University of Wah

About: University of Wah is a education organization based out in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Per capita income & Rhizobacteria. The organization has 258 authors who have published 466 publications receiving 4719 citations.

Energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and economic development: Evaluating alternative and plausible environmental hypothesis for sustainable growth

Abstract: Pursuit of excellence in economic development, in the midst of damaging the natural environment, is a shameless growth. The economic impacts on environmental degradation are quite visible in industrialized economies where human health is compromised by rapid economic growth and energy induced emissions. This study examines the interrelationship between energy consumption, economic growth and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions under the six alternative and plausible hypothesis including Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH), population based emissions (IPAT), energy led emissions, sectoral growth emissions and Emissions emancipated Human Development Index (eHDI) in the context of low and middle income countries, high income countries and in aggregated panel, over the period of 1975–2015. The results supported the EKC hypothesis, IPAT hypothesis, energy induced emissions, and sectoral growth emissions in different regions of the world, while PHH and eHDI hypothesis does not confirm across regions. This study exclusively determines the key socio-economic and environmental problems in a large pool of the world economies to understand the need of development policy agenda for sustainable growth.

Comparative Physiological and Metabolic Analysis Reveals a Complex Mechanism Involved in Drought Tolerance in Chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L .) Induced by PGPR and PGRs

Abstract: The plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and plant growth regulators (PGRs) can be applied to improve the growth and productivity of plants, with potential to be used for genetic improvement of drought tolerance. However, for genetic improvement to be achieved, a solid understanding of the physiological and biochemical changes in plants induced by PGPR and PGR is required. The present study was carried out to investigate the role of PGPR and PGRs on the physiology and biochemical changes in chickpea grown under drought stress conditions and their association with drought tolerance. The PGPR, isolated from the rhizosphere of chickpea, were characterized on the basis of colony morphology and biochemical characters. They were also screened for the production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ammonia (NH3), and exopolysaccharides (EPS) production. The isolated PGPR strains, named P1, P2, and P3, were identified by 16S-rRNA gene sequencing as Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus thuringiensis, and Bacillus megaterium, respectively. The seeds of two chickpea varieties, Punjab Noor-2009 (drought sensitive) and 93127 (drought tolerant) were soaked for 2–3 h prior to sowing in 24 h old cultures of isolates. The salicylic acid (SA) and putrescine (Put) were sprayed (150 mg/L) on 25 day old chickpea seedlings. The results showed that chickpea plants treated with a consortium of PGPR and PGRs significantly enhanced the chlorophyll, protein, and sugar contents compared to irrigated and drought conditions. Leaf proline content, lipid peroxidation, and activities of antioxidant enzymes (CAT, APOX, POD, and SOD) all increased in response to drought stress but decreased due to the PGPR and PGRs treatment. An ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS) analysis was carried out for metabolic profiling of chickpea leaves planted under controlled (well-irrigated), drought, and consortium (drought plus PGPR and PGRs) conditions. Proline, L-arginine, L-histidine, L-isoleucine, and tryptophan were accumulated in the leaves of chickpea exposed to drought stress. Consortium of PGPR and PGRs induced significant accumulation of riboflavin, L-asparagine, aspartate, glycerol, nicotinamide, and 3-hydroxy-3-methyglutarate in the leaves of chickpea. The drought sensitive chickpea variety showed significant accumulation of nicotinamide and 4-hydroxy-methylglycine in PGPR and PGR treated plants at both time points (44 and 60 days) as compared to non-inoculated drought plants. Additionally, arginine accumulation was also enhanced in the leaves of the sensitive variety under drought conditions. Metabolic changes as a result of drought and consortium conditions highlighted pools of metabolites that affect the metabolic and physiological adjustments in chickpea that reduce drought impacts.

Crosstalk amongst phytohormones from planta and PGPR under biotic and abiotic stresses

Abstract: Phytohormones are endogenously produced organic substances indispensable for regulating plant growth and yield and also play major role in inducing tolerance to plants against various biotic and abiotic stresses. The convergence points among hormone signal transduction cascades are considered as cross-talk which are crucial for plant development as well as for plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Hormones interact by activating either a second messenger or through a phosphorylation cascade. These transduction cascades lead to the regulation of gene expression that directly affects the biosynthesis or action of different hormones and developmental processes in coordination with multiple stimuli. Hormone synthesis, signal transduction, perception and cross-talk create a complex network. Interaction of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) which form intimate association with the roots of higher plants also modulate the level of endogenous phytohormones and demonstrate a new paradigm for hormonal interaction. The ratio of hormones changes with ontogeny of plant and the specific ratio of growth promoting and growth inhibiting hormones determine the response of plants. Furthermore, the sensitivity of plant tissue to each hormone changes with the exposure to stresses. This review is a compilation of the interactions between phytohormones and plant development. The cross talk between different hormones under abiotic and biotic stresses will be enumerated. Hormone and stress-responsive cis elements and the trans-regulation capabilities of miRNAs for the coordination of multiple hormonal responses will be discussed. Finally the role of PGPR will be evaluated under various environmental stresses with particular emphasis on phytohormone production and its interaction with host plant physiology. PGPR provides cross protective properties through improvement in defense mechanism controlling pathogen resistance through induced systemic resistance (ISR) and alleviating abiotic stress through influencing the phytohormones metabolism. PGPR isolates from stressed soil/stressed host plants impart tolerance to plants against abiotic and biotic stresses by modulating the production of phytohormones and alteration in their sensitivity to respond. Bacteria communicate with each other through quorum sensing molecules which also regulate gene expression and phytohormone production. The intricate relationship between other microbes/fungi and their residual effects on plant rhizosphere phytohormones need further investigation for better understanding of bacterial coordination with plants.

UPLC-HRMS-based untargeted metabolic profiling reveals changes in chickpea (Cicer arietinum) metabolome following long-term drought stress.

Abstract: Genetic improvement for drought tolerance in chickpea requires a solid understanding of biochemical processes involved with different physiological mechanisms. The objective of this study is to demonstrate genetic variations in altered metabolic levels in chickpea varieties (tolerant and sensitive) grown under contrasting water regimes through ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry-based untargeted metabolomic profiling. Chickpea plants were exposed to drought stress at the 3-leaf stage for 25 days, and the leaves were harvested at 14 and 25 days after the imposition of drought stress. Stress produced significant reduction in chlorophyll content, Fv /Fm , relative water content, and shoot and root dry weight. Twenty known metabolites were identified as most important by 2 different methods including significant analysis of metabolites and partial least squares discriminant analysis. The most pronounced increase in accumulation due to drought stress was demonstrated for allantoin, l-proline, l-arginine, l-histidine, l-isoleucine, and tryptophan. Metabolites that showed a decreased level of accumulation under drought conditions were choline, phenylalanine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, alanine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, glucosamine, guanine, and aspartic acid. Aminoacyl-tRNA and plant secondary metabolite biosynthesis and amino acid metabolism or synthesis pathways were involved in producing genetic variation under drought conditions. Metabolic changes in light of drought conditions highlighted pools of metabolites that affect the metabolic and physiological adjustment in chickpea that reduced drought impacts.