eChapters

1. Introduction
Pharmaceutical pollution has emerged as a significant global concern, raising alarms about its potential impacts on ecosystems and human health. The journey of pharmaceutical compounds from their point of use to contamination of water bodies reveals a complex and interconnected web of anthropogenic activities. From manufacturing plants to individual households, these pollutants persistently infiltrate aquatic systems, creating a growing

Abstract

Now a days, the public has become more sensitive towards the protection of the environment and general awareness has increased about the adverse effects of industrial effluents contaminate with various pollutants, including dyes on the environment. Dyes are an important class of synthetic organic compounds used in many industries, especially textiles. Consequently, they have become common industrial environmental pollutants during their synthesis and later during fiber dyeing. Textile industries are facing a challenge in the field of quality and productivity due to the globalization of the world market. The dyes, which are widely used in textile industries when left in water bodies without any treatment cause environmental pollution and in turn are toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic. The efficient treatment of the sludge from the industries is not economical and a challenging task. Currently, a number of different technologies and methods such as biological, physical and chemical are widely used for the removal of dyes. The treatment technologies for the removal of textile dyes from the textile wastewater found that over the past two decades interestingly focused on biodegradation methods such as microbial decolourization, enzymatic decolourization, adsorption by microbial biomass (living or dead) and bioremediation systems as a better alternative as the available physico-chemical methods.

1.    Introduction    129
2.    Soil Microbiology    129

    2.1.    Bacteria, 130
    2.2.    Fungi, 132
    2.3.    Algae and Cyanobacteria, 132
    2.4.    Protozoa, 132
    2.5.    Viruses, 135

3.    Water Microbiology    133
4.    Microbial Associations    133

    4.1.    Neutral interactions, 133
    4.2.    Positive interactions, 133
    4.3.    Negative interactions, 133

2.1 Introduction 
The world is encountering a severe power and environmental crisis. Adopting sustainable progress is the best means to protect our environment and maximise the use of available resources. The urgent issues, encompassing diverse types of pollution and carbon emissions, highlight the necessity to shift towards renewable energy sources. This shift is essential for diminishing our dependence on fossil fuels, addressing the on-going challenges regarding climate change, and confronting the exhaustion of current energy reserves. Furthermore, mitigating water pollution is an essential component of ensuring ecological sustainability [1,2]. Water supplies are rapidly being contaminated due to diverse contaminants including heavy metals, and harmful chemicals. While industrialization is critical for societal growth, it is critical to recognise the negative environmental consequences caused by numerous processes that emit hazardous substances. Improper disposal of untreated wastewater can negatively impact ecology and biodiversity [3]. As a result, it is critical to use environmentally friendly and sustainable treatment methods that adhere to green development principles. This will bolster industrialization efforts while upholding water pollution safeguards for recovery and reuse. Given the prevailing energy crisis, traditional wastewater treatment facilities have become financially unsustainable due to their high energy consumption. Traditional wastewater treatment is both costly and demands substantial energy resources. Furthermore, these approaches fall short of efficiently eradicating recalcitrant organic waste, heavy metals, and other persistent contaminants. Moreover, many of these treatment processes require regeneration. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has emerged as an ecofriendly treatment option capable of effectively eliminating stubborn organic pollutants and heavy metals over the long term. Microbial fuel cells are chosen over other current treatment methods because to their reduced energy needs and lower chemical usage [4,5]. In addition to lowering energy usage, MFCs possess the ability to produce ample bioenergy, which can help alleviate the energy shortage. This provides a cleaner alternative for generating renewable energy in favour of sustainable development and environmental protection as depicted in Figure 2.1.

The increase in population and global industrialization has led to environmental pollution, which is a significant threat to the health of the ecological system. Different measures are recommended to remediate polluted areas effectively. The applications of nanotechnology in medicine, cosmetics, sports, textiles, and pharmaceuticals have increased over the years. Another approach to remediate the adverse effects of pollutants on the environment is by utilizing nanotechnology for contaminant remediation. Biogenic nanoparticles are tiny particles produced by biological entities such as fungi, bacteria, yeast, and algae. These biogenic nanoparticles are efficient in removing pollutants like heavy metals, pharmaceutical waste, dyes, and hydrocarbon waste. 

1.    Introduction    174
2.    The Thermodynamic and Mechanistic basis of Cellular Metabolism    174

    2.1.      Adenosine triphosphate, 175
    2.2.    Coenzyme A, 176
    2.3.    Modes of ATP synthesis, 177

3.      Components of Electron Transport Chain    181

    3.1.    Electron carriers in ETC, 182
    3.2.    Complex I - NADH dehydrogenase (NADH coenzyme Q reductase), 185
    3.3.    Complex II - Succinate - coenzyme Q reductase, 187
    3.4.    Complex III - Coenzyme Q - cytochrome c reductase, 187
    3.5.    Complex IV - Cytochrome c oxidase, 188
    3.6.    ATP synthese, 188

Abstract
 
Opencast mining destroys the original land ecosystem and microbial community due to mining and stockpiling of mine rejects on adjoining land, which is a matter of great environmental concern. Mining creates formation of wastelands, formation of gullies, ravines, overburdens, reduced water infiltration and increased runoff. Reclamation of mined out areas is often difficult due to its chemical, physical and biological traits. Absence of topsoil is the most common feature of the mine spoils dumps. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), the synonym of VAM fungi, are important microbes of soil that form symbiotic association with most of the terrestrial plants on the earth. Observations led to use of legume microsymbionts as biological substitutes for fertilizers. AMF diversity increases with species diversity of plants as the potential number of association increases. Dominant arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can prevent the invasion of non-mycorrhizal plants on land where they have established symbiosis and promote their mycorrhizal host.

Abstract

Microbiological synthesis of nanoparticles has emerged as rapidly developing research area in nanotechnology across the globe with various biological entities being employed in production of nanoparticles constantly forming an impute alternative for conventional methods. Simple prokaryotes to complex eukaryotic organisms including higher plants are used for the fabrication of nanoparticles. In the present article, the synthesis of important plant nutrients like Mg, Zn, Ag, Au, Ti, P and Fe nanoparticles from different fungal species, their characterization and application potential of nanonutrients in agriculture is elaborately discussed.

The basic methods for wastewater sewerage (collection, treatment, and disposal) are as follows:

• Off-site sewerage
• Separate sewerage system
• Combined sewerage system
• On-site sewerage

Many nations have implemented separate sewage systems that transmit sewage and storm water through separate pipelines in order to separate the two. Storm water often does not contribute to a wastewater treatment facility (WWTP). Domestic sewage contains 99.9% or more water. The remaining portion is made up of bacteria

Life on Earth is dependent on microorganisms for many essential services. Microbes are intimate partners in global agriculture by way of mobilization of nutrients, antagonism against pathogens and exploitation of plant- microbe interactions and optimization of plant microbiome allows farmers to apply less chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and improving plant growth and yield for sustainable development.

India has 2.4% of land area of world and 8.1% global species diversity. India has 7500 km long coast line in nine states and three union territories. About 14% of Indian population (17 crores) lives in coastal area. In 10.78 million ha of coastal ecosystem, rice is the major coastal crop. Coastal rice accounts for 15% of total area and production of India. Coconut, cashew, areca nut, spices, plantation and fruit crops are the other important coastal crops. The east coast in four states (Tamil nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal) and one union territory (Pondicherry) has sandy coast and plains with medium to high rainfall (100-250 cm), and hot humid climate. It has marshy lands and mangroves. The west coast in five states (Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat) and two union territories (Diu and Daman, Dadar and Nagarhaeli) has fertile sandy plains with high rainfall (250-300 cm) and hot humid climate suitable for horticulture and plantation crops. Western Ghats near west coast is a hot spot with high biodiversity. ICAR established the Central Coastal Agriculture Research Institute (CCARI) at Goa in 2015 to carry out research on coastal agricultural crops.

Soil salinity in coastal regions is not only a soil type character, but also due to low quality irrigation water. The plant associated microorganisms “Plant microbiome” play a significant role in conferring resistance to soil salinity. The endophytic bacteria- rhizobium, rhizobacteria- azospirillum, azotobacter, phosphobacteria, PGPR bacteria, cyanobacteria, symbiotic fungi- ecto and endo mycorrhiza, alleviate the impact of soil salinity. Minimal microbiome for plants is the key determinant of plant health and productivity. The plant- microbe interactions are of three types: (i) Positive: Beneficial organisms- nitrogen fixers, phosphobacteria, mycorrhiza; (ii) Negative: Harmful organisms - plant pathogens; (iii) Neutral: Transient organisms. Millions of microbes inhabit plants, form complex ecological communities to improve plant growth, crop quality and productivity.

A farm microclimate refers to the specific climatic conditions of a small, localized area within a farm. These conditions can differ significantly from the broader regional climate due to various natural and man-made factors. Understanding and managing microclimates is crucial for optimizing crop growth, animal welfare, and overall farm productivity. Modern commercial dairy production requires a special approach to the microclimate on the farm. High quality milk and animal health depend on the conditions of their keeping. At the same time, farm for dairy production for the most part do not have the means to control and manage the microclimate, in contrast to poultry farm. When organizing the correct process of controlling the microclimate, a prerequisite is the presence of an automated system for collecting data. Generally animals adapt to a wide range of weather conditions although their growth and productivity varies with weather conditions. Buffaloes and cows form the main component in dairy industry. The extent to which these animals can adapt to different weather conditions is given below: Successful management of buffalo rearing will be incomplete without wellplanned and adequate housing facilities (Fig.10.1).
Improper planning in the arrangement of animal housing may result in management problems, increase in disease incidence, additional labour charges and hence decrease in the profit of the farmer. During erection of a house for dairy buffaloes, care should be taken to provide comfortable accommodation for individual animals. It is important to ensure:
• Proper sanitation
• Durability
• Abundant supply of clean water
• Arrangements for the production of clean milk under convenient and
economic conditions.
Buffaloes may be successfully housed under a wide variety of conditions, ranging from close confinement to little restrictions except at milking time. However, two types of farms are in general use.

There is an increased use of Glass houses and poly houses in commercial agriculture. The glass houses and poly houses provide a controlled environment for plants throughout the year. Some of the aspects of related to the advantages of Glass houses and poly houses are highlighted in the following text:
9.1. Glass houses
Glass houses are also referred as greenhouses. The glass prevents harmful ultraviolet radiations. The glass is transparent to solar radiations of wavelengths up to 300 nm and does not allow long-wave radiations to pass through it (Fig.9.1). Therefore, the Glass houses maintain higher temperature and high relative humidity during daytime as well as nighttime and offer the following advantages:
9.1.1. Controlled Environment: Glass houses facilitate regulation of temperature,
humidity, and light intensity, creating optimum environment for growing various plant species. This is especially beneficial for tropical and sub-tropical plants that require specific conditions to grow and survive.
9.1.2. Protection from Pests and Diseases: The enclosed glass house protects
plants from pests and diseases. The glass house also protects the plants from harsh weather conditions thereby minimizing risk of infestations and environmental stresses. Fig. 9.1: Microclimate management in Glass house
9.1.3. Extended Growing Season: By maintaining stable climate, glass houses
enable cultivation of plants that may not survive outdoors in certain climates thereby extending the growing season for sensitive species.
9.1.4. Research and Conservation: Botanical gardens often use glass houses for
research purposes, studying plant growth, genetics and breeding. The glass houses will also serve as a means for conserving rare or endangered plant species by providing stable environment for propagation. The advantage of glass houses is that the structure has long life span.
9.2. Poly houses
The poly houses are constructed using polythene material. The poly houses protect the plants from wind, cold weather, hail storms, extreme temperatures, insects and pests. The polythene house farming is a popular greenhouse technology due to its low cost of construction and maintenance. Generally, heat accumulation (70 to 75 per cent of solar energy) takes place inside the polyhouse. Solar radiation is allowed to pass through the polythene material and the long wave radiation cannot escape through polythene. The benefits of poly houses are:

There is growing demand for increasing fruit production as fruits are considered to be healthy, nutritious and easy to digest. Fruits are natural foods and have export potential as well as provide opportunities for increasing employment by establishing fruit processing industries. Some of the fruits can be grown around the year where as some fruits are of seasonal in nature. Usually, the fruit cultivation is undertaken by establishing orchards. In case of orchards, wrong decisions in planting may result in huge loss and therefore right method of planting is the key factor for establishing orchards.
The fruit crops are of three types depending on the adoptability to the climate of the region and are grouped as
• tropical fruits
• sub-tropical fruits
• temperate fruits
The microclimate of the orchards depends upon
• height of the plants/trees
• horizontal spread
• canopy architecture
• spacing/plant density
• age of plantation
• seasonal weather
15.1. Tropical Fruits
The tropical fruits require higher temperature throughout the year. The crops do not require low temperature for breaking dormancy and for flowering. The plants are ever green and grow throughout the year. There plants are well adopted to regions where the minimum temperatures are more than 10°C and very sensitive to frost. There are grown in tropical regions between 23°N to 23°S latitudes. The optimum maximum temperature for growth and development ranges from 30 to 37°C.
15.2. Sub-Tropical Fruits
The sub-tropical fruits perform better between temperate and tropical climates as the plant requires both high and low temperatures. Some of the fruit crops are green and some of those are deciduous. The temperate fruit crops are very sensitive to frost. The sub-tropical fruit plants break dormancy of flower buds

Microclimate under irrigated conditions and dryland conditions can differ significantly due to variations in water availability, which influences several environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, soil moisture, and vegetation cover. The crops are grown both under irrigated and dryland / rainfed situations. The major difference between irrigated and dryland conditions is availability of water. In irrigated areas, the crops are regularly provided with water through irrigation at regular intervals. Under dryland situations, the water availability to the crops depends upon the rainfall and/or stored soil moisture. Under irrigated situations, there are two different possibilities as indicated below:
• vast stretch of irrigated areas
• isolated pockets of irrigated areas in predominantly dry areas. In dryland areas the following possibilities exist:
• humid and moist sub-humid areas where predominantly rice based cropping systems are adopted during rainy season
• per-humid areas where plantation crops and rice grown during rainy season.
• dry sub-humid areas with rice based cropping systems in low lands and finger millet, maize based cropping systems in upland areas
• semi-arid regions where kharif crops are grown during rainy season.
• rabi-crops grown under conserved moisture conditions during post rainy season.
• arid regions where pearl millet based cropping system are practiced during rainy season.
• hill agriculture
The microclimatic conditions are likely to vary between irrigated and rainfed conditions due to different agro-ecological settings. The comparative analyses of microclimatic variation under both conditions are given below:

Modifying microclimates in agriculture involves altering the local climate conditions surrounding crops or plants to create a more favorable environment for growth. This can be achieved through various techniques when the crops are subjected to weather related stresses.
14.1. To Mitigate Moisture Stress during Droughts
When the crops are under moisture stress, the principles involved are conservation of soil moisture and reduce the evapotranspiration from crops. The moisture conservation can be achieved by suppressing soil evaporation using mulches (Fig. 14.1). The evapotranspiration can be reduced using antitranspirants. Some antitranspirents close the stomata of the leaves to reduce evapotranspiration. Some anti-transpirants increase the reflectance of radiation from the crops, thereby reducing heat load on crops. When crops are grown under irrigation in isolated patches, micro shelter belts can be provided across the predominant wind direction to reduce the increased evapotranspiration from advection. Advection is phenomena of horizontal transport of heat due to strong hot and dry winds.

ZINC (Zn)

Chandler et al., (1932) deduced the requirement of zinc by plants while working solution for little leaf or “rosette” on peach. Zinc plays significant role in assimilation of NO₃ and for synthesis of tryptophan. Involved in biosynthesis of indole acetic acid which is responsible for f lowering and fruiting, it is an activator of several enzymes (triphosphate dehydrogenase and tryptophan synthetase), involved in photosynthesis and nitrogen metabolism.

Deficiency results in poor growth of the terminal bud. Decrease in stem length resulting in resetting and whorling of leaves. Zinc deficiency disorder in rice is called khaira. Common when zinc availability is < 0.7 ppm. White bud in maize and malformation of fruits, reduction in water uptake. Interveinal chlorosis often with necrosis and pigmentation and reduced leaf size in broad leaved crops known as little leaf and malformation of leaves.

The crops which are known to respond for zinc application are maize, rice, soyabean, castor, onion, barley, wheat, potato, sorghum and cotton

18.1. Determination of Available Micronutrient Cations (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn) in Soil

The available micronutrient cations (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn) can be estimated in a single extraction with diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) as proposed by Lindsay and Norvell (1978). DTPA has the excellent property to combine with free metal ions in the solution forming soluble complexes. The stability constants of metal-DTPA complexes make DTPA as a most suitable extractant for simultaneous complex formation with Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn. In calcareous soil DTPA extractant may result overestimation due to excess dissolution of CaCO_3, thus releases occluded micronutrient cations which are not plant available. To avoid this excessive dissolution of CaCO₃, DTPA is buffered at pH 7.3 using triethanol amine (TEA). At this pH major part (3/4^th) of TEA is present as HTEA⁺ (protonation) and exchanges for Ca and Mg ion from the soil exchange site. This increases concentration of Ca and Mg in the solution phase and suppresses dissolution of CaCO₃. The DTPA has the capacity to complex each of the micronutrient cations 10 times of its atomic weight and it ranges from 550 to 650 ppm depending on the micronutrient cation.

The amount of cation in the extract is determined on an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The experimental condition such as shaking time, DTPA concentration, pH and temperature during shaking influence the amount of Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn extracted. Increase in shaking time and temperature markedly influence the extractability of these cations.

Abstract

Impact of climate change and related stresses on plant productivity are being witnessed worldwide with developing countries being more vulnerable due to more dependency on agriculture. Microorganisms can play important role as economic and farmer’s friendly strategy to combat abiotic stress in agriculture. A wide range of microorganisms associate with plants, and many of them confer beneficial effects to their hosts through different mechanisms like production of growth promoting substances, nutrient acquisition, protection against plant pathogens etc. In the last few decades, role of microorganisms in imparting tolerance to plants against different abiotic stress has been reported in many crop plants. Under stresses conditions, plant-microbe interactions become more common towards coping with the stress. Selection and application of efficient abiotic stress tolerant microorganisms can be a fruitful strategy to alleviate negative effects of abiotic stresses in plants.

ABSTRACT

Mineral exploration is not only highly imaginative and creative but a very costly activity as well. The fast emerging Geomatics technology is a real boon in mineral exploration as it encompasses a whole spectrum of solutions and services which are of great help for exploration geologists. Geological maps which generally form the basic requirement for any kind of natural resources inventory operations currently witness tremendous changes and the same is mainly attributed to the integration of Geomatics technology. Usage of Geomatics has revolutionized the art of mineral exploration as geological maps can be easily integrated with other important details like geomorphology, structure and tectonic pattern, geophysical data etc. This kind of data integration facilitates for the better identification of mineralized zones. In addition, GIS with its powerful analyzing capability provides tools at several stages in the process of mapping for building up a database containing various types of data for quantifying and extracting features related to mineralization. The present paper narrates an overview of mineral exploration using Geomatics technology.