It is our consensus that plants survive and flourish in stressed ecosystems because of endosymbiotic organisms that have co-evolved and were essential for their adaptation to changing environments. Some of these microbial components are noncultivable and vertically transmitted from generation to generation. They represent a vast reservoir of heritable DNA that can enhance plant performance in changing environments and add genetic flexibility to adaptation of long-lived plants. If such endophytes can be identified that not only persist in progeny of novel hosts, but can confer benefits in mechanized, agricultural systems, they would be increasingly important in agricultural production and lead to a rapid and economical method of providing novel germplasms of native and crop plants. In the present review, authors advocate the deployment of fungal diversity and its role to overcome the biotic stress in plants. Endophytic fungal association with plants helps it to protect from various pathogen and pests and adapt to survive in harsh biotic and abiotic stress condition.

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The Porcellanite Formation in the basal Semri Group of the Proterozoic Vindhyan Supergroup, exposed along the Son River Valley, India, primarily consists of intercalated silicified felsic tuff beds (porcellanite), rhyolitic breccia, and shale. Lensoid patches of very coarse-grained rhyolite occur in a stretch of about 10 km near the eastern end of the valley. These are newly interpreted as rhyolite flows, with flow structures including aligned volcanic fragments and phenocrysts, a few of which are ∼10-cm-long feldspars. Microphenocrysts consist of fragments of patchy perthite and quartz, with subordinate Fe-oxide minerals set in a very fine-grained groundmass of quartz and feldspar. Volcanic rock fragments and fiamme are common. Bulk chemical compositions of nine samples also identify them as rhyolite (SiO 2 p 75.24%; Na 2 O 1 K 2 O p 7.06%, CaO p 1.66%). Rare earth element distribution is typical of granitic rocks, with a negative Eu anomaly of 0.57. The samples are enriched in U, Th, La, and Rb and depleted in Cr and Ni relative to upper continental crust and total crust. New U-Pb isotopic analyses of magmatic zircons in the rhyolitic flow give a concordia intercept age of 1640 5 4 Ma and a weighted-mean 207 Pb/ 206 Pb average age of 1642 5 7 Ma. These are essentially identical with those determined previously from zircons in porcellanite outcrops to the west. Lu-Hf isotopic compositions show that all but one ε Hf value at 1640 Ma are less than chondrite uniform reservoir values, indicating a significant contribution from older, felsic crust. Crustal models suggest derivation from about 2.5 Ga middle to lower crust. The new data do not support Semri sedimentation in an active arc setting or derivation of the rhyolite magma from a putative and now-concealed subduction zone with contribution from the mantle. We suggest that far-field effects of one or more of the ca. 1650 Ma collisions of continental blocks caused crustal fracturing as the basin subsided, which induced melting and the consequent rhyolitic volcanism.

Four different bacterial strains were isolated from pulp and paper mill sludge in which one alkalotolerant isolate (LP1) having higher capability to remove color and lignin, was identified as Bacillus sp. by 16S RNA sequencing. Optimization of process parameters for decolorization was initially performed to select growth factors which were further substantiated by Taguchi approach in which seven factors, % carbon, % black liquor, duration, pH, temperature, stirring and inoculum size, at two levels, applying L-8 orthogonal array were taken. Maximum color was removed at pH 8, temperature 35°C, stirring 200 rpm, sucrose (2.5%), 48 h, 5% (w/v) inoculum size and 10% black liquor. After optimization 2-fold increase in color and lignin removal from 25-69% and 28-53%, respectively, indicated significance of Taguchi approach in decolorization and delignification of lignin in pulp and paper mill effluent. Enzymes involved in the process of decolorization of effluent were found to be xylanase (54 U/ml) and manganese peroxidase (28 U/ml). Treated effluent was also evaluated for toxicity by Comet assay using Saccharomyces cerevisiae MTCC 36 as model organism, which indicated 58% reduction after treatment by bacterium.

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