L., commonly known as turmeric, is a rhizomatous herb of the family Zingiberaceae. It is mostly used as a spice, a coloring agent and broadly used in traditional medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, etc., Turmeric rhizomes interact with a large numbers of rhizosphere-associated microbial species, and some enter the plant tissue and act as endophytes. Both rhizospheric and endophytic species are directly or indirectly involved in growth promotion and disease management in plants and also play an important role in the modulation of morphological growth, secondary metabolite production, curcumin content, antioxidant properties, etc. The present review focuses on the rhizobacterial and endophytic bacterial and fungal populations associated with the turmeric.

Cyanobacteria sense the environmental phosphate level and respond accordingly with the help of a two component regulatory system SphS SphR orthologous to PhoR PhoB of E. coli, where SphS act as a sensor kinase and SphR as a response regulator. Under phosphate limiting condition SphS SphR regulates the expression of many genes including genes which do not have the direct role in metabolism and transport of phosphate. Thus there is some crosstalk mechanism which connects this regulatory system to the other metabolic processes. Different types of enzymes and transporters are expressed by cyanobacteria under phos phate limitation to release and transport the phosphate from different organic compounds present in the envi ronment. Genes encoding these enzymes and transporters contain Pho boxes in their promoter region where SphR binds and regulate their expression under phosphate limitation. The machinery and mechanism of reg ulation is not uniform in cyanobacteria as it varies in different groups according to their evolutionary adapta tions. This review article is summarizing the reports on machinery and mechanism of organophosphate metabolism in cyanobacteria.

Out of the various mycotoxigenic food and feed contaminant, the fungal species belonging to Penicillium genera, particularly Penicillium roqueforti is of great economic importance, and well known for its crucial role in the manufacturing of Roquefort and Gorgonzola cheese. The mycotoxicosis effect of this mold is due to secretion of several metabolites, of which PR toxin is of considerable importance, with regard to food quality and safety challenges issues. The food products and silages enriched with PR toxin could lead into damage to vital internal organs, gastrointestinal perturbations, carcinogenicity, immunotoxicity, necrosis, and enzyme inhibition. Moreover, it also has the significant mutagenic potential to disrupt/alter the crucial processes like DNA replication, transcription, and translation at the molecular level. The high genetic diversities in between the various strains of P. roqueforti persuaded their nominations with Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), accordingly to the cheese type, they have been employed. Recently, the biosynthetic mechanism and toxicogenetic studies unraveled the role of ari1 and prx gene clusters that cross-talk with the synthesis of other metabolites or involve other cross-regulatory pathways to negatively regulate/inhibit the other biosynthetic route targeted for production of a strain-specific metabolites. Interestingly, the chemical conversion that imparts toxic properties to PR toxin is the substitution/oxidation of functional hydroxyl group (-OH) to aldehyde group (-CHO). The rapid conversion of PR toxin to the other derivatives such as PR imine, PR amide, and PR acid, based on conditions available reflects their unstability and degradative aspects. Since the PR toxin-induced toxicity could not be eliminated safely, the assessment of dose-response and other pharmacological aspects for its safe consumption is indispensable. The present review describes the natural occurrences, diversity, biosynthesis, genetics, toxicological aspects, control and prevention strategies, and other management aspects of PR toxin with paying special attention on economic impacts with intended legislations for avoiding PR toxin contamination with respect to food security and other biosafety purposes.

Mucociliary defense, mediated by the ciliated and goblet cells, is fundamental to respiratory fitness. The concerted action of ciliary movement on the respiratory epithelial surface and the pathogen entrapment function of mucus help to maintain healthy airways. Consequently, genetic or acquired defects in lung defense elicit respiratory diseases and secondary microbial infections that inflict damage on pulmonary function and may even be fatal. Individuals living with chronic and acute respiratory diseases are more susceptible to develop severe coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) illness and hence should be proficiently managed. In light of the prevailing pandemic, we review the current understanding of the respiratory system and its molecular components with a major focus on the pathophysiology arising due to collapsed respiratory epithelium integrity such as abnormal ciliary movement, cilia loss and dysfunction, ciliated cell destruction, and changes in mucus rheology. The review includes protein interaction networks of coronavirus infection-manifested implications on the molecular machinery that regulates mucociliary clearance. We also provide an insight into the alteration of the transcriptional networks of genes in the nasopharynx associated with the mucociliary clearance apparatus in humans upon infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2.

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