Abdul Haleem

Sugarcane accounts for around 80% of global sugar production. However, the sugar industry is known for producing significant amounts of organic wastewater with a high COD (5000–8000 mg/L) that severely pollutes the environment. A lab-scale trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a horizontal subsurface flow wetland planted with Typha latifolia and Phragmites australis in removing pollutants from sugar industry wastewater. The wetland system was subjected to rigorous testing, operating at a high flow rate of 2.166 gallons per day and exposed to a high organic loading rate (3800 mg/L COD and 2470 mg/L BOD), as well as elevated levels of inorganic nitrogen, sulfate, and phosphate (100 mg/L, 80 mg/L, and 10 mg/L, respectively). Our findings indicate significant removal efficiencies, with the wetland system achieving removal rates of 88% for COD, 97% for BOD, 96% for total nitrogen, and 95% for sulfate. Remarkably, the system exhibited enhanced removal efficiency when exposed to domestic wastewater compared to tap water, owing to the abundance of microbial populations. Moreover, toxicity assessments conducted on the treated water revealed no adverse effects on the germination of wheat seeds and on the survival of fish over a week-long observation period. In conclusion, our study underscores the promising potential of horizontal subsurface flow wetlands as an effective and sustainable approach for mitigating the adverse environmental impacts associated with sugar industry wastewater. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders in devising strategies to promote environmental sustainability and safeguard vital ecosystems in the Sindh region of Pakistan and beyond.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a human coronaviruses that emerged in China at Wuhan city, Hubei province during December 2019. Subsequently, SARS-CoV-2 has spread worldwide and caused millions of deaths around the globe. Several compounds and vaccines have been proposed to tackle this crisis. Novel recommended in silico approaches have been commonly used to screen for specific SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors of different types. Herein, the phytochemicals of Pakistani medicinal plants (especially Artemisia annua) were virtually screened to identify potential inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease enzyme. The X-ray crystal structure of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 with an N3 inhibitor was obtained from the protein data bank while A. annua phytochemicals were retrieved from different drug databases. The docking technique was carried out to assess the binding efficacy of the retrieved phytochemicals; the docking results revealed that several phytochemicals have potential to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 main protease enzyme. Among the total docked compounds, the top-10 docked complexes were considered for further study and evaluated for their physiochemical and pharmacokinetic properties. The top-3 docked complexes with the best binding energies were as follows: the top-1 docked complex with a −7 kcal/mol binding energy score, the top-2 docked complex with a −6.9 kcal/mol binding energy score, and the top-3 docked complex with a −6.8 kcal/mol binding energy score. These complexes were subjected to a molecular dynamic simulation analysis for further validation to check the dynamic behavior of the selected top-complexes. During the whole simulation time, no major changes were observed in the docked complexes, which indicated complex stability. Additionally, the free binding energies for the selected docked complexes were also estimated via the MM-GB/PBSA approach, and the results revealed that the total delta energies of MMGBSA were −24.23 kcal/mol, −26.38 kcal/mol, and −25 kcal/mol for top-1, top-2, and top-3, respectively. MMPBSA calculated the delta total energy as −17.23 kcal/mol (top-1 complex), −24.75 kcal/mol (top-2 complex), and −24.86 kcal/mol (top-3 complex). This study explored in silico screened phytochemicals against the main protease of the SARS-CoV-2 virus; however, the findings require an experimentally based study to further validate the obtained results.

Endophytic fungi are the main source of natural compounds including pigments having various industrial applications. Present study describes the production of extracellular orange-brown pigment from an endophytic fungal isolate Aspergillus sp. N11from Teucrium stocksianum. The optimum conditions for pigment production from this isolate was investigated and results showed that highest yield was observed in Potato dextrose broth, at pH 5 and 30 ℃ under shaking condition at 150 rpm for 7-10 days. The pigment was extracted in ethyl acetate and purified using column chromatography. Three different pigments were purified (yellow, light brown and orange-brown) and characterized based on Thin layer chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activity of purified fragments showed maximum zone of inhibition of 40 mm against S. aureus while for P. aeruginosa maximum zone of 50 mm and maximum antifungal activity of 20 mm against C. albicans. The antioxidant potential of purified pigment obtained from Aspergillus sp. N11 indicates that maximum scavenging activity of 67%. The results showed that purified pigments are astaxanthins belonging to oxygen containing carotenoids. The purified astaxanthins showed antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities indicating its potential to be utilized in pharmaceutical and food industries.