Punjab University Journal of Zoology

1-14

Authors: S.H. Amer Qazi and Shahid Hasnain

Sixty two Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains were isolated from local plants of Punjab, Pakistan. Their metallic salts and antibiotics resistance/sensitivity profiles, growth response at two different temperatures with various pH levels were investigated. The results of these experiments revealed that isolates shoared many physiological characters. Majority of strains could tolerate different metallic salts but all of them could grow in the presence of MnSO4, PbNO3 and ZnSO4 and all were sensitive to Cr salt. These strains could be divided into 15 groups on the basis of metallic salts resistance/sensitivity profiles. While for different antibiotics these strains showed different behavior and could be grouped into 10 clusters on the basis of their antibiotics resistance/sensitivity profiles. Results of bacterial growth experiments at 28o and 37oC and at different levels of pH (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) were almost similar in some aspects. Most of the strains, initially, showed better growth rate at 37oC except some strains isolated from colder areas which exhibited better growth at 28oC. The experiments performed at different levels of pH revealed that all strains showed maximum growth rate at pH 6. However pH affect on the growth rate exhibited that all strains could grew better in extreme alkaline pH (9) as compared to extreme acid pH (4).

31-34

Authors: Kausar Malik and S. Riazuddin

The biotoxicity analysis of crystal protein of some Bacillus thuringiensis strains have been carried out against the larvae of red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst). Seven isolates found highly active against T. castaneum. The most toxic isolate SG 31.11 has calculated LC50 value of 0.2 µg/mg of artificial diet.

45-54

Authors: Kanwal Javed, Fouzia Qamar and Firdausia Azam Ali

The effect of Bacillus thuringiensis on the survival of Lucilia cuprina were observed. LD50 was found to be 14x106 cells/ml. The treatment resulted in vacuolization of plasma and destruction of haemocytes. Morphological studies of treated flies revealed that bacterial attack caused no apparent decrease in the size of haemocytes as compared to control ones. Differential haemocytes counting (DHC) of the treated flies showed a significant quantitative differences in the haemocyte number as compared to the control flies.

61-68

Authors: Asma W. Qureshi and Javed I. Qazi.

Water samples from direct supplies and overhead tanks of different localities in Lahore were collected and analyzed for the presence of coliform bacteria by using lactose broth and Endo agar media. It was observed that almost all of the samples harboured coliform bacteria indicating some forms of fecal pollution. The results show that either the water-storage or water pipe lines are not being managed properly.

123-135

Authors: Javed I. Qazi and Uzma Ashraf

A flagellate protozoan was isolated from tanneries’ effluent collected from the vicinity of city Kasur. Axenic culture of the protozoans was established in 0.1% aqueous solution of molasses supplemented with antibiotic chloramphenicol. The medium supported a healthy growth of the microorganisms both in terms of number as well as size, however, these parameters decreased after one week and few days, respectively. following Cr+6 exposure it was found that up to 4 µg of the metal/ml of the medium the protozoans showed, but a significantly decreased growth throughout the study period. In case of higher concentrations; 6, 8 and 10 µg of Cr+6/ml the protozoans showed a further delay of one-day in the manifestation of growth. Following 9, 7 and 6 days of incubation the protozoans were not observed in case of the culture media containing 6, 8 and 10 µg of Cr+6/ml, respectively. Cultures of the flagellates exposed to chromium were found invariably devoid of dividing cells, throughout the observation period. The flagellates were found to reduce Cr+6, up to a level of 6 µg/ml of the medium. Beyond this level the protozoans remained unsuccessful to reduce the metal.

151-160

Authors: Syed Shahid Ali, Nighat Shahid Ali, Shahida Rashid and Abdul Rauf Shakoori

Baythroid (TM), a mixture of methamidophos and eyfluthrin, was administered orally to chicks as two concentrations (strong and weak) for 40 hours and 9 days, respectively. In strong dose (10 mg/kg body wt.) experiment the blood samples were collected from control and treated groups at 5, 10, 20 and 40 hours following administration of a single dose of insecticide. In weak dose experiment (5 mg/kg body wt./day), the blood was collected at 3, 6 and 9 days of insecticide administration and used to study various hematological parameters such as hemoglobin (Hb), total erythrocytic count (TEC), total leukocytic count (TLC) and hematocrit (Hct) estimation. The above data were used to evaluate mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular Hb (MCH) and mean corpuscular Hb concentration (MCHC). Baythroid-TM treatment as strong dose produce significant increase in Hb (32%, 41%, 28% and 30%) and MCH (22%, 32%, 25% and 27%) contents at 5, 10, 20 and 40 hours, respectively. rise in case of Hct (29%) and TEC (9%) was also observed, which was significant only at 5 hours treatment. The TLC also showed an incrdase, which was 39%, 48%, 34% and 20% at 5, 10, 20 and 40 hours treatments, respectively. HCV and TLC showed an increase only at 3 and 9 days insecticide feeding durations, respectively. It is concluded that 10 mg dose level of Baythroid-TM, administered for short duration has somewhat stimulatory effect on hemopoietic tissue in chicks, which may be a protective response but weak dose administered for relatively long duration indicated suppression of blood components.

171-181

Authors: Tanveer, A. And Iqbal Z.

Bacillus subtilis isolated from water samples collected from snails habitat was used as biomolluscicide against the freshwater snail Lymnaea acuminate. The snails were treated with bacteria. The histopathology induced by bacteria was noted. The LT50 and LT for control as well as treated snails were determined. These findings showed that the Bacillus subtilis has significant effect (P<0.001) on survival of the snails.

191-200

Authors: Shahnaz A. Khanum, Rehana Kausar, Mujahid Hussain, Mumtaz Ali and Abdul Majeed Cheema

A lot of five healthy female Dwarf goat kids were reared at NIAB farm. Blood sampling was started at the age of 75 days. Progesterone, Oestradiol, LH ad FSH values were monitored using Radioimmunoassay (RIA) during prepuberal period and ostrous cycle. During prepuberal period, progesterone remained at basal levels of 0.1-0.5 mg/ml. A small rise up to 2 pg/ml was noticed in Oestradiol at the transition from prepuberal to puberal period. Similarly, LH and FSH values were risen up to 2.9 ng/ml and 2.2 ng/ml respectively. hormonal levels begin to rise at the age of 4-5 months (120-160 days). FSH and Oestradiol started to increase followed by the LH peak. A decrease in the LH peak level after 24 hours followed by FSH and Oestrodiol level was noticed. After oestrous phase progesterone level started to rise up to 4-9 ng/ml during the next 15 days. In the next 5 days these levels started to fall to basal values. On the day of oestrous peak values of Oestradiol. LH and FSH ranged from 10-16 pg/ml, 13-23 and 13-22 ng/ml respectively. The overall pattern of release of all these hormones was found similar in all these four animals. So in this lot, the mean age of puberty was found to be 137±31 days with a mean cycle length of 20±1.