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The purpose of this study is to isolate and characterize bacteria from corneal ulcers and screen them for multiple antibiotic resistance, contributing to understanding patterns of resistance and identifying effective treatment strategies. A retrospective study was conducted between January 2024 to August 2024. The study involved the isolation of pathogenic bacterial strains from 15 corneal ulcer samples. We isolated and characterized bacterial strains from corneal ulcer samples, which were routinely collected at an ophthalmology clinic for suspected infectious corneal ulcers and examined their resistance to twenty-six routinely prescribed antibiotics. The bacterial species included methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and E. coli among others. Antibiotic resistance patterns were assessed, with a focus on commonly used antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, and vancomycin. The study measured the healing rates of corneal ulcer patients, antibiotic resistance levels across bacterial strains, and specific treatment responses to various antibiotics. Thirteen out of fifteen corneal ulcer patients healed completely, while two patients developed full corneal opacity due to infection with P. aeruginosa. Significant differences in resistance were observed among the bacterial strains. MRSA exhibited the highest resistance levels, particularly to multiple antibiotics. Ciprofloxacin and gentamycin were less effective against the isolated strains, while vancomycin showed reduced resistance, against Gram-positive bacteria. Both ciprofloxacin and co-trimoxazole exhibited strong connections with multiple bacterial strains, indicating high resistance. This study underscores the need for ongoing surveillance of antibiotic resistance patterns to guide treatment approaches and slow the spread of resistant bacteria. It also highlights the importance of developing new antibiotics and alternative therapies, with an emphasis on understanding the molecular mechanisms behind resistance to combat the global health posed by antibiotic-resistant infections.

In many developing countries of the world, freshwater scarcity has made wastewater application a common practice in the agricultural sector. In water-deficit countries, wastewater is widely used for irrigation purposes. It is deemed as the most conventional and low-cost practice that has been receiving immense attention in the agricultural sector due to the global decline in freshwater resources. In many arid and semiarid areas of the world, where water reservoirs are limited and decreasing day by day, farmers are considering other alternative sources of water such as wastewater, seawater, rainwater, stormwater, and captured condensate. Hence, wastewater is the richest source of macro- and micronutrients, resulting in improving plant growth and performance. However, some negative impacts are also associated with the use of wastewater in agriculture including health risks and environmental degradation. Therefore, to minimize the potential health hazards, wastewater should be treated before its application. This review highlights the beneficial and harmful impacts of wastewater application on soils and plants which include the transfer of potentially toxic elements into plants and humans. Integrated sustainable solutions and future perspectives are also proposed.

Background Urbanization, industrialization, and various other anthropogenic and natural activities increase the release of heavy metals (HMs) into the environment, posing a severe threat to nearby flora, fauna, and humans. HMs are toxic, non-biodegradable, silent, and subtle killers that alter the soil attributes and threaten plants, animals, and humans, impacting biodiversity and human health. Objective HMs such as Cd, Hg, and Pb disturb physiological processes in plants and animals, reducing growth, impaired reproduction, and negative impacts on human beings upon bioaccumulation in food chains. This results in the dire need for effective remediation strategies to clean up HMs in soil and water. Methods Various conventional and non-conventional approaches remove and detoxify HMs from the substrate. Metal immobilization, detoxification, and removal via microbial approaches, i.e., biosorption, bioaccumulation, bioaugmentation, bioleaching, and bio-volatilization, are effective in remediating Cd, Hg, and Pb. Results   Additionally, microbes utilize direct and indirect mechanisms to help the remediation of Cd, Hg, and Pb from contaminated sites. Genetically engineered microbes (GEMs) are also being explored for the remediation of these metals from contaminated soil, offering both opportunities and challenges regarding associated risks and management practices. This review emphasizes the possible heavy metal sources responsible for increasing the concentration of HMs in the environment and their effect on plants and animals. We will discuss various conventional remediation strategies that can help remediate Cd, Hg, and Pb. Conclusion By elucidating the role of microbial-dependent remediation approaches, including GEMs, this review also contributes to advancing sustainable approaches for mitigating Cd, Hg, and Pb-contaminated soil and safeguarding environment.

Synergistic effect of biochar and microbes in soil enhances performance of plants. Hazardous tannery solid waste can be reduced by one-third in volume by conversion to biochar. A greenhouse trial was set up with soil having different doses of metal resistant microbe-impregnated biochar (MIBC) prepared from tannery solid waste. Consortia of autochthonous strains of Trichoderma and Bacillus were inoculated on BC and the behavior and fate of metals were evaluated for their bioavailability to sunflower. Sunflower was grown in pots for 80 days having six different amendments of tannery solid waste biochar (0–10% w/w) with and without Trichoderma and Bacillus consortia and its morphological and biochemical attributes as well as metal uptake were observed. The results illustrated that application of BC at 2% rate without inoculation increased the shoot length and dry biomass by 19.8% and 77.4%, respectively, while plant growth and performance were reduced at higher amendments of BC. However, application of MIBC with Trichoderma or/and Bacillus consortium significantly improved the plant attributes at all levels of amendment. The results indicated that MIBC having Trichoderma and Bacillus consortia at 10% rate increased shoot length and dry biomass by 65.3% and 516% compared to control without BC. Application of BC without inoculation reduced the uptake of Cu, Fe, and Ni and increased the mobilization of all other metals for uptake in sunflower. Mobilization and uptake of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn decreased with MIBC having Trichoderma and Bacillus consortia whereas that of Fe and Mg were noted. A considerable decrease in proline and total phenolic content was demonstrated by MIBC-grown sunflower. The data of metal fractionation in BC also supported the above findings. Therefore, MIBC can be used as a promising option for enhancing growth performance and ensuring the physiological safety of sunflower as an energy crop.

Endophytic bacteria inhabit plant tissues such as roots, stems, leaves, fruits, and seeds and can multiply inside plant tissue without damaging them. This study involves the isolation, characterization, metabolic profiling, and effect of endophytic bacteria isolated from the roots of Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris ), on the growth of sunflower. In the current study, fifteen isolates of endophytic bacteria were obtained from the roots of Scots pine, and their molecular characterization was performed using 16 s rRNA ribotyping. The molecular characterization revealed that the strains belonged to Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Micrococcus sp., Serratia sp., Enterobacter sp., Pantoea sp., Staphylococcus sp., and Microbacterium sp. Among the isolated strains, 9 strains showed positive results for ammonium production, 12 strains for calcium solubilization, 11 strains for magnesium solubilization, 5 strains for zinc solubilization, 12 strains for phosphate solubilization, 8 strains for potassium solubilization, 10 strains for indole acetic acid (IAA) production, 9 strains for siderophore, and 6 strains for hydrogen cyanide (HCN) production. The greenhouse experiment results demonstrated that all isolated endophytic bacteria improved the shoot length, dry weight, and chlorophyll content of sunflower, whereas a significant increase was observed by PS-3 ( Bacillus cereus ), PS-6 ( Serratia marcescens ), and PS-8 ( Pseudomonas putida ). Besides, the concentration of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were also measured in sunflower shoots, and results asserted that bacterial inoculation increased the bioavailability of these essential nutrients to plants compared to uninoculated control. Thus, these endophytic bacteria could be used as an encouraging option to improve plant growth and performance.

This study encompasses isolation and screening of heavy metal-resistant fungal and bacterial strains from tannery solid waste (TSW). Twelve fungal strains and 25 bacterial strains were isolated from TSW. The growth of fungal strains was observed against different heavy metals ranging from 10 to 1050 mg L−1 and the growth of bacteria was observed in metal concentrations ranging from 10 to 1200 mg L−1. Five multi-metal-resistant fungal isolates belonging to the genus Trichoderma and ten bacterial isolates belonging to the genus Bacillus showed good metal resistance and biosorption potential. They were identified through molecular techniques, fungi based on ITS region ribotyping, and bacteria based on 16S rRNA ribotyping. The fungal strains were characterized as T. hamatum (TSWF-06), T. harzianum (TSWF-11), T. lixii (TSWF-02), and T. pseudokoningii (TSWF-03, TSWF-10). The bacterial strains were characterized as Bacillus xiamenensis (TSW-02), B. velezensis (TSW-05), B. piscis (TSW-06), B. safensis (TSW-10), B. subtilis (TSW-14, TSW-15, TSW-17) B. licheniformis (TSW-19), B. cereus (TSW-20), and B. thuringiensis (TSW-22). The fungal strains, namely, T. pseudokoningii (TSWF-03) and T. harzianum, proved to be two multi-metal-resistant strains with good biosorption efficiency. Unlike fungi, bacterial strains showed metal-specific resistance. The strains Bacillus xiamenensis, B. subtilis (TSW-14), and B. subtilis (TSW-15) showed good biosorption efficiency against Cr, B. safensis against Cu, B. piscis, and B. subtilis (TSW-17) against Pb and B. licheniformis and B. thuringiensis against Zn. The autochthonous fungal and bacterial strains can therefore be employed to clean metal-contaminated environments.

This study encompasses isolation and screening of heavy metal-resistant fungal and bacterial strains from tannery solid waste (TSW). Twelve fungal strains and twenty-five bacterial strains were isolated from TSW. The growth of fungal strains was observed against different heavy metals ranging from 10 mg L-1 to 1050 mg L-1 and the growth of bacteria was observed in metal concentrations ranging from 10 mg L-1 to 1200 mg L-1. Five multi-metal resistant fungal isolates belonging to the genus Trichoderma and ten bacterial isolates belonging to the genus Bacillus showed good metal resistance and biosorption potential. They were identified through molecular techniques, fungi based on ITS region ribotyping, and bacteria based on 16S rRNA ribotyping. The fungal strains were characterized as T. hamatum (TSWF-06), T. harzianum (TSWF-11), T. lixii (TSWF-02) and T. pseudokoningii (TSWF-03, TSWF-10). The bacterial strains were characterized as Bacillus xiamenensis (TSW-02), B. velezensis (TSW-05), B. piscis (TSW-06), B. safensis (TSW-10), B. subtilis (TSW-14, TSW-15, TSW-17) B. licheniformis (TSW-19), B. cereus (TSW-20) and B. thuringiensis (TSW-22). The fungal strains namely, T. pseudokoningii (TSWF-03) and T. harzianum proved to be two multi-metal resistant strains with good biosorption efficiency. Unlike fungi, bacterial strains showed metal specific resistance. The strains Bacillus xiamenensis, B. subtilis (TSW-14) and B. subtilis (TSW-15) showed good biosorption efficiency against Cr, B. safensis against Cu, B. piscis and B. subtilis (TSW-17) against Pb and B. licheniformis and B. thuringiensis against Zn. The autochthonous fungal and bacterial strains can therefore be employed to clean metal contaminated environments.