Gurpreet Kaur

Cloud environments are dynamic and powerful, but they also open the door to security incidents if not...

Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, National University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 620, Muscat PC130, Oman

Background Low phosphate (Pi) availability causes severe decline in crop productivity worldwide. Root system architecture (RSAr) plays a crucial role in Pi uptake from soil and thereby improving phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) of plants. Studying the genetic variability of RSAr traits across various Pi levels offers insights for enhancing crop resilience to Pi deficiency. In the present study, we estimated the response of 280 mustard (

Praveen Gajula Gurbir Singh Ramandeep Kumar Sharma Gurpreet Kaur Jagmandeep Dhillon First published:

Pranay Kumar Kadari Gurbir Singh Kelly A. Nelson Gurpreet Kaur Adauto Rocha Junior First published:

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 30: FANUC India, leader in CNC, ROBOT, and ROBOMACHINE, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Toshiyuki Suzuki as its new President & CEO. Mr. Suzuki succeeds Mr. Yuki Kita, whose visionary leadership from 2023 to 2026 successfully expanded FANUC's industrial and academic footprint across the subcontinent.

The sustainable delivery of microbial biocontrol inoculants is crucial for improving plant health and reducing dependency on chemical pesticides. This study presents an eco-benign approach to encapsulating Trichoderma harzianum spores within bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) sheets for efficient agricultural biocontrol applications. BNC, synthesized using Komagataeibacter saccharivorans NUWB1, was utilized as a protective and biodegradable carrier material to enhance the stability and viability of Trichoderma spores. The fabricated BNC-Trichoderma composite films were characterized using FESEM, EDX, FTIR, and TGA, confirming successful spore entrapment and structural stability. Soil application tests demonstrated sustained viability and activation of encapsulated Trichoderma spores. Dual-culture assays revealed effective antagonistic activity, showing 60% inhibition of Fusarium incarnatum and 42.89% inhibition of Rhizoctonia solani. Pot experiments with soybean (Glycine max) seeds showed significant improvements in plant height, root length, and number of primary branches in composite film–treated plants under pathogen pressure compared to pathogen-only treatments. Furthermore, biodegradation studies confirmed the eco-sustainability of the fabricated films, with complete degradation observed within 28 days. This study highlights the potential of BNC-based encapsulation as a promising strategy for controlled microbial delivery, enhancing biocontrol efficacy and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.