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- Mahawar, Lovely, et al.
(author)
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GABA as a signalling molecule: Possible mechanism for its enhanced commercial production by cyanobacteria
- 2022
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In: Journal of Applied Phycology. - : Springer. - 0921-8971 .- 1573-5176. ; 34, s. 2355-2369
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a ubiquitous non-protein amino acid widely distributed in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Recently, it is gaining momentum to treat several human diseases. It is synthesized from glutamate, by glutamate decarboxylase a key enzyme in GABA shunt pathway and has been considered as one of the important bioactive compounds produced in response to several environmental stresses. GABA works as a signalling molecule that plays crucial role in biological organisms under adverse conditions. So far, the metabolism of GABA is extensively studied in plants and other eukaryotes, although in cyanobacteria GABA is less studied than in other prokaryotes. Hence the present review highlights the metabolic pathways of GABA production in cyanobacteria particularly the possible ways (via modifying the exogenous growth conditions and regulating gene expression) to enhance the endogenous GABA pool and its extraction in cost effective way to meet the rising demand due to its diverse physiological functions on human health. Alternatively, we discuss the effects of various environmental stresses in augmenting intracellular production in algal cells. Besides this, the review also emphasizes on different commercial applications of this compound in various industrial sectors such as pharmaceutical industry, food, beverages and dairy industry, bioplastics and biofuel production.
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| 2. |
- Mahawar, Lovely, et al.
(author)
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Iron deficiency in plants : an update on homeostasis and its regulation by nitric oxide and phytohormones
- 2023
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In: Plant growth regulation (Print). - : Springer. - 0167-6903 .- 1573-5087. ; 100, s. 283-299
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Iron is an essential micronutrient for plants as it involves in several important physiological processes. Understanding iron homeostasis in plants is pivotal, not only for improving their growth and development but also for enhancing human nutrition as plants are the principal dietary source of iron. This calls for the need to enrich bioavailable iron in crops to resolve iron starvation issue especially in low income and rural populations who have limited access to food markets and proper health facilities. The uptake of iron from rhizosphere, its transporters and transcription factors that regulate iron acquisition are well characterized. Here, the present review emphasizes on the role of signalling molecules particularly phytohormones and nitric oxide and their interactive co-ordination in iron homeostasis in agriculturally important crops that grow at pH 6.0-7.5 and have limited access to Fe2+. The involvement of these signalling molecules in up-regulating iron acquisition genes (FRO2 and IRT1), iron translocation to the cellular compartments and accessibility of iron storage which are important for proper iron homeostasis hence can be considered as vital biofortification strategy for crop plants to address hidden hunger.
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| 3. |
- Mahawar, Lovely, et al.
(author)
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Silicon nanoparticles : comprehensive review on biogenic synthesis and applications in agriculture
- 2023
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In: Environmental Research. - : Elsevier. - 0013-9351 .- 1096-0953. ; 232
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent advancements in nanotechnology have opened new advances in agriculture. Among other nanoparticles, silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs), due to their unique physiological characteristics and structural properties, offer a significant advantage as nanofertilizers, nanopesticides, nanozeolite and targeted delivery systems in agriculture. Silicon nanoparticles are well known to improve plant growth under normal and stressful environments. Nanosilicon has been reported to enhance plant stress tolerance against various environmental stress and is considered a non-toxic and proficient alternative to control plant diseases. However, a few studies depicted the phytotoxic effects of SiNPs on specific plants. Therefore, there is a need for comprehensive research, mainly on the interaction mechanism between NPs and host plants to unravel the hidden facts about silicon nanoparticles in agriculture. The present review illustrates the potential role of silicon nanoparticles in improving plant resistance to combat different environmental (abiotic and biotic) stresses and the underlying mechanisms involved.Furthermore, our review focuses on providing the overview of various methods exploited in the biogenic synthesis of silicon nanoparticles. However, certain limitations exist in synthesizing the well-characterized SiNPs on a laboratory scale. To bridge this gap, in the last section of the review, we discussed the possible use of the machine learning approach in future as an effective, less labour-intensive and time-consuming method for silicon nanoparticle synthesis. The existing research gaps from our perspective and future research directions for utilizing SiNPs in sustainable agriculture development have also been highlighted.
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