One of the most concerning global environmental issues is the pollution of agricultural soils by heavy metals (HMs), especially cadmium, which not only affects human health through Cd-containing foods but also impacts the quality of rice. The soil’s nitrification and denitrification processes, coupled with the release of volatile organic compounds by plants, raise substantial concerns. In this review, we summarize the recent literature related to the deleterious effects of Cd on both soil processes related to the N cycle and rice quality, particularly aroma, in different water management practices. Under both continuous flooding (CF) and alternate wetting and drying (AWD) conditions, cadmium has been observed to reduce both the nitrification and denitrification processes. The adverse effects are more pronounced in alternate wetting and drying (AWD) as compared to continuous flooding (CF). Similarly, the alteration in rice aroma is more significant in AWD than in CF. The precise modulation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by Cd remains unclear based on the available literature. Nevertheless, HM accumulation is higher in AWD conditions compared to CF, leading to a detrimental impact on volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The literature concludes that AWD practices should be avoided in Cd-contaminated fields to decrease accumulation and maintain the quality of the rice. In the future, rhizospheric engineering and plant biotechnology can be used to decrease the transport of HMs from the soil to the plant’s edible parts.

In this study, the load of microorganisms and concentration and daily intake of toxic metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) in drinking water sources (wells) of three towns, Mian Khail (MK), Mer Ahmad Khail (MAK) and Gari Banurian (GB), in Kohat city of Pakistan were investigated. Multifactorial analysis was conducted to determine the microbial and toxic metals load in drinking water of the investigated towns. The obtained results revealed that the fecal coliform bacteria (FCB), Salmonella, Shigella and Staphylococci were the highest in MAK followed by MK and GB. The toxic metals concentrations and their intake load in the study area was in the order: Cd > Pb > Cu > Zn. However, the concentrations of toxic elements were within the permissible limits set by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PAK EPA). The study area had a higher load of enteric pathogens such as the Shigella sp., fecal coliform and Staphylococci in the potable water wells. The redundancy analysis (RDA) illustrated that total viable count TVB, Cu, Staphylococci and FCB were higher in MAK, fungi and Shigella sp. in GB and the Pb concentration was higher in MK. It is concluded that water in the study area is fecally contaminated and can cause health hazards. It is recommended that there should be a proper monitoring of water quality in the area to improve the existing quality and prevent further contamination of drinking water in the study area.

One of the most concerning global environmental issues is the pollution of agricultural soils by heavy metals (HMs), especially cadmium (Cd), which not only affects human health by taking Cd-containing foods but also impacts the quality of rice. The soil's nitrification and denitrification processes, coupled with the release of volatile organic compounds by plants, raise substantial concerns. The understanding of three aspects of paddy soil under conditions of heavy-metal pollution and water management is currently limited. In this review, we summarized recent literature related to the deleterious effects of Cd on both soil processes related to the N cycle and rice quality, particularly aroma, in different water management practices. Under both continuous flooding (CF) and alternate wetting and drying (AWD) conditions, cadmium (Cd) has been observed to reduce both nitrification and denitrification processes. The adverse effects are more pronounced in continuous flooding (CF) compared to alternate wetting and drying (AWD). Similarly, the alteration in rice aroma is more significant in AWD than in CF. The precise modulation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by Cd, remains unclear based on the available literature. Nevertheless, HM accumulation is higher in AWD conditions compared to CF, leading to a detrimental impact on volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The literature concluded that AWD practices should be avoided in Cd contaminated fields to decrease accumulation and maintain the quality of rice. In the future, rhizospheric engineering and plant biotechnology can be used to decrease the transport of HMs from the soil to the plant’s edible parts.

Salmonella paratyphi A is a significant human pathogen responsible for paratyphoid fever which affects millions globally, particularly in regions with limited clean water and sanitation access. The blood samples were cultured on MacConkey agar and identified by biochemical tests and an API 20E kit. Antimicrobial susceptibility was performed according to CLSI guidelines using different antibiotics and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) for ciprofloxacin were determined using agar dilution. The biofilm-forming ability of isolates was performed, and the effect of bile salts on biofilm production was also tested. Extracellular polysaccharides from select isolates were extracted and analyzed via Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to characterize their chemical properties. The highly infected age group with S. paratyphi A was 21–40 and showed 42 % prevalence. All the isolates showed resistance to nalixidic acid and 22 % isolates to ciprofloxacin. The isolates dose-dependent inhibition with different MIC values for ciprofloxacin in the range of 8 μg/ml to 1024 μg/ml. The isolates showed variations in biofilm formation, most of them were moderate biofilm producers, around 32 % and 28 % of the isolates were strong biofilm producers. Additionally, we observed that bile salts treatment increase the biofilm forming ability of isolates. The study highlighted the prevalence and alarming rate of ciprofloxacin resistance among clinical Salmonella paratyphi A isolates. The biofilm formation analysis revealed that a significant proportion of S. paratyphi A isolates produced biofilms, which may contribute to their resistance and pathogenicity.

Antibacterial resistance among uro-pathogens has become a global issue for bacterial infection treatment. The antibacterial activity of various plant extracts and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) derived from medicinal plant extract was evaluated against different drug-resistant uro-pathogens isolated from clinical patients by Agar Well Diffusion and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) assays. A total of 100 urine samples were collected from patients admitted to the hospital followed by the identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter aerogenes, and Klebsiella pneumonia through colony morphology, gram staining, and biochemical characterization. All isolates were highly resistant to all the tested drugs except Amikacin, Gentamicin, and Imipenem. Organic extracts of clove have potent antibacterial activity against all drug-resistant isolates. Interestingly P. aeruginosa was sensitive to all inorganic extracts. These results revealed that the organic extracts of medicinal plants showed more consistent antimicrobial activity compared to their aqueous fraction. Furthermore, the green synthesis of AgNPs derived from clove extract showed strong activity against all tested pathogens followed by green synthesis of AgNPs derived from garlic, ginger, kalwonji, turmeric, and thymus extract respectively compared to medicinal plant extract. Moreover, MIC results showed that AgNPs derived from medicinal plant extract indicate higher efficiency in inhibiting bacterial growth than the medicinal plant extract. The current finding shows that AgNPs derived from plant extract can be recommended as a good alternative for treating the resistant uro-pathogens strains as compared to synthetic drugs and will be considered an attractive candidate for future biological applications.

This study evaluated the antimicrobial efficacy of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Azadirachta indica and Vachellia nilotica against Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans, key pathogens involved in dental caries and oral candidiasis. Sixty dental caries patient samples were cultured, with 44 positives for S. mutans and 5 for C. albicans. Both plants’ ethanolic extracts demonstrated significantly greater antimicrobial activity compared to their aqueous counterparts, as evidenced by larger zones of inhibition and lower minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentrations (MBC/MFC). For S. mutans, the MIC and MBC of ethanolic extracts ranged from 0.4 to 0.8 µg/ml and 0.8 to 1.6 µg/ml, respectively, whereas aqueous extracts showed higher MIC/MBC values. Similarly, against C. albicans, ethanolic extracts exhibited MIC and MFC values between 0.4 and 0.8 µg/ml, outperforming aqueous extracts which required concentrations up to 6.4 µg/ml. These findings indicate that bioactive compounds such as nimbidin and azadirachtin, more effectively extracted in ethanol, contribute to the potent antimicrobial effects. This study supports the traditional use of A. indica and V. nilotica in oral health and highlights their potential as natural alternatives for managing dental infections.