Biological Forum-An International Journal

3

Authors: Anubha Arora

ABSTRACT: Phytochemical are the dependable sources for the treatment of different health problem. The present investigation deals with the phytochemical studies of leaves of different medicinal plants like Alstonia scholaris, Catharanthus roseus, Nerium oleander, Tabernaemontana divaricata, Thevetia neriifolia, Withania somnifera , Adhatoda vasica , Cannabis sativa , Solanum nigrum, Plumeria alba and Achranthus aspera etc. Methanolic (90%) extracts of leaf powders have been screened for qualitative determination of different secondary metabolites like, cardiac glycoside. alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, glycoside, reducing sugar, saponin and terpenoids etc. All plant materials were collected during the period 2012 from Haridwar District.

3

Authors: Vivek Srivastava* and Dr. Aditya Kumar**

ABSTRACT: Rhizosphere and rhizoplane of most of the plants is always rich in various populations of microorganisms. The microorganisms, on a continuous scale forms parasitic to mutualistic association with plants. The present study deals with the investigation of fungal population in the roots vicinity of Aloe vera, Argemone maxicana, Abutilon indicum, Amaranthus polygamus and Achyranthus aspera. All these five species found to grow in wild and northern plains of India. A total number of 37 species of fungi were isolated and the number of fungi was found to be maximum in rhizosphere region than the non-rhizosphere region. Maximum number of fungal species were found in Abutilon indicum (11) followed by Aloe vera (9), Achyranthus aspera (9), Amaranthus polygamus (8) and Argemone maxicana (7). Though, some common genera were reported in both rhizosphere and rhizoplane region, yet a few forms like Chaetomium spirale, C.globosum, Stachybotrys atra and Royella albida were confined only to rhizoplane. Furthermore, Glomus mosseae and Acaulospora laevis were found dominant mycorrhizal species in the rhizospheric soil of all five medicinal plant species. The study confirmed that the biodiversity of mycoflora differs in rhizosphere and rhizoplane of selected medicinal herbs.

4

Authors: Ghanshyam Singh Soni, Raj Soni and Jyoti Puri

ABSTRACT: To assess the effect of Neutral Immersion Bath on circulatory and thermogenic changes. Neutral Immersion Bath (NIB) is a hydrotherapeutic procedure involving immersion of an individual in water (Temp: 92 – 97degree Fahrenheit) upto manubrium sterni (head out immersion) in supine position It is unclear whether this bath has any circulatory or thermic reactions on human body. There are no reported studies of NIB on Respiration Rate (RR), Body Temperature (BT), Pulse Rate (PR), and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR). This is a prospective longitudinal randomized study. 20 healthy male volunteers (age range 18 to 35 years) were randomly selected from the 60 male subjects enrolled for wellness program from the inpatient department of Smt. Jammuna Devi SDM Yoga and Nature Cure Hospital, Ambala. All the 20 subjects were assessed for the following parameters. Respiratory Rate – Close observation of the chest wall and abdominal wall movements; Body Temperature – Infra red ear thermometer (Braun & Co, UK); Pulse Rate – palpation method; Peak, Expiratory Flow Rate – standard PEFR apparatus. The above mentioned parameters were recorded before the treatment and 60 minutes thereafter (during and post treatment) for every 5 minutes. All the 20 subjects were subjected to 20 minutes of Neutral Immersion Bath at the temperature range of 92 – 970 F, where the subject was made to lie in the Immersion Bath tub immersing the body in supine position upto the neck region exposing only the head and maintaining the same surrounding conditions for all the volunteers. Pulse rate was insignificantly varying during the bath (first 20 mins), however after the bath it significantly dropped (P<0.005) and remained stable at that level. PEFR showed a significant decrease at the 5th minute of immersion compared to the baseline (P< 0.05). The results showed that the post treatment effect is sedative as indicated by the reduction thus support the idea that Neutral Immersion Bath does not induce any significant circulatory or thermic reactions in human body. This is a first study to explore into the concept, hence it is desirable to develop more extensive studies on larger samples to understand and apply the same in clinical use.

4

Authors: Sajna Haneef and Mary Anithalatha Sadanandan

ABSTRACT: The paper embodies the results of a survey conducted on the predatory mite fauna associated with 32 species of economically important plants belonging to 27 genera and 21 families grown in three districts of North Kerala. The results yielded 15 species of predatory mites belonging to 6 genera viz., Amblyseius, Typhlodromips, Euseius, Neoseiulus, Phytoseius and Paraphytoseius which comes under the sub order Mesostigmata.

5

Authors: R. Tewari* and G.S. Rawat**

ABSTRACT: The Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve is located between Haridwar-Najimabad highway and river Ganges in Uttarakhand. The spectacular terai landscape of the study area is a mosaic of short and tall grasslands, tropical mixed moist deciduous forests, and secondary scrub. This Conservation Reserve was recently rediscovered (2005). This happens to be the first ever sampling of butterfly fauna of the area. Based on the study of butterfly diversity in the said reserve and adjacent area, a checklist has been prepared. The list includes 134 species belonging to 81 genera and 8 families.

6

Authors: G.T. Ojo, and I. Umar

ABSTRACT: Laboratory and screen house experiments were carried out to evaluate the effect of two botanicals- Oil palm fibre and cocoa bean testa in the control of root knot nematode (M. javanica) on tomato. Approximately 100 eggs and juveniles were dispensed into petridishes containing both the crude and diluted extracts of the botanicals except the control which contained only distilled water. .In the screen house 10, 20 and 30 g (equilvalent to 5.7, 11.4 and 17.1 t/ha respectively) of powdered plant material was applied on top of soil in form of mulch to each pot except the control which received no treatment. Carbofuran a chemical nematicide was used as a check and applied at the rate of 1 g/cm3 of soil. The results in both experiments indicated that cocoa bean testa crude extract gave the best egg hatch inhibition (only 8 % of eggs hatched after 96 hrs), recorded highest juvenile mortality of 100 %, and recorded the highest growth parameters and least nematodes population. It is recommended that Cocoa bean testa extracts and powder be tried in the field before recommending to tomato farmers for the control of M. javanica.

7

Authors: T.C. Srijaya*, P.J. Pradeep**, A. Hassan***, A. Chatterji*** and F. Shaharom***

ABSTRACT: Peri-vitelline fluid (PVF) from horseshoe crab embryos has been found to contain molecules that stimulate growth and differentiation of specific organs in vertebrate models. Using red tilapia fingerlings, we have made an attempt to study the early development of gonads using PVF. From four different concentrations of PVF tested (100ul, 200ul, 300ul and 500ul), the best concentration was screened based on highest specific growth and successful spawning initiation in red tilapia fingerlings. A concentration of 200ul PVF injected intramuscularly to the red tilapia fingerlings showed high significance in terms of gonad enhancement and Gonado-somatic index for both sexes as compared to controls within 7 days of the study. Results suggest that PVF from horseshoe crab have the ability to enhance the gonadal maturity in red tilapia. This study discusses the impact of PVF treatment on growth performance, spawning and gonadal enhancement and their future applications.

7

Authors: D.M. Gangrade*, Dr. R.K. Nema** and Prof. I.J. Singhvi**

ABSTRACT: A simple simple, short and accurate UPLC method was developed on Waters Acquity UPLC for the quantification of the reagent, Dihydro dicyano benzoquinone (DDQ) which is employed for the conversion of 6-methylideneandrosta-4-diene-3, 17- dione to the drug substance, Exemestane is presented. The unreacted or the remnant DDQ from the synthesis appears as a carry-over impurity in the final product. The Method was developed on a Zorbax Eclipse Plus C18 column, using a mobile phase consisting of Water and Acetonitrile, each containing 0.02 % Trifluoroacetic acid, and using a linear gradient. The method was validated as per International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) Guidelines in terms of Specificity, Limit of detection (LOD), Limit of Quantitation (LOQ), Linearity, Precision, Accuracy and Solution Stability. The LOD and LOQ values were found to be 0.002 mg/mL and 0.004 mg/mL, respectively for 0.4μL injection volume. The sample concentration were injected was 10 mg/mL. The method is linear within the range of 0.004-0.03 μg/mL for DDQ.

9

Authors: A.B. Sarwade and G.P. Bhawane

ABSTRACT: The digestive tract of adult Platynotus belli. is anatomically divided into short foregut, long midgut and hindgut which opens outside through anus. Histologically foregut and hindgut showed outer circular and inner longitudinal muscle layers followed by basement membrane and epithelium. Inner most layer is intima. Midgut consists of outer muscularis and inner columnar epithelium with peritrophic membrane surrounding gut content. Malphigian tubule shows single layer of cuboidal epithelium. Crop and salivary glands are absent in this beetle.

10

Authors: Shweta Thakur*, Pawan Kumar** and V.K. Mattu*

ABSTRACT: Subfamily Noctuinae are distributed in Great Plains and Deccan Peninsulas. They can be well examined and identified by their wing venation and genitalia. In the present study, four species Agrotis ipsilon Hufnagel, Agrotis segetum Denis and Schiffmuller, Xestia c-nigrum Linnaeus and Xestia renalis Moore were collected from different conifer forests of Himachal Pradesh. An account of genitalia, wing venation and relative abundance of these species are given and key has been furnished for interspecific discrimination by dwelling upon different morphological and genitalic characters.