Bio Technology

Elaeocarpus ganitrus Roxb. (Elaeocarpaceae) is a large evergreen broad-leaved tree and found in Himalayan range in India and Nepal. Fruits and leaves are known for various medicinal properties and used in traditional medication system for the treatment of diseases. In this study, antimicrobial activity of the aqueous extract of leaves of E. ganitrus was tested against clinical isolates of bacteria and fungi. In vitro antimicrobial activity was performed by agar well diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar and Sabouraud Dextrose agar for bacterial and fungal cultures respectively. The extract exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity as it inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Penicillium sp, Aspergillus flavus, Candida albicans and C. tropicalis. The extract showed maximum relative percentage inhibition against B. cereus (124.16%). Minimum inhibitory concentration test was performed by modified agar well diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration values of the extract varied from 125-2000 µg/ml; however minimum value was reported against B. cereus and A. flavus (125 µg/ml). The results indicate the potential use of E. ganitrus leaves for the development of antimicrobial compounds.

In this study, two cotton cultivars viz. LD 694 (Gossypium arboreum L.) and LH 2076 (Gossypium hirsutum L.) were used to investigate factors influencing efficiency of transformation from the shoot apices of aseptically germinated seedlings for the Agrobacterium mediated transformation using the Agrobacterium strain GV3101 having the plasmid pPZP200 vector, carrying cry1Ac gene. The objective of study was to develop genotype independent Agrobacterium mediated transformation method. Antibiotics sensitivity assay showed that Kanamycin @ 50mg/l inhibited the regeneration of shoot tips in both LD 694 and LH 2076 genotypes and Cefotaxime @ 250mg/l check the bacterial growth. For Agrobacterium mediated transformation, a dilution of 500 µl /25ml of water using dip method and co-cultivation for 72 hours were resulted in better infection and survival of agroinfected explants with GV3101 strain in both genotypes. Average survival of 11.42% and 13.51% was recorded for Agrobacterium transformed shoots on selection medium supplemented with 50 mg/l Kanamycin and 250mg/l Cefotaxime in LD 694 and LH 2076 genotypes, respectively. GUS expression of transformed tissues ranged from 5.5-12.0 % in shoot tips. PCR analysis confirmed the presence of Cry 1Ac gene in putative transformed tissues.

Inhibition of ?-amylase, enzyme that plays a role in digestion of starch and glycogen, is considered a strategy for the treatment of disorders in carbohydrate uptake, such as diabetes and obesity, etc. Plants are an important source of chemical constituents with potential for inhibition of ?-amylase and can be used as therapeutic or functional food sources. In this study methanolic extracts from Mimosa pudica plant source that have been tested for ?-amylase & acid phosphatase inhibitory activity has been done. Amongst the phyto-constituents that have been investigated, flavonoids are one of them that demonstrated the highest inhibitory activities with the potential of inhibition related to number of hydroxyl groups in the molecule of the compound.The inhibition of acid phosphatase could be due to the rupture of lysosomal membrane in the presence of Mimosa pudica. Methanol crude extracts of the (whole plant) of Mimosa pudica (Mimosaceae) were screened in vitro for cytotoxicity studies by brine shrimp lethality bioassay and antioxidant activity using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. The methanol crude extracts of the whole plant showed potential cytotoxic activities (IC50 82.50?g/ml). The methanol crude extract of the whole plant showed moderate antioxidant activity (IC50 48.54?g/ml) compared to Rutin (IC50 34.60?g/ml). The % of inhibition of alpha Amylase & Acid Phosphatase of Mimosa pudica was found to be 41% & 47.8% in the concentration of 5mg/ml respectively with membrane stability 61.5%. The overall experimental results suggested that biologically active constituents present in the methanolic extract of Mimosa pudica and justifies its use in folkloric remedies.

The portunidae crab Charybdis natator were collected from the offshore region of Nagapattinam (Lat. 10⁰ 46’ NS and Long. 79⁰ 51’ EW) on south east coast of Bay of Bengal. A random collection of specimens were made and sex ratio of male and female crabs were thoroughly studies in a period of two year January – 2009 to December – 2010. The result it clearly indicates that there was slight variation in both sex numbers. Among the total crabs 1748, the males were 864 and females were 884. The overall sex ratio of male and female was found to 1:1.01 ratio. The chi-square (?2) test analysis indicated that the ratio was not significantly differ from the expected 1:1 ratio. Hence it is suggested that the variation in sex ratio mainly depends on migration of crab for feeding, breeding, types of gear and craft used in that season.

Titanium (Ti) is a major impurity in the economic Carboniferous and Cretaceous sedimentary kaolin deposits in Egypt. It is found that Ti is present as an independent mineral phase rather than in the crystal structure of kaolinite. Ti occurs mainly as uniform very fine-grained and rounded anatase crystals in pockets within the kaolin mass of all deposits. The optical properties of kaolin (brightness, Lab color, whiteness and yellowness) are improved only when the coloring impurities are removed. In this paper, the role of micro-organisms on the surface properties of titanium dioxide (anatase mineral) has been studied through zeta potential and adhesion measurements as well as the adsorption experiments. Complete characterization of both single mineral and bacteria isolated from its surface has been done using XRD, SEM, and FTIR as well as morphological and biochemical identification of bacterial isolates.

In this present investigation, a mathematical model has been developed for shake-flask fermentation of L-methionine by a multiple analogue resistant strain Corynebacterium glutamicum X300. Using computer simulation, different parameters of kinetic model were evaluated. The kinetic model developed in this present investigation revealed better assumptions for bacterial growth, L-methionine accumulation and substrate utilization compared to the assumptions as predicted in the available literature.Sensitivity analysis revealed that the predicted model has heighest impact on L-methionine fermentation. In this present study, non-growth associated product formation coefficient had maximum inhibitory effect on L-methionine fermentation.

Soil samples from dump yards in Thiruvanthapuram were collected for isolation of bacteria. Isolates obtained were screened for non chitinase and protease activity, by culturing on skimmed milk and colloidal chitin agar plates respectively. The organism which did not degrade chitin but degraded protein was selected and identified by simple staining, gram staining, IMViC, and with further molecular identification by 16SrRNA analysis, it was confirmed that the isolate was Serratia marcescens. The economical application of Serratia marcescens was analyzed by quantifying the enzyme production and its degrading capacity on shell fish waste. The enzyme kinetics was studied after its purification and characterization using column chromatography and SDS-PAGE respectively. The optimum temperature and pH for maximum enzyme activity was identified and studied for future applications on a broad scale.

Brachyuran crabs for the present investigation were collected from offshore region of Mallipattinam (Lat. 10°12¢ NS. and Long. 79°20¢ EW) which is situated near sethubhava ghatiam on sethusamudram canal. Ashvini River enters into Palk Strait at Mallipattinam, which carries large among of nutrients flushing into the probably promotes the species biodiversity both racially and individually. In the present investigation nearly 23 species of marine crabs are landing at Mallipattinam coast. Out of these twenty three species frequency of landing restricted to 12 species alone. They are Portunus pelagicus, P. sanginolentus, C. lucifera, C. feriata, C. callinosa, Podophthalmus vigil, Galene bispinosa, Ocypoda macrocera, Ocypoda platytarsis, Calappa lophos, C. bicornis, and Philyra globasca. In these groups some species are non-edible and others are edible but the non-edible species are commercially important because of their use in aqua and poultry feed industry. The population density, distribution frequency, sex ratio, fecundity of these crabs showed significant variation with reference to seasons. The study critically focusing the fact, that the biodiversity of brachyuran species and even other species may be decline in future due to the deposition of sand into the Palk Strait region. In these areas indicates that this area suitable for crab inhabiting and propagation.

Onion is the second most cultivated vegetable crop and a dietary source of vitamins and flavonoids. Historically, the specie has undergone biotechnological manipulations for crop improvements due to its high amenability to cell and tissue culture. This review begins with a historical viewpoint on onion improvement using biotechnology encompassing ploidy manipulation and applications of cell and tissue culture. The past developments and new approaches for gene transfer to onion are described in this review. Genetic transformation is highly effective for adding single genes to existing elite onion clones with no, or minimal disruptions to their genetic background and represents the only effective way to produce isogenic lines of specific cultivars. This is nearly impossible via traditional breeding due to the high heterozygosity in the diploid onion genome, the genetic integrity of onion clones is lost upon sexual reproduction as a result of viable gene segregation. These genetic attributes have also provided challenges for the development of genetic maps and applications of molecular markers and genomics in onion breeding. Molecular approaches represented by a combination of different omic technologies including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics are described as well as future prospects. The resultant effects of these will facilitate the introduction of elite genes that could provide resistance to pests and diseases, and lead to generation of high quality traits.

This paper reviews the newly developed statistical analysis technique: classification and regression trees (CART), which is one of the most frequently used methods for complex and multi dimensional data sets. CART is a non parametric approach and can easily be used. A most popular and commonly used Gini index method for node impurity in classification trees and the concept of standard error for the measurement of accuracy in regression trees has been discussed. Important features and uses of CART in different fields especially in medical research have also been discussed with examples.