Bio Technology

In the present study the level of S, Cu, Cd, Zn, Pb and Cr was estimated in samples of the common thalloid liverwort Riccia aravalliensis Pande et Udar, from Ranthambhore National park, Rajasthan (India). High metallic load was observed both in substrate as well as in plant tissue at locations adjacent to higher vehicular load, during winter the metallic content is highest, followed by summer and monsoon season. Elemental concentration in substrate for R. aravalliensis was in the order of Zn> S> Pb> Cu> Cd> Cr, while in plant tissue it showed S> Zn> Pb> Cu> Cd> Cr which is indicative of air borne trace elemental load. Quantitative analysis of these elements in vegetative thalli of R. aravalliensis and the substrate showed an increase in metallic content during winter, which reveals the significance of this liverwort as a biological sink of mineral elements present in the soil and air and may provide an important tool in estimation of both aerial pollution and mineral enrichment in soil.

To construct the plant expression vector containing synthetic B. thuringiensis-cry1Ac gene for crop plant transformations to resist the insect Helicoverpa armigera. A newly constructed binary vector containing the T - DNA left border, Kanamycin (kan) as marker gene, glucuronidase (uidA) reporter gene and bt-cry Ac 1 gene which transformed to A. tumefaciens by helper plasmid pRK2013, which provides tra and mob genes required to transfer the DNA. The plasmid constructed from basic vector pUC118 containing synthetic Bt-cry 1 Ac gene and pGPTV was restricted digested by EcoRI and Xbal. The digested plasmids were purified, quantified and ligated before triparental mating method of competent cell transformation. The triparental mating efficiency can be observed through back transformation of gene from A. tumefaciens to E.coli. The confirmation of Bt-cry 1 Ac gene in the construct was done by Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR). Construction of a Bt-cry Ac1 expression vector was successful and this study will be a feasible approach for the genetic improvement of an economically important Crop plants.

Poultry manures are widely used in market gardening in South Benin. Several studies have shown that the use of raw poultry manures in market gardening has an impact on both the microbiological and chemical quality of the vegetables produced. Therefore, the hygienisation of these manures, through various composting processes, is necessary. The main objective of this research is to study the efficiency of aerobic composting and the anaerobic digestion of poultry manures in terms of reduction of pathogenic microbial load. To do this, poultry manure collected on a target farm in southern Benin was treated according to the two composting processes. Samples of the raw manure and humus obtained after composting were collected and analyzed in the laboratory for the count of the pathogenic flora. The quantum of Escherichia coli decreased by more than 90 % at the end of both processes, but aerobic composting was more effective than anaerobic digestion. On the other hand, there was a proliferation of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus and Clostridium perfringens whose quanta increased considerably at the end of the two processes, which can be justified by several factors whose redox potential of these two particular bacteria, conditions of the composting process and the hygiene of post-composting operations.

Baobab Multi-nutrient Block Concentrate (BMBC) as dietary supplement for enhancing milk production and quality in Red Sokoto goats (RSG) was evaluated. The formulation consists of Baobab pulp and seed 25%, wheat offal 25% palm kernel cake (PKC) 20%, Urea 5 %; salt 5%; molasses 10% and cement 10%, respectively, Sixteen (16) lactating RSG previously crossed with South Africa Boer bucks were randomly selected, balanced for weight and grouped into 2 comprising of Eight (8) animals each. Group A were allowed access to BMBC (- BMBC), while Group B were allowed access to BMBC (+BMBC). Panicum maximum was fed on zero grazing at 4% of individual animals’ body weight. Daily milk yield and samples were taken to analyze for Total solids, Crude protein, Fat and Ash and selected minerals (Ca, K, Mg, Na and P). The results were significantly affected (P<0.05). Milk yield for RSG +BMBC ranged from 398.75 – 428.50g/day with mean average of 412.69g/day ahead of RSG – BMBC with value range of 312.75 – 335g/day; with mean average of 324.12g/day. Milk composition (%) values for RSG +BMBC were 18.50, 6.05, 5.75, 0.98 and 5.72, RSG – BMBC 12.05, 3.58, 3.30, 0.82 and 4.35 for total solids, protein, fat, ash and lactose, respectively. Mineral values(mg/g) recorded for Ca, K, Mg, Na and P in RSG+BMBC were 250.00, 342.50, 88.45, 92.86 and 96.95, compared to RSG – BMBC with 231.00, 330.00, 75.53, 84.13 and 91.10, respectively. This results showed that BMBC enhanced the yield and composition and mineral values of lactating RSG. 

The human body has the privilege of possessing features that are unique and exclusive to each individual. This exclusivity and unique characteristic has led to the field of biometrics and its application in ensuring security in various fields. Today, the technology has emerged as a reliable and effective method for establishing the identity of a person and controlling access to both physical and spaces, more importantly in the wake of heightened concern about security and rapid advancements in communication and mobility in our environments. Meanwhile, experimental studies have shown that a biometric system that uses a single biometric trait for recognition has this propensity to contend with challenges related to non-universality of trait, spoof attacks, large intra-class variability, and noisy data. Besides, no single biometric trait can meet all the requirements of every possible application. Therefore, it is believed that some of the limitations imposed by unimodal biometric systems can be overcome and much higher accuracy achieved by integrating the evidence of multiple biometric traits for establishing identity. However, the time and computational complexity of combining the evidences from different traits during application processes remains an overt concept that attracts research attention. In this research work, a multilevel decision threshold authentication mechanism is presented for efficient multimodal biometric system. This kind of level-based strategy allows data fusion at three different levels to gradually improve the performance of any biometric authentication system.

A study was conducted to assess the nutrient digestibility and haematological parameters of West African dwarf (WAD) sheep fed space controlled, fertilized (Organic and Inorganic) and air-dried F1 Pennisetum purpureum. Twenty four (24) West African dwarf sheep of average age of seven (7) months were randomly distributed to four dietary treatments of six (6) animals per replicate. F1 Pennisetum purpureum was harvested from an established plots Spaced into 75cm by 100cm, to which poultry manure (Pm) and urea (U) fertilizer was applied to supply 200kgN/ha. Proximate composition of Air-dried Pennisetum tagged T1 (75cm+Pm), T2 (75cm+U), T3(100cm+Pm) and T4(100+U) was investigated and fed to WAD sheep at 4% body weight to determine nutrient digestibility and haematological parameters, respectively. The results were significantly affected (P<0.05). The Crude protein (CP), Crude fibre (CF) and Ash contents value range were 12.90-13.31% CP, 23.83-31.42% CF, 10.62-12.54 % Ash. Dry matter (DM) was not significantly affected (P>0.05). Digestibility values varied significantly (P<0.05) across the treatments. Digestibility values for DM ranged from 71.68% (T1) to 82.81%(T4), CP(%) 72.44 (T2) to 77.439(T4), while CF(%) and Ash(%) recorded 48.37 (T2) to 68.71(T4) and 80.83(T2) to 86.00 (T4), respectively. Blood parameters for T2, T3 and T4 were not significantly different. The study affirms space controlled, fertilized (Organic and Inorganic) and air-dried F1 Pennisetum purpureum as adequate forage feed for WAD goat, especially in the dry season when nutritious feed are scarcely available. 

The use of and search for drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have accelerated in recent years. Ethno-pharmacologists, botanists, microbiologists, and natural-products chemists’ arecombing the Earth for phytochemicals and "leads" which could bedeveloped for treatment of infectious diseases. Many pathogenic microbes have capability to develop resistance against synthetic formulation. Synthetic formulation is very toxic and destroys the soil fertility and ecological balance. Plant based formulation are least toxic and better for environment balance so it can be replace by synthetic formulation. Antimicrobial activity of plants is mainly due to the presence of secondary metabolites. Plants are rich in wide varietyof secondary metabolites such as tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, and flavonoids, which have been found in vitro to have antimicrobialproperties. This review attempts to summarize the current statusof botanical screening efforts, as well as in vivo studies of their effectiveness and toxicity. The structure and antimicrobial properties of phytochemicals are also addressed.

The research aimed at evaluating the potentials of consortium of banana, orange and potato peels as bio-sorbents in the purification of paint industrial wastewater, using column adsorption technique. The experimental conditions observed were pH 4 and 8 and adsorbent doses 1 g and 2 g. Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometric method was adopted to evaluate the physicochemical properties of the wastewater samples. Results showed that the consortium were effective in the removal of COD, BOD, total solid, colour, turbidity, nitrate, chloride, copper and cadmium while the values of lead, sulphate and phosphate was observed a noticeable increase on the treated wastewater samples. The best experimental conditions according to the adsorption capacity were pH 4 and 1g adsorbent dose. The efficacy of the percentage removal for heavy metal and inorganic anions in the wastewater samples after treatment were in this order: Cl- ? Cd? NO3– ? Cu. It can be deduced that all models can be used reasonably well to describe the behaviour of the adsorption of cadmium, copper, chloride and nitrate. The best model for the column adsorption process was observed to be Yoon – Nelson isotherm model which have the highest correlation coefficient values of the study. The results of this study showed that the agrowastes consortium has the potentials in the treatment of industrial wastewater, which is cost effective, economical and eco-friendly. 

Anamorphs are common and widespread. They are among the most successful groups of moulds with important roles in natural ecosystems and the human economy. The present paper deals with the study of aeromycological study of Dongargarh hill-top with the help of petriplate method in one year one year from May 2010- April 2011. 31 fungal floras were isolated during the investigation period. Only anamorphic fungal group contributes major 24 out of 31 fungal species. It was also observed that 341 colonies of anamorphic fungi isolated out of total 389 fungal colonies. The fungal species Cladosporium oxysporum, Fusarium Aspergillus, Penicillium,Curvularia,Cladosporium, Trichoderma etc were observed.

Green synthesis of nanoparticles using plant source has been given much important. In the present study, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized using the aqueous extract of Quisqualis indica. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV-visible spectroscope, FT-IR and TEM analysis. The particle size of the synthesized AgNPs was 40 nm as confirmed by TEM. The qualitative assessment of reducing potential of the leaf extract of Quisqualis indica indicated the presence of reducing agents. Synthesized AgNPs exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against human bacterial pathogens like Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, and pseudomonas aeruginosa.