Plastic is a general term used for a wide range of high molecular weight organic polymers obtained mostly from the various hydrocarbon and petroleum derivatives. There is an ever-increasing trend towards the production and consumption of plastics due to their extensive industrial and domestic applications. However, a wide spectrum of these polymers is non-biodegradable with few exceptions. The extensive use of plastics, lack of waste management, and casual community behavior towards their proper disposal pose a significant threat to the environment. This has raised growing concerns among various stakeholders to devise policies and innovative strategies for plastic waste management, use of biodegradable polymers especially in packaging, and educating people for their proper disposal. Current polymer degradation strategies rely on chemical, thermal, photo, and biological procedures. In the presence of proper waste management strategies coupled with industrially controlled biodegradation facilities, the use of biodegradable plastics for some applications such as packaging or health industry is a promising and attractive option for economic, environmental, and health benefits. This review highlights the classification of plastics with special emphasis on biodegradable plastics and their rational use, the identified mechanisms of plastic biodegradation, the microorganisms involved in biodegradation, and the current insights into the research on biodegradable plastics. The review has also identified the research gaps in plastic biodegradation followed by future research directions.
The first decade of genetic engineering primarily focused on quantitative crop improvement. With the advances in technology, the focus of agricultural biotechnology has shifted toward both quantitative and qualitative crop improvement, to deal with the challenges of food security and nutrition. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a solanaceous food crop having potential to feed the populating world. It can provide more carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and vitamins per unit area of land as compared to other potential food crops, and is the major staple food in many developing countries. These aspects have driven the scientific attention to engineer potato for nutrition improvement, keeping the yield unaffected. Several studies have shown the improved nutritional value of potato tubers, for example by enhancing Amaranth Albumin-1 seed protein content, vitamin C content, β-carotene level, triacylglycerol, tuber methionine content, and amylose content, etc. Removal of anti-nutritional compounds like steroidal glycoalkaloids, acrylamide and food toxins is another research priority for scientists and breeders to improve potato tuber quality. Trait improvement using genetic engineering mostly involved the generation of transgenic products. The commercialization of these engineered products has been a challenge due to consumer preference and regulatory/ethical restrictions. In this context, new breeding technolgies like TALEN (transcription activator-like effector nucleases) and CRISPR/Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated 9) have been employed to generate transgene-free products in a more precise, prompt and effective way. Moreover, the availability of potato genome sequence and efficient potato transformation systems have remarkably facilitated potato genetic engineering. Here we summarize the potato trait improvement and potential application of new breeding technologies (NBTs) to genetically improve the overall agronomic profile of potato.
Renewable energy sources represent the potential fuel alternatives to overcome the global energy crises in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner. In future, biofuels may replenish the conventional non-renewable energy resources due to their renewability and several other advantages. Lignocellulosic biomass offers the most economical biomass to generate biofuels. However, extensive research is required for the commercial production of an efficient integrated biotransformation process for the production of lignocellulose mediated biofuels.
Viral diseases have been a major limiting factor threating sustainable potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production in Pakistan. Surveys were conducted to serologically quantify the incidence of RNA viruses infecting potato; Potato virus X (PVX), Potato virus Y (PVY), Potato virus S (PVS), Potato virus A (PVA), Potato virus M (PVM) and Potato leaf roll virus (PLRV) in two major potato cultivars (Desiree and Cardinal). The results suggest the prevalence of multiple viruses in all surveyed areas with PVY, PVS and PVX dominantly widespread with infection levels of up to 50% in some regions. Co-infections were detected with the highest incidence (15.5%) for PVX and PVS. Additionally the data showed a positive correlation between co-infecting viruses with significant increase in absorbance value (virus titre) for at least one of the virus in an infected plant and suggested a synergistic interaction. To test this hypothesis, glasshouse grown potato plants were challenged with multiple viruses and analyzed for systemic infections and symptomology studies. The results obtained conclude that multiple viral infections dramatically increase disease epidemics as compared to single infection and an effective resistance strategy in targeting multiple RNA viruses is required to save potato crop.
Chitosan (CS), a biopolymer derived from chitin, is known for strong antifungal activity while being biodegradable, biocompatible, and non-toxic. Because of its characteristic it has been widely used in control of fungal pathogens. Antifungal activity of chitosan can be further enhanced by obtaining chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs). However, most of the experiments using CS and CSNPs as antifungal agents were performed under various conditions and using diverse CS batches of different characteristics and obtained from different sources. Therefore, it is essential to systematize the available information. This work contains a current review on how the CS parameters: molecular weight, degree of deacetylation, acetylation pattern and dispersity of these features shape its antifungal activity. It also considers how concentration and protonation (pH) of CS water solutions define final biological effect. Review explains in detail how CS parameters affect characteristics of CSNPs, particle size, zeta potential, and dispersities of both and determine antifungal activity. In addition to the parameters of CS and CSNPs, the review also discusses the possible characteristics of fungal cells that determine their susceptibility to the substances. The response of fungi to CS and CSNPs varies according to different fungal species and their stages of development. The precise knowledge of how CS and CSNP parameters affect specific fungal pathogens will help design and optimize environmentally friendly plant protection strategies against fungi.
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