Madhoolika Agrawal

Banaras Hindu University | BHU · Department of Botany

Ground-level ozone (O3) is well recognized as a secondary air pollutant with detrimental effects on plant growth and biochemistry. In a field study, Andrographis paniculata (King of Bitter) was exposed to ambient O3 and elevated O3 (AO + 20 ppb) at three growth stages [45, 90, and 135 days after treatment, (DAT)] using open-top chambers. Elevated O...

Ground level ozone (O3) pollution, heat and water stress are recognised as key abiotic stresses which threaten the ability of wheat yields to meet the growing demand for food production in India. The magnitude and interplay of O3 and water-stress effects are tightly coupled via stomatal conductance and the transpiration pathway. Existing modelling...

Tomato is the second most valuable vegetable crop, and its susceptibility to tropospheric ozone (O3) varies on the cultivar. Eight tomato cultivars with documented O3 sensitivity were reevaluated using ethylenediurea (400 ppm EDU) to determine the effectiveness of EDU in assessing O3 sensitivity under heavily O3-polluted tropical conditions. EDU he...

The nature and outcome of various population interactions in an ecosystem significantly contribute to its stability. Any shift in frequency and abundance of such interactions including the density of the interacting species, can lead to cascading effects that may destabilize an otherwise balanced self-sustaining ecosystem. Inter-species interaction...

In this study, the effects of different levels of nitrogen (N) and elevated CO2 (ECO2) were evaluated using open-top chambers (OTCs) on the carbon and nitrogen pool, medicinally important metabolites, biomass accumulation, and the biochemical parameters of an important medicinal plant, Andrographis paniculata. In the present study, ECO2 increased t...

Acid rain causes visible symptoms on foliage which can lead to severe economic loss to the growers. In this study, two cultivars of Beta vulgaris L. (Palak, an economically important leafy vegetable) were subjected to simulated acid rain (SAR) of pH 5.6, 5.0, and 4.5 to assess the cultivar-specific physiological, biochemical, growth, and nutritiona...

The current experiment was designed to evaluate the ramifications of simulated acid rain (SAR) on two pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars, Kashi Samridhi (Samridhi) and Kashi Nandini (Nandini), to decipher the intraspecific variations in defence mechanism considering the current scenario of rapid anthropogenic activities leading to increase in rain ac...

Rapid urban development and population outbursts in India have led to a tremendous increase in pollutant emissions and their transboundary dispersion. Hence, the increase in tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) formation is further amplified depending on the meteorology of the area. This review attempts to compile the studies reporting tropospheric O 3 -induc...

Association of agriculture with climate change is widely established. Soil constituents and soil salinity along with the amendments for soil improvement are the key contributors in affecting this association. The present study targets the above issue to find the best management practice in terms of reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Ind...

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a significant abiotic stressor whose rising concentration negatively influences plant growth. Studies related to the differential response of Abelmoschus cytotypes to elevated O3 treatment are scarce and need further exploration to recognise the role of polyploidisation in stress tolerance. In this study, we analysed the...

Plants have a diverse array of secondary metabolites as part of their defense mechanism against various stress conditions. These secondary metabolites are broadly classified into phenolics, alkaloids, and terpenes. Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation is one such environmental factor that acts both as a stressor and regulator for plants. UV-B mediated re...

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary pollutant that causes oxidative stress in plants due to the generation of excess reactive oxygen species (ROS). Phenylpropanoid metabolism is induced as a usual response to stress in plants, and induction of key enzyme activities and accumulation of secondary metabolites occur, upon O3 exposure to provide resi...

Enhanced anthropogenic activities affect agricultural production in many ways. An integrated study assessing the combined impact of increased tropospheric ozone and carbon dioxide on agriculture is still elusive. An investigation was carried out to study the impacts of elevated levels of CO2 (eCO2) and O3 (eO3) and their interaction on a C4 plant,...

The multifunctionality of plants is well known to be compromised in the areas experiencing higher concentrations of tropospheric ozone (O3). Mango (Mangifera indica L.) cultivation is essential to the economy of tropical regions, including India. Mango, widely grown in suburban and rural areas, experiences production loss due to air pollutants. Ozo...

The combined effect of chilling stress during winter season and particulate matter (PM) was studied on two-year-old saplings of Psidium guajava L, a common fruit tree of Indo-Gangetic plains. The experimental set-up consisted of two different loads of PM namely ambient and elevated particulate matter along with a control without PM. The study found...

Plant responses to air pollution have been extensively studied in urban environments. Nevertheless, detailed and holistic studies assessing their retaliation to air contaminants are still limited. The present study evaluates the effect of criteria pollutants (SO2, NO2, PM10 and O3) on the overall biochemistry and resource allocation strategy of pla...

Severe air pollution in China and India threatens the health of over one-third of the global population. When it comes to air pollution governance, the two countries have vastly different approaches. China’s approach features centralized target-setting and implementation, with policies enforced primarily through top-down administrative lines. While...

The majority of polyploids can withstand many stresses better than their monoploid counterparts; however, there is no proven mechanism that can fully explain the level of tolerance at the biochemical and molecular levels. Here, we make an effort to provide an explanation for this intriguing but perplexing issue using the antioxidant responses, geno...

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is an important abiotic stress to plants and its rising concentration adversely affects crop yield. The studies associated with differential responses of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cultivars to chronic elevated O3 are lacking and need to be further explored for the recognition of O3 resistant cultivars as an adaptive s...

Despite a rich history and economic importance, the potential of medicinal plants has not been fully explored under different abiotic stress conditions. Penetration of UV-B radiation and contamination of heavy metals are two important environmental stress for plants with remarkable influence on the defense-related and pharmaceutically important sec...

The prevailing tropospheric ozone (O3) concentration is escalating the productivity loss of crop and vegetables due to enhanced oxidative stress. Ozone itself is very reactive and can interact with mesophyll regions and components of cell walls after gaining entry from stomata. Apoplastic O3 activates a number of signal transduction pathways that r...

Tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) is found to be a severe threat to agriculture and natural vegetation. The present study was conducted to investigate the structural and functional changes in an intact seminatural grassland community when exposed to elevated O 3 (EO 3 ; ambient + 20 parts per billion) compared to ambient O 3 (AO 3 ) for 3 years using open-...

Tropospheric ozone (O 3) is found to be a severe threat to agriculture and natural vegetation. The present study was conducted to investigate the structural and functional changes in an intact seminatural grassland community when exposed to elevated O 3 (EO 3 ; ambient + 20 parts per billion) compared to ambient O 3 (AO 3) for 3 years using open-to...

Tropospheric ozone is a phytotoxic air pollutant that alters the production of bioactive compounds and key metabolites of plants. A field study was established on a medicinal plant, Sida cordifolia L. (Bala) under ambient (AO; 43.3 ppb) and elevated level of ozone (ambient+20 ppb; EO) at different developmental stages. The objective of study was to...

The origin of life was manifested by the regulatory role of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. UV radiation is a small portion of the solar spectrum possessing the ability to regulate the life forms on the Earth. The plants are inevitably bound to perceive all the incoming radiation. Excessive exposure to UV radiation causes significant changes in the ove...

In spite of being a minor component of the solar spectrum, ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation has the ability to significantly affect all the living organisms on Earth’s surface. As plants are photoautotrophic sessile organisms, they constantly exposed to high-energy UV-B radiation in their environments that may influence the development, growth, and t...

Rapid industrialization, transportation and other human activities increase the formation of Ozone (O3) in the troposphere, causing an adverse effect on agricultural productivity. It is expected that concentration of O3 will increase along with the rise in global surface temperature. A field experiment was performed with differentially heat sensiti...

Due to its deleterious and large-scale effects on the ecosystem and long-range transboundary nature, acid rain has attracted the attention of scientists and policymakers. Acid rain (AR) is a prominent environmental issue that has emerged in the last hundred years. AR refers to any form of precipitation leading to a reduction in pH to less than 5.6....

Metal pollution load in soil environment has been enhanced during last few decades due to increasing industrialization and wide application of metals in all sectors. Due to the persistent and hazardous nature of metals, it can accumulate in the living system and cause severe risks to the ecosystem. The abundance of metals in soils from 5 different...

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a long-range transboundary secondary air pollutant, causing significant damage to agricultural crops worldwide. There are substantial spatial variations in O3 concentration in different areas of India due to seasonal and geographical variations. The Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) region is one of the most crop productive and a...

The study was executed to assess individual and interactive effects of elevated ultraviolet-B (eUV-B) radiation and chromium (Cr) on a medicinal plant Adhatoda vasica Nees. The experiment was conducted under field conditions involving control, Cr, eUV-B, and Cr+eUV-B treatments. The results showed that Cr content was the highest in roots as compare...

This book provides a valuable overview of issues related to increasing concentration of tropospheric ozone, focussing on the response of plants to ozone stress.

Pollution of air is among the serious issue that the world is confronting today in developed and developing countries. An escalating numberof automobiles and industries incessantly add toxic gases like SO2, NOx, and particulate matter into the atmosphere. Simultaneously,secondary pollutant tropospheric O3 formed by the reactions of primary pollutan...

The present study focuses on the effects of individual and combined stress of chromium (Cr) and ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation on Psoralea corylifolia L. The experiment comprised four sets: (i) control, (ii) eUV-B (elevated UV-B i.e., ambient + 7.2 kJ m⁻² day⁻¹ UV-B), (iii) Cr (chromium; 30 mg kg⁻¹ soil), and (iv) Cr + eUV-B (chromium and elevated...

The ramifications of different concentrations of foliar particulate matter on the physiology, nutrient stoichiometry, allocation pattern, and their corresponding re-translocation rates were investigated for evergreen (Mangifera indica and Psidium guajava), semi-evergreen (Ficus religiosa and Azadirachta indica), and deciduous (Dalbergia sissoo) tre...

Psoralea corylifolia (bakuchi) is a traditional, medicinally important herbal plant of the family Fabaceae. In particular, seeds are vital in treating skin diseases, such as leprosy, psoriasis, and leukoderma. Global climate change and the threat of stratospheric ozone depletion are already marked, so unveiling the implications of UV-B radiation on...

Plants are inevitably grown in presence of sunlight, therefore bound to be exposed to natural UV‐B radiation. Several studies have already been conducted with UV‐B and medicinal plants and only few studies showed dose dependent variation. The present study aims to find out the variations and adaptation in Chlorophytum borivillianum under two differ...

Rising tropospheric ozone (O3) and temperature, the two most important stresses caused due to climate change. Both stresses have now become foremost concerns for production of tomato worldwide due to their role in immensely afflicting productivity. These stresses have been found to occur concomitantly, and tomato is very sensitive to both heat stre...

Despite acting as environmental stress, UV-B also plays a regulatory role in the plant’s growth and secondary metabolism. UV-B-induced changes show variations between and among the species. The present study mainly focuses on variations in carbon and nitrogen contents and their relation with the phytochemical constituents of Curcuma caesia exposed...

Soil salinity is known to be a significant threat to food security for the increasing population, which is further aggravated under the climate change scenario. Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) is one of the most productive in the world and is most affected by salinity. To understand the modifications in soil characteristics under different management pra...

East Asia is a hotspot of surface ozone (O3) pollution, which hinders crop growth and reduces yields. Here, we assess the relative yield loss in rice, wheat and maize due to O3 by combining O3 elevation experiments across Asia and air monitoring at about 3,000 locations in China, Japan and Korea. China shows the highest relative yield loss at 33%,...

Plants are the most dynamic, unique, plastic, adaptive, and fascinating organisms in the world, since evolutionary changes in climate, geography, and biogeochemical cycling have caused plants to uniquely adapt to their surroundings and sustain for long periods of time. Increasing concentrations of atmospheric gases and particulate matter (PM) have...

The freshwater scarcity due to the growing population and growing demand for irrigation has led to the application of wastewater in agriculture. The agriculture sector utilizes about 70% of global water to grow crops and produce agricultural products, so its application for irrigating crops is one of the better options to reutilize a large amount o...

Anthropogenic sources are major cause of both organic and inorganic pollutants in soil. Increasing concentrations of such pollutants are deteriorating the soil health which is variably and invariably affecting the ecosystem productivity. Living organisms are the most appropriate indicators to monitor the changes in the soil dynamics. The present ch...

Gaseous air pollutants do not exist singly in the atmosphere. Therefore, researches on interactive effects of air pollutants must be encouraged to understand the role of air pollutants in combination. The aim of this review is to evaluate the responses of different Indian agricultural crops to a combination of ozone (O 3) and other major air pollut...

Concentrations of ozone (O3) have more than doubled since pre-industrial times. We reviewed the current O3 levels across the world, its spatial variation, and its trend in different regions to provide a basic background of yield losses in major crops (wheat, rice, maize, and soybean) at the global, regional, and local scales. Global O3 concentratio...

Rising tropospheric ozone (O3) in the atmosphere is detrimental to crop’s productivity and is one of the reasons for a warmer climate. The present study describes diurnal changes in gaseous exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, ascorbic acid, and photoassimilate parameters in flag leaves of four Indian wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars (two earl...

Prolonged application of sewage-sludge may cause excessive accumulation of metal(oid)s in soil, leading to phytotoxic effects. Spread of contaminants in soil can probably be hindered by using an effective metal(oid) stabilizer. Pot experiment in open field conditions was conducted for five months to evaluate the metal(oid) (Al, Cu, Zn, Cd and Cr) s...

Soil salinity is a major threat to crop productivity all over the world including the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) region of India. Therefore, a field study was conducted for two consecutive years in wheat growing areas in IGP affected by salinity. Plants grown at a saline site (Salempur, SLM) and a non-saline site (Rajatalab, RJT), were analysed for...

The present deteriorating condition of the river Ganga needs to channelize a research with pursuit of understanding the relation between parcels of land along which the river flows. Considering riverine landscape as important determinant of the river health, the paper explores the connectivity associated between land use features, river water quali...

This article is a brief about the ecological interaction between plant, aphids and ants. The aim of writing a popular science article is to define complex scientific phenomenons in simplistic way that is easily accessible to a larger audience. This will not only facilitate the basic understanding of ecology in high school students and teachers but...

In India, “Janta Curfew” with complete lockdown was imposed on 22 March 2020 to culminate the disease spread of COVID-19. Nationwide lockdown has created a socio-economic crisis, which has led to many human problems such as loneliness, mental depression, anxiety and domestic violence. The country witnessed the downfall in economic progress due to c...

Jasmonic acid (JA) and Salicylic acid (SA) are the essential plant hormones responsible for the plant’s proper growth and development. These signaling molecules have a significant role in plants along with the regulation of defense mechanisms locally and systemically under various biotic and abiotic stresses. Among abiotic stresses, ultraviolet-B (...

The study attempts to assess tourists' (international, national and local) perceptions for polluted state of the river Ganga in Varanasi, plausible reasons for present status and their willingness to contribute towards river cleanliness. The Kruskal-Wallis analysis suggests variation in perception for pollution and river reverence across three cate...

Industrialization and urbanization lead to the deterioration of air quality. Air pollution is a global concern, as it is one of the leading contributors to the global disease burden. Air quality status has shown an increase in the concentration of particulate matter (PM) PM2.5, PM10, total suspended particulate matter (TSP), and ground-level O3, SO...

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (Ice plant) is an annual halophytic plant species spread in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt. Information about the behaviour of halophytes under the future concentration of ozone (O3) is scanty. Therefore, we have assessed the effects of elevated O3 (ambient + 20 ppb), moderate salinity (200 mM NaCl),...

Psoralea corylifolia L. is a traditionally and medicinally important, endangered plant of the family Fabaceae. Seeds obtained from it widely used in treatment of skin diseases like leprosy, psoriasis, leucoderma, vitiligo. The present study was aimed to assess the growth, physiology, anatomy, yield and essential oil content and composition of P. co...

Growing population, increase in urbanization and escalating standards of living have contributed to substantial increases in both quantity and quality of generated wastes (51%, mining and metallurgical; 32%, agricultural; 13%, domestic and municipal; 3%, urban infrastructure and transportation; and rest 1%). Soil is the major sink for a wide range...

Managing the rivers and combating the river pollution have been done using technological solutions so far with minimalistic results in developing country like India. It is now important to orient ourselves in some nature-based solutions, viz. utilising the ability of plants near river (riparian vegetation) to scrub pollutants. This chapter clarifie...

Precise ozone (O3) flux models remain helpful to identify the sensitivity of crops and their cultivars under high O3 levels by assessing biomass and yield losses under natural climate and future O3 levels. In this study, we have evaluated the effects of O3 on growth, biomass, and yield of four Indian wheat cultivars by exposure-linked as well as th...

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a global air pollutant that causes deleterious effect to the plants. The present objective was to investigate the growth response, foliar injury, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and metabolites production in Costus pictus D. Don (insulin plant) at two developmental stages under ambient O3 (AO) and ambient + 20...

Growing population, increase in urbanization and escalating standards of living have contributed to substantial increases in both quantity and quality of generated wastes (51%, mining and metallurgical; 32%, agricultural; 13% domestic and municipal; 3% urban infrastructure and transportation and rest, 1%). Soil is the major sink for a wide range of...

The Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) is one of the main wheat-production regions in India and the world. With climate change, wheat yields in this region will be affected through changes in temperature and precipitation and decreased water availability for irrigation, raising major concerns for national and international food security. Here we use a regio...

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a major secondary air pollutant and greenhouse gas, and its impact on growth, yield, and its quality is well established in the case of crop plants. However, the effects of tropospheric O3 have not been comprehensively studied on medicinal plants. Therefore, a field study was planned on a medicinally important Sida cordif...

Increases in the population and prosperity are significant contributors to waste generation. Globally, ~2.01 billion metric tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) are produced annually, which are expected to upsurge by two folds in 2050, thereby raising a matter of concern in future. The chapter aims to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from...

Current and futuristic pattern of global climate change are a major concern and is a major threat for the entire ecosystem. Man-made centric climate change is majorly through emissions of greenhouse gases, that is, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, etc. These variables and their implications remain a challenge for crop growth and producti...

Balanced, healthy and functional ecosystem is crucial for life sustenance on the Earth. Interactions with living organisms and climatic factors have their unique significance for sustainable ecosystem functioning. Nature has its own balancing capacity to maintain equilibrium between source–sink mechanisms. Solar radiation is an incomparable source...

Water pollution is a matter of concern for both developing and developed parts of the world. This book presents an overview on water pollution and its sustainable management. The book discusses the fundamental aspects of water pollution as well as advanced sustainable technologies for abating water pollution. It is a comprehensive collection of inf...