Shafaqat Ali

Government College University Faisalabad | GCUF · Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering , Government College University Faisalabad, Pakistan

Biotic systems face immense environmental hazards such as accumulation of heavy metals, particularly in agricultural ecosystems that might cause deterioration of yield and quality of crops. In this study, we evaluated the role of silicon (Si) in alleviating the heavy metal (Cd) stress tolerance in cotton by analyzing the induced Physio-chemical cha...

The experiments were done to investigate the effect of soil pH and organic matter content on EDTA-extractable heavy metal contents in soils and heavy metal concentrations in rice straw and grains. EDTA-extractable Cr contents in soils and concentrations in rice tissues were negatively correlated with soil pH, but positively correlated with organic...

Cadmium (Cd) contamination is considered as a widespread concern at global scale which is serious threats to human health. Phytoremediation is an eco-friendly approach which can remove or immobilize Cd from the soil. Different organic and inorganic amendments can potentially enhance Cd phytoremediation efficiency but the comparison of farmyard manu...

Contamination of land and aquatic ecosystems with heavy metals (HMs) is a global issue having the persistent potential to damage the quality of food and water. In the present study, Tagetes erecta L. plants were used to assess their potential to uptake HMs from wastewater. Plants were grown in soil for 20 days and then transplanted in hydroponic sy...

Cadmium (Cd) is getting worldwide attention due to its continuous accumulation in agricultural soils which is due to anthropogenic activities and finally Cd enters in food chain mainly through edible plants. Cadmium free food production on contaminated soils is great challenge which requires some innovative measures for crop production on such soil...

Unlabelled: Tannery industries discharge a high concentration of chromium (Cr) along with other heavy metals, which are hazardous for all life forms. With increasing shortage of freshwater, tannery effluent is frequently used for crop an irrigation, causing damage to plants' health. In order to address this challenge, amino acid chelate fertilizer...

Soil contamination with cadmium (Cd) is a persistent threat to crop production worldwide. The present study examined the putative roles of nitric oxide (NO) in improving Cd-tolerance in cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L.). The present study was conducted using four different genotypes of B. oleracea named as FD-3, FD-4, FD-2 and Ceilo Blanco which w...

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) and melatonin (MT) have been known to regulate heavy metal toxicities in plants in some studies, the effect of their combined use on cadmium (Cd) uptake by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and underlying mechanisms is largely unknown. Thus, plant growth, uptake and translocation of Cd mediated by soil applied ZnONPs an...

Heavy metals (HMs) contamination of agricultural soils is an emerging food safety challenge at world level. Therefore, as a possible treatment for the remediation of a HMs contaminated soil (sewage water irrigation for 20-years), the impact of biochar (BC) was investigated on the uptake of HMs by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants. The BC was prod...

Unlabelled: Menadione sodium bisulphite (MSB) is known to augment plant defense responses against abiotic and biotic stresses. Wheat is an essential cereal with significant sensitivity to alkaline stress. The present study investigated the effects of MSB seed priming (5 and 10 mM) in alleviating the damaging effects of alkaline stress on hydroponi...

While of lesser prevalence than boron (B) deficient soils, B-rich soils are important to study as they can cause B toxicity in the field and subsequently decrease crop yields in different regions of the world. We have conducted the present study to examine the role of the individual or combined application of silicon (Si) and NPK fertilizer in B-st...

Copper (Cu ²⁺ ) toxicity can inhibit plant growth and development. It has been shown that silicon (Si) can relieve Cu ²⁺ stress. However, it is unclear how Si-nanoparticles (SiNPs) relieve Cu ²⁺ stress in wheat seedlings. Therefore, the current study was conducted by setting up four treatments: CK, SiNP: (2.5 mM), Cu ²⁺ : (500 µM), and SiNP+Cu ²⁺ :...

Hydrocarbon stress is among significant environmental stresses limiting crop growth and production. Allicin is an organosulfur compound with the potential to detoxify radicals, abate oxidative injury, and safeguard mitochondrial function. However, allicin role in mediating plant defense responses under abiotic stresses is not established. Therefore...

Increasing chromium (Cr) contamination in agricultural soils is a threat to crop yields and quality. Recently, nano-enabled strategies have been emerging with a great potential towards improving crop production and reclaiming the heavy metal contaminated soils. This study aimed to elucidate the potential of silicon oxide nanoparticles (SiONPs) on o...

Both cadmium (Cd) toxicity and water limited stress in crop plants are serious concerns worldwide while little is known about the impact of various phosphorus (P) sources on Cd accumulation in cereals especially under water limited stress. A study was conducted to explore the efficiency of three frequently available P fertilizers on Cd accumulation...

We investigated the quality of drinking water and its possible effects on human health in the Dera Ghazi Khan (D. G. Khan) district of Pakistan. Samples were collected from three tehsils of the D. G. Khan district, namely D. G. Khan, Kot Chutta, and Taunsa. A total of 50 samples (n = 50) were collected from the study area using standard procedures....

Agricultural production is under threat due to climate change in food insecure regions, especially in Asian countries. Various climate-driven extremes, i.e., drought, heat waves, erratic and intense rainfall patterns, storms, floods, and emerging insect pests have adversely affected the livelihood of the farmers. Future climatic predictions showed...

Drinking water contamination by arsenic (As) is of significant concern due to its potential cause of cancer and arsenicosis. In this study, out of the 200 samples (n = 200), the mean As concentrations ranged from below detection limit (BDL) to 3.30, 4.81, 4.42 and 3.85 �g L􀀀1 in small residential, roadside, industrial and household areas, respectiv...

Heavy metal contamination is a serious environmental issue that jeopardize global food production and safety, while cadmium (Cd) is a most widely distributed heavy metal in the earth’s crust and highly toxic to organisms. The available strategies of fighting against heavy metal contamination are not commonly used due to their ineffectiveness and ti...

Coumarin (COU) is an essential phenolic compound safeguarding plants under environmental constraints. Coumarin-induced salinity tolerance is reported in tomato, wheat and sorghum. However, the underlying mechanism by which COU mediates stress tolerance is not established, particularly under manganese (Mn) toxicity. Therefore, the present study was...

Plants essentially require manganese (Mn) for their normal metabolic functioning. However, excess Mn in the cellular environment is detrimental to plant growth, development, and physio-biochemical functions. Taurine (TAU) is an amino acid with potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in animals and humans. However, no previous study has...

Heavy metals are one of the factors that pollute the environment and significantly affect soil fertility, plant physiology, development, and productivity. The tolerance of plants to toxicity depends on the species and tissue, element type, and duration of exposure to stress. Some special signal molecules such as nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide...

With the growing scarcity of water, the remediation of water polluted with heavy metals is the need of hour. The present research work is aimed to address this problem by adsorbing heavy metals ions (Pb (II) and Cr (VI)) on modified graphene oxide having an excess of carboxylic acid groups. For this, graphene oxide (GO) was modified with chloroacet...

Salinity has become a major environmental concern of agricultural lands, impairing crop production. The current study aimed to examine the role of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in reducing the oxidative stress induced by salinity and the overall improvement in phytochemical properties in barley. A total of nine different barley genotypes were...

The current study aimed to produce synbiotic cheese, adding inulin and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis as prebiotics and probiotics, respectively. The physicochemical analysis, minerals and organic acids content, sensory evaluation, and probiotic count of the cheese were performed during the ripening. The significant effect of inulin (p ≤ 0....

High temperature stress at reproductive stages of cotton crop severely affects the yield and quality of cotton crop under changing climatic conditions. To alleviate the adverse effects of high temperature stress on cotton crop, the regulatory effects of potassium (K), zinc (Zn), and boron (B) were assessed by applying different temperature regimes...

Surface and subsurface water resources are polluted with various anthropogenic activities and exert deleterious impact on the ecosystem. In this study, novel fish scale biochar (FSB) and its nanocomposite with zinc oxide nanoparticles (FSB/ZnO) were used to treat chromium (Cr (VI))-contaminated wastewater. Batch scale experiments were designed by v...

The current study is the first attempt to prepare nanocomposites of Eleocharis dulcis biochar (EDB) with nano zero-valent Copper (nZVCu/EDB) and magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs/EDB) for batch and column scale sequestration of Congo Red dye (CR) from synthetic and natural water. The adsorbents were characterized with advanced analytical techniques. Th...

Both cancer and diabetes mellitus are serious health issues, accounting more than 11 million deaths worldwide annually. Targeted use of plant-mediated nanoparticles (NPs) in treatment of ailments has outstanding results due to their salient properties. The current study was designed to investigate the safe production of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs)...

Soil secondary salinization is a serious menace that has significant influence on the sustainability of agriculture and threatens food security around the world. Zinc (Zn) as an essential plant nutrient associated with many physio-biochemical processes in plants and improve resistance against various abiotic stresses. The role of Zn in acclimation...

The present experiment was conducted to appraise the role of different seed priming agents in circumventing the negative impact of chromium (Cr) toxicity on canola plants. Chromium toxicity resulted in significant decline in photosynthetic pigments and growth attributes of two canola cultivars (Puriga and MS-007). Cr toxicity also resulted in highe...

Eco-efficiency has received much attention due to fast economic development and substantial environmental pollution. Eco-efficiency analysis can be beneficial for benchmarking commodities and industries for sustainability and measuring and monitoring their environmental and economic performance. Natural resources and green technologies are importan...

Citation: Farid, M.; Abubakar, M.; Asam, Z.U.Z.; Sarfraz, W.; Abbas, M.; Shakoor, M.B.; Ali, S.; Ahmad, S.R.; Jilani, A.; Iqbal, J.; et al. Microwave Irradiation and Glutamic Acid-Assisted Phytotreatment of Textile and Surgical Industrial Wastewater by Sorghum. Molecules 2022, 27, 4004.

The growth and productivity of plants are enhanced by the use of thiourea (TU) under stressful conditions. When TU is applied as a rooting medium, it improves plant growth characteristics and other physiological parameters in stressed environment. A pot experiment was conducted in the botanical garden of the Government College University, Faisalaba...

The effects of foliar supply of silicon nanoparticles (Si-NPs) on growth, physiology, and cadmium (Cd) uptake by wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were examined in different soil moisture levels. Seeds were sown in soil containing excess Cd (7.67 mg kg⁻¹) and Si-NPs were applied through foliar dressing with various levels (0, 25, 50, 100 mg L⁻¹) at diff...

Extensive usage of heavy metals (HMs) in chemical reactions and processes eventually contaminate the environmental segments and is currently a major environmental concern. HMs such as cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) are considered the most harmful pollutants as they have adequate potential of bioaccumulation. The...

Salt stress has a significant impact on agricultural output, affecting seed germination and seedling growth. The uncontrolled production of oxidative species (ROS) induces a range of biochemical, physiological, and metabolic changes, resulting in reduced crop yields. Under such circumstances, seed priming may be a feasible and practicable approach...

Soil contamination with toxic heavy metals [such as arsenic (As)] is becoming a serious global problem due to rapid development of social economy. Silicon (Si), being an important fertilizer element, has been found effective in enhancing plant tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses. For this purpose, we have designed the current experiment t...

In the current industrial scenario, chromium (Cr) as a metal is of great importance but poses a major threat to the ecosystem. In the present study, the effect of different levels of Cr, i.e., 0 (no Cr), 50, and 100 µM in the soil on growth, photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange characteristics, oxidative stress biomarkers, antioxidants machinery (...

The rice production system is one of the most climate change sensitive agro-ecosystems. This paper reviews the effects of current and future climate change on rice production in China. In recent decades, thermal resources have increased during the rice growing season, while solar radiation resources have decreased, and precipitation heterogeneity h...

Globally, water resources contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons are under much consideration due to their hazardous effects on human beings as well as on plants and animals in the ecosystem. Petroleum hydrocarbons are classified as recalcitrant pollutants in nature. These petroleum products are mostly released in the water resources during the p...

Citation: Ashfaq, T.; Khan, M.; Arshad, I.; Ahmad, A.; Ali, S.; Aftab, K.; Al-Kahtani, A.A.; Mohamed Tighezza, A. Electro-Oxidation of Metal Oxide-Fabricated Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Generation of Hydrogen Production via Water Splitting. Coatings 2022, 12, 548.

Breynia distachia is a plant of genus Breynia belonging to family Phyllanthaceae. This study was conducted to isolate and examine the anti-inflammatory attributes of the roots of Breynia distachia. Methanol extract from roots were prepared by simple maceration. For phytochemical studies, isolation, purification, structure elucidation, metal analysi...

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. (Moench) plays a significant role in humans nutrition because its fresh leaves, stems, flowers, pods and seeds, are used for multiple purposes. The present study attempted to determine the spatial variations in biochemical attributes of osmoprotectants and the oxidative defense system of okra plants. Samples of soil...

In semi-arid regions, post-restoration vegetation recovery on abandoned agricultural lands often fails due to inherently low organic matter content and poor soil fertility conditions, including phosphorus (P). As such, amending these soils with controlled release P fertilizer, especially with suitable P solubilizing bacteria (PSB) may promote plant...

Copper (Cu) pollution in agricultural soils is considered as a serious health risk due to its accumulation in plants. Thus, there is an urgent need to optimize nutrient application for higher yield with lower Cu uptake to ensure food security. A pot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of single and/or combined application of different...

Arsenic (As) contamination in agricultural soils has become a great threat to the sustainable development of agriculture and food safety. Although a lot of approaches have been proposed for dealing with soil As contamination, they are not practical in crop production due to high cost, time-taking, or operational complexity. The rapid development of...

It was aimed to examine the role of gibberellic acid (GA3) and NPK fertilizer in alleviating boron (B) toxicity in coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) plants. Two weeks old C. sativum seedlings were subjected to different NPK fertilizers [low NPK (30 kg ha−1) and normal NPK (60 kg ha−1)], which were also supplied by GA3 (50 mg L−1), under varying lev...

Cadmium (Cd) toxicity in agricultural soils is serious concern these days which needs continuous attention. Little is known about the combined use of berseem and/or maize residues soil applied as a green manure alone or along with foliar dressing of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) on Cd accumulation in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). A pot experime...

The aim of the study was to investigate the variation in nutritional composition, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities of tomatoes grown in fly ash blended soils, i.e.,T1 (soil 100% + 0% fly ash), T2 (soil 75%+ 25% fly ash), and T3 (soil 50% + 50% fly ash) soils. The tomato samples were harvested and screened for their proximate analysis, mine...

Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) is a widely grown citrus and its fruit is affected by a variety of biotic and abiotic stress. Keeping in view the hazardous effects of synthetic fungicides, the recent trend is shifting towards safer and eco-friendly control of fruit diseases. The present study was aimed to diagnose the fruit rot disease of grapefruit a...

Leafy vegetables usually absorb and retain heavy metals more readily than most of the other crop plants, and thus contribute ≥70% of the total cadmium (Cd) intake of humans. Caffeine mediates plant growth and has proved to be beneficial against pathogens and insects. Therefore, it was hypothesized that foliar applications of caffeine could alter me...

The heavy metal cadmium (Cd) is known to be a widespread environmental contaminant and a potential toxin that may adversely affect human health across the globe. Green nanotechnology has recently received a lot of attention for developing eco-friendly, low-cost renewable and sustainable materials for the efficient removal of persistent contaminants...

This chapter provides a brief discussion about the aerosol particles with their atmospheric composition, their different emission sources either natural (biogenic, volcanos, sea salt, desert dust) or anthropogenic (biomass burning, fossil fuel burning). Further, it included the different pathways through which aerosol components entered the atmosph...

Advances in technologies have contributed to more food production, but it is not sufficient for the current growing population. An increase in the production of growth that ultimately leads to an increase in economic growth puts a huge cost into the natural environment. Half of the forests of the earth are now depleted, and we have only 1% of the f...

Mining activities, industrial processing, domestic and agricultural use of metal and metal-containing compounds have resulted in the release of toxic metals into the atmosphere, which has become a widespread environmental problem as a result of global industrialization. Metal contamination has grave consequences for human health and the environment...

Soil has the ability to persist contaminants for a longer duration which lowers the quality of soil for agricultural use. Soils augmented with a load of heavy and toxic metals and organic pollutants of industrial sources show the severe effect on the crops. This effort will gather information about the effect of environmental pollution on the crops...

Chromium is one of the highly toxic heavy metals to plant growth and development especially hexavalent chromium (Cr⁺⁶) due to its readily available nature and mobility into the environment. The chelating agents and hyperaccumulator plant can contribute to remediating the heavy metals from the contaminated medium. This study was conducted to analyze...

Low nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) is a serious issue for cotton production and environmental sustainability in arid climates. A pot study was conducted to evaluate the effect of K nutrition on NUE and performance of low- and high-K-efficiency cotton cultivars under two moisture regimes. Treatments included two soil moisture levels—i.e., normal irri...

Changing environmental conditions, fresh water shortages for irrigation and the rapid increase in world population have created the problems of food insecurity and malnutrition. Different strategies, including the development of water stress-tolerant, high-yielding genotypes through breeding are used to fulfil the world food demand. The present stu...

Environmental contamination of chromium (Cr) has gained substantial consideration worldwide because of its high levels in the water and soil. A pot experiment using oil seed crop (rapeseed ( Brassica napus L.)) grown under different levels of tannery wastewater (0, 33, 66 and 100%) in the soil using the foliar application of zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe)...