Rakesh Kumar Verma

The current study addresses increasing global problems (agricultural sustainability, environmental contamination, and antimicrobial resistance) by means of sustainable and multifunctional biosynthesized Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). The study utilized a cell-free supernatant of a novel endophytic bacterial strain ( Niallia Circulans ) to synthesize ZnO NPs. Biosynthesized NPs were evaluated by using various techniques of characterization. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) was revealed by UV-Visible spectral peak for ZnO NPs at 355 nm. A X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed a crystallite size of 90.64 nm, while scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) demonstrated the predominance of hexagonal-structured zinc, carbon, and oxygen elements. The functional groups in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirm the presence of biomolecules. The evaluated multifunctional application of biosynthesized ZnO NPs exhibits an enhanced early seedling growth rate and increased seed germination (100% in 12 h) on cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata L. ) compared to the control groups. Also shows excellent antibacterial activity against test bacterial strains. Additionally, a high removal efficiency of 97.85% was achieved within 110 min for 10 ppm methylene blue dye solution at pH 9. This study highlights the endophytic bacteria-mediated successful synthesis of ZnO NPs, with potential multifunctional applications in agriculture, antimicrobial treatments, and environmental remediation.

Background: Given the escalating prevalence of malnutrition and diet-related non-communicable diseases, there is an urgent demand for nutritious, affordable, and sustainable food vehicles. The integration of underutilized, climate-resilient cereals—such as pearl millet—into widely consumed bakery products represents a strategic intervention to address food security and improve public health nutrition. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of substituting wheat flour with graded levels of pearl millet flour (PMF) on the physicochemical composition and sensory attributes of functional cookies. Methods: Pearl millet flour was incorporated as a partial-to-total replacement for wheat flour at levels of 0% (control), 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%. The resulting formulations were analyzed for nutritional composition using AOAC standardized protocols and for sensory attributes employing a nine-point hedonic scale. Statistical significance was determined via ANOVA and post-hoc mean separation tests (p < 0.05), while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to characterize multivariate nutritional patterns across the experimental groups. Results: Increasing PMF inclusion led to significant linear improvements in crude protein, ash, dietary fiber, and essential mineral content (p < 0.05). Specifically, the 40% PMF substitution exhibited a significant nutritional fortification compared to the control without compromising overall sensory acceptability. While sensory evaluation confirmed that formulations containing 20–40% PMF were acceptable comparable to the wheat-based control, higher substitution levels (≥ 60%) resulted in significantly lower scores for texture and visual appearance. Multivariate PCA demonstrated a distinct clustering of nutrient-dense profiles associated with increasing PMF levels, confirming a coordinated enhancement of the mineral and protein matrices. Conclusion: The partial substitution of wheat flour with 20–40% pearl millet flour offers a viable approach for developing nutritionally superior cookies with high consumer acceptance. These findings support the broader application of PMF in the commercial bakery sector, school feeding programs, and therapeutic food formulation, contributing to both dietary diversity and agricultural sustainability. Keywords: Pearl Millet Floor; Nutritional Fortification; Proximate Composition; Sensory Evaluation; Principal Component Analysis (PCA).

This study aimed to assess the plant growth-promoting abilities of selected fluoride-resistant fungi isolated from rhizosphere soil samples in fluoride-impacted regions of Bhopal District Madhya Pradesh and Sikar District Rajasthan, India. The fungi evaluated included Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma harzianum, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum, Cladosporium cladosporioides, and Aspergillus tamarii. We also examined IAA bioactivity, ammonia production, phosphate dissolving power, HCN production, and siderophore production. As positioning of the crops was found to vary with the addition of the fungi, it was also found that both Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma harzianum were the most effective in boosting plant growth metrics. This ability to synthesize the hormone IAA was also found to vary with the ‘A. niger’ strain being the most consistent with elevated synthesis levels even in the presence of fluoride, indicating its potential to enhance plant stress tolerance. Likewise, the ammonia production assay confirmed the results obtained through the previous test, further establishing ‘A. niger’ as an efficient donor of nitrogen, which was even further confirmed through the phosphate solubilizing assays. The assessments conducted for HCN production expanded the potential of the fungi as biocontrol agents, which was already attributed to their siderophores production as well as nutrient uptake mechanisms. This study underscores the important role of endophytic plant growth-promoting fungi (PGPF) that can thrive in fluoride-rich environments, helping to protect plants from fluoride-induced damage. By integrating these findings into sustainable agricultural practices such as bioaugmentation, organic amendments, and the cultivation of fluoride-resistant plant species the research lays the groundwork for biological strategies aimed at alleviating the negative effects of fluoride. The ultimate goal is to enhance agricultural productivity and improve soil health in areas impacted by fluoride contamination.

In this study, we have isolated a bacterial endophyte Paenibacillus dendritiformis strain RAE13 (Accession number: OR259131) from the leaves of Tecomella undulata (Roheda) plant. The identification of bacterial species was carried out using 16s-rDNA ribotyping. Subsequently, the isolated bacterial strain was gauged for its potential to endorse plant growth through various mechanisms such as nitrogen fixation, IAA production, HCN synthesis, siderophore generation, and ammonia production. Furthermore, the evaluation focused on the endophyte's capacity for producing extracellular enzymes, including cellulase, chitinase, protease, amylase, and catalase. The endophyte exhibited to synthesize an average of 18±0.375 μg/ml of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) after being subjected to a concentration of 5 mg/ml of tryptophan over a 14-day incubation period. The endophytic isolate RAE 13 produced an average of 42.4±0.004 μg/ml of Gibberellin, solubilized phosphate in the range of 70.2 μg/ml to 135.5 μg/ml, and produced an average of 45.5 μg/ml of ammonia. The phylogenetic analysis unveiled that the isolated strain RAE13 had a common ancestor and had a maximum nucleotide sequence similarity of 98.30% with Paenibacillus sp isolates of Uttar Pradesh, India. To diminish the consumption of chemicals in conventional farming, the results indicated that the isolated endophyte had great potential as a plant growth-stimulating inoculant. Henceforward, utilization of these extracellular enzymes for medical and industrial applications will be highly beneficial. Additionally, it could enhance plant tolerance to challenging environmental circumstances including drought and high temperatures.

Agriculture has recently prioritized Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) due to their significance in the rhizosphere, which is an ecological unit in the biosphere. Isolating PGPR from Cicer arietinum (chickpea) nodules and characterizing its PGP activities was the purpose of the present study. The research showed that the specific strain could manufacture several useful chemicals, such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ammonia, siderophore, indole acetic acid (IAA) and nitrogenase. Furthermore, the isolate was identified as Bacillus licheniformis AS11 through 16s rRNA analysis, and alignment analysis showed 99% similarity with the Bacillus licheniformis KPA12 isolate. It's worth highlighting that, Bacillus licheniformis AS11 a potential PGPR, is considered a valuable asset for agriculture when it has a positive effect on plant growth. Therefore, Bacillus licheniformis AS11 can be a beneficial and constructive addition to the field of agriculture. These findings suggest potential applications in sustainable agriculture by improving crop yield through natural growth-promoting mechanisms and reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers.

Over the last decade there has been a huge increase in the green synthesis of nanoparticles. Moreover, there is a continuous increase in harnessing the potential of microorganisms for the development of efficient and biocompatible nanoparticles around the globe. In the present research work, investigators have synthesized TiO₂ NPs by harnessing the potential of Bacillus subtilis MTCC 8322 (Gram-positive) bacteria. The formation and confirmation of the TiO₂ NPs synthesized by bacteria were carried out by using UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transforms infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX/EDS). The size of the synthesized TiO₂ NPs was 80–120 nm which was spherical to irregular in shape as revealed by SEM. FTIR showed the characteristic bands of Ti-O in the range of 400–550 cm⁻¹ and 924 cm⁻¹ while the band at 2930 cm⁻¹ confirmed the association of bacterial biomolecules with the synthesized TiO₂ NPs. XRD showed two major peaks; 27.5° (rutile phase) and 45.6° (anatase phase) for the synthesized TiO₂ NPs. Finally, the potential of the synthesized TiO₂ NPs was assessed as an antibacterial agent and photocatalyst. The remediation of Methylene blue (MB) and Orange G (OG) dyes was carried out under UV- light and visible light for a contact time of 150–240 min respectively. The removal efficiency for 100 ppm MB dye was 25.75% and for OG dye was 72.24% under UV light, while in visible light, the maximum removal percentage for MB and OG dye was 98.85% and 80.43% respectively at 90 min. Moreover, a kinetic study and adsorption isotherm study were carried out for the removal of both dyes, where the pseudo-first-order for MB dye is 263.269 and 475554.176 mg/g for OG dye. The pseudo-second-order kinetics for MB and OG dye were 188.679 and 1666.667 mg/g respectively. In addition to this, the antibacterial activity of TiO₂ NPs was assessed against Bacillus subtilis MTCC 8322 (Gram-positive) and Escherichia coli MTCC 8933 (Gram-negative) where the maximum zone of inhibition in Bacillus subtilis MTCC 8322 was about 12 mm, and for E. coli 16 mm.

The primary goal of this experiment is to examine the effectiveness of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAR as a rhizobacterium that promotes plant growth in mitigating the negative effects of fluoride-induced stress in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) plants. A total of 16 rhizobacterial strains were tested for plant growth-promoting (PGP) attributes, with isolates S1, S2, and S3 exhibiting different characteristics. Furthermore, growth kinetics studies revealed that these isolates were resilient to fluoride stress (10, 20, 40, and 80 ppm), with isolate S2 exhibiting notable resilience compared to the other two strains. Phylogenetic analysis revealed isolate S2 as P. aeruginosa strain PAR. Physiological analyses demonstrated that P. aeruginosa strain PAR had a beneficial impact on plant properties under fluoride stress, comprising seed germination, root length, shoot height, relative water content, and leaf area, the strain also impacted the buildup of glycine betaine, soluble sugar, and proline, demonstrating its significance in enhancing plant stress tolerance. In P. aeruginosa strain PAR-treated plants, chlorophyll content increased while malondialdehyde (MDA) levels decreased, indicating enhanced photosynthetic efficiency and less oxidative stress. The strain modified antioxidant enzyme action (catalase, ascorbate, glutathione reductase, peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase), which contributed to improved stress resilience. Mineral analysis revealed a decrease in sodium and fluoride concentrations while increasing magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and iron levels, emphasizing the strain’s significance in nutrient management. Correlation and principal component analysis revealed extensive correlations between physiological and biochemical parameters, underscoring P. aeruginosa strain PAR’s multifaceted impact on plant growth and stress response. This study offers valuable information on effectively utilizing PGPR, particularly P. aeruginosa strain PAR, in fluoride-contaminated soils for sustainable agriculture. It presents a promising biological strategy to enhance crop resilience and productivity.