precursor molecules to synthesize biodiesel, bioplastics, antimicrobials, and corrosion inhibitors.