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Open Access (OA) publishing continues to expand the visibility and impact of life science and biomedical research emerging from India. By enabling immediate and unrestricted access to scientific findings, OA articles are helping accelerate knowledge exchange globally and support wider societal application of research. This column highlights selected OA studies published by Taylor & Francis journals over the past few years, across plant biology, microbiology, environmental science, nanotechnology, and allied fields. Each featured article offers insights into scientific challenges with direct relevance to India and beyond.
Featured Article 1: Plant Drought Stress Tolerance: Understanding Its Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Mechanisms
Authors: Sheikh Shanawaz Bashir, Anjuman Hussain, Sofi Javed Hussain, Owais Ali Wani, Sheikh Zahid Nabi, Niyaz A. Dar, Faheem Shehzad Baloch & Sheikh Mansoor
As climate change intensifies water scarcity, understanding how plants respond to drought stress remains a key area of research in agriculture. This review synthesises current knowledge on the physiological, biochemical, and molecular adaptations that help plants survive water-limited environments.
With drought causing 30% of global crop yield loss and worsening due to climate change, the need for drought-tolerant crops has never been more urgent.
The authors discuss mechanisms like stomatal closure, oxidative stress response, and the role of hormones like abscisic acid (ABA) in combating water deficit. The article also highlights how advanced genome editing technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9, enable precise modifications of genes involved in stress response pathways. By leveraging such technologies, researchers are opening doors to genetically modified crops that can thrive under increasingly challenging environmental conditions.
Source:
This article was originally published in Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment (Taylor & Francis).
Read the full study: https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2021.2020161
Featured Article 2: Strategies for Combating Bacterial Biofilms: A Focus on Anti-Biofilm Agents and Their Mechanisms of Action
Authors: Ranita Roy, Monalisa Tiwari, Gianfranco Donelli & Vishvanath Tiwari
Bacterial biofilms represent a major challenge in modern medicine, contributing to nearly 50% of hospital-acquired infections and significantly increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics. This review examines current efforts to develop anti-biofilm therapies and provides an overview of natural and synthetic molecules that can prevent, disrupt, or eradicate biofilm-associated infections.
The authors describe a range of mechanisms of action used by anti-biofilm agents, including inhibition of quorum sensing, degradation of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), disassembly of mature biofilms, and interference with intracellular signaling systems such as c‑di-GMP and (p)ppGpp. Highlighted compounds include furanones, quercetin, lantibiotics, endolysins, and emerging peptide-based therapies, many of which show potential for combating drug-resistant pathogens like P. aeruginosa, K. pneumoniae, and S. aureus.
Amid rising antibiotic resistance, this review offers useful insights for researchers working in translational microbiology, pharmacology, and infectious disease. It outlines biofilm structure, detection methods, and therapeutic targets, and provides a consolidated landscape of molecules under investigation for anti-biofilm activity.
Source:
This article was originally published in Virulence.
Read the full article:https://doi.org/10.1080/21505594.2017.1313372
Featured Article 3: Health Hazards of Hexavalent Chromium (Cr VI) and Its Microbial Reduction
Authors: Pooja Sharma, Surendra Pratap Singh, Sheetal Kishor Parakh & Yen Wah Tong
Hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) remains one of the world’s most persistent environmental pollutants, commonly released from industrial sectors such as electroplating, leather tanning, textile dyeing, wood preservation, and metallurgy. This review examines the toxicological impact of Cr (VI), a Group 1 carcinogen, on humans, plants, and microbial communities, highlighting its genotoxic, mutagenic, and cytotoxic properties.
The authors outline how Cr (VI) enters the body through inhalation, ingestion, and skin exposure, leading to oxidative stress, DNA damage, respiratory illness, kidney and liver injury, and increased cancer risk. Its mobility and solubility allow it to persist in soil and water for long periods, increasing exposure potential.
Beyond human health, the review discusses Cr (VI)’s effects on plant biology, including impacts on seed germination, chlorophyll synthesis, photosynthesis, and biomass production, as well as its influence on soil microbial diversity. A key focus of the article is microbial strategies for Cr (VI) detoxification, such as biosorption, bioreduction, bioaccumulation, and biomineralisation, which convert the toxic oxidised form into the less harmful Cr (III).
By summarising a wide range of bacteria, fungi, and algae capable of reducing Cr (VI), the review provides a practical roadmap for implementing microbial bioremediation as a sustainable alternative to conventional chemical or physical treatment methods.
Source:
The article was originally published in Bioengineered.
Read the full article: https://doi.org/10.1080/21655979.2022.2037273
Featured Article 4: Microbial Electrolysis — A Promising Approach for Treatment and Resource Recovery from Industrial Wastewater
Authors: Yamini Koul, Viralkunvar Devda, Sunita Varjani, Wenshan Guo, Huu Hao Ngo, Mohammad J. Taherzadeh, Jo-Shu Chang, Jonathan W. C. Wong, Muhammad Bilal, Sang-Hyoun Kim, Xuan-Thanh Bui & Roberto Parra-Saldívar
Microbial Electrolysis Cells (MECs) are being investigated as a biotechnology platform for transforming industrial wastewater treatment into a resource-recovery opportunity. This review discusses the principles, advancements, and future potential of MECs as an energy-positive, carbon-negative technology capable of producing hydrogen, methane, formic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and clean water, all while reducing pollutant load.
The article situates MECs within broader efforts to identify circular and bioeconomic approaches for managing wastewater, given increasing energy demand, and climate pressures. It describes how MECs can be coupled with other processes, including anaerobic digestion, membrane bioreactors, thermoelectric systems, dark fermentation, and microbial fuel cells, to improve treatment efficiency and energy recovery.
The authors provide a technical overview of MEC designs (single- and double-chamber systems), electrogenic microbial communities, substrate utilisation patterns, and degradation pathways for complex pollutants such as nitrobenzene, chlorophenols, sulfates, and heavy metals. The review also underscores current engineering and operational challenges of scaling MECs related to reactor design, electrode materials, process optimisation, cost, and life-cycle considerations.
With wastewater treatment accounting for ~3% of global electricity use yet containing 2 – 4× more recoverable energy, the article highlights MECs as one of the most disruptive technological pathways toward net-positive energy recovery, green hydrogen economy, and industrial decarbonisation.
Source:
The article was originally published in Bioengineered.
Read the full article:https://doi.org/10.1080/21655979.2022.2051842
Featured Article 5: Sulfur Nutrition and Its Role in Plant Growth and Development
Authors: Om Prakash Narayan, Paras Kumar, Bindu Yadav, Meenakshi Dua & Atul Kumar Johri
Sulphur is an essential but often overlooked macronutrient that is necessary for plant growth, productivity, and resilience. This review explores sulphur’s critical role in plant physiology, through its presence in amino acids (cysteine, methionine), coenzymes, vitamins, glutathione, and in Iron – Sulfur (Fe – S) clusters, to its involvement in detoxification, redox regulation, and stress signalling pathways. With declining atmospheric sulphur deposition and intensifying agricultural demand, deficiency of this critical element has emerged as a global challenge affecting crop yields and nutritional quality.
The authors detail sulphur sources in soil, uptake mechanisms via high- and low-affinity sulphate transporters, intracellular transport, and assimilation processes that convert sulphate into vital biomolecules. The review also focusses on the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and endophytic fungi like Serendipita indica in enhancing sulphur acquisition, especially under deficiency conditions. These microbial partners can significantly boost nutrient uptake, plant growth, and tolerance to environmental stresses offering sustainable alternatives to chemical fertilisers.
The paper further highlights sulphur’s role in biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, including its influence on antioxidant activity, hormone signalling, osmotic balance, and the importance of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) as a signalling molecule that regulates how plants respond to drought, salinity, heat, heavy metals, and pathogen attack.
Source:
The article was originally published in Plant Signaling & Behavior.
Read the full article:https://doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2022.2030082
