Bio Technology

Wetlands are among the most productive life-support systems in the world and are of immense socio-economic and ecological importance to mankind. These are areas where water is the primary factors controlling the environment and the associated plant and animal life. They occur where the water table is at or near the surface of the land, or where the land is covered by shallow water. They are critical for the maintenance of biodiversity and perform a great role in the biosphere. Ironically, wetlands have been perceived as wastelands associated with disease, difficulty and danger. Emphasizing the negative impacts and ignoring their importance, these habitats were considered obstacles in the path of progress and hence drained, filled, despoiled and degraded for economic gains. The wetland loss has been responsible for bringing to the verge of extinction countless species of animals and plants. Inadequate understanding of the crucial role and utility of wetlands is a matter of serious concern. In the present paper, seven types of wetlands are compared in terms of their potentiality and economic advantages with tropical sea grass bed with highest productivity and estuarine mangrove wetland with lowest one.

The River Cauvery is one of the major perennial river in the peninsular India. Which originates from Coorg District, Karnataka and flows through Tamilnadu state and enters into Bay of Bengal. The firshery resources are high in the River Cauvery. In the present investigation the sex ratio of Macrobrachium scabriculum was estimated for the period of two years from July 2010 to June 2012. A total of 1474 prawns, the males were 729 and females were 745. The overall sex ratio of males and females were found to be 1:1 ratio. The chi-square (x2) test analysis indicated that the value slightly deviated from the expected 1:1 ratio in the two years. The females were predominant in several months of the study period. Level P confidence for whole year has no significant deviation from the expected 1:1 ratio. The pooled data for both the years conformed to the expected 1:1 ratio. Physico-chemical factors of the aquatic environment either directly or indirectly influence the sex ratio. The preponderance of female in all the months than males. The predominance of female may poachaps be due to the continuous breeding habits and possible migration of females towards the river.

Spiders belong to the group of arthropods, they are found in the terrestrial habitat. Spider venoms are an incredible source of biologically active substances which selectively target a variety of vital physiological functions in both insects and mammals. Venom of spiders are heterogeneous not only between the species but also within the species. They are made up of complex mixtures of biologically active enzymatic and non enzymatic components. Many toxins isolated from spider venom have been valuable in helping to determine the role diversity of neuronal ion channels and the process of exocytosis.

Lead is a heavy metal which has been termed as a harmful, poisonous metal. Lead toxicity is a common cause in Man and also animals especially cattle. Neurological diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, anaemia or male infertility are few examples of the harm that lead can do. In India, use of lead in toothpaste is regulated by Bureau of Indian Standards(BIS). Permissible level of lead in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated toothpaste is 20 ppm (0.002%) according to BIS and 5 ppm (0.0005%) under the British Standard. In this study, fifteen toothpastes available on the Indian market were analysed for lead content which includes six brands namely Close up, Colgate, Dabur, Himalaya, Pepsodent and Sensodyne. Sensodyne was found to have a level above the proposed limits set by BIS and the British Standard.

Inherent dominating Coulombic interaction of the man-made 1-D carbon nanotubes is influenced by the biotic nanomaterial namely Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) that staunchly binds to the SWNTs surface and thus modifies the electronic structure of Single Wall Carbon Nanotube (SWNTs), as noticed by the optical process of Photoluminescence (PL) using Spectrofluorophotometer. This modification finds several applications in various disciplines & one of its applications of DNA sequence detection in field of biotechnology is observed in present work.

Swine flu (swine influenza) is a respiratory disease caused by viruses (influenza viruses) that infect the respiratory tract of pigs and result in nasal secretions. Swine flu produces most of the same symptoms in pigs as human flu produces in people. The 2009 swine flu strain, first seen in Mexico, is termed novel H1N1 flu since it is mainly found infecting people and exhibits two main surface antigens, H1 (hemagglutinin type 1) and N1 (neuraminidase type1).This study deals with the structure prediction and computer aided drug interaction studies for the neuraminidase protein from H1N1 virus. Selection of neuraminidase was done since its function is to move the virus out of host cell and hence spread more disease. Targeting this protein with potential drug compounds will stop further spread. Accelrys Discovery studio 2.5 was the software employed in this work. Target sequence selection was done from PIR database and homology modeling was carried out using in-build modeler in DS. Quality of the model has been analyzed and binding sites were predicted. Drugs suitable for swine flu were retrieved from drug bank and through a 3D database search in DS, different conformations has been developed. Molecular docking was performed using Ligandfit in DS. Selection of best drug was done based on highest dock score which was further studied for ADMET (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Elimination and Toxicity) properties. TOPKAT predictions, which give results for carcinogenicity, ocular irritation, skin irritation was also carried out. The results of this study can be useful further for QSAR studies and various in-vitro analysis later.

The bio-sorption process concern the mineral response to the bacterium presence, which is essentially interplay between microorganism and the physicochemical properties of the mineral surface. The adhesion of microorganisms to minerals results in alteration of surface chemistry of minerals relevant to beneficiation process due to a consequence of the formation of a biofilm on the surface or bio-catalyzed surface oxidation or reduction products. Low grade of finely disseminated iron ores have become the main sources of raw iron ores in many countries with the depletion of high grade deposits. In this paper, the amenability of utilization of Brevundimonas diminuta isolated and adapted on surfaces of iron and phosphate ores, as flotation reagents for separating the harmful impurities such as phosphorus in the bio-flotation of iron oxide-apatite minerals system is studied. The effect of micro-organism on the surface properties of the two single minerals has been studied through zeta potential and adhesion measurements as well as micro-flotation tests. The effect of pH of the medium on the surface properties and flotation behaviour of each single mineral is determined. Flotation of binary mixtures of haematite-apatite as well as natural iron ore has also been performed at different operating parameters.

The aim of the present study is to investigate the protective effect of Opuntia dillenii (ker-gawl) Haw fruit extract against isoprenaline hydrochloride (ISPH) induced myocardial infarction (MI) in rats. Pretreatment with the fruit extract of Opuntia dillenii at 2.5 and 5.0 ml/kg body weight for 30 days significantly prevented the elevation of serum marker enzymes namely SGOT, SGPT, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), troponin and increased the cardiac enzymatic antioxidant, TBARS and lipid profile levels in myocardial injured rats. The effect was more prominent at 5.0 ml/kg body weight. The study results thus demonstrated the cardioprotective potential of Opuntia dillenii against ISPH-induced myocardial infarction and associated oxidative stress.

This study was conducted to understand the potential of medicinal herbs, Andrographis paniculata, Cissus quadrangularis and Eclipta alba on growth promotion, utilization of energy, induction in activities of digestive enzymes, concentrations biochemical constituents and non-enzymatic antioxidants of the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. These herbs were incorporated with basal diets at three different concentrations (1%, 3%, and 5%) individually and fed to the post larval (PL) of M. rosenbergii (1.83±0.50 cm; 0.14± 0.02 g) for a period of 90 days in a triplicate experimental set-up. A significantly improved survival and growth performance (weight gain, specific growth rate, condition factor), elevation in energy utilization, increased activities of digestive enzymes (protease, amylase and lipase), concentrations of biochemical constituents (total protein, carbohydrate and lipid) and non-enzymatic antioxidants (vitamin-C and vitamin-E) were recorded (P<0.05) in C. quadrangularis incorporated feed fed PL (5%>3%>1%), followed by E. alba (5%>3%>1%) and A. paniculata (3%>5%>1%) when compared with control diet (without incorporation of any herb) fed PL. Twelve polypeptide bands of molecular weight between 116-14 were recorded in the muscle of PL fed with control as well as the best concentration of each herb incorporated feeds. The intensity of 50, 48, and 46 kDa regions was found to be stained more in C. quadrangularis incorporated feed fed PL when compared with control feed as well as E. alba and A. paniculata incorporated feeds fed PL. In this study, the overall results indicated the fact that these herbs enhanced the secretion of digestive enzymes, act as appetizer, which facilitate efficient digestion, absorption of nutrients and favour general metabolism, which in turn ultimately improved the general health and produced better survival and growth of M. rosenbergii PL. Therefore, it is suggested that these herbs have the characteristic ability to promote growth in M. rosenbergii. The aquaculture potential of these herbs needs further study based on their active principles.

A Biosimilar medicine is a medicine which is similar to a biological medicine that has already been authorised (the ‘biological reference medicine’). The expiration of the patents on many biological products has prompted the development of these products as similar biological products. The European Medicinal Agency (EMEA) has done a commendable job at creating the regulatory path to facilitate approval of biosimilars. The Medicines Act requires all medicinal products sold in Singapore and manufactured locally for export to be licensed with the Health Products Regulation Group, Health Science Authority (HAS). Guidance on registration of similar biological products in Singapore was published by the HSA in August 2009. This was added as Appendix 17 to the ‘Guidance on Medicinal Product Registration in Singapore’ in April 2011. Bio similar products are eligible for the (New Drug Application) NDA-2 and NDA-3 application types. The Biosimilar product should be evaluated and approved by at least one of HAS’s reference agencies namely Australia, Health Canada, Europe, United States. Approved biosimilars must be demonstrated, through extensive characterization and appropriate clinical trials, to be as safe and effective as originators for the benefit of patients.