Shrimp aquaculture has become an economically important one and production has decreased in recent years due to the spread of infectious diseases, mostly that caused by bacterial infection. The shrimp are affected by the toxic substances which eventually enter in to their systems and bring about external damages because healthy shrimp production requires the use of effective disease prevention strategies and a good kind of the basic immune functions. The spread of antibiotic resistance and the evolution of new strains of disease causing agents are of great concern to the global health environment. While bacteria causing diseases in penaeid shrimp are considered to improve disease control and treatment. Shrimp possess restricted ability to mount an immune response to infection. The immune system of shrimp lacks specific immunity and memory, both important for acquired immunity in higher animals. This study explores, it was aimed to determine the antibacterial activity of shrimp chitin functionalized with penicillin against marine and estuarine pathogens. The results of this attempt for the enhancement of disease resistance have been varied. The results obtained in the present study revealed that P.monodon has produced some antibacterial properties against estuarine pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus, its formation of zone maximum head (10.4±1.05) was observed followed by chelated leg (9.8±0.23), walking legs (8.3±0.13) and positive control (10.1±0.21) and minimum was observed in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, its zone formation like, head (8.3±1.02), chelated leg (7.3±0.15), walking legs (6.1±0.20) and positive control (10.5±2.10). The marine pathogens like, Bacillus megaterium, its formation of zone maximum in head (10.7±1.25) was observed followed by chelated leg (9.1±0.30), walking legs (8.6±0.77) and positive control (11.2±1.10) and minimum was observed in Vibrio dancella, its formation of zone like, head (7.9±0.21), chelated leg (7.2±0.35), walking legs (6.3±0.12) and positive control (10.1±1.15). Similarly the L. vannamei antibacterial properties were evaluation against estuarine pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus, its zone formation maximum in head (10.5±1.02) was observed followed by chelated leg (9.7±0.10) and walking legs (9.1±0.03) and positive control (11.5±0.15) and minimum was recorded in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, its zone formation like head (8.3±1.15), chelated leg (8.1±0.23), walking legs (7.4±0.10) and positive control (10.4±1.30). The marine pathogens like, Bacillus megaterium, its maximum zone formation was observed in head (10.8±1.20) followed by chelated leg (9.7±0.15), walking legs (8.7±0.23) and positive control (11.2±1.10) and minimum was recorded in Vibrio dancella, its zone formation like head (7.2±0.24), chelated leg (6.5±0.15), walking legs (6.3±0.15) and positive control (10.3±1.25) respectively. Key Words: Penaeid, chitin crude extract, estuarine, marine pathogens, antibacterial activity
Hormodendrum cladosporioides, a fungal isolate from the southern Western Ghats showed a great ability in producing chitinase in a minimal medium with leaf litter wastes as carbon source. This work also focuses on factors relevant for the improvement of enzymatic hydrolysis of leaf litters using a potential producer of chitinase. Different cultural conditions were examined such as pH, temperature and incubation period to assess their effect in optimizing enzyme production. The highest chitinase production was 0.276 IU/ml in the minimal medium fortified with Artocarpus heterophylla leaf litter wastes as the carbon source. Optimum pH was found to be 6, temperature 35°C and the 4th day was found to be the best incubation period. All the productions were done in submerged condition at 120 rpm in a shaker. After finding the suitable physicochemical parameters different nutritional supplements were incorporated to the minimal medium in different concentration possibly to enhance the yield. Among the five supplements used, casein with 1.25 % concentration showed 0.824 IU/ml chitinase activity followed by urea which showed 0.759 IU/ml and yeast extract with 0.733 IU/ml in the same concentration. We concluded that the minimal medium fortified with A. heterophylla leaf litter wastes with a substrate probably a nitrogen source in optimum conditions are helpful for the fungus to yield maximum enzyme production.
The conventional solid-state fermentation (SSF) has long been practiced for mass production of spores of several fungi in industries. However it has some disadvantages. SSF takes longer time for sporulation, amount of unutilized medium components is high and spent medium is non-recyclable, spore production efficiency per gram of medium used is not very high in comparison to spore production on polyurethane foam. In the present study, we have used biologically inert polyurethane foam as a supporting medium for mass production of spores of Beauveria bassiana which is frequently used in tea plantation to control several tea pests. This new technique of spore production gives an average of 8.3x 10 9 spores per gram of medium used in first 10 days which is almost nineteen times higher than what we have obtain in the conventional solid-state fermentation after 20 days incubation. We also found that the amount of spore mass production increases in the 2nd and 3rd cycle considerably, simply by adding fresh medium to the used polyurethane foams covered with fungal mycelium. Keywords: Beauveria bassiana, Polyurethane foams, Solid-state fermentation (SSF), conidia
A study was carried out at Shadan Institute Medical Sciences & Post Graduate Research Institute , Hyderabad to know the incidence of syphilis amongst pregnant women. This study was carried out over a period of 6 years from January 2011 to December 2012 in the antenatal clinics of Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences. A total of 5580 pregnant women were screened for syphilis by the RPR testing, Out of these 5580 antenatal cases as tested, six were found to be positive. This shows the incidence of 0.10%. They were screened at their first Antenatal visit, as Syphilis is a major cause of adverse poor pregnancy outcome & can affect the foetus causing congenital syphilis in the newborn. Keywords: - Syphilis, Pregnancy, R.P.R
An efficient protocol for plantlet regeneration from collar region of seedlings and embryo in economically important plant Calamus nagbettai (Arecaceae), endemic to Western Ghats of Karnataka has been developed. For callus induction, the explants were cultured on MS medium augmented with NAA (3mg/l), IBA (4mg/l) and 2, 4-D (8mg/l) separately. In 2,4-D augmented media the frequency of caulogenesis observed was 94%. The study clearly showed that, 2,4-D is highly effective to induce callus. The calli were subcultured on MS medium with various concentrations of cytokinins for shoot formation. The medium supplemented with BAP (3mg/l) showed good response for shoot formation (82.4%). The In Vitro produced shoots were cultured on MS medium fortified with various concentrations of GA3 for further elongation. The medium supplemented with1.0 mg/l GA3 was found suitable for elongation of microshoots. The shoots were rooting best in ½ MS medium containing IBA (1mg/l) and NAA (0.5mg/l) separately. The rooted plantlets were transferred to the field after acclimatization. Key words: Weatern Ghats, Calamus nagbettai, callus, organogenesis, multiple shoots.
The present work on the antioxidant activity of aqueous and methanolic extracts of Cucumis dipsaceous fruit is the first investigation. The results obtained in the in vitro models such as Reducing power assay, DPPH radical scavenging activity, Superoxide anion radical scavenging activity, Nitric oxide scavenging assay, and Metal ion chelating activity clearly suggest that, both the aqueous and methanolic extracts showed strong antioxidant activity when compared with different standards such as BHA, EDTA and Curcumin. In the present investigation, the sample and BHA showed significant effects on the DPPH radical scavenging at all amounts. The IC50 values of methanolic, aqueous extract and BHA were 66, 77.5 and 7μg/ml respectively. Inhibition of superoxide scavenging by aqueous and methanolic extracts showed concentrations dependent manner with an IC50 values of 137 and 287μg/ml respectively. methanolic extract was a potent superoxide anion scavenger than the aqueous extract. The reducing capacity was exhibited by both aqueous and methanolic extracts at all amounts. The reducing power of aqueous extract was higher than the methanolic extract. The ferrous ion chelating effect was shown by both of aqueous and methanolic extracts with IC50 values of 251 and 282μg/ml respectively. The positive control EDTA showed the IC50 value of 178μg/ml. The test samples were investigated for their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production. The metahnolic extract showed significant free radical scavenging action against nitric oxide (NO) induced release of free radicals (IC50 = 32 μg/ml) than aqueous extract (IC50 = 44 μg/ml). In aqueous and methanolic extracts of Cucumis dipsaceous, 31.5 ± 2 and 43.1 ± 3.1 mg (gallic acid equivalent per gram) of phenols were detected respectively. There is little correlation between antioxidant activity and phenol content. Key words: Cucumis dipsaceous, antioxidant activity, reducing power, metal ion chelation, free radical scavenging activity.
Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is a cash crop of huge economic significance in the world and the key raw material for chocolate manufacturing. Polyphenol oxidases (PPOs) are copper containing oxidoreductases that catalyze the hydroxylation and oxidation of phenolic compounds in the presence of molecular oxygen. The PPO presence and activity during fermentation and drying of cocoa beans is responsible for the development of flavor precursors. In this study, bioinformatics analysisof PPO from cocoa was done using standard bioinformatics tools such as Blastp, Hmmer, ClustalO, OMABrowser, EMBOSS and Swissmodel. The result showed that cocoa PPO homologs include Citrus sinensis, Populus euphratica, Gossypium raimondii, Litchi chinensis, Dimocarpuslongan, Canarium album, while the orthologsobtainedinclude Sorghum bicolor, Zea may, Manihot esculenta and Vitis vinifera among others.PPO of Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) was found to be a distant homolog of cocoa PPO, and that this evolutionary relationship implicated Witches’ Broom Disease (WBD). The computed physicochemical properties were in alignment with the experimental results. Keywords: Polyphenol Oxidase, Cocoa, Theobroma cacao L., Computational Analysis, Experimental Analysis.
Antidiarrhoeagenic activities of 10 ethnomedicial plants extracts were evaluated against 4 bacterial strains, Escherichia coli, Vibro cholerae, Shigella dysentariae, Salmonella enterica. Plants were collected from a quiet Oban Community in South East Nigeria and the enthnobotanical data gathered. Solvent (methanol, ethanol diethyl ether) extracts obtained by Sohxlet were challenged with clinical isolates using paper disc diffusion method. The results indicated that 80% of the plants examined exhibited antidiarrhoeagenic activity against one or more of the tested organisms. Ethanolic extracts of Azadirachta indica and Dracaena manni were most active. Significant antidiarrhoeagenic effects expressed as MIC/MBC of extracts against all test organisms were observed with ethanolic extracts of Newbouldia laevis and may be associated with the high solubility of their phytochemicals. Generally, the potentials of these plants to produce antidiarrhoegonic components that can be useful for many applications are great and must be better explored. Key words: Antidiarrhoeaganic activity, medicinal plants, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimal bacterial concentration (MBC.)
Congo Red (CR) is a carcinogenic azo dye utilized in paper and textile industries. Five bacterial strains EDS-S1, EDS-S2, EDS-S3, ETS-SB1, ETS-SB2 and consortium isolated from dye contaminated soil of Emaneswaram textile dyeing unit, Paramakudi, Tamil Nadu, decolourized CR and identified as Proteus sp, Klebsiella sp, Salmonella sp and Pseudomonas sp by biochemical tests. Among various concentrations (50 to 250ppm) of CR , 200ppm was decolourized by five bacterial strains individually and also as consortium and the decolourization rate was recorded as EDS-S1, 67% ; EDS-S2 , 81%; EDS-S3,90%; ETS-SB1, 77%; ETS-SB2, 65 % and consortium 98%, by static conditions within 48 hours under pH 7 at 370C. The decolourization abilities of bacteria were due to the secretion of azoreductase, which cleaves the azo bond of CR dye. This study confirms the ability of consortium as effective tool to develop a commercial scale biodecolourization plant to treat CR polluted effluent water and also future scope for producing commercial azoreductase enzyme by utilizing modern biotechnological methods. Key words: Biodecolourization, Congo Red, Proteus sp, Klebsiella sp, Salmonella sp, Pseudomonas sp.
Lipase producing microbial strain Serratia sp(C4) was isolated from spoiled coconut using olive oil medium.The isolate C4 was shown the maximum enzyme activity of 9.4I.U/ml. The extracellular lipase was alkaline in nature. The maximum specific activity of the partially purified lipase by using ammonium sulphate as suitable precipitating agent was found to be 16.16I.U/mg. The partially purified lipase was immobilised by 2% calcium chloride solution followed by treatment with intermolecular cross linking agent glutaraldehyde solution. The maximum specific activity of the immobilised lipase before and after treatment with glutaraldehyde solution at an optimum concentration level of 1% and optimum contact time of 30sec were estimated as 10.41I.U/mg and 12.50I.U/mg. The maximum activity retention of the immobilised lipase before and after treatment with glutaraldehyde solution under the same conditions were determined as 64.41% and 77.35% respectively. The maximum substrate conversion was found to be 26% at the fluidized bed height of 85mm and after 7hr of operation in continuous fluidized bed column reactor. Key words: Lipase,immobilisation,glutaraldehyde,activity retention,fluidized bed reactor
The soil samples were collected from oil factory in Salem, Vellore and Chennai. About 12 organisms were isolated from these soil samples. The strain was then screened using MM9 media for the L-asparaginase enzyme production. Aspergillus niger which showed pink colour around the colony on selected media. The screened isolate was optimized at different substrates (wheat bran, gingelly oil cake, cotton seed, rice bran, rice bran), temperature (30°C, 40°C, 50°C, 60°C and 70°C), moisture content (10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%), pH (5, 6, 7, 8 and 9), incubation days (3, 4, 5, 6 and 7), carbon sources (glucose, maltose, sucrose, lactose and mannitol), nitrogen sources (urea, peptone, casein and yeast extract) and metal ions (ZnCl2, FeSO4, MgSO4, NaCl, and CaCl2). A.niger produced maximum L-asparaginase enzyme in gingelly oil cake at temperature 40°C, in 30 % of moisture content, at pH 7 in 4 days. The maximum enzyme activity was observed in mannitol as carbon source, yeast extract as the nitrogen source and ZnCl2 as the metal ion source. The L-asparaginase enzyme was purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation, dialysis and DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. Purification by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography has increased the specific activity to 4166.66 (U/g dry substrate) with a purification fold of 27.7 and a yield of 55.5% in Aspergillus niger. Keywords: Fungal isolates, L- Aspergine, Anion exchange column chromatography.
Rapid urbanization and Industrialization without proper environmental planning lead to the discharge of toxic heavy metals in the environtment. The toxic heavy metals entering into the ecosystem may lead to geo accumulation, bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Removal of heavy metals from wastewater needs advance chemical technology and is more expensive too. The cheaper alternative for this is the bioremediation using heavy metal resistant Microorganisms. Hence in the present study an attempt has been made to study the biosorption of chromium ions by Pseudomonas fluorescens. Experiments were also designed to study the effect of dead cells and sugars on the biosorption of hexavalent chromium ions. Pseudomonas fluorescens were exposed to different concentration of hexavalent chromium (200, 400, 600 and 800 ppm) for a period of eight days. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) analysis was carried out for the samples at an interval of two days. The highest hexavalent chromium uptake was found to be at 800 ppm concentration. Metal binding by bacteria has been shown to be profoundly influenced by the concentration of the metal. The mechanisms have not been examined thoroughly, but it is clear that the bacterial cells may act as nucleation sites for the removal of metals from the environment. Thus these findings suggest the possibility of using these bacterial isolate for bioremediation of hexavalent chromium from heavy metal contaminated ecosystems. Key words: Hexavalent chromium; Pseudomonas fluorescens; bioremediation; Atomic absorption spectroscopy.
The studies about the human pathogenic bacterial load, particularly enterobacteria in fresh water is scanty in literature. The total aerobic bacteria and enterobacteria load in African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) randomly sampled from different aquatic environments in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria were examined and compared. Densities of total aerobic bacteria and enterobacteriaceae count were measured from the skin and stomach. All fish samples examined were heavily contaminated with high indices of 1012- 1013 (log10cfu/cm2 =13.07 – 13.20; log10cfu/g = 13.02-13.16). Significantly, higher microbial load was obtained in captured tilapia (log10 cfu/cm2 13.20, t = 3.369; p 0.05) in cat fish. The microbial load of skin of O. niloticus was significantly higher than that of the stomach of O. niloticus. Significantly higher count of enterobacterial count was obtained in the stomach of captured catfish (log10 cfu/g 13.04; t = 3.235, p <0.001) and captured tilapia (log10cfu/g 12.86; t = 3.629, p <0.001) when ccompared with their respective skin samples. The high microbial load of the wild catfish and wild tilapia in this study may be due to mass pollution of the environments where the fish were caught. The public health implications are discussed. Key Words: Bacterial load , catfish, tilapia, public health
Many oxidative stress related disease are due to accumulation of free radicals in the body which causes cell injury. In this study, the enzymatic antioxidants (Superoxide dismutase, Catalase, Glutathione-s-transferase, Glutathione peroxidase, Ascorbate oxidase and Polyphenoloxidase) and non-enzymatic antioxidants (Total reduced glutathione and Vitamin C) activities were determined using Carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) rat liver as experimental model. The ethanol and chloroform extract showed noticeable increases in enzymatic antioxidant and non- enzymatic antioxidant and thus capability to scavenge the free radicals and protect against oxidative stress causing diseases. Thus, the present study indicates that the plant may be clinically valuable agent in the prevention of hepatic failure caused by CCl 4 intoxication.
The isolation and screening of antibiotic resistance strains from three samples sites present in and around hospital of Patna resulted in isolation of 300 bacterial isolates. Out of which maximum number of isolates were obtained from site B while site A gave least number of isolates. 89 bacterial strains showed antibiotic resistance. Among these 89 isolates Site B had maximum number of antibiotic resistant isolates (51) followed by site C with 33 isolates. Among the four groups of antibiotic selected for investigation, the isolates showed highest antibiotic resistance against fluoroquinolones with 1, 20 and 14 isolates from site A, site B and site C respectively showing antibiotic resistance. Site B isolates showed significant resistance against group III (aminoglycosides) antibiotic. Site C isolates also showed maximum resistance against Group IV antibiotics followed by Group II, III and Group I. Site A sample showed resistance against Ciprofloxacin, however it showed sensitivity against all other antibiotics. Study showed that there was a dynamic flux in the response of E. coli strains against antibiotic. Antibiotic resistant E. coli was present in wastewater. Key words: bacterial isolates, antibiotic resistance, E. coli.
The biodegradation of naturally weathered polyethylene films by two Aspergillus species isolated from Niger Delta mangrove soil was studied. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) films were exposed outdoor for 24 weeks. The two Aspergillus sp. utilized the polyethylene films as sole carbon sources. The isolates were identified as Aspergillus japonicus and Aspergillus terreus. The mean heterotrophic fungal count in the mangrove soil ranged between 1.5 x 103 - 6.5 x 104 respectively. The rate of degradation was determined by measurement of the residual weight of the polyethylene films. The result of biodegradation by the molds after 45 and 60 days of incubation showed reduction in dry weight of the films ranging between 10.70%-22.54%. Biodegradation was confirmed by Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, by examining surface chemical changes. Results showed introduction of carbonyl group after natural weathering, which decreased after microbial treatment. Decrease in carbonyl index ranged between 11.8%-22.4%. The result showed that some molds belonging to the genus Aspergillus found in the Niger delta mangrove soil can be used in synergy with abiotic oxidation to biodegrade PE films. Keywords: Aspergillus japonicus, Aspergillus terreus, biodegradation, carbonyl index, natural weathering, Niger Delta mangrove.
The production of extracellular amylase by Bacillus sp was optimized in a submerged fermentation and solid state fermentation. The production of enzymes was maximum at 72hrs after incubation. The optimum conditions for enzyme production were standardized using various parameters such as pH, time and temperature. Amylase produced by Bacillus sp under solid state fermentation as well as submerged fermentation. Solid State Fermentation have been established as a superior technique, economically valuable than the submerged fermentation for the production of enzymes. Key words: Amylase, PH, Temperature, Substrate, Bacillus,Submerged fermentation and solid state fermentation
Enterococci, leading causes of nosocomial bacteremia, surgical wound infection, and urinary tract infection, are becoming resistant to all standard therapies. The present study is to monitore the Enterococcus faecalis strains to form biofilms screened by tissue culture plate (TCP), Tube method (TM). Biofilm formation potential was determined by growing the tested strains containing BHI medium. The capability of forming biofilms was detected in 40 MDR resistant E.faecalis strains, strong biofilm producers were 11(27.5%), 22(55%) were moderate and 07(17.5%) isolates were considered as non or weak biofilm producers. Though TM correlated well with TCP test for 09 (22.5%), 16(40.0%) and 15(37.5%) strongly biofilm producing strains, weak producers were difficult to discriminate from bioflim negative isolates. The present study shows a significant difference in production of biofilm, therefore, it can be concluded that biofilm production has an important role in causing nosocomial infection. Keywords: Enterococcus, E. faecalis, MDR, Bioflim.
Itaconic acid (IA) is an α-substituted acrylic acid used in the manufacturing of synthetic resins, coatings and other industrially important products. It is generally produced by fungal species of Genus Aspergillus by fermentation of carbohydrates. Glucose is the most efficiently utilized substrate. However, there is no comprehensive study on using other fungi and latest technologies for increasing the productivity at industrial level. By keeping this in view, the present study was aimed to produce itaconic acid using Ustilago maydis species as it appears to be a candidate for an alternative producer of IA. Maximum yield (29g/l) was obtained at pH 3.0, temperature 34oC, incubated for a period of 5 days, glucose concentration at 4% under submerged fermentation conditions. Key words: Itaconic acid, Ustilago maydis, Glucose, Fermentation.
Many toxic aromatic and aliphatic compounds occurs in waste water of number of industries. Among these phenol is the most common aromatic pollutant and is also found in contaminated drinking water. Phenol can be toxic when present at elevated level and is known to be carcinogenic. It has effect on health even at low concentration. Thus, removal of such a compound is of great importance. A laboratory phenol was treated with turnip root enzyme (Peroxidase) extract in the presence of H2O2 as an oxidant to form corresponding free radicals. Free radicals polymerise to form substances that are less soluble in water. The precipitates were removed by centrifugation and residual phenol was estimated. The concentration of phenol decreased with increase in the concentration of enzyme extract. The results shown that turnip root enzyme extract degrade phenol more efficiently. Keywords: free radicals, phenol, peroxidase, turnip
