Bacteria isolated from thermophilic environment that can produce cellulase as well as utilise agro-waste biomass have a high potential for developing thermostable cellulase required in the biofuel industry. The cost for cellulase represents a significant challenge in converting lignocellulose to fermentable sugars for biofuel production. Among three potential bacteria examined, Bacillus licheni...

Microbial production of antimicrobials as biopreservatives is the major area of focus nowadays due to increased interest of consumers towards natural and safe preservation of ready to eat food products. The agro-industrial byproduct based medium and optimized process conditions can contribute in economical production of bacteriocins. Keeping this in view, the present investigation was carried o...

In the present study, a variety of agro-industrial wastes have been utilized for meaningful purpose to produce valuable biocatalyst. All wastes used were low cost and easily accessible while, some available throughout the year. A number of bacterial strains isolated from rotten fruits and vegetables were screened for the production of industrially important polygalacturonase (PGase) using pecti...

Golden jackals are locally common in Bangladesh despite intensive cultivation and high human densities. We studied the relative importance of seasonal flooding, rodent prey-base, and daytime cover on the occurrence of golden jackals in the two major agro-ecosystems in Bangladesh, one with annual monsoon flooding and the other without. Jackals were less common throughout the year where floodwate...

Pakistan introduced a package of economic reforms consisting of liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies. The main focus of these reforms was on achieving macroeconomic stability and a reasonable rate of economic growth. Manufacturing sector is an important sector of the economy of Pakistan and contributes about 25% share in GDP. Agro-based industries have a special importance in...

Understanding evolutionary dynamics of pathogens during domestication of their hosts and rise of agro-ecosystems is essential for durable disease management. Here, we investigated changes in life-history traits of the fungal pathogen Venturia inaequalis during domestication of the apple. Life traits linked to fungal dispersal were compared between 60 strains that were sampled in domestic and wi...

According to EC regulations the deliberate release of genetically modified (GM) crops into the agro-environment needs to be accompanied by environmental monitoring to detect potential adverse effects, e.g. unacceptable levels of gene flow from GM to non-GM crops, or adverse effects on single species or species groups thus reducing biodiversity. There is, however, considerable scientific and pub...

Agricultural ecosystems are composed of genetically depauperate populations of crop plants grown at a high density and over large spatial scales, with the regional composition of crop species changing little from year to year. These environments are highly conducive for the emergence and dissemination of pathogens. The uniform host populations facilitate the specialization of pathogens to parti...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the pesticide residues in human blood samples of volunteers related to Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas districts, Pakistan. The volunteers of both districts were divided into four groups on the basis of their exposure period to pesticides i.e. Group A—5 to 9 years, Group B—10 to 14 years, Group C—15 to19 years and Group D—above 20 years. Out of total 188 vo...

Genetic variation and population structure among 1603 soybean accessions, consisted of 832 Japanese landraces, 109 old and 57 recent Japanese varieties, 341 landrace from 16 Asian countries and 264 wild soybean accessions, were characterized using 191 SNP markers. Although gene diversity of Japanese soybean germplasm was slight lower than that of exotic soybean germplasm, population differentia...