BIONATURE

Wood Weathering under Natural and Artificial Conditions: Mechanisms and Degradation Processes

Mewada Thamoung — 2026-04-17

Weathering is one of the most common degradation processes in exposed environments, significantly affecting the aesthetics, durability, and performance of wood. It is a key topic in the field of wood science and technology, focusing on the behavior of wood under long-term environmental exposure. This review aims to examine the mechanisms of wood weathering, including both natural and artificial processes, their effects on wood properties, and potential mitigation strategies. The study is based on existing scientific literature related to wood degradation. Natural weathering occurs in unprotected wood due to factors such as solar radiation, temperature fluctuations, moisture, and oxygen, whereas artificial weathering simulates these conditions under controlled settings for research and evaluation. Weathering results in discolouration, surface degradation, and changes in physical, chemical, and structural properties, mainly due to photodegradation and moisture interactions. Untreated wood undergoes progressive deterioration, while various treatments, including chemical modification, nano-deposition, mechanical processing, and surface modification, can improve its resistance. Overall, weathering remains a major challenge, and the development of sustainable and advanced protective techniques is essential to enhance the durability and long-term performance of wood in changing environmental conditions.

Sustainable Management of Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in Maize Crop: Integrating the Ecological Environment, Biocontrol Agents and Modern Technologies Present in the Environment

N. Murugan — 2026-04-21

This study provides a comprehensive overview of the pest, encompassing its invasion history, taxonomic classification, biological characteristics, and patterns of infestation and crop damage. Furthermore, it evaluates the broader economic implications of fall armyworm outbreaks across affected regions. The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, has emerged as a serious constraint to maize production due to its rapid spread, wide host range, and ability to adapt to diverse agro-ecological conditions. It is a highly destructive and migratory lepidopteran pest that poses a significant threat to maize production worldwide. Its remarkable adaptive capacity is underpinned by its polyphagous feeding behaviour, elevated reproductive potential, and documented resistance to multiple classes of insecticides, all of which render its management particularly challenging. Emphasizing eco-friendly strategies such as conservation of natural enemies, use of botanical and microbial agents, and timely monitoring can significantly reduce pest pressure while minimizing environmental risks. In the long term, strengthening integrated pest management practices, promoting resistant crop varieties, and improving farmer awareness will be crucial for sustainable maize production.

Biotechnology for Sustainable Agriculture and Crop Productivity: A Review

S. V. Anap — 2026-04-27

The global challenge of feeding a rapidly growing population whilst simultaneously addressing environmental degradation, climate change, and the depletion of natural resources demands transformative approaches to agricultural production. Agricultural biotechnology has emerged as a powerful suite of tools capable of enhancing crop productivity, improving resilience against biotic and abiotic stresses, and reducing the ecological footprint of farming systems. This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of major biotechnological advances relevant to sustainable agriculture, encompassing genetic engineering, CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome editing, RNA interference, marker-assisted selection, and the application of biofertilisers and biopesticides derived from microbial biotechnology. The literature search was conducted across four major academic databases: Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The date range for the primary search was set since January 2007, to ensure a minimum of fifteen references from within this recent period. The review examines how these technologies contribute to drought tolerance, disease resistance, nitrogen use efficiency, improved photosynthetic capacity, and nutritional enhancement of staple crops. Socio-regulatory dimensions—including international regulatory frameworks, biosafety considerations, and ethical debates surrounding genetically modified organisms—are critically examined. Despite remarkable scientific progress, significant challenges remain, including regulatory complexity, public acceptance, equitable access, and the need for integration with traditional breeding systems and agroecological approaches. This review concludes that a measured, evidence-based deployment of biotechnological innovations, within inclusive governance structures, offers substantial promise for achieving food security and sustainable agricultural development in the twenty-first century.

Bionomics and Integrated Pest Management of Yellow Stem Borer (Scirpophaga incertulas): Implications for Sustainable Rice Cultivation

N. Murugan — 2026-05-26

In Asia, yellow stem borer (YSB) Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is the most economically significant and common insect pest of rice (Oryza sativa L.) especially in the irrigated and rainfed lowland ecosystems. It is monophagous, cryptically internally fed, and highly synchronized to rice growth stages, which allows chronic damage to both the vegetative and reproductive stages with symptoms that include the dead heart and white ear and severely diminish the tillering and grain harvest. The review gives a synthesis of YSB taxonomy and geographic distribution, life cycle biology (egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages), damage mechanisms, physiological effects on host plants and variables affecting population dynamics (nitrogen fertilization, planting timing, and climatic variables). The traditional and new management techniques are talked about in the presence of economic threshold levels (ETL) and monitoring devices like pheromone traps. It focuses on integrated pest management (IPM) methods, including cultural control methods (optimal planting dates, balanced fertilization, water management), host-plant resistance (morphological and biochemical), biological control (egg parasitoids such as Trichogramma japonicum, Telenomus spp., Tetrastichus schoenobii), biorational insecticides (e.g., spinosad), selective chemicals (e.g., chlorantraniliprole), and behavioral control (e.g., using the mating dis The review points out the transition of depending on general insecticides with a general approach to sustainable and environmental-friendly strategies to reduce the resistance, recurrence, and environmental hazards. The future directions involve the exploitation of genomic understanding, accuracy tracking, and climate-tolerant IPM as a means of managing this chronic rice pest effectively and in the long-term.

Butterflies and Dragonflies as Ecological Barometers of Environmental Change: A Critical Review

Sanjeet Kumar — 2026-07-15

Butterflies and dragonflies are among the most widely observed insect groups used to interpret environmental change, yet their indicator value is sometimes asserted more confidently than the evidence permits. This critical narrative review examines how butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies function as ecological barometers across terrestrial, freshwater and connected land–water systems. Butterflies are especially informative where environmental change alters terrestrial habitat quality, host-plant availability, nectar continuity, microclimate, phenology, agricultural intensity and pesticide exposure. Dragonflies and damselflies, by contrast, integrate aquatic larval conditions with adult use of riparian and terrestrial habitat, making them useful indicators of wetland integrity, stream condition, hydrological alteration, riparian degradation and climate-driven freshwater change. The central argument is that these taxa are most valuable when treated as complementary sentinels rather than interchangeable proxies for insect biodiversity. Their strengths arise from short generation times, ectothermy, strong habitat associations, visual detectability and, in some regions, well-developed monitoring traditions. Their limitations arise from uneven detectability, biased geographic coverage, taxonomic and functional heterogeneity, lagged responses, dispersal-mediated rescue effects and the difficulty of attributing biological change to single drivers. Evidence from long-term monitoring, community science, trait-based analysis, biotic indices and distribution modelling shows that both groups can register climate warming, land-use intensification, pollution and restoration. However, the signal depends on life stage, species traits, landscape context and sampling design. Butterflies and dragonflies should therefore be embedded in multi-taxon, repeated and transparent monitoring programmes that combine abundance, occupancy, traits, phenology, breeding evidence and environmental covariates. Used in this way, they can support earlier detection of ecological change, guide habitat restoration and strengthen the accountability of biodiversity policy without reducing complex environmental change to a single charismatic indicator group.

Cancer Stem Cells: Molecular Mechanisms and Targets for Anti-cancer Therapy

R. M. Mithapirji — 2026-07-03

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a distinct subpopulation within malignant tumours that drive tumour growth, resist treatment, and seed metastatic disease through their capacity for self-renewal and multipotent differentiation. Their discovery has shifted how the field thinks about tumour heterogeneity and therapeutic failure. At the molecular level, CSC identity depends on a network of signalling pathways — Wnt/β-catenin, Notch, Hedgehog, PI3K/AKT/mTOR, and JAK/STAT3 — that sustain the expression of stemness transcription factors such as NANOG, OCT4, and SOX2. Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, Polycomb-mediated histone modification, and non-coding RNA networks, reinforce these programmes and give CSC identity a stability that goes beyond genetic mutation. The tumour microenvironment supplies critical extrinsic support through hypoxic niches, cancer-associated fibroblasts, tumour-associated macrophages, and perivascular structures, all of which help CSCs evade immune clearance. The epithelial–mesenchymal transition further enables non-CSC tumour cells to acquire stem-like properties in response to stress, complicating simple hierarchical models of tumour organisation. Together, these features render CSCs intrinsically and adaptively resistant to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and most targeted agents, making them the primary substrate of disease recurrence and distant spread. Therapeutic strategies to eliminate CSC populations are now advancing rapidly, ranging from surface marker-directed antibodies and CAR T cell therapies to epigenetic reprogramming agents, small-molecule pathway inhibitors, immune checkpoint combinations, and metabolic interventions. This review synthesises current mechanistic understanding of CSC biology and critically evaluates the therapeutic landscape, with attention to both promising advances and persistent challenges.

Comparative Microscopic Study of Epidermal Characters in Blumea laciniata (Roxb.) DC. and Blumea obliqua (L.) Druce

Vimala — 2026-05-26

Trichomes are found in a wide range of species and are essential to plant development. Trichomes are epidermal appendages that are frequently seen on the leaves, stems, and fruits of plants. There are two types of trichomes: glandular and non-glandular. Blumea species' immature leaves and stem, which were between one and three centimeters away from the stem tip, were divided into slices, peeled out of layers, and examined under a light microscope at X4, X10, X40 and X100. Results show that the most significant difference in the Blumea obliqua (L.) Druce has biseriate glandular trichomes with multicellular foot while Blumea laciniata (Roxb.) DC. has biseriate glandular trichomes with multicellular head and anomocytic type of stomata observed in both species. With the use of a light microscope, authors performed a thorough investigation to categorize and characterize the trichomes present on the stem, as well as on the adaxial and abaxial surfaces of leaves of Blumea obliqua (L.) Druce and Blumea laciniata (Roxb.) DC. Because it offers thorough comparative data on the trichome shape and stomatal traits of two prominent species of the genus Blumea, this publication is essential for the scientific community. The study provides important anatomical and taxonomic information that can help distinguish, identify, and classify closely related species. Additionally, characterising glandular and non-glandular trichomes advances our knowledge of plant adaptive traits and their potential pharmacological and ecological significance. Future study on plant anatomy, systematics, medicinal plants, and evolutionary biology will benefit from the discoveries.

Citrullus lanatus Seed Starch–Based Resin for Water Purification: Synthesis, Physicochemical Characterization and Batch Adsorption of Heavy Metals

Praveen Kumar Chandel — 2026-04-22

The increasing contamination of water resources by heavy metal ions causes a significant environmental and public health challenge. In this study, a novel eco-friendly adsorbent synthesized from Citrullus lanatus (water-melon) seed starch. Water-melon seed starch ascorbic acid (WMSSAA) resin characterization was carried out by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometry, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis as well as Thermogravimetric (TG) - Differential Thermal (DT) analysis. The WMSSAA resin was further investigated for removal of toxic heavy metal ions from the standard aqueous solutions by batch adsorption method. The distribution coefficient and percentage removal of heavy metal ions by WMSSAA resin were determined under the influence of pH range of 2-8. FTIR spectral data favors the formation of chemically modified resin. These data clearly reveal functionalities present on resin. Rough and uneven morphology of resin is confirmed by SEM analysis. The moderate to good thermal stability of resin has been investigated by TG-DTA. The functionality present on resin provides sites for significant adsorption of heavy metal ions Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺. Citrullus lanatus Seeds are agricultural waste. This work applies green chemistry principle through formation of active adsorbent from waste seeds. The work contributes towards sustainable waste water treatment protocol. The results demonstrated that the synthesized resin exhibited high adsorption efficiency, suggesting its potential as a low-cost and sustainable alternative for wastewater treatment.

Culturable Bacterial and Fungal Diversity in Hydrocarbon-impacted Soils of Selected Communities in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Eguakun, Patrick Efosa Osemwegie — 2026-05-22

Hydrocarbon contamination alters soil physicochemical properties and selectively shapes microbial community structure by favoring hydrocarbon-utilising bacteria (HUB) and stress-tolerant taxa, while potentially suppressing sensitive heterotrophic and fungal populations. This study assessed culturable bacterial and fungal communities in hydrocarbon-impacted soils from three oil-producing communities (Otuan, Imiringi, and Obuna) in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Composite soil samples were collected at 0–10 cm and 10–30 cm depths and analyzed using standard culture-based methods. Total heterotrophic bacterial counts (THBC) were higher in surface soils, ranging from 51.0 ± 2.65 to 69.0 ± 3.00 × 10⁴ CFU g⁻¹, compared with subsurface values of 23.3 ± 2.52 to 45.0 ± 3.00 × 10⁴ CFU g⁻¹, with significant spatial variation (p < 0.001). Hydrocarbon-utilizing bacteria ranged from 18.3 ± 2.52 to 20.3 ± 2.52 × 10⁴ CFU g⁻¹ at 0–10 cm and 11.0 ± 2.00 to 17.0 ± 2.00 × 10⁴ CFU g⁻¹ at 10–30 cm. Total fungal counts ranged from 15.3 ± 2.52 to 21.0 ± 2.65 × 10⁴ CFU g⁻¹ at 0–10 cm and 10.0 ± 2.00 to 13.0 ± 2.00 × 10⁴ CFU g⁻¹ at 10–30 cm. Dominant isolates included Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus, Aspergillus niger, and Penicillium sp., indicating adaptation to petroleum contamination and bioremediation potential. However, the study was limited by culture-dependent methods, absence of physicochemical data, and small sample size. Future studies should integrate molecular sequencing and broader environmental assessment.

Improving Tomato Seedling Performance through Arka Microbial Consortium-enriched Coco Peat in Pro-tray Nurseries

Anop Kumari — 2026-06-12

Tomato is a nutritionally important and economically valuable crop that requires healthy and uniform seedlings for successful cultivation. However, traditional open-field nurseries often face germination and seedling-quality challenges due to environmental and soil-related factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Arka Microbial Consortium (AMC) in enhancing seed germination, seedling growth, and vigour of tomato seedlings raised in pro-tray nursery conditions through on-farm evaluation. This research was performed during two consecutive Rabi seasons, 2021–22 and 2022–23, at 20 farmers’ fields across five villages of the Kuchaman and Maulasar blocks in Didwana-Kuchaman district of Rajasthan to evaluate the effect of Arka Microbial Consortium (AMC) on tomato seedling production under pro-tray nursery conditions. In this experiment, three treatments, viz., T₁ – Farmers’ practice (control), T₂ – AMC @ 4 g kg⁻¹ coco peat, and T₃ – AMC @ 6 g kg⁻¹ coco peat, were evaluated. Application of AMC significantly influenced the germination and seedling growth parameters of tomato. The results revealed that among the various treatments, T₃-AMC @ 6 g kg⁻¹ coco peat resulted in minimum days to germination (4.20 days) and days required to attain the transplantable stage (23.80 days). The same treatment also observed maximum germination percentage (94.50 %), seedling height (15.11 cm), root length (4.36 cm), number of leaves/seedling (3.88), seedling vigour index (1427.05) and vigour improvement over control (66.35 %). Whereas, in the farmer’s practice (control) recorded the least values for all the observed parameters. The findings of the study indicated that coco peat treated with Arka Microbial Consortium @ 6 g kg⁻¹ significantly improved seedling vigour and nursery performance of tomato seedlings. The present investigation demonstrated that application of Arka Microbial Consortium @ 6 g kg⁻¹ coco peat was the most effective treatment for improving tomato seedling quality under pro-tray nursery conditions. The treatment enhanced germination, seedling growth, and vigour while reducing the time required to reach the transplantable stage. Hence, AMC-enriched coco peat may be recommended as a sustainable nursery management practice for the production of healthy tomato seedlings.

Stability Analysis of a Rodent-Human Hantavirus Model with Immune Response

I. C. Nwokike — 2026-06-26

In this study, a deterministic mathematical model for the transmission dynamics of hantavirus incorporating immune response dynamics is formulated and analyzed. The model consists of susceptible and infected rodent populations together with susceptible, exposed, infectious, and recovered human compartments. An immune response compartment is introduced to describe immune activation and immune-mediated clearance of infection in humans. The proposed framework captures rodent-mediated transmission, disease progression, recovery, disease-induced mortality, and host immune interactions. The positivity and boundedness of solutions is proved, which yields that the system is biologically and mathematically well-posed in a feasible invariant region. The existence of the disease-free equilibrium is proved and the basic reproduction number is determined by the next-generation matrix method. We prove that the disease-free equilibrium is locally and globally asymptotically stable if R0 < 1, while a unique endemic equilibrium point exists if R0 > 1. It is found that the rodent ecology plays a primary role in hantavirus persistence, while the role of immune response is important for infection clearance and recovery in infected rodents. In particular, for strong immune stimulation and immune clearance rates, the infection burden is reduced, leading to disease suppression, while weak immune action can cause persistent infection and prolonged epidemic outbreaks. This work emphasizes the epidemiological role of incorporating the immune response in hantavirus transmission models, and gives insight into the integrated intervention strategies involving rodent population management, exposure reduction and immune protection enhancement for effective disease management.

Transformation and Normalisation of Timber Diameters with Machine Learning and Python

Kato Samuel Namuene — 2026-07-01

Diameter at breast height (DBH) is a central variable in forest inventory, timber volume estimation, biomass assessment and compliance evaluation under minimum cutting diameter regulations. This study examined the distributional properties of harvested tropical timber diameters from Forest Management Units in the South West Region of Cameroon using a Python-based analytical workflow. The dataset comprised 373 harvested tree records representing 24 commercial timber species. Descriptive statistics showed a mean diameter of 87.97 cm, standard deviation of 30.19 cm, median of 68.50 cm, minimum of 44.00 cm and maximum of 160.50 cm. The distribution was positively skewed and strongly platykurtic, with visual evidence of bimodality. Formal normality assessment using Shapiro-Wilk, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Anderson-Darling and D'Agostino-Pearson tests rejected normality for the raw diameter data. Logarithmic, square-root, Box-Cox, Yeo-Johnson and square transformations reduced skewness to different degrees but did not remove the bimodal structure or achieve normality. Five normalisation approaches, including Min-Max scaling, Z-score standardisation, Robust scaling and PowerTransformer variants, rescaled the data but preserved the underlying distributional pattern. Principal Component Analysis showed that the normalised features were highly redundant, with the first component explaining 99.23% of the variance. K-Means clustering separated the diameter data into three size-related groups, whereas Isolation Forest identified 18 anomalous observations, representing 4.8% of the dataset. The findings indicate that multi-species harvested timber diameter data may violate normality assumptions and should be analysed using distribution-aware methods. The workflow provides a reproducible statistical approach for screening diameter distributions in tropical forest management datasets.

Evaluation of the Biodegradation Potential of Surfactants from Commercial Liquid Detergents

A. I. Okaa — 2026-07-14

This study evaluated the biodegradation potential of surfactants in selected commercial liquid detergents using water samples and a river water die-away test. Six liquid detergents (LB Wash ‘N’ Wax, Classic Hand Wash, Morning Fresh, Mama Lemon, Newday Fresh and Lily Fresh) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) standard were examined. Total viable heterotrophic bacterial counts, detergent-utilising bacterial counts, bacterial isolates, pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), sulphate, nitrate and percentage surfactant remaining were assessed for 28 days. The total viable heterotrophic bacterial counts recorded for River Niger water and tap water were 1.57 x 10^6 and 3.4 x 10^5 cfu/ml, respectively. Detergent-utilising bacterial counts were higher in river water than in tap water, ranging from 3.0 x 10^4 to 1.04 x 10^6 cfu/ml and from 5.0 x 10^2 to 9.3 x 10^3 cfu/ml, respectively. The corresponding percentages were 1.9-66.2% and 0.1-2.7%. The bacterial genera associated with detergent utilisation included Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Salmonella, Flavobacterium, Enterobacter and Citrobacter, with Pseudomonas spp. showing the highest frequency of isolation (28.57%). During the die-away test, pH generally increased, whereas COD, sulphate, nitrate and surfactant concentrations decreased. By day 28, COD values declined to 25-45 mg/L, and surfactant remaining ranged from 10.00 to 50.00%. Total viable counts generally increased up to day 20 before declining. These findings indicate variable biodegradation among the detergent formulations and suggest that indigenous river water bacteria contributed to detergent constituent utilisation under the test conditions.