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Many major cities that witnessed heavy air pollution by nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) and particulate matter (PM) have experienced a high rate of infection and severity of the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). This phenomenon could be explained by the overexpression of the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) on epithelial cell surfaces of the respiratory tract. Indeed, ACE-2 is a receptor for coronaviruses including the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 and 2 (SARS-CoV), and ACE-2 is overexpressed under chronic exposure to air pollution such as NO 2 and PM 2.5. In this review, we explain that ACE-2 acts as the sole receptor for the attachment of the SARS-CoV-2 via its spike protein. The fact that respiratory and vascular epithelial cells express ACE-2 has been previously observed during the 2003 epidemic of the SARS-CoV-1 in China, and during the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome in Saudi Arabia. High ACE-2 expression in respiratory epithelial cells under air pollution explains the positive correlation between the severity in COVID-19 patients and elevated air pollution, notably high NO 2 and PM 2.5 levels. Specific areas in India, China, Italy, Russia, Chile and Qatar that experience heavy air pollution also show high rates of COVID-19 infection and severity. Overall, we demonstrate a link between NO 2 emissions, PM 2.5 levels, ACE-2 expression and COVID-19 infection severity. Therefore, air pollution should be reduced in places where confirmed cases of COVID-19 are unexpectedly high.

Vivek Maize Hybrid 9-a popular single-cross hybrid developed by crossing CM 212 and CM 145 was released for commercial cultivation in India. The parental lines, being deficient in lysine and tryptophan, were selected for introgression of opaque-2 allele using CML 180 and CML 170 as donor lines through marker-assisted backcross breeding. The opaque-2 homozygous recessive genotypes with >90% recovery of the recurrent parent genome were selected in BC 2 F 2, and the seeds with <25% opaqueness in BC 2 F 3 were forwarded for seed multiplication.Vivek Quality Protein Maize (QPM) 9, the improved QPM hybrid, showed 41% increase in tryptophan and 30% increase in lysine over the original hybrid. The grain yield of the improved hybrid was on par with the original hybrid. The newly improved QPM maize hybrid released in 2008 will help in reducing the protein malnutrition because its biological value is superior over the normal maize hybrids. This short duration QPM maize hybrid has been adopted in several hill states of North Western and North Eastern Himalayan regions.

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SummaryThe availability of orthophosphate (Pi) is a key determinant of crop productivity because its accessibility to plants is poor due to its conversion to unavailable forms. Weed's competition for this essential macronutrient further reduces its bio‐availability. To compensate for the low Pi use efficiency and address the weed hazard, excess Pi fertilizers and herbicides are routinely applied, resulting in increased production costs, soil degradation and eutrophication. These outcomes necessitate the identification of a suitable alternate technology that can address the problems associated with the overuse of Pi‐based fertilizers and herbicides in agriculture. The present review focuses on phosphite (Phi) as a novel molecule for its utility as a fertilizer, herbicide, biostimulant and biocide in modern agriculture. The use of Phi‐based fertilization will help to reduce the consumption of Pi fertilizers and facilitate weed and pathogen control using the same molecule, thereby providing significant advantages over current orthophosphate‐based fertilization.