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Biology subjects

Alam, M. Z.

Publications and source records attributed to Alam, M. Z..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, selenium, sulfur, silica-gel and biochar reduce arsenic uptake in plant biomass and improve nutritional quality in Pisum sativum

Arsenic (As) is a carcinogenic substance. It increased in crop grown in field soil from ground water irrigation. Subsequently As transport into the human body through food chains. The reduction of As transport in root, shoot and grain of pea genotypes is significantly important to protect human health. This research is focused on the biomass growth and alleviation of As accumulation in root, shoot and grain of pea genotypes in high As soil (30mgkg-1) amended with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), biochar (BC) of rice husk and saw dust, selenium (Se), silica- gel (Si), and sulfur (S). Shoot length, root, shoot and pod mass were generally higher in pea crops grown in soil amended with AMF, Se, Si- gel and S. Rice husk and saw dust BC less consistently increased some growth parameters, particularly in genotype BARI Motor 2. However, the BCs more often reduced growth and pod mass. All treatments significantly reduced As concentration in tissues; As in grains was reduced on average 60% by any of the soil amendments. AMF, Se and Si- gel all were found more effective than BC for the reduction of As uptake in pea crops. As in grains was reduced 77% by AMF, 71% by Se and 69% by Si- gel on average. As in root, shoot, and grain was also affected by variety; in control treatments, total As uptake in plants pot-1 of BARI Motor 1 and 3 was found 60 to 70% higher than BARI Motor 2. Comparing the variety and treatment with most As in grains (BARI Motor 1 control, 0.35 mg As kg-1) and least As in grains (BARI motor 1, 2 & 3 with AMF with 0.07 mg As kg-1), the choice of variety and soil amendment could reduce human intake of As through pea by 80%. It is recommended that choice of pea variety and soil amendment with AMF and Se have great potential for improving the nutritional quality of pea grown in As contaminated soil, as well as reducing As transfer to human bodies through food chains in pea crops.

microbiology

Hemozoin produced by mammals confers heme tolerance

Free heme is cytotoxic as exemplified by hemolytic diseases and genetic deficiencies in heme recycling and detoxifying pathways. Thus, intracellular accumulation of heme has not been observed in mammalian cells to date. Here we show that mice deficient for the heme transporter HRG1 accumulate over ten-fold excess heme in reticuloendothelial macrophage lysosomes that are 10 to 100 times larger than normal. Macrophages tolerate these high concentrations of heme by polymerizing them into crystalline hemozoin, which heretofore has only been found in blood-feeding parasites. HRG1 deficiency results in impaired erythroid maturation and an inability to systemically respond to iron deficiency. Complete heme tolerance requires a fully-operational heme degradation pathway as haploinsufficiency of HMOX1 combined with HRG1 inactivation causes perinatal lethality demonstrating synthetic lethal interactions between heme transport and degradation. Our studies establish the formation of hemozoin by mammals as a previously unsuspected heme tolerance pathway.

pathology

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus (AMF) and reduction of arsenic uptake in lentil crops

Arsenic (As) is a carcinogenic and hazardous substance that poses a serious risk to human health. Physiological studies have shown that growth of lentil crop have been impaired due to arsenic toxicity, and is transportable into human food chains. Our research focused on the transportation of As in lentil crops and its mitigation using Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus (AMF). Shoot length, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root were found comparatively higher in 5 and 15 mgkg-1 arsenic treated lentil seedlings than in a 100 mgkg-1 As concentrated soil. As accumulation in lentils pods of BARI Mashur 1 were found higher than others; but As uptake in root and shoot were increased significantly in all BARI released lentil genotypes. Biomass growth of lentil was found higher in AMF treated soils in compare to non-AMF. AMF effectively reduced the arsenic uptake in root and shoot at 8 and 45 mgkg-1 As concentrated soils compared. As free lentil seeds are significantly important for human consumption through mitigation of As accumulation in lentil roots shoots and pods. AMF shows great potential in providing As free lentil seeds throughout the world.

microbiology