In BulletsBasmati rice often suffers from bacterial blight and blight diseases, which cause a massive drop in yield. India is the leading producer and exporter of Basmati rice, with different varieties known for their aroma and taste. Export has suffered losses due to the use of chemical fungicides for the management of these diseases. To mitigate this problem, ICAR-IARI has handed three varieties of Basmati rice, Pusa Basmati 1847, 1885, and 1886 — an improved version of the earlier varieties — earlier this year. These varieties are relatively more resistant to blight diseases. Now, the team began collecting farmers’ feedback on the performance of these varieties.
More information: IARI organized Kisan Sampark Yatra to obtain farmers’ feedback of newly released IARI.
The COVID-19 viruses have a unique coating that enables them to self-destruct. The human ACE2 receptor is the site where viruses bind to infect cells. Scientists have just developed a novel medicine called NMT5 that covers SARS-CoV-2 to block its attachment to the receptor, allowing a brief window of protection. Memantine, a drug that was first created to treat neurological conditions including Alzheimer's, gained attention when a woman with Parkinson's symptoms experienced improvement after taking the drug for flu. The team tested a variety of memantine-like substances against the virus and discovered that the drug prevents virus attachment to receptors by temporarily changing the structure of human ACE2 receptors. The two crucial factors that contribute to the drug's success are its two important properties: recognition and attachment on the surface of SARS-CoV-2 and chemical modification of the human ACE2 receptor using the nitroglycerin fragment — these fragments act as a pharmacological warhead that directs the virus for its seld-destruction.
More information: Oh et al. (2022). Targeted protein S-nitrosylation of ACE2 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nature Chemical Biology. DOI:10.1038/s41589-022-01149-6
Journal information: Nature Chemical Biology
According to a new study, cities are warming quicker than rural areas — 29% faster, and megacities are getting warmer even quicker than that. Researchers calculated that climate change, which increased average land surface temperatures by 0.30 ° C per decade, is the leading cause of urban surface warming. They estimated that the observed surface warming in cities over 0.23 ° C increased in each decade in China and India. They also found that urban greening in European cities reduces 0.13°C of surface warming per decade, suggesting that urban greening may help reduce surface warming in cities.
More information: Zihan Liu et al. (2022). Surface warming in global cities is substantially more rapid than in rural background areas. Communications Earth & Environment. DOI: 10.1038/s43247-022-00539-x
Journal information: Communications Earth & Environment