Browsing by Author "Pooja Shukla"

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Insights on Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Possible Treatment of COVID-19 Infection
(Springer, 2022) Shashank Kumar Maurya; Amit Bhattacharya; Pooja Shukla; Rajnikant Mishra
The sudden outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 virus) is posing a significant threat by affecting millions of people across the globe showing mild to severe symptoms of pneumonia and acute respiratory distress. The absence of precise information on primary transmission, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutics for patients with COVID-19 makes prevention and control tough. In the current scenario, only supportive treatment is available, which in turn possess a biggest challenge for scientists to develop specific drugs and vaccines for COVID-19. Further, India, with the second largest populated country and fluctuating climatic conditions quarterly, has high vulnerability towards COVID-19 infection. Thus, this highlights the importance of a better understanding of the COVID-19 infection, pathology, diagnosis and its treatment. The present review article has been intended to discuss the COVID-19 biology, mechanism of infection in humans with primary effects on pregnancy, the nervous system, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The article will also discuss the drug repurposing strategy as an alternative line of treatment and clinical practices recommended by the World Health Organization and other government agencies and represent the COVID-19 scenario with the Indian context. © 2022, The National Academy of Sciences, India.
Interplay between anisotropy and magnetic exchange to modulate the magnetic relaxation behaviours of phenoxo bridged Dy2 dimers with axial β-diketonate co-ligands
(Royal Society of Chemistry, 2022) Soumalya Roy; Pooja Shukla; Naushad Ahmed; Ming-Hao Du; Ibtesham Tarannum; Xiang-Jian Kong; Tulika Gupta; Saurabh Kumar Singh; Sourav Das
A series of Schiff base LH ((E)-2-((pyridin-2-ylmethylene)amino)phenol) supported phenoxo bridged symmetric [Dy2(L)2(hfac)4] (1), [Dy2(L)2(tfac)4] (2) and asymmetric [Dy2(L)2(thd)3(NO3)]·1.5H2O (3) binuclear complexes were isolated using differently substituted β-diketonate co-ligands (Hhfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate, Htfac = trifluoroacetylacetonate, and Hthd = 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione). In all the three complexes 1-3, the two LH ligands provide phenoxo bridging and N-donor atoms. The {Dy2(μ2-O)2} magnetic core structures with LH ligands are found to be the same in 1-3 while the dissimilar functionalities of the axially coordinated different β-diketonate co-ligands play a crucial role in modulating the magnetic anisotropy of individual DyIII sites and magnetic exchange between them. The experimental static magnetic behaviour suggests the presence of intramolecular antiferromagnetic interactions in all the three complexes 1-3. The strength of the magnetic exchange coupling decreases with increasing magnetic anisotropy of individual DyIII ions from complex 1 to complex 3 and simultaneously their zero-field slow magnetic relaxation behaviors were found to increase with effective energy barriers (ΔE/kB) of 9.04 K, 24.06 K and 25.65 K, respectively. Furthermore, the DFT and ab initio theoretical calculations performed on the X-ray structures of complexes 1-3 support our experimental findings. © 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
Seed endophytic bacterium Bacillus velezensis and its lipopeptides acts as elicitors of defense responses against Fusarium verticillioides in maize seedlings
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2023) Gaurav Pal; Samiksha Saxena; Kanchan Kumar; Anand Verma; Deepak Kumar; Pooja Shukla; Ashutosh Pandey; Satish K. Verma
Purpose: The potential of endophytic bacteria to improve plant health has been well-established. In maize plants, studies have reported the antagonistic activity of endophytic bacteria against various kinds of phytopathogenic strains; however, the effect of lipopeptide inoculation on germinated seedlings and its underlying defense responses remain unexplored. In this study, we examined the effects of seed endophytic bacterium Bacillus velezensis and its lipopeptides in improving plant defense against Fusarium verticillioides in maize seedlings. Methods: In vitro germinated maize seedlings were treated with lipopeptides extracted from the B. velezensis, followed by inoculation with the phytopathogen Fusarium verticillioides. The lipopeptides were characterized using MALDI-TOF analysis and their effects on fungal colonization and defense gene expression were investigated. Polyphenol content was checked in the bacterium-ZMW8 as well as ZMW8 and Fusarium-inoculated seedlings through UHPLC. Results: Lipopeptide treatment to the maize seedling’s roots resulted in enhanced protection from the fungus with significant improvement in all the growth parameters measured. Antifungal lipopeptides were identified as bacillomycin D and fengycin. Confocal microscopy images revealed the heavy colonization of fungus on the seed and root surface of non-lipopeptide-treated seedlings. Gene expression analysis revealed upregulation of various defense response genes including ZmPR-1, ZmPR-4, ZmSOD-2, ZmLOX, ZmPDF1.2, and ZmERF in the roots of bacteria and lipopeptides-treated maize seedlings. Targeted metabolite analysis through UHPLC revealed the accumulation of antifungal polyphenols including p-coumaric acid, kaempferol, dihydrokaempferol (DHK), and dihydroquercetin (DHQ). Conclusions: The study highlights the potential of bacterial lipopeptides as elicitors of defense responses in maize seedlings against Fusarium infection. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Seed endophytic bacterium Lysinibacillus sp. (ZM1) from maize (Zea mays L.) shapes its root architecture through modulation of auxin biosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism
(Elsevier Masson s.r.l., 2024) Gaurav Pal; Samiksha Saxena; Kanchan Kumar; Anand Verma; Deepak Kumar; Pooja Shukla; Ashutosh Pandey; James White; Satish K. Verma
Seed endophytic bacteria have been shown to promote the growth and development of numerous plants. However, the underlying mechanism still needs to be better understood. The present study aims to investigate the role of a seed endophytic bacterium Lysinibacillus sp. (ZM1) in promoting plant growth and shaping the root architecture of maize seedlings. The study explores how bacteria-mediated auxin biosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism affect plant growth promotion and shape the root architecture of maize seedlings. The results demonstrate that ZM1 inoculation significantly enhances root length, root biomass, and the number of seminal roots in maize seedlings. Additionally, the treated seedlings exhibit increased shoot biomass and higher levels of photosynthetic pigments. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) analysis revealed extensive colonization of ZM1 on root hairs, as well as in the cortical and stellar regions of the root. Furthermore, LC-MS analysis demonstrated elevated auxin content in the roots of the ZM1 treated maize seedlings compared to the uninoculated control. Inoculation with ZM1 significantly increased the levels of endogenous ammonium content, GS, and GOGAT enzyme activities in the roots of treated maize seedlings compared to the control, indicating enhanced nitrogen metabolism. Furthermore, inoculation of bacteria under nitrogen-deficient conditions enhanced plant growth, as evidenced by increased root shoot length, fresh and dry weights, average number of seminal roots, and content of photosynthetic pigments. Transcript analysis indicated upregulation of auxin biosynthetic genes, along with genes involved in nitrogen metabolism at different time points in roots of ZM1-treated maize seedlings. Collectively, our findings highlight the positive impact of Lysinibacillus sp. ZM1 inoculation on maize seeds by improving root architecture through modulation of auxin biosynthesis and affecting various nitrogen metabolism related parameters. These findings provide valuable insights into the potential utilization of seed endophytic bacteria as biofertilizers to enhance plant growth and yield in nutrient deficient soils. © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS
Seed vectored bacterial endophyte Bacillus pumilus protect sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) seedlings from a fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani
(Academic Press Inc., 2023) Kanchan Kumar; Gaurav Pal; Anand Verma; Deepak Kumar; Pooja Shukla; Satish K. Verma
The goal of this study was to evaluate the role of seed endophytic bacteria (SEB) in fungal disease protection in sorghum seedlings. Total six SEB, including two Bacillus spp. (SM1 and SM6), and four Paenibacillus spp. (SM2, SM3, SM4, and SM5) were isolated from sorghum seeds. All isolates produced auxin while only SM3 isolate showed phosphate solubilization activity. All SEB inhibited the growth of tested fungal pathogens. Bacillus pumilus (SM1) and Bacillus subtilis (SM6) showed positive drop collapse assay, and presence of surfactin gene was also screened in their genomes. Further, lipopeptides extracted from SM1 and SM6 strongly inhibited Rhizoctonia solani growth in disc diffusion assay. Live-dead staining and fluorescence microscopy revealed the structural deformations and cell death in R. solani by lipopeptides. In microcosm assay, seeds inoculated with B. pumilus significantly protected the seedlings from Rhizoctonia infection. B. pumilus inoculated seedlings showed significant increase in the levels of PAL and SOD enzymes and their gene expressions (2.76, 2.00 and 4.61, 2.25 folds, respectively) compared to control. PR1 gene expression was also increased by 2.68 folds compared to the control. Present study concludes that sorghum seeds inhabit SEB like B. pumilus which is crucial in protecting seedlings from R. solani by producing lipopeptides, enhancing antioxidant and defense enzymes level and their gene expressions. This study is significant in terms of its originality which presents a first report on SEB of sorghum roles in seedlings protection against soil borne fungal pathogen like Rhizoctonia solani. © 2023 Elsevier Inc.
Zero-Waste Biorefineries for Circular Economy
(wiley, 2021) Puneet K. Singh; Pooja Shukla; Sunil K. Verma; Snehasish Mishra; Pankaj K. Parhi
Since the Industrial Revolution, the increase in global average temperature to about 1.5 °C brings sustainable bioenergy into action. This not only highlighted the limited and mortal nature of fossil raw material but also enforces the immediate biological products switch. The processes involved to attain a higher growth level coupling with achieving net zero emission is the supreme concern in the coming decades. The challenge is to showcase premodern to current bio-based economy conversion. This can be done by highlighting the economy and ameliorating process strategies of dominant regions of the globe. The relationship between carbon sequestration and emission, biofuel, and biorefineries as the priority of bioeconomy and CO 2 as a repulsive feedstock for biocatalysis is discussed. We emphasize the main agenda of bioeconomy to simply bypass the use of fossil raw material by recruiting bio-based products/processes. The agenda has a certain potential to upgrade the economic bar by simply adding values to the yield. © 2022 WILEY-VCH GmbH, Boschstr. 12, 69469 Weinheim, Germany.