Paenibacillus sabuli sp. nov., isolated from the South China Sea.

A Gram-positive, rod-shaped, motile, spore-forming bacterium, designated strain IB182496T, was isolated from coastal sand of the South China Sea. The strain grew optimally at pH 7.0-9.0, 20-30 °C, and with NaCl 3.0-5.0 %. The predominant menaquinone was MK-7 and the major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0 and C16 : 0. The polar lipids in the cell wall included diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, three unidentified phospholipids and one unidentified lipid. The comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain IB182496T was most closely related to 'Paenibacillus sambharensis' SMB1 and Paenibacillus tarimensis SA-7-6T with similarities of 95.7 and 95.5 %, respectively. The whole-genome average nucleotide identity values between strain IB182496T and the two reference strains were 70.8 and 70.5%, and the digital DNA-DNA hybridization values were 18.7 and 18.0 %, respectively. Genomic analyses showed that strain IB182496T presented a genome of 6.22 Mbp with chromosomal G+C content of 60.3 %, and a total of 5261 genes were predicted. The combined phylogenetic relatedness, phenotypic and genotypic features supported the conclusion that strain IB182496T should be considered as representing a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which we propose the name Paenibacillus sabuli sp. nov. with the type strain IB182496T (=MCCC 1K04627T=JCM 34216T).

Mapping farmers' vulnerability to climate change and its induced hazards: evidence from the rice-growing zones of Punjab, Pakistan.

In developing countries like Pakistan, agriculture constitutes the primary source of support for the majority of rural and the adjacent urban population. Despite the large part it plays in the economy, it faces significant challenges caused by climate change, such as rising temperatures, floods, droughts, and yield losses. In Pakistan, rice, which is the second most essential food crop and livelihood source for the millions of farm households, is facing significant yield reduction due to climate change. It is pertinent to consider the vulnerabilities of farm households and related factors to create a climatic-resilient farming system. The current study is aimed at mapping the vulnerability of rice-growing communities of Punjab province while considering climatic challenges beyond temperatures and rainfall changes. The Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) was calculated for four rice-growing districts of Punjab province using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's three-indicator approach (sensitivity, exposition, and adaptive capacity). According to the results, farmers in the study area are highly vulnerable to climate change (CCVI 0.81). Specifically, the indices of vulnerability components showed that farmers have a high level of exposure (EVI 0.72) and susceptibility (SVI 0.59) to the climatic uncertainties with the least adaptive capacity (AVI 0.50). Further, the vulnerability analysis across different rice-growing regions showed that farmers, particularly in the low-yield region, are more vulnerable (EVI 0.73, SVI 0.61, AVI 0.49, CCVI 0.85) than the farmers in the high-yield region (EVI 0.71, SVI 0.58, AVI 0.51, CCVI 0.78). These findings imply that regional priority must be given despite the difference in farm performance to reduce production losses. Besides, climate-smart adaptation initiatives should be facilitated at the farm and regional levels through the implementation of appropriate policies and investment plans.

Public institutions' capacities regarding climate change adaptation and risk management support in agriculture: the case of Punjab Province, Pakistan.

Public institutions could play an important role in building agricultural resilience to climate change by providing information and technology support to farmers. This study takes the case of Pakistan to investigate the perspective and capacities of public institutions as well as to identify gaps in current institutional arrangements in dealing and managing climate change in the agriculture sector. For this purpose, 53 office bearers from thirteen public institutions in Punjab province of Pakistan were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire to collect data on climate knowledge, training, coordination, and resource availability. The study uses an index-based approach to calculate Institutional Capacity Indices (ICI) based on selected seven indicators. The results of the index analysis show that institutions have the least financial capacity, followed by lacking physical and human resources. Whereas results show high index value for perception and knowledge, indicating a good understanding of climate change at the institutional level. The overall ICI index value indicates a medium level capacity of institutions in dealing with climate change. Moreover, the study shows that gaps in management, non-availability of financial and physical resources, and lack of training are the key bottlenecks for limited adaptation support from public institutions. This study highlights the importance of reducing gaps so that institutions could play their role in building the resilience of the agriculture sector to climate change.

Modeling food growers' perceptions and behavior towards environmental changes and its induced risks: evidence from Pakistan.

In Pakistan, rice is considered as the second staple food and provides livelihoods to the millions of the farm households. During recent years, rice production in Pakistan significantly decreased reportedly due to changes in climate and its induced risks. This study analyzed the incidence and severity of climate change and its induced risks in the rice-growing region of Pakistan and assessed farmers' perception and attitude by employing risk matrix and Equally Likely Certainty Equivalent model. According to the findings, the majority of the farmers were found risk-averse in behavior, while perceptions varied among different kinds of risks. Among the five kinds of risks, biological and financial risks were conceived as high risk, followed by the climate, biophysical, and social risk. Moreover, probit regression indicated farmers' age, education, landholding, off-farm income, advisory access, and credit utilization among the significant determinants of farmers' risk perceptions and attitudes. These findings suggest adopting a comprehensive approach with extended institutional and adaptation support to deal with various kinds of risks being faced by rice farmers in Pakistan. Graphical abstract.