Related papers: Giant Viruses of the Kutch Desert
The first giant virus was identified in 2003 from a biofilm of an industrial water-cooling tower in England. Later, numerous new giant viruses were found in oceans and freshwater habitats, some of them having even 2,500 genes. We have…
Giant double-stranded DNA viruses (such as record breaking Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus), with particle sizes of 0.2 to 0.6 micron, genomes of 300 kbp to 1.200 kbp, and commensurate complex gene contents, constitute an evolutionary…
The Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA) is reducing in size, which raises several ecological concerns, including the effect of an increasing area of dry playa exposed by the retreating lake. This study focuses solely on concerns about the toxicity…
A red rain phenomenon occurred in Kerala, India starting from 25th July 2001, in which the rainwater appeared coloured in various localized places that are spread over a few hundred kilometers in Kerala. Maximum cases were reported during…
This paper reports the extraordinary biology of the microorganisms from the mysterious red rain of Kerala, India. These chemosynthetic organisms grow optimally at an extreme high temperature of 300 degrees C in hydrothermal conditions and…
The recently discovered Acanthamoeba polyphaga Mimivirus is the largest known DNA virus. Its particle size (>400 nm), genome length (1.2 million bp) and large gene repertoire (911 protein coding genes) blur the established boundaries…
The Ice Giants Uranus and Neptune have hydrogen-based atmospheres with several constituents that condense in their cold upper atmospheres. A small number of bright cloud systems observed in both planets are good candidates for moist…
We present statistical results from the Epoch of Giant Planet Migration RV planet search program. This survey was designed to measure the occurrence rate of giant planets interior to the water ice line of young Sun-like stars, compare this…
Mitochondrial DNA from fourteen archaeological samples at the Ural State University in Yekaterinburg, Russia was extracted to test the feasibility of ancient DNA work on their collection. These samples come from a number of sites that fall…
Giant viruses contain large genomes, encode many proteins atypical for viruses, replicate in large viral factories, and tend to infect protists. The giant virus replication factories can in turn be infected by so called virophages, which…
A comprehensive study of satellite-derived suspended sediment concentration (SSC) during pre- and post-monsoon has been conducted with full-month cycles of tidal responses to study the suspended sediment dynamics in the Gulf of Kachchh.…
A warm cloud modification experiment was carried out in an area of 4800 Sq.Km in the Pune region,India, during the 11-summer monsoon (June-September) seasons (1973-74, 1976, 1979-86). A double-area cross-over design with area randomization…
Motivation: Nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs) are notable for their large genomes and extensive gene repertoires, which contribute to their widespread environmental presence and critical roles in processes such as host metabolic…
The global population at risk of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika is expanding. Infectious disease models commonly incorporate environmental measures like temperature and precipitation. Given…
Soil salinity is a major environmental challenge in coastal Bangladesh, threatening agricultural productivity and local livelihoods. This study develops a machine-learning-based framework to predict and map soil salinity in Satkhira…
Various phenomenological models presented over the years have hinted at the possible presence of strangelets, which are nuggets of Strange Quark Matter (SQM), in cosmic rays. One way to search for such rare events is through the deployment…
A man-made texture on the desert soil of a county of the Western China is visible in satellite images, more than 8 kilometers long and 50 meters wide. This seems to be the result of a detailed geophysical survey of the region that led to…
Arid zones contain a diverse set of microbes capable of survival under dry conditions, some of which can form relationships with plants under drought stress conditions to improve plant health. We studied squash (Cucurbita pepo L.) root…
Direct imaging observations constrain the fraction of stars orbited by gas giant planets with separations greater than 10 au to about 0.01 only. This is widely believed to indicate that massive protoplanetary discs rarely fragment on…
Dwarf galaxies are thought to quench primarily due to environmental processes most typically occurring in galaxy groups and clusters or around single, massive galaxies. However, at earlier epochs, ($5 < z < 2$), the collapse of large scale…