Bacteria have been known to thrive in challenging environmental niches through diverse phenomena. Swarming is one such favourable adaptations that could help bacteria survive extreme conditions. Therefore, targeting swarming is crucial for improving our understanding of bacterial motility and preventing related infections. Bacillus cereus, which causes food poisoning, has been shown to perform swarming, and salts like NaCl can act as a food preservative to control bacterial growth. To explore the possible alterations in the swarming of Bacillus cereus in the presence of salt, the present study encompasses the effect of NaCl on the swarming characteristics of a natural bacterial isolate, Bacillus cereus MHS, with a hyperswarming phenotype. Here we report that increased NaCl in growth media could induce a reduction in swarming motility and pattern of MHS on Luria agar plates. This observed reduction in swarming was found to be associated with reduced flagellation and a reduction in the abundance of bacterial nanotubes. Gene expression studies supported the phenotypic and ultrastructure observations as the expressions of bfla and ymdB genes, involved in formations of flagella and nanotubes, respectively, were found to be reduced in the swarming MHS cells in the presence of increased NaCl. It was also observed that the salt-induced reduction in swarming of MHS is associated with the reduced expression of the quorum sensing regulator gene plcR. This study first time reports the bacterial nanotubes in a Bacillus cereus strain indicating a possible link between the bacterial nanotube formation and hyperswarming phenotype in Bacillus cereus MHS.

Introduction:Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Lantana camara has been reported to cure a number of ailments, with few studies showing its cytotoxic effects on breast cancer cells. However, the impact of L. camara on triple-negative breast cancer cells is largely obscure to date. The present study investigated the effect of ethanolic extract of L. camara leaves on the triple-negative breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. Methods: Cytotoxic effect of the extract on the cells was determined by cell survival assay. Cell-cycle phase distribution was analysed using flow cytometry. To study the effect on nuclear morphology, nuclear-stained cells were visualised using epifluorescence microscopy. The induction of apoptosis and generation of reactive oxygen species were conducted using flow cytometry. Cellular migration was studied by performing wound healing assay. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was done to determine the mRNA levels of some key genes. Results: L. camara leaf extract induced cytomorphological changes and growth-inhibitory effect on MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The extract also induced G0/G1 cell-cycle arrest and nuclear condensation. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed cell death by apoptosis. L. camara leaf extract also reduced the migration of MDA-MB-231 cells. mRNA expression levels also supported the above observations. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the efficacy of the extract to induce growth-inhibitory and antimigratory effects on MDA-MB-231 cells. Our results thus suggest that L. camara leaf extract can be considered as a potent source of chemotherapeutic agents for triple-negative breast cancer.

In this study, the effect of polymer stabilized copper nanoparticles and ionic copper on the growth, nucleic acid pool, reactive oxygen species generation, cell surface lipopolysaccharide, outer membrane protein profile and cell surface morphology of Escherichia coli were investigated. Copper nanoparticles exhibited a superior bactericidal activity associated with increased nucleic acid degradation, reactive oxygen species generation and change in the outer membrane protein profile compared to ionic copper in a concentration dependent manner. Although, there was no change in the outer membrane lipopolysaccharide profile, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis of nano- and ionic copper treated Escherichia coli cells revealed that more amounts of copper nanoparticles were transported inside the cells compared to the ionic counterpart up to 500 mM concentrations. Interestingly, copper nanoparticles at 1000 mM concentration could induce membrane pit formation whereas ionic copper failed to exhibit such property under the same experimental conditions. Based on these observations it can be concluded that both nano- and ionic copper exert their antibacterial action through the generation of reactive oxygen species, degradation of cellular nucleic acids and alteration of membrane protein profile, but with a significant difference in the effective concentration range due to the differential cellular transport. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a medically important opportunistic pathogen due to its intrinsic ability to form biofilms on different surfaces as one of the defense mechanisms for survival. The fact that it can form biofilms on various medical implants makes it more harmful clinically. Although various antibiotics are used to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, studies have shown that sub-MIC levels of antibiotics could induce Pseudomonas biofilm formation. The present study thus explored the effect of the aminoglycoside antibiotic gentamicin on the biofilm dynamics of two Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains KPW.1-S1 and HRW.1-S3. Biofilm formation was found to be increased in the presence of increased concentrations of gentamicin. Confocal, scanning electron microscopy, and other biochemical tests deduced that biofilm-forming components exoproteins, eDNA, and exolipids as exopolymeric substances in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms were increased in the presence of gentamicin. An increase in reactive oxygen species generation along with increased cell surface hydrophobicity was also seen for both strains when treated with gentamicin. The observed increase in the adherence of the cells accompanied by the increase in the components of exopolymeric substances may have largely contributed to the increased biofilm production by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains under the stress of the antibiotic treatment.

Supplementary Data from Regulation of Bcl-2 Expression by HuR in HL60 Leukemia Cells and A431 Carcinoma Cells

Bacillus thuringiensis is an agriculturally and medically important bacteria as it produces insecticidal Cry proteins and can form biofilm on different plant surfaces. Previous studies reported that the ubiquitous carbon source glucose could induce restricted motility and fractal pattern formation in the growing colonies of pH, salt and arsenate tolerant Bacillus thuringiensis KPWP1. As bacteria are evolved with the ability to exhibit multicellular behavior and biofilm formation under limiting conditions for survival, the present study was focused on exploring the effect of glucose in biofilm formation by Bacillus thuringiensis KPWP1. A significant rise in biofilm loads was observed with increased glucose concentrations in growth media. Compared to control, six times more biofilm load was marked in presence of 2% of glucose. Interestingly, it was observed that the effect was glucose specific and also not due to any change in the sugar-induced physicochemical property of the growth media as the addition of galactose or arabinose could not induce any significant increase in KPWP1 biofilm load. Scanning electron-, confocal laser scanning-microscopic studies and biochemical tests revealed that increased concentrations of glucose could induce increased production of exopolymeric substances, increased number of densely-packed micro-colonies in KPWP1 biofilm and increased hydrophobicity and adherence properties in KPWP1cells.

The present study characterized aresenate reductase of Bacillus thuringiensis KPWP1, tolerant to salt, arsenate and a wide range of pH during growth. Interestingly, it was found that arsC, arsB and arsR genes involved in arsenate tolerance are distributed in the genome of strain KPWP1. The inducible arsC gene was cloned, expressed and the purified ArsC protein showed profound enzyme activity with the KM and Kcat values as 25 µM and 0.00119 s−1, respectively. In silico studies revealed that in spite of 19–26% differences in gene sequences, the ArsC proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus are structurally conserved and ArsC structure of strain KPWP1 is close to nature. Docking and analysis of the binding site showed that arsenate ion interacts with three cysteine residues of ArsC and predicts that the ArsC from B. thuringiensis KPWP1 reduces arsenate by using the triple Cys redox relay mechanism.

A field experiment was carried out at Kapgari village of Jhargram district of West Bengal, to study the effects of NPK, humic acid and zinc sulphate on the growth and yield of African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.), during the year 2018 and 2019. The experiment included three treatments with ten replications were designed in Randomized Block Design. First treatment (T1) was with the recommended doses of NPK (120: 120: 100 kg/ha). Second treatment (T2) was to apply fertigation of 75% of the recommended doses in three splits whereas the third treatment (T3) was to apply fertigation of 75% of the recommended doses in five splits along with foliar application (30 and 45 days after planting) of humic acid (0.2%) and Zinc Sulphate (0.2%). Results revealed that the plants treated with T3 found to have maximum plant height (67.6 cm), plant spread (45.2 cm2) and number of branches per plant (27.2) as well as the number of flowers plant-1 (21.7), flower diameter (5.4 cm), individual flower weight (6.6 g) and yield of flower (230.6 q/ha) were also found highest by applying the same.

One of the utmost concerns in the energy system of this world is the limited sources of energy and outraging pollution as an outcome of its extensive use that seeks a solution for a long-range energy woe going on presently. Sun is the ultimate source of energy; then why solar power cannot be utilized for the production of electricity is content of research for so many days. Either by directly using photovoltaic (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power, solar energy can be derived from sunlight. This paper deals with an aspect in the agricultural field where a particular application has been emphasized that can ease of cultivation sector efficiently. A solar water pumping system is discussed here along with the fabrication of a hardware model to show how the model actually works in the irrigation sector in the near future. Here, a mini model is experimented and validated so that it can further be implemented to large-scale application.

The major limitation of bioavailability of a compound to the bacterial cells can be improved by exploiting chemotactic bacteria. The biofilm formation and surfactant production together increase the bioavailability and biodegradation of oil components. The bioremediation process is solely dependent on establishment and maintenance of conditions that favor oil biodegradation rates in the contaminated area. Bioremediation agents are classified as bioaugmentation agents and bio-stimulants. The success of bioremediation lies on two major modes: bioaugmentation; and biostimulation. Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons depends on chemical nature of the hydrocarbon components present in the oil sample. Aerobic condition is the most favorable for rapid and complete biodegradation of hydrocarbons. Immobilized cells are essential tool of bioremediation. Cells entrapped inside the matrix not only protects them from external environments, but also mitigates the drawback of dispersion of cells at the spillage site. Genetically engineered microorganisms have been reported with better bioremediation efficiency.

Synchronization procedure is the very important for all power resources which are to connect in a grid. In renewable power—like Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) power resource is also needed to fulfill all criteria of synchronization before it couple with grid. This paper presents the configuration, control mechanism and suitable application of a single phase grid connected inverter by using a new concept of Phase Lock Loop (PLL). The SPV is connected to grid through a grid connected inverter. The circuit design, synchronization process is developed and tested by PSIM—Software. This paper exhibit the synchronization of grid connected inverter by control of gate triggering of its semiconductor switches and significantly phase angle matching with utility grid.

Biofilm is a structural and functional unit of microbial consortia encased in self-produced polymeric substances including protein, polysaccharide and e-DNA. Biofilm formation by bacteria represents one of the group behaviors in bacterial world which help them to acquire emergent properties in order to survive under unfavorable conditions. Multidrug resistance in bacterial biofilm is thus an increasing threat to global health. For example, Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus are causal agents of biofilm borne infections. The mechanisms of antibiotic resistance are often conferred by horizontal gene transfer promoting evolution and genetic diversity. The inactivation of antibiotics is also advocated by extracellular polymers and modifying enzymes and survival of bacteria at high antibiotic pressure involves enzymes such as chromosomal beta-lactamase, up-regulated efflux pumps and mutation in antibiotic target molecules. Ironically, detailed studies on effect of antibiotics on bacterial biofilm architectures and unraveling the alterations in molecular networks involved in bacterial biofilm formation in presence of antibiotics would be an upcoming avenue for a deeper understanding of biofilm physiology to develop better therapeutic strategies against biofilm mediated bacterial infections.

The authors have carried out a comprehensive experimental study on Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) by using both the self-resonance coupling and near-field electromagnetic coupling between transmitting and receiving electrically-small loop antennas. For the first coupling mechanism, the frequency of the transmitted signal is kept same as the self-resonance frequency of the transmitting and receiving antenna system; however, for the second coupling mechanism, the frequency of the transmitted signal is kept well above the self-resonance frequency subject to obtain high radiation efficiency of the transmitting antenna. Experiments have been carried out to study the Power Transfer Efficiency (PTE) of the antenna system coupled in axial and radial orientations for both the abovementioned coupling mechanisms. Results show that the better PTE is achieved in axial coupling mode as compared to the radial coupling mode when the self-resonance coupling mechanism is used; but the usable frequency range (i. e. the bandwidth) is found to be very small less than 1 MHz for this coupling mechanism. The observation is reversed when near-field electromagnetic coupling mechanism is used and the bandwidth for WPT for this mechanism is also found to much broader similar to 50 MHz.

Interspecific competition in bacteria governs colony growth dynamics and pattern formation. Here, we demonstrate an interesting phenomenon of interspecific competition between Bacillus cereus MSM-S1 and Pseudomonas sp. MSM-M1, where secretion of an inhibitor by Pseudomonas sp. is used as a strategy for survival. Although B. cereus grows faster than Pseudomonas sp., in the presence of Pseudomonas sp. the population of B. cereus reduces significantly, whereas Pseudomonas sp. do not show any marked alteration in their population growth. Appearance of a zone of inhibition between growing colonies of two species on nutrient agar prevents the expanding front of the MSM-S1 colony from accessing and depleting nutrients in the region occupied by MSM-M1, thereby aiding the survival of the slower growing MSM-M1 colonies. To support our experimental results, we present simulations, based on a chemotactic model of colony growth dynamics. We demonstrate that the chemical(s) secreted by Pseudomonas sp. is responsible for the observed inhibition of growth and spatial pattern of the B. cereus MSM-S1 colony. Our experimental results are in excellent agreement with the numerical results and confirm that secreted inhibitors enable Pseudomonas sp. to survive and coexist in the presence of faster growing B. cereus, in a common niche.

In this part of the paper, authors have discussed the historical background of the wireless power transmission since the inception of it to the current state-of-the-art. This initial part of the paper may be regarded as the introductory part of authors' experimental studies on wireless power transfer via near-field coupling of electrically-small transmitting and receiving loop antennas which have been recently carried out at the Antenna and Propagation Laboratory, SKFGI, Mankundu. The theoretical modeling of the transmitting and receiving loop antennas as the wireless power transfer module and the corresponding experimental studies have been discussed in the successive parts later on as the continuation of the same paper.

In this part of the paper, the theoretical modeling of electrically-small loop antennas as transmitting and receiving modules for wireless power transmission have been discussed in detail. The proposed experimental setup for the measurements has also been described in brief at the end.

Pseudomonas sp. has long been known for production of a wide range of secondary metabolites during late exponential and stationary phases of growth. Phenazine derivatives constitute a large group of secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms including Pseudomonas sp. Phenazine 1,6-di-carboxylic acid (PDC) is one of such metabolites and has been debated for its origin from Pseudomonas sp. The present study describes purification and characterization of PDC isolated from culture of a natural isolate of Pseudomonas sp. HRW.1-S3 while grown in presence of crude oil as sole carbon source. The isolated PDC was tested for its effect on biofilm formation by another environmental isolate of Pseudomonas sp. DSW.1-S4 which lacks the ability to produce any phenazine compound. PDC showed profound effect on both planktonic as well as biofilm mode of growth of DSW.1-S4 at concentrations between 5 and 20 μM. Interestingly, PDC showed substantial cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines and against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Thus, the present study not only opens an avenue to understand interspecific cooperation between Pseudomonas species which may lead its applicability in bioremediation, but also it signifies the scope of future investigation on PDC for its therapeutic applications.