INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIFE SCIENCES

1-5

Authors: Desai Sanjay M

A xenobiotic is a class of chemical substances which usually are not produced within an organism naturally or expected to be present within. It can also cover substances that are present in much higher concentrations than are usual. The term xenobiotics, however, is very often used as synonym of pollutants such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, because xenobiotics are considered as substances which are not found in entire biological system, i.e. synthetic substances, which did not exist in nature or purely manmade. Degradation of such compounds by physical and/or chemical processes is costly and often produces undesirable products which are toxic. Biological methods, being ecofriendly and cost cheap techniques, were proposed for xenobiotic degradation purposes in order to overcome these problems. Compared to bacteria, most of the fungi are robust organisms and generally more tolerant to high concentrations of pollutants. It explains why they have been extensively investigated since the mid-1980s for their bioremediation capacities. A wide number of fungal species have shown incredible abilities to degrade a growing list of persistent and toxic industrial waste products and chemical contaminants to less toxic form or non-toxic form. Fungi posses’ very peculiar mode of metabolizing their substrate by using array of enzyme systems. Extracellular nature of these enzymes proven superiority over any other enzyme system in nature. The potential of fungal enzymes can be harnessed for remediation of the environment. In depth knowledge and understanding about these enzymes will surely revolutionize the waste treatment in near future.

11-14

Authors: Rambal Kavita

Indoor air pollution which is of chemical and biological origin is a cause for worry. Various studies related to indoor air pollution have revealed that it can cause many complications like irritation in the eyes and throat, dizziness, fatigue, allergy, rhinitis, and other respiratory problems besides sick building syndrome and poor visibility. Indoor air pollution affects all especially children and immunocompromised people or people suffering from other ailments. Studies have revealed that the outdoor environment also affects it. Especially fungal spores or mould spores which are normally present in the outdoor air intrude into the indoor environment. In the present paper a review of literature related to indoor air fungi as pollutant has been undertaken and to find ways to improve the indoor air quality.

25-30

Authors: Moses Kolet*, Asba Ansari, Ayesha Divkar and Ayesha Momin

Macrofungi, especially mushrooms; their wide variations in morphological characteristics have fascinated all; mycologists and laymen alike. Mushrooms, owing to their secretive life, have been associated with several animals, fictitious creatures, mysterious entities, super natural beings and happenings through the ages which are also reflected in their vernacular names. These small, apparently insignificant components of biodiversity play an important role as food, dietary supplements, therapeutics, sources of drugs, pharmaceuticals and novel compounds; in modern scientific research, biodegradation and bioremediation. In the present study, macrofungi from KME Society’s G.M. Momin Women’s College campus in Bhiwandi were documented by the survey method. The study recorded 17 types of macrofungi inclusive of several mushrooms; prominent among them being the genera Auricularia, Daldinea, Trametes, Mycena, and Schizophyllum among several others, details of which, and the current and emerging mycotechnologies associated with the types recorded, are mentioned in the paper.

37-42

Authors: Sridhar KR

This study addresses macrofungal composition of coastal habitats (scrub jungles, coastal sand dunes and mangroves) of south west coast of Karnataka. Up to 124 species of macrofungi have been recorded with a highest of 95 species in scrub jungles followed by coastal sand dunes (36 spp.) and mangroves (31 spp.). Ten species were common to all habitats and wood inhabiting Dacaryopinax spathularia was frequent. Edible macrofungi were highest (34 spp.) followed by ectomycorrhizal (26 spp.) and medicinal (21 spp.) macrofungi. Soil inhabiting Lycoperdon utriforme was edible, ectomycorrhizal and medicinal fungus. Many macrofungi were eaten based on traditional knowledge of local people. Habitat degradation is most threatening to macrofungi, which results in soil erosion, substrate depletion and elimination of host tree species. The current status and strategies of habitat conservation in favour of macrofungi have been discussed.

49-54

Authors: Nair Bharath* and Mallikarjunaswamy GE

Trichoderma an asexually reproducing filamentous fungi commonly found in varied soil types in all climatic zones. Their ability to grow and multiply rapidly in various substrates makes it a good biocontrol agent. Six isolates of Trichoderma harzianum from rhizoplane regions of grasses Cynodon dactylon (CD-01, CD-02 and CD-03) and Paspalum conjugatum (PC-01, PC-02 and PC-03) were tested for their antagonistic activity against major fungal pathogens - Fusarium oxysporum and F. solani causing root rot and wilt, Sclerotium rolfsii causing damping off and Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes, Curvularia lunata and Pestalotiopsis macqulens causing foliar diseases of Teak and Mahogany seedlings from Central Nurseries of Kerala by dual culture method. All the isolates showed antagonistic activity against Fusarium oxysporum (53-70%), F. solani (60-72%), Sclerotium rolfsii (51-62%), Colletotrichum gloeosporiodes (52-75%), Curvularia lunata (47-70%) and Pestalotiopsis macqulens (6167%). Among the T. harzianum isolates tested PC-03 was found to exhibit minimal antagonistic activity. However, Trichoderma – Pathogen interaction showed variations indicating the activity of Trichoderma isolates varied to a greater or lesser extent depending upon the pathogenic species.

62-68

Authors: Ansari Rahat Ubaid and Kumar Sashirekha Suresh

Phylloplane fungi are microbes that reside on the leaf surface without showing any disease symptoms. Plants produce several compounds to protect themselves from the continuous attack of naturally occurring pathogens, insect pests and environmental stresses. Presence of phylloplane mycoflora and their associations with the leaf helps as potential defence and in enhancing the plant growth and productivity. The present paper focuses on the isolation and documentation of phylloplane fungi from the leaf surface of Lagerstroemia speciosa. The presence of fungi was confirmed by SEM analysis. Chaetomium globosum, Curvularia pallescens and Myrothecium verrucaria, the dominant isolates were selected to study the biochemical analysis. Leaf extract and the three fungal extracts in Methanol, DCM and Ethyl acetate were screened for secondary metabolites like alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols and terpenoids using phytochemical qualitative techniques. The presence of the compounds was confirmed with UVVis and FTIR. The biochemical results of the fungal extracts were compared with that of the leaf.

74-78

Authors: Mudiar Rinky and Varsha Kelkar-Mane

Global change in Candida spectrum has been observed in India along with the world due to uncontrolled use of antifungals. C.albicans is the common agent for muco-cutaneous and invasive candidiasis. Existing antifungals seems to have failed fighting this opportunistic pathogen resulting in high rates of morbidity and mortality rates (around 30% mortality), indicated by CDC’s surveillance data in 2012. Candida has become drug resistant due to expression of efflux pumps which causes low drug accumulation, alteration in target proteins and membrane sterol composition. Tamarajal, i.e., water stored in copper vessels has been proclaimed as health elixir by ancient Ayurveda. Bactericidal property of copper vessels used in Indian household has already been established by the western world. In this paper, we report tamarajal as cytotoxic agent and pseudo-morphogenic agent for Candida. The change in cell structure exposed to tamarajal was visualized under Scanning Electron Microscope. Biofilm eradication capacity was also assessed to avoid infection due to medical devices. This will help us find out a possible alternative to combat candidiasis.

84-88

Authors: Gosavi SA, Pawar NS and Borse BD

Present paper deals with six marine mitosporic fungi viz., Bactrodesmium linderii, Cirrenalia basiminuta, Clavatospora bulbosa, Halenospora varia, Hydea pygmea and Matsuporium tropicale which were isolated form intertidal wood samples from the coast of Thane District of Maharashtra. The data provides information on the distribution of these fungi in India, apart from description and illustrations. This data will be useful in the compilation of aquatic fungal biodiversity of India.

94-98

Authors: Ingle MR

Two different species of Trichoderma viz., T. atroviride and T. erinaceum were isolated from decomposing coconut coir and were screened for their laccase producing abilities. Production of extracellular laccases by Trichoderma atroviride and Trichoderma erinaceum was carried out under submerged fermentation at varying pH of the culture medium and different lignocellulosic agro industrial residues. The optimum pH of the culture medium for laccase production was reported to be 5. Sawdust was found to be the most efficient substrate for laccase enzyme production, followed by sugar cane bagasse. Maximum production of laccase enzyme has been noticed with regard to natural carbon sources than synthetic one.

103-106

Authors: Kaste PS

Fungi differ widely in their choice and ability to utilize various sources of nitrogen for their growth and reproduction. In the present study, five different species of Aplosporella were investigated for their behavior under the influence of eleven nitrogen sources using liquid basal medium of Asthana and Hawker. Five species of Aplosporella so selected for the present investigations were obtained from different plant hosts of diversified host families. These are Aplosporella labiatae, A. rubiae, A. coniferae, A.citrae and A. brossimumii. Pure cultures of these five isolates of Aplosporella were maintained on Potato Dextrose Agar medium. Inorganic nitrogen sources like Ammonium nitrate, Ammonium chloride, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrite,potassium nitrate and organic nitrogen sources like phenyl alanine, aspartic acid, glycine, urea and peptone were taken for present investigation. From the results, it is concluded that the Aplosporella grows better in inorganic nitrogen sources than the organic nitrogenous sources.

111-113

Authors: Patel Alpa K and Patil Vivekkumar V

The present investigation is carried out in Chikhloli area of Ambarnath, which has varied geographical structure. Climate is comparatively less humid and temperature is variable. Extramural aerobiological research includes aero microbial survey at various places of chikhloli region. The Aeromycologocal survey was carried out from March 2016 to February 2017 by using Petri – plate exposure method. Total Twenty two micro fungi trapped from the air. This study is very important with respect to qualitative and quantitative information about the airborne fungi. The prevalence of dominant airspora was found to be correlation with the metrological parameter like Temperature and Humidity. The maximum mycoflora was registered during the monsoon period between July to October, which is gradually decreased during summer from March to June.

117-119

Authors: Jain Ritu L

Studies carried out in Adiantum and Pteris for Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) colonization. These fern taxa were collected from Bhiwandi, Maharashtra. Investigation reveals that the root of these ferns has Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza. Mycorrhizal association is also affected by seasons, it is maximum in winter season and minimum in rainy season.

125-129

Authors: Wagh PM and Bhale UN

In this present investigation, three dominant post-harvest sapota fungi were chosen for artificial infection to the three varieties of sapota fruits i.e. Kalipatti, Kutchh and Cricket ball which are normally cultivated in Thane district was studied in detail for the biochemical changes via post-harvest fungi. When pathogen interacts with the fruits either in the field or in storage, this interaction is responsible for qualitative and quantitative biodeterioration of fruits. In vivo studies of biochemical changes revealed increase or decrease in organic components of sapota fruits. Study in relation with the predominant three post-harvest fungi viz. Aspergillusniger, Geotrichumcandidum and Rhizoctoniasolani were used. The quantitative losses of biochemical changes in fruit pulp studied for ten different parameters. It is observed that there was considerable loss in biochemicals in some extent fruits of all three varieties due to the fungi.

831-848

Authors: Kassa Melese, Wassu Mohammed and Gebre Hadgu

Productivity of hot pepper in Ethiopia is low due to lack of improved varieties, poor cultural practices and the prevalence of diseases. This research is conducted to assess the effect of NP fertilizer application and Farmyard Manure on productivity and economic feasibility of Marako Fana pepper variety in Raya Azebo district, Northern Ethiopia. Thecombination of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of nationally recommended NP and 10 t ha-1 FYM as well as four control treatments (unfertilized, 100% FYM, 100% NP and blended fertilizer/NPS) were used in this study. The national recommendation of NP fertilizer was 82 kg N+92 kg P2O5 ha-1 while the highest FYM application as sole fertilizer was 10 t ha-1. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. All other management practices were implemented as per national recommendation for the variety. The crop phenology, growth and yield components were significantly influenced by treatment combinations and blended fertilizer application. More specifically, an application of 50 % of the recommended NP fertilizer combined with 5 t ha-1 FYM as well as the 75 and 100% NP rates in combinations with 2.5 and 5 t ha-1 FYM gave significantly maximum total dry fruit yield ranging from 2.25 to 2.50 t ha-1. However, the application of half rates of recommended NP in combination with 5 t ha-1FYM produced significantly the maximum total and marketable dry fruit yield of 2.495 and 2.375t ha-1. It is recommended to apply an integrated fertilizer management approach. Furthermore, as the study had conducted at one location for a single season, it is also recommended to repeat the study across representative locations of the district both under rain fed and irrigation conditions.

864-870

Authors: Mrityunjoy Das, Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Md. Belal Uddin and Md. Ferozur Rahaman

Antibiotic resistance is a major problem with inadvertent usage. Thus, there is a need to search for new antimicrobial agents of herbal origin to combat antibiotic resistance. One such plant is Morus alba which has a long history of medicinal use in traditional Chinese medicine. To compare the antimicrobial activity of Morus alba sol–gel with chlorhexidine sol–gel against ATCC standard strains of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Tannerella forsythia. Crude extract of Morus alba leaves was prepared by Soxhlet method by using ethanol as a solvent. Phytochemical screening of the crude extract of M. alba was performed to check the various chemical constituents. M. alba sol–gel and chlorhexidine sol–gel were formulated using Pluronic f127 and Pluronic f108 and compared for their antimicrobial activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration of both the gels was performed using agar well diffusion technique. The minimum inhibitory concentration of M. alba sol–gel and chlorhexidine sol–gel against A. actinomycetemcomitans is 15 and 13 mm, T. forsythia is 7 and 17 mm, and P. gingivalis is 10 and 11 mm, respectively. M. alba possess good antibacterial activity against A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis and T. forsythia and thus would be beneficial for the prevention and treatment of periodontal disease.

877-884

Authors: Gupta VK and Rai RK

Sunlight exposed sterilised aqueous mixture of some inorganic and organic substances reported by Bahadur and Ranganayaki provided an optimal physico-chemical environment for the self-assembly of molecules and photochemical formation of self-sustaining, abiogenic, protocell-like model ‘Jeewanu’. They possess an ordered structural configuration. They are capable of showing multiplication by budding, growth from within. The histochemical findings showed that the acidic material-like substances were localised in the central region, basic material-like substances were localised in extra central region while phospholipid-like substances were present in outer limiting surface of Jeewanu. The presence of RNA-like material is significant. In plausible prebiotic atmosphere the synthesized protocell-like model similar to Jeewanu was photoautotrophic in nature. They have an ability to convert solar energy into vital activities or useful forms.

895-904

Authors: Mallikarjunaiah Shanthala, Pattabhiramaiah Mahesh, Maimom Preety, Chaitra GS and Diwan Nupur

The present study describes the phytochemical and anticancer activity of Cymbopogon citratus (Lemon grass) extracts on lung cancer CALU6 cell line. The phytochemical analysis revealed that Cymbopogon citratus consists of alkaloids, tannins, terpenoids, saponins and flavanoids. The antiproliferative activity of C. citratus exhibited an IC50 value of 134.0µg/ml on lung cancer CALU6 cell line. The gene expression study was conducted on caspase 3, caspase 8 & β actin revealed that C. citratus was found to suppress the expression of Caspase-3 and Caspase-8 genes but is more effective in the treatment of lung cancer because of inhibition of cell proliferation occurred through Caspase-independent pathway.

911-918

Authors: Ghosh Namrata, Biswas Rajib and Mitra Aditya

A field study was carried out to determine the spider population and diversity according to seasonal variation in the North Bengal Wild Animals Park, Bengal Safari. Seasonal sampling was conducted. The study was carried out using belt transects, vegetation beating, pitfall traps and leaf litter extraction. Consecutive survey for three seasons revealed occurrence of 38 species belonging to 16 families. Of these Salticids were predominant (31%) and Aranidae contributed 10% of the spider species. Shannon index, Simpson index and Evenness index were evaluated. Spiders belonging to different feeding guild and population were higher during summer season in comparison to other seasons. The study suggests influence of seasonal variations on occurrence and diversity of spiders in the study area.

927-936

Authors: Sushant Mane, Deshmukh VD and Sujit Sundaram

Dimensional relationships of various morphometric characters were established for the Banana prawn, Fenneropenaeus merguiensis (de Man,1888) from Mumbai waters. A total of 467 males ranging in size from 48-171 mm and weighing from 0.550 – 38.934 g and 579 females ranging in size from 54-237 mm and weighing from 0.739-107.998 g were used for the relationships. The relationship was calculated for various parameters such as Total length with total weight, tail weight, carapace length & rostrum length and similarly for carapace length with total weight, rostrum length and total weight with tail weight and meat weight. The coefficient of correlation (r2) for various parameters is ranging between 0.73 to 0.99 indicating high degree of relationship. The total length–total weight relationships are different and therefore, it is necessary to use separate expressions for the males and females. It was also observed that length and weight relationship of males and females increases more than the cube.

957-967

Authors: Chandrashekhara, Lavanya, SN, Umashankara M and Niranjan-Raj S

Pearl millet, Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br., is an important dietary food crop with an annual production of 8.01 million tonnes in India. The crop yield is jeopardized by downy mildew pathogen Sclerospora graminicola(Sacc.) Schroet causing huge monetary losses. Durable, sustainable ecofriendly approach has become important for management of downy mildew disease in pearl millet in current years. In this study, two commercial SAR formulations i.e., Nutri-Neem (neem oil) and Rifol (combination of fish oil and mineral oil) were evaluated for their growth promoting nature and for their potential to elicit resistance against downy mildew in pearl millet plant. Seed treatment with Nutri-neem recorded maximum seed germination and seedling vigor compared to the Rifol and distilled water control. Under greenhouse conditions 3% Nutri-neem and 7% Rifol as seed treatment recorded 58 and 62 % downy mildew protection respectively which was significantly higher than that of the formulations applied as foliar spray. However, combination of seed treatment and foliar spray showed 75 and 66% downy mildew protection with Rifol and Nutri-neem respectively. Similar downy mildew protection activity was also observed under field conditons for both Rifol and Nutri-neem. The nature of downy mildew protection offered by both Rifol and Nutri-neem was found to be systemic and durable as demonstrated by the spatio-temporal studies. Both Nutri-neem oil and Rifol formulations significantly enhanced the vegetative and reproductive growth parameters of the pearl millet plants compared to the untreated controls. The present study demonstrated that Nutri-neem and Rifol can be applied as growth promoting and resistance inducing formulations for plant disease management in general, and for pearl millet downy mildew in particular.

973-977

Authors: Papa Kusuma B, Lakshmi Kalpana V, Uma Bharathi H, Anuradha A and Aaren V

Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) is a major health problem, accounting for 30-40% cancers at all sites. As various substances alter quantitatively in the serum during tumour development, we intended to explore the changes in the haematological profile in cases of HNSCC. Moreover, such studies on HNSCC patients are scanty in the North Coastal Andhra Pradesh, India. The present study is all about assessing the variations of haematological parameters in HNSCC patients. Biochemical characterization was done using standard protocols. Results were statistical analysed using Graph pad prism 7 software. Our study confirmed among different haematological parameters that there was no statistical significance found for serum creatinine, total bilirubin, haemoglobin, neutrophils, lymphocytes, haematocrit (PCV), Mean Cell Volume (MCV), Mean Cell Haemoglobin (MCH) and Mean Cell Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC) and the statistical significance observed only for RBC count.

984-990

Authors: Dhangar Deenali K and Farida P.Minocheherhomji

Phosphorus being one of the major nutrients required for the plant growth and development is available in very little proportions to the plant. In order to overcome the deficiency of phosphorus, it is added externally to the soil in the form of chemical phosphorus fertilizers. To overcome the potential problems caused by the use of chemical fertilizers, phosphate solubilizing microorganisms can be an alternative for sustainable agriculture. Wheat is an important staple in our dietary requirements. Therefore, the production of wheat through sustainable agriculture techniques must be undertaken. Very little information is available about the phosphate solubilizing microorganisms having potential in increasing wheat production. This is possibly due to the lack of knowledge about their cultural characteristics and also only few percentages of them are cultivable in the laboratory. To find out the potent phosphate solubilizing microorganisms from the wheat rhizosphere functional metagenomics can be a useful tool. With this technique we can directly isolate the environmental DNA and then clone it in suitable vector, introduce it into appropriate host and then study its phosphate solubilizing capacities. Through this technique, one can easily identify phosphate solubilizing microorganisms directly from their environment without using traditional isolation procedures. Functional metagenomics can be a useful tool to reveal the potent phosphate solubilizing microorganisms found in the wheat rhizosphere which are still unknown. Thus, metagenomics is a very helpful technology that can help to understand the microbial ecology and the functions associated with them can be studied by functional metagenomics.

998-1001

Authors: Bele PS

Present communication deals with the study of taxaonomic observation of piscian tapeworm Gangensia moghanesis Sp.Nov collected from the intestine of wallageo attu from Mogha dam at Ahmedpur dist. Latur(M.S) India during May.2012-June.2013 Present form come closer to all known species of genus Gangesia, Woodland,1924 in having general topography of organ but differs due to scolex large, triangular in shape, suckers four, arranged in two pair, rostellar hooks 15 in number, in a single circle, neck present , mature segment border than large, testes oval, 87 in numbers, ovary large distinctly bilobed, vagina is thin tube arise from genital pore, vitellaria are follicular.

1007-1009

Authors: Tamloorkar HL

Correlation study of physical, chemical and biological parameters are divided into two phases/period namely Monsoon and Post-monsoon phase. Physical and Chemical parameters collectively show great influence on Zooplanktons present in the above said water body. From the experimental data it is possible to correlate the fluctuation in the number of Zooplanktons like rotifers, cladocerans and Ostractus per liter.

1015-1018

Authors: Pawar SK

The present study was conducted to assess the Physico-chemical Parameters of Karadkhed dam water of Deglur Taluka in Nanded district Maharashtra, India, during the year June 2016 to May 2017. Analysis was performed on 05 different parameters. The monthly Variation in the physical and chemical parameters such as Water transparency, Total Solids, Total dissolved solids, Total suspended solids and Total Alkalinity. Were investigated. All the parameter was beyond on the permissible limits. Aquatic ecosystem monitoring has been carried out in India based on either chemical or biological analysis. The result revealed that there were significant seasonal variations in some physico-chemical parameters and most of the parameters were in the normal range and indicated better quality of dam water.

701-706

Authors: Atzeb Hailu and Teka Solomon

Evaluating Adaptability of nationally Released food barley varieties with the objective of improved the production and productivity of food barley there by contribute to the improvement of household food security and farm income of the small holder farmers through the selection of well adapted varieties .varieties were tested ABAY, BASSO, BIFTU, DAFO, DINHO, DRIBIE, MEZEZO, MISRATCH, MULU, SAE'SAE, SETEGN and TILA .The trial were conducted five districts of eastern and south eastern zone of Tigray viz Gulomekeda (eastern), Atsbi-wonberat (eastern), Dugua Tebien (south eastern), Enderta (south eastern) Hintalowajera (south eastern).The design was conducted randomized complete block design with three replication. All parameters exhibited significant difference among the varieties. The correlation coefficient of grain yield with biomass yield, harvest index and plant height highly correlated ,moderately with spike length and seeds per spike and weakly correlated with days to heading, days to maturity and 1000 seed weight.

713-718

Authors: Teka Solomon and Atzeb Hailu

An experiment evaluation of advanced barley lines set-II for major barley growing of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia food barley genotypes with the objective of improved the production and productivity of food barley there by contribute to the improvement of household food security and farm income of the small holder farmers through the selection of well adapted genotypes were tested Demhay#1, ERETH07-40#1, ERETH07-61#1, ERETH07-86, Eritera07-49, Eritera 07-62#1, ERITERA07-82, Fetina, ISEBON-0#2, ISEBON-11#2, ISEBON-67 and TselimEkli#1. The trial were conducted three districts of eastern and south eastern zone of Tigray viz Gulomekeda and Atsbi-wonberat (eastern zone) and Dugua Tebien (south eastern zone). The design was conducted randomized complete block design with three replication, all parameters exhibited significant difference among the varieties. The correlation coefficient of grain yield with biomass yield, harvest index and plant height highly correlated ,moderately with spike length and seeds per spike and weakly correlated with days to heading, days to maturity and 1000 seed weight.

733-743

Authors: Kiros Asgele, Kebede Woldetsadik, Fikre Yohannes Gedamu and Chavhan Arvind

Field experiment was conducted at research station of Shire-Maitsebri Agricultural Research Center, located in northern Ethiopia to study the effect of inorganic NP fertilizers and vermicompost on seed yield and seed quality of onion (Allium cepa L.) during 2016/17 dry season under irrigation. Bombay Red onion variety was used for the study. The treatments consisted of five NP fertilizer rates {0, 25 %, 50 %, 75 % and 100 % of recommended NP fertilizer rates (69 kg N and 92 kg P2O5 ha-1)} and four rates of vermicompost (0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 t ha-1). The experiment was laid out in a factorial arrangement using randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were collected on seed yield and seed quality. The results revealed that number of seeds per umbel, seed weight per umbel, and thousand seed weight were significantly affected by the main effect of NP fertilizer rates and vermicompost. The highest seed yield per hectare (1462.5 kg ha-1) were obtained from plants grown at 75 % of RDF with vermicompost at 2.5 t ha-1 which were about 263% higher than seed yield from unfertilized control plot. Seed purity was significantly (P<0.05) improved by NP fertilizer and vermicompost. The interaction effect NP fertilizers and vermicompost also improved germination percentage, speed germination, seed vigour I and II. It can, thus, be concluded that the combined application of 75 % of RDF with vermicompost at 2.5 t ha-1 can improve yield and quality of seed of Bombay Red onion variety in the study area.

755-760

Authors: Ranjit Kumar C, Jayalakshmi S

The antibacterial and antifungal activity of kojic acid was evaluated against medically important skin pathogens. Tube Dilution Assay was used for analyzing of kojic acid minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC), it was varied from 64 g/ml to 128 g/ml. There was no bacterial growth was appeared at MIC 64 g/ml. Kojic acid inhibited the Trychophyton rubrum MTCC296 and Candidus albicans MTCC3018 growth at MIC 128 g/ml. Disc diffusion method was chosen to elucidate the antimicrobial activity of the kojic acid. Kojic acid inhibitory zone observed was 17 mm, 14 mm, 12 mm and 9 mm, respectively against Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC1688, Trychophyton rubrum MTCC296, Streptococcus pyogenes MTCC1924, Candidus albicans MTCC3018, respectively. Key words:

769-775

Authors: Bhajbhuje MN and Akare Anjali

In the present survey, variation in aeromycoflora from various locations of the Lake of Futala area was recorded for a month at an interval of a week employing culture plate exposure method. Altogether 3187 fungal colonies falls under 18 genera and 37 species have been confined on agar jelly. A count of 15 genera was encountered in first and second week of survey and genera number was recorded declined to 12 and 10 in third and fourth week of survey respectively. A greater count of species was encountered on agar jelly in second and third week and least count in fourth week of survey. The extramural fungal airspora was predominant in second week contributing 31.2 per cent and it was recorded gradual decline to 25.9 per cent in first week and 22.8 per cent in fourth week. Least concentration was encountered in third week contributing 20.2 per cent airspora. Deuteromycota was the most predominant group exhibiting in highest concentration in second week contributing 14.6 per cent airspora followed by Ascomycota and Zygomycota. Least concentration of fungal airspora was reported for Oomycota in all weeks of a month during survey. The variation in concentration of fungal flora in winter and pre-winter season particularly in the months of September and October may attributed to fluctuating weather and relative humidity, which supports fungal growth of same group and act inhibitory for others

779-782

Authors: Shinde SR

Ethnomedicinal survey of Kinwat forest has been conducted during 2016-2017. It has been found that Martynia annua plant species is used by local traditional practitioners in human health care on pneumonia in childrens particularly in infants. The present paper focused on ethnomedicinal use and the antibacterial activities of the plant against some human pathogenic bacteria.

789-794.

Authors: Swapna Gurrapu and Estari Mamidala

Ethnobotanical survey was undertaken to record information on medicinal plants from traditional healers in Perkapally, Karimnagar District, Telangana. The objective of this study to identify the medicinal plants used for treating different diseases. A total of 38 species of ethno medicinal plants belonging to 39 genera and 25 families were reported with the help of standardized questionnaires among three tribal informants between ages of 32-60. The focus was on plants used for infectious conditions and information regarding vernacular plant names, plant parts used, preparation (independently and in various combinations) and application was collected. A total of three lay people, were interviewed on their knowledge of medicinal plants used to treat various diseases like diarrhoea, coughing, diabetes, skin rashes and paralysis, mental disorders. The most plant parts used were leaves (42%), followed by fruits (23%), seeds (18%), bark (18%), flowers (2%), stem (2%) and roots (10%). Highest percentage of leaves are used in preparation. The youth should be encouraged to learn the traditional medicinal knowledge to preserve it from being lost with the older generation. This could be useful in novel drug discovery and to validate the ethomedicinal knowledge.

799-806

Authors: Sundaram Sujit and Mane Sushant

Cuttlefish diversity was studied from Maharashtra waters during the period January 2000 - December 2017. Eight species were identified and they are Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg, 1831, Sepia aculeata Orbigny, 1848, Sepia elliptica Hoyle, 1885, Sepiella inermis Orbigny, 1848, Sepia prashadi Winckworth, 1936, Sepia (Doratosepion) kobiensis Hoyle, 1885, Sepia omani Adam and Rees, 1966 and Euprymna berryi Sasaki, 1929. The estimated annual catch of cuttlefishes by trawlers (all species combined) for the period 2000-2017 from New Ferry Wharf landing centre showed a cyclic trend and the landings ranged from 1360.4 t (2002) to a peak of 3,704.1 t (2012) and the corresponding catch rate ranged from 0.985 kg/hr (2002) to 1.599 kg/hr (2012).

814-820

Authors: Patil Sahebagouda S and More Vitthal R

Environmental factors influence the distribution, density and diversity of zooplanktons. A case study was made at Kurnur dam in Solapur district Maharashtra (India) to find out influence of various factors affecting community structure of zooplanktons. The influence of qualitative parameters of water like temperature, dissolved solids, pH, hardness, dissolved oxygen etc were studied over abundance of Rotifera, Copepoda, Cladocera and Ostracoda members of zooplanktons community structure. The study was made through monthly observation for one year in 2014. Through out the study it was found that Rotifera dominated the Zooplankton community followed by Copepod, Cladocera and Ostracoda. The population of zooplankton was abundant during May low in August, March and December. August and March low are because of dilution effect of habitat which is due to addition of runoff water from monsoonal rainfall and pre-monsoon (Awakali) rainfall respectively, while December low is associated with temperature. The influx quality of influx of water depends on the economic activites of the catchment area. The influx of water induce the qualitative changes in the reservoir of water which affect community structure of zooplanktons. Thus rainfall and influx of water are important factors that influence the community structure of zooplanktons.

825-828

Authors: Pawar SK

The present study was conducted to the An assessment of Zooplankton of Karadkhed dam of Deglur Taluka in Nanded district, Maharashtra, India during the year June 2016 to May 2017. Presently 31 Zooplankton genera representing various group. 11 species of Cladocera, 03 species of Ostracoda, 07 species of Copepoda, 10 species of Rotifera. Among Zooplankton particularly Cladocera was the dominant group throughout the study. The highest count of 141 species was record in the month of May.

301-310.

Authors: Gebrekirstos Gebremariam

Wheat Leaf rust (Puccinia triticina Eriks and Henn.) is one of the most important foliar diseases of wheat in Tigray region. It cause up to 75% yield loss during epidemic years. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the distribution, intensity and to detect the virulence diversity of the pathogen in Eastern and Southeastern zones of Tigray. The findings of this paper were based on leaf rust surveys to compute the prevalence and intensity of the diseases; race analysis by inoculating isolates on to the 16 differential hosts. During the survey, 108 wheat fields were assessed in five districts, of which 88% of the fields were affected with leaf rust. The overall mean incidence and severity of the disease were 48.4 and 18.2%, respectively. A total of 22 races were identified from 40 isolates, of which PHTT, PHRT, THTT and FHRT were predominant races with frequencies of 20, 15, 10 and 10% respectively. The remaining 18 races were confined to specific locations and detected once with a frequency of 2.5% each. The broadest virulence spectrum was recorded from TKTT race, making 15 Lr gens ineffective. Most of the Lr genes were ineffective to one or more of the tested isolates except Lr9. High virulence was observed on Lr3, Lr10, LrB and Lr18 with frequencies of 90, 95, 97.5 and 100%, in that order. In contrast, Lr9, Lr24 and Lr2a were found effective to 100%, 95% and 82.5% of the tested isolates, respectively. Hence, the use of Lr9, Lr24 and Lr2a genes singly or in combination through gene pyramiding has paramount importance as the additive effects of several genes offer the variety a wider base for leaf rust resistance along with periodic race survey to track further virulence evolution.

326-334

Authors: Manjunatha AS*, Manjunath K and Mohana DC

Aflatoxins are the toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus in many food and feed products including oil seeds when stored under ambient conditions. Aflatoxin B1 a prototype of the aflatoxin is widely recognized as group I human hepato-carcinogenic compound by IARC. Contamination of oil seeds with the Aspergillus Sps and aflatoxin possess serious threat to the food and feed industry. The present study on the incidence of seed borne infection and evaluation of aflatoxin B1 contamination levels in oil seeds by applying the principles of standard blotter method and chromatography methods respectively. The molecular characterization of toxigenic isolate No.39 by PCR method. The percentage incidence of seed borne infection was observed to be higher for the groundnut sample showing the mean percentage of infection to be about 48.57% than with all the seed samples. Among 55 isolates of Aspergillus flavus, 42 were found to be aflatoxigenic strains by TLC and amount of aflatoxin B1 in oil seeds was found to be in the range of 29-35µg/ml by HPLC. The molecular characterization of toxigenic isolate was found to be closely related to Aspergillus flavus strain DAOM 225949 and the nucleotide sequence was provided with a GenBank accession number JN938987. This study concluding that the oil seeds were prone to fungal infection and contamination with aflatoxin B1 when stored under ambient conditions. So, proper storage, improvement of Good Agricultural Practices and regular inspection should be practiced ensuring that the safety of animals including human beings.

343-352

Authors: Thakur Pushpa, Gupta Pankaj and Sharma Vijay Kumar

Evolution of cold water fisheries particularly the Trout culture through regular stocking of indigenous fish in the mountain water sources, especially in Himachal is one way which has been followed by the state government. Himachal Pradesh has huge prospects for trout farming particularly in the district Shimla, Kinnaur and Kullu. The water and temperature are promising for its culture. However, there have been limitations of availability of seed and its transportation in the state. Besides this, Environmental factors, topographical constraints, socio-economic difficulties and lack of awareness among the farmers have affected the trout production in the state. These constraints need to be overcome to realize the full potential of trout culture in the state. The status of trout culture and the problems encountered by the people in the state are discussed in the present paper.

357-364

Authors: Shrivastava Vineet K, Hore Upamanyu, Kala Jagdish C, Srivastava Arpita

This research is an exploration of vertebrate fauna of the Orchha Wildlife Sanctuary (OWS) in central India. The study consolidates information from field surveys. A total of 15 fish (6 families), 6 amphibians (3 families), 13 reptile (9 families), 98 bird (43 families) and 19 mammal (15 families) species are reported. It was found that the birds were the most dominant vertebrates, followed by mammals, fishes and reptiles whereas amphibians were represented least. Four species of turtle and rare species of vulture including king vulture were present in the OWS. This is a first such extensive study for the Sanctuary and provides an initial baseline of vertebrate species for future research in this area.

365-385

Authors: Sarkar Anup Kumar, Dey Manas and Mazumder Mallika

The past decade has witnessed a rapid growth of interest in non-timber forest products (NTFPs) among conservation and development organisations in India. Non-timber forest products are an imperative part of the traditional life style in Forest adjacent area of West Bengal. In this study the diversity of non-timber forest products (NTFPS) was assessed in the Forest Adjoining Areas of Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India. The present investigation also revealed that although there is high resource potential in the study sites but need of awareness, scientific knowledge, expertise and adequate market information.

394-398

Authors: Shinde VA, Patil RB and Pawar PV

Production and purification of Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) from Alkaliphilic Bacillus species isolated from Lonar lake , India was investigated in present study. Production was carried out using medium containing starch, yeast extract, peptone MgSO4.7H2O. the crude enzyme was collected by centrifugation and partially purified using ammonium sulphate precipitation method. This partially purified enzyme was further purified using phenyl sepharose column chromatography. The enzyme obtained had molecular weight of 79.20 kDa which is confirmed by SDS PAGE and Mass spectroscopy.

409-414

Authors: Sharma Dushyant Kumar and Uchchariya Rakhi

Pagara dam is situated on Asan river at about 13 Km from Jaura town of Morena District of Madhya Pradesh. The dam was constructed for irrigation of the nearby villages. The study was carried out to assess the seasonal variations in zooplankton diversity of the reservoir. Total 23 species of zooplankton were identified. Out of these 4 species belonged to Protozoa, 11 species belonged to Rotifera, 5 species belonged to Cladocera and 3 species belonged to group copepoda. Rotifera was found to be the most dominant group, followed by Cladocera and Copepoda. Protozoa was the least dominant group. Seasonally, Rotifera and Protozoa were found to be maximum during summer and minimum during monsoon. In case of Cladocera and Copepoda, maximum numbers were found in summer and least in winter.

420-426

Authors: Sharmin Vini S, Viju N, Ezhil Raj N and Mary Josephine Punitha S

Proteins from body fluid (hemolymph) of two marine gastropods Nerita albicilla and Purpura bufo collected from the coastal regions of Kanyakumari were precipitated with ammonium sulphate and purified using ion-exchange chromatography. The fractions obtained were tested for their antibacterial potential against human pathogens. Fractions F2 and F4 from N.albicilla showed higher inhibitory activity against Salmonella typhi, Streptococcus mutans and Staphylococcus aureus. The molecular weight of this antibacterial protein present in the fractions was determined with the help of SDS PAGE and it was found to be 30KDa. Further, characterization of this active protein paves the way for the development of new antibiotic against harmful human pathogens in future.

434-440

Authors: Kunjadia Anju, Darji Nikita, Patel Babulal and Pandit Ramesh

Nematophagous fungi are potential bio-control agent against the plant and animal parasitic nematodes. The extracellular hydrolytic enzymes are one of the important virulence factors for these fungi. In the present study, we investigated industrially important extracellular enzymes from two different genera of nematode-trapping fungi. Duddingtonia flagrans produced the highest amount of amylase (261 U/mL/min) and xylanase (76mU/mL/min) compared to Arthrobotrys conoides (186 and 39 U/mL/min) while it was reversed in case of cellulase, highest (214 U/mL/min) in A. conoides. Protease, chitinase and collagenase activity (236, 19.83 and 2.46 U/mL/min) was higher during induction in D. flagrans RPAN-10 as compared to A. conoides (118.6, 8.3 and 1.2 U/mL/min). D. flagrans RPAN-10 showed 3.14 fold and A. conoides 2.37 fold change in protease activity when induced with nematodes. However, there was no apparent difference in control and induced fungus for chitinase and collagenase. In summary, D. flagrans RPAN-10 was found to be a suitable candidate for further exploring the protease, amylase, chitinase and xylanase while A. conoides is suitable for cellulase production for further application. However, further research is required in order to optimization of growth conditions as well as suitable nutrients in order for large scale production for industrial applications.

446-452

Authors: Kumar Ajay

The present article is focused on studies carried on fluoroquinolone metal complexes, their generalized procedures for synthesis of novel fluoroquinolones metal complexes and their anti-microbial properties. Fluoroquinolones, which are categorized as antibacterial agents are a class of type-II topoisomerase (DNA gyrase) inhibitors. These have been successfully used as antibiotics from the past several decades and the foremost drug being used is the nalidixic acid, which has its major role in cure of urinary tract infections. Typically, these fluoroquinolones are termed as 4- quinolones having fluorine atom at position 6 and a piperazine ring at position 7 of quinolone -3- carboxylic acid. Also, the presence of fluorine atom attached to quinolone ring helps to increase pharmacological properties, increases the bioavailability of the drug and enhanced membrane penetration. The synthesis procedure involves the addition and elimination reactions between aniline or aniline derivatives and ethyl ethoxymethylenemalonate. The obtained intermediate product undergoes thermal cyclization to yield 4- quinolone system. However, the use of these flouroquinolones faced an obstacle that is the development of resistant bacteria towards quinolones. The resistance towards drug is due to amino acid substitution on the binding sites of DNA gyrase where the drug molecule interacts and inhibits the formation of bacteria DNA. This factor led to the emergence of novel drugs by formation of co-ordination complexes with various transition metals and earth metals to curb infections by these resistant bacterial strains. Quinolones form metal complexes due their binding capacity with metals. The synthesis of the complexes does not require any extreme reaction conditions rather most of the complexes have been formed by simple stirring with corresponding salts at room temperature. The antimicrobial or antibacterial activity of the synthesized fluoroquinolone compounds are tested by disk diffusion method also known commonly as agar diffusion method.

457-461

Authors: Walia Gurinder Kaur and Devi Monika

C–heterochromatin distribution in four species of genus Copera of family Platycnemididae have been described. Copera marginipes and Copera vittata assamensis were collected from Bilaspur and Renuka lake (Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh), respectively, while Copera annulata and Copera vittata were collected from Nongkhyllem (Meghalaya), India. All the species possess n=13m as haploid chromosome number, which is the type number of the family and X0-XX sex determining mechanism. In all the species, autosomal bivalents show dark/light terminal C-bands on chiasmatic/nonchiasmatic ends, while m bivalent and X chromosome possess variation in distribution of C-heterochromatin. m bivalent is C-negative in Copera marginipes, while shows terminal C-bands in Copera annulata, Copera vittata and Copera vittata assamensis. X chromosome possesses less amount of C-heterochromatin in Copera marginipes, Copera annulata and Copera vittata, whereas X chromosome is bipartite and entirely C-negative in Copera vittata assamensis. Chromosome complement of Copera vittata assamensis has been studied for the first time.

466-472

Authors: Baweja Sonu

The global aquaculture industry is one of the fastest growing food production sectors, playing an important role in fulfilling the seafood demand of a growing human population. Marine fish oils have been widely used as the main lipid source in feeds for farmed fish being a good and only reliable source of n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (n-3 HUFAs). Although the fish oil production has remained static, the demand for fish oil is increasing over recent years. Thus the current trend is finding the suitable alternatives to fish oils in aquafeeds, without compromising overall growth performance and final nutritional quality of farmed fish. The terrestrial alternative lipids (vegetable oils and animal fats) are the poor sources of n-3 HUFAs. The flesh of farmed fish raised on feeds containing alternative lipids may contain limited amount of n-3 HUFAs. One way to reduce to the use of declining fish oil resources in aquafeeds and to improve the nutritional quality (in terms of n-3 HUFAs)of farmed fish fed on alternative lipids, may be to use finishing feeds containing fish oil before harvesting. This review attempts to compile all principal information available regarding the efficacy of finishing feeding strategy in aquaculture.

477-486

Authors: Gopal Sowjenya 1, Durgaprasad Rajasekhar , Velam Vanajakshamma, PVLN Srinivasa Rao, PVGK Sarma

Background: Cytochrome P450 (CYP) epoxygenase metabolise arachidonic acid (AA) into four epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) 5,6- EETs, 8,9 EETs, 11,12-EETs and 14,15-EETs. Since, EETs are unstable eicosanoids they rapidly get converted into dihydroxy eicosa trienoicacids (DHETs) by Soluble epoxy hydrolase (sEH). These eicosanoids promote defence mechanism against inflammatory atherosclerosis process. However, 11,12-EETs are more potent eicosanoids in maintaining anti-atherosclerotic activity. Endothelial dysfunction is the key step in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Polymorphism in CYP epoxygenase can alter individual’s risk for events in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Therefore, we examined the impact of CYP epoxygenase polymorphism indirectly through evaluation of 11,12-DHET levels and its association with endothelial dysfunction. Methods: It is a prospective case-control study consisting of 84 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients and 84 healthy controls of either gender aged above 18 years. Fasting serum lipid profile including total cholesterol (TC), high density lipid (HDL), triglycerides (TG) and homocysteine levels were measured in all subjects. We measured plasma 11,12-dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid (11,12-DHET) as indicative of 11,12-EETs. Genotyping of CYP putative exons of CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP2J2 epoxygenase were carried out by Polymerase Chain Reaction–Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) method. Sanger’s chain termination sequencing method was carried out for SSCP positive samples. All the data obtained were analysed by using Ms-Excel, 2007 and SPSS, version 24.Software, IBM, USA. Results: We observed significantly higher levels of homocysteine in CAD group (35.1 ± 13.8 µmol/L) indicating higher inflammatory condition in patients compared to control group (8.1 ± 2.9 µmol/L, p < 0.001). We also found higher 11,12-DHET levels in CAD group (628.6 ± 324.3 pg/mL) compared to healthy controls (332.1 pg/mL ± 203.2 pg/mL, p = 0.0001). In this connection, we observed positive correlation between homocysteine levels and 11,12- DHETs in CAD group (p = 0.01). Genotyping of CYP exons revealed 11 patients (13%) reporting 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We found significant difference in the levels of 11,12- DHETs between the patients reporting CYP polymorphism and patients without CYP polymorphism compared with the control (p<0.001). Further, we observed negative correlation between homocysteine levels and 11,12-DHETs in CAD patients reporting CYP polymorphisms indicating decline of DHET mediated anti-atherosclerotic activity Conclusions: Presence of lower levels of 11,12- DHETs is a reflection of poor reserve defence mechanism in CAD patients that might cause endothelial dysfunction and risk of cardiac events. Therefore, genotyping of CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP2J2 genes can be recommended to be used as prognostic marker for risk stratification in CAD patients.

494-499

Authors: Tewari Uttara, Bahadur AN and Soni Prerna

Experiments were conducted in Bilaspur city to study the effects of irrigating wheat (Tritium aestivum, L.) with sewage water (Treatment) and with tube (control) alone on wheat growth and grain yield. Wheat irrigated with sewage water produced taller plants, more long roots, more leaves and more tillers than did wheat grown with only tube well water. The data reveals that aboveground biomass, below ground biomass, total biomass and root/ shoot ratio was greater at the sewage irrigated sites than that at the tube well irrigated site. The data also reveals that numbers of ear head per plant, number of grains per ear head, weight of seeds, length and diameter of seeds, the grain yield and straw yield per hectare also more at the site with sewage irrigation than at the site with tube well water irrigation.

507-516

Authors: Goswami Gunjan and Singh Deepak

The rivers of Garhwal Himalaya experience frequent flash floods every year. However, the major flood of June 16-17, 2013 in the Mandakini river was devastating resulting into huge loss of flora including periphyton communities and fauna in addition to human and property loss. Periphyton communities contribute as important primary producers in an aquatic ecosystem. The present study is aimed at to know how the river ecosystem recovers itself and reestablishes the communities. Lack of information on periphyton diversity and ecosystem resilience of Mandakini river after experiencing this major ecodisaster of Kedarnath led to the present study. Glacier fed Perennial river Mandakini originates from Chaurabari glacier above the Kedarnath peaks (6940m. a.s.l.). Monthly samples for physico-chemical parameters and periphyton were collected from three sampling sites, Kund, Agustyamuni and Rudraprayag located at different altitudes on the Mandakini river for the present study. Periphyton belonging to 3 classes, 7 orders, 19 families and 47 genera were recorded from the Mandakini river. The most abundant class Bacillariophyceae (diatoms) (70%) was followed by Cyanophyceae (blue green algae) (19%) and Chlorophyceae (green algae) (11%). The periphyton started increasing after flash floods and attained highest species diversity (H’=3.462±0.240) in winter season, moderate in summer and lowest (H’= 2.482±0.296) in monsoon season. The periphyton communities have short life cycles, reestablished soon after the flood event in monsoon, and achieved high density and diversity in winter due to most favourable environmental conditions. Physico-chemical factors like nitrate, phosphate, pH, velocity, total alkalinity, total hardness, and water temperature were found to be most important factors influencing periphyton density and diversity. However, turbidity, transparency, free CO2, and dissolved oxygen were of secondary importance in regulating periphyton diversity.

523-528

Authors: Satyavathi K and Padal SB

Folklore medicine survey was conducted among the primitive tribal community residing in Dumbriguda Mandal, Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh. The prime objective of the study is to document the traditional medicinal plants used by tribal people inhabiting the interior pockets. The ethnobotanical studies carried out during 2016-17. The information was collected through interviews, discussions and observations. A total of 45 plants were used by the tribal healers in their medicinal formulations. These plant species were distributed into 31 families. Fabaceae has the highest number of species (6 species) followed by Rutaceae (3 species), Mimosaceae, Amaranthaceae, Acanthaceae, Anacardiaceae, Dioscoriaceae, Asteraceae, Loganiaceae and Rhamnaceae each one contributed (2) species and rest of the 21 families contain single species each. With regard to the frequency of plant parts used in preparations, stem bark was most often used followed by roots, leaves, whole plant, roots, seeds and tubers etc. These 45 Ethnomedicinal plants are used for different disease like, Dysentery, Asthma, Fever, Headache, Piles and Rheumatic pain etc.

536-539

Authors: Neerja Shrivastava

India is known as young country of world. It has its very rich traditional knowledge specially in the field of medicinal plants. But we did not aware about our legal rights. Now in the era of globalization it is important that we should keep safe our IP.Protection of IP can be made by IPR. So there is urgent need that we should make aware our college and university student about IPR and related law. In the light of theses fact present research was undertaken to the know awareness about IPR among college students of Kota City.

544-548

Authors: Banerjee Suchitra, Vyas Rashmi and Tomar Anita

Water sample of The Narmada River, from Dongarwada region has been physiochemically evaluated for its suitability for domestic and irrigation purposes. In Physical and Chemical Parameters Such as Temperature, pH, T.D.S., Alkalinity, Total hardness, Dissolve Oxygen, B.O.D., C.O.D. And chloride was analyzed in the laboratory. The Physico Chemical parameters of water were determined as per standard methods of APHA (2005). The results indicate that the Narmada River water quality is suitable and safe for domestic and irrigation purposes. The objective of this paper is to study various water pollutants available in The Narmada River followed by a literature review.

557-562

Authors: Shah Rupal, Shah Ajay and Chunduri Jayaprada Rao

Tuberculosis is one of the life threatening communicable disease. Detection of the disease at the earliest is necessary, if not it could result in lethal effect. Various tests are available for diagnosis but each has its own limitations. Conventional microscopy has low sensitivity while nonconventional culture has prolonged incubation for reporting positivity. While nucleic acid amplification techniques are very rapid, sensitive and less complicated to perform makes its more preferred to use in early diagnosis. The current case study is aimed at understanding the easy, accurate assessment of the tuberculosis suspected cases and their identification based on the recent scientific analytical approaches. Rifampcin susceptibility analysis isolates the mdr cases and the future possible alternate treatments that can be applied.

569-574

Authors: Shahid Adangampurath and Sudheesh sudhakaran*

Agents that inhibit inflammatory mediators are highly recommended in the development of anti-inflammatory drugs. Flavonoids are large class of secondary metabolites around 10,000 structures, possess anti-inflammatory and various other properties which are valuable to human beings. In this study, different fractions of Hemigraphis colorata were collected based on increasing polarity and quantified the flavonoid content. Anti-inflammatory property was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo method. The chloroform fraction possess highest amount of flavonoid, 6.66 µg/100 µg sample. In the in vitro experiment acetone fraction possess maximum activity. In the in vivo experiment, acetone extract showed 43% and 48% of inhibition at 250 & 500 mg/kg b.wt. respectively against carrageenan induced paw oedema, while standard anti-inflammatory Diclophenac(10mg/Kg) exhibit 52.5 % inhibition.

579-585

Authors: Renu, Satya Narain, Archana Rawat, Jaswinder Kaur, Santosh Kumar and Nahid Fatima

Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle. of family Euphorbiaceae is commonly grown medicinal plant. The plant contains large number of phytochemicals such as alkaloids, triterpenoids, resins, steroids, cardiac glycosides, bergenin, menisdaurin and anthraquinones. The study revealed the plant to be a potential source of nutrition, mineral and drugs. This review aims to provide an up to date overview of the phytochemistry, pharmacological data as well as traditional uses of the plant in view of discussing its medicinal value and potential application in complementary and alternative medicine.

605-614

Authors: Vijaya Kumara and Lewis Diandra

The bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata) is one of the intelligent, adaptive creatures, it is becoming increasingly difficult to prevent their entry into agricultural lands, and although several unique measures have been conceived to deter them from raiding the crops, the monkeys have invariably found a way around them. To quantify the conflict situation associated with this animal, the study was carried out in Hosanagar Taluk of Shimoga district during April 2016 to March 2017. The villages within this taluk being largely agriculture-dependent, and the forest area being vast enough that three forest ranges pass through it, humans and wildlife come in contact with each other on a regular basis. The objective behind the study was to document and quantify the impact of the man-monkey conflict in the area, to determine the possible causes of the conflicts and to encourage management to take steps that would reduce the severity and frequency of future conflicts. Data was collected by questionnaire survey and direct observation. Most of the farmers interviewed own less than 10 acres of farmland (76.19%), with only a few having more than 10 acres (23.80%). The maximum area of land owned is 27 acres, with 1 acre being the minimum. Farmers have come up with several techniques to keep monkeys from raiding their crops. Of these, the most commonly employed measure is the use of dogs (90.47%). At least one dog was observed in nearly every household. Nets or fencing (85.71%) and/or Ibex fences (66.66%) are set up by all respondents as they serve the dual purpose of keeping animals away and acting as a boundary. The other methods of chasing away monkeys involve use of stones and loud sounds. Guns are the least common, owned by only 19.04% of the respondents. Approximately 86% of the respondents viewed the macaques as pests, and about 38% considered them to be sacred. Most of the people in this group had a mixed opinion of the monkeys, considering them to be god, but the loss they incur leading them to believe they are also pests. Very few of the people interviewed (9%) felt that the monkeys were harmless and that the issue was manageable on their farms. The human and bonnet macaque conflict situations such as crop damage, house raids, infrastructure damage and Aggressive behaviour was recorded and mitigation methods, possible causes for the conflict, official perspective and over all opinion elucidated in detail.

626-634

Authors: Sridevi SN and Vijaya Reddy

Human – wildlife conflict is a major obstacle in any kind of conservation in any part of the world today. Whenever we hear about Human-wildlife conflict we think of forest and human settlement around protected areas. In particular with Human-elephant conflicts are happening mostly in many of the National parks, protected areas or around dense forests. But when we observe carefully about these conflicts they are increasing in an alarming rate. These days, areas which are far away from the natural habitats of elephants are also being suffered as evident from number of incidents in the near past. Human-elephant conflict is not a new issue in Karnataka state (India) but the conflict was restricted to few parts of the state from time immemorable. But in the last decade this problem has spread across areas which experienced this problem never before for instance human-elephant conflict in Tumkur district, which is one amongst the dry and famine strucked districts of Karnataka. In Karnataka there are 42 forest divisions among which 25 divisions are experiencing human-elephant conflict currently.

643-645

Authors: Kale Sanjay S

Gastrointestinal cestode parasites are the most pathogenic parasites present in animal, birds and fishes. Parasitic biochemical studies has great importance in understanding the complex association in host parasite relationship. Whereas, the evidence in parasitic biochemical studies is patchy. Gastrointestinal cestodes are the most pathogenic parasites in Columba livia intermidia are tropics and subtropics areas. Present study deals with the biochemical studies of Cotugnia mohekarae n.sp. present in Columba livia intermidia in respect with the protein, glycogen and lipids metabolism.

649-652

Authors: Kondulkar SR

Sildenafil citrate studied for its use in the male reproduction .The long term use of Sildenafil citrate has their effect on various target organs. The study and effect of Sildenafil citrate carried out their side effect on internal reproductive organ. Generally this drug use only for male reproduction, addiction and long term use may cause damage internal cell which will result as atrophy. Main objective of this study of histology associated reproductive organs and evaluation of seminiferous tubule which affected by long term use of Sildenafil citrate, whether Sildenafil citrate have on male reproductive organ.

659-664

Authors: P. Naga Padma*, S. Chaitanya Kumari and Syed Thanveer Banu

Metallic nanoparticles like those of copper, silver and gold are of great interest both due to their excellent physical, chemical properties and antibacterial property. The conventional non biological methods for their synthesis are not eco-friendly as they involve use of toxic reagents and also produce harmful by-products. To overcome these limitations, green synthesis of metal nanoparticles was developed and gained research focus as these have significant biomedical applications. Copper nanoparticles due to their interesting properties, low cost preparation and many potential applications in electronics, medical and pharma fields have attracted a lot of interest in recent years. The present study focused on various factors that influenced green synthesis of preferably copper nanoparticles using copper sulphate solution and different plant extracts of Punica granatum. The influencing factors studied were over a range like molarity of copper sulphate solution from 1 mM-20mM, incubation time 0-2 hrs, temperature 250C-550C, pH 5-11 respectively. The study is significant as standardization of factors for green synthesis of copper nanoparticles can facilitate their bulk synthesis commercially. These copper nanoparticles can be used as antimicrobial agents and help to combat the fast growing drug resistance.

681-687

Authors: Borkar KR and Deshmukh GD

India has 2.4 % of worlds land mass 4 % as water resources and 16 % of worlds population therefore no scope to underutilize water resources. Since the quality of the aquatic life depends on water quality, a thorough assessment of the water quality is an integral part of lakes evaluation. Study site located near Mul town in the Chandrapur district of eastern part of Maharashtra and is situated between 200,07,N and 790 ,67, E. Water samples were collected in polythene bottles (two litters capacity) once in month from the selected sampling sites of two lakes to analyze the water quality parameters for the period of 12 months i.e. from January 2011 to December 2011. Annual variations in physico-chemical parameters, such as B.O.D., C.O.D., nitrate, phosphate, Chloride, alkalinity, D.O.,CO2 etc. indicates that, the Mul lake is polluted and may be classified as mesotrophic or mesosaprobic.

1-5

Authors: Ahmed Raafat and Gamal Osman

Background: Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most common operations in general surgery. The Lichtenstein tension-free operation has become gold standard in open inguinal hernia repair. Despite the low recurrence rates; pain and discomfort remain a problem for a large number of patients. Aim: This study was to compare suture fixation vs. histoacryl sealing using a monofilament prolene mesh. Patient and Methods: A total of 100 patients randomly underwent primary inguinal hernia Lichtenstein repair fixing the mesh by prolene suture or by histoacryl; in both cases the mesh was fixed to the posterior wall of the inguinal canal and to the inguinal ligament. Follow-up time was 6 months. Results: Significantly, less postoperative pain was reported in histoacyl sealant group compared to the suture group Additionally, trends toward a higher postoperative quality of life, a faster surgical procedure, and a shorter hospital stay were seen in the sealant group. Conclusion: A widespread technique for the treatment of inguinal hernia is the application of a mesh using Lichtenstein procedure, the prosthesis can be fixed by traditional suture or using a new method of sutureless fixation with adhesive materials that shows an excellent local tolerability and lack of adverse effects and contraindications.

13-17

Authors: Nicodemus D. Matojo

Very little is known about intraspecific variation in the Southern African rock python which is also referred to as the Natal rock python or simply the African python, Python natalensis Smith, 1833 (family Pythonidae of the Order Squamata) mainly due to limited reachability of some members of the species such as the underground types and those inhabiting dense rocks. A recent study has revealed head dimorphism in the snake based on two samples from Bwiru rocky area near Lake Victoria shore in northern Mwanza City of Ilemela District, Tanzania. One morph (the “wedge-headed type”) is the holotype, comprising short triangular head with U-shaped mouth. Another morph (the “shovel-headed type”) is a paratype, comprising a long shovel-shaped head of burrowing design.

29-40

Authors: Che Aishah Nazariah Ismail, Suppian Rapeah, Abd Aziz Che Badariah and Long Idris

Painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus which hugely affect life routines and quality. We aimed to investigate the effects of minocycline and ifenprodil on nociceptive behavior response, oxidant-antioxidant status and pro-inflammatory markers level in the PDN rat’s spinal cord. Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six groups (n=8): non-diabetic control, diabetic PDN control, diabetic PDN rats received minocycline (80µg/day or 160µg/day) and diabetic PDN rats received ifenprodil (0.5µg/day or 1.0µg/day). Diabetes was induced by single injection of streptozotocin at 60mg/kg. The rats were allowed for two weeks period to develop into PDN condition. The intrathecal treatments were given for seven days period. The rat’s hind paw was then injected with 5% formalin to induce chronic inflammatory pain and sacrificed three days post-formalin injection. Spinal cord tissue was removed and homogenized (10% homogenate). ELISA for oxidant-antioxidant markers (MDA, catalase and SOD) and pro-inflammatory markers (TNF-α and IL-1β) were carried out. The results showed that untreated PDN rats exhibited increased nociceptive behavior responses indicating hyperalgesia apart from increased MDA activity, reduced catalase with insignificant change in SOD enzymes activities, increased TNF-α and insignificant change in IL-1β level. Minocycline and ifenprodil suppressed MDA activity and improved catalase and SOD activities. Minocycline attenuated both pro-inflammatory cytokines whilst ifenprodil reduced TNF-α level but increased IL-1β level. In conclusion, minocycline and ifenprodil showed potent anti-nociceptive, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects but possibly via different pathway and mechanism.

49-59

Authors: Patil Pravin, Sutar Shrikant and Bhat Kangila Venkataraman

The genus Abelmoschus is represented by more than 10 species which shows wide distribution over the diverse agro−climatic conditions of Indian subcontinent. In the present study, total 60 accessions of eleven Abelmoschus species were subjected to estimate genetic diversity and species relationships. Out of 200 primers 21 primers was found to be considerable for cluster analysis. All 21 primers produced total 321 amplicons with ranges from nine (OPA-5) to nineteen (105, 966) and average number of amplicons detected were 15.3 per primer. Out of the 321 amplicons amplified, 301 were polymorphic showing 93.77% polymorphism with average of 14.3 per primer. Among the studied species, high genetic diversity was observed in A. manihot subsp. tetraphyllus var. tetraphyllus (0.1711), whereas lowest genetic diversity was observed in A. manihot subsp. tetraphyllus var. pungens. Among the studied species highest (0.9095) similarity index was observed between A. esculentus and A. caillei whereas A. palianus and A. crinitus exhibited lowest (0.5149) similarity index. The UPGMA based cluster analysis clearly distinguishes the Abelmoschus species into three major clusters – I, II and III. This study validate the utility of RAPD markers as a reliable tool for phylogenetic relationships as well as effective characterization of Abelmoschus genetic resources.

69-78

Authors: Tsegay Gebreselassie, Atsbha Gebreslassie and Hintsa Meresa

This demonstration was conducted in 2016/17 production season in two purposively selected major cow pea producing areas namely Hadnet and Nebar-Hadnet kebelles from Tanqau-Abergelle and Saharti-Samre districts, respectively. The major objective of this research was to demonstrate high yielding improved cow pea variety so as to increase productivity of cow pea. The specific objectives were to estimate partial budget analysis and collect farmers’ perception on improved cow pea variety versus local cultivar. For this study, 35 sample farmers (18 from Hadnet and 17 from Nebar-Hadnet) kebelles were purposively selected based on their willingness to participate in cow pea demonstration. The average grain yield obtained from the improved cow pea variety and local cultivar at Hadnet and Nebar-Hadnet kebelles/locations were (10.61 and 14.06 qt/ha) and (7.17 and 9.1 qt/ha), respectively. These shows 47.9% and 54.5% grain yield increment over the local cultivar, respectively. The average straw yield obtained from the improved cow pea variety and local cultivar at Hadnet and Nebar-Hadnet kebelles/locations were (28.64 and 33.38 qt/ha) and (26.58 and 30.35 qt/ha), respectively. These shows 7.8% and 9.9% straw yield increment over the local cultivar, respectively. The average gross income generated from grain and straw yield of improved cow pea variety and local cultivar at Hadnet and Nebar-Hadnet kebelles/locations were (14,045.04 and 17,079.98 ETB/ha) and (9,642.84 and 11,075.79 ETB/ha), respectively. These shows 45.7% and 54.2% gross income increment over the local cultivar, respectively. The partial budget analysis results indicate that improved cow pea technology was highly profitable compared to local cultivar in both kebelles/locations. Based on farmers’ perception analysis result, except the attribute of straw yield, most of the respondents had favored the improved cow pea variety (Bekur) in its grain yield, maturity, pods per plant, seeds per pod, seed uniformity, seed color, marketability, pests resistance, taste of food and time of cooking than the local cultivar (Adengur). Hence, farmers should produce high yielding and early maturing improved cowpea variety that can generated more income instead of producing low yielding, late maturing and less income generating local cow pea cultivar. Besides, further popularization and scaling out of the improved cow pea variety (Bekur) in a similar agro-ecology should be done by the research center and office of agriculture and rural development of the respective districts.

87-104

Authors: Aravind Gopal and Benny PJ

The study was to evaluate the insect repellent activity of certain plants and to compare the sensitivity of certain insects towards selected essential oils, composite light and a few colors. While on the experimental arena, chemical and photo sensitivity tests were carried out using a ‘modified T-maze’ called as ‘A-B sensitivity apparatus’. Plant parts were extracted using methanol-water and ethyl acetate. Essential oil was extracted with hydro distillation method. Preliminary evaluation procedure was focused on repellent activity against Sitophilus granarius, but further studies used more insect species. Using new indices, the repellent and insect potential were compared. In Preliminary evaluation, 18 out of 19 plants showed repellent activity. Further studies on the essential oil of available plants showed that, Merremia vitifolia has the highest repellent activity than the Peperomia Pellucida and the positive control, Elettaria cardamomum. Merremia vitifolia essential oil have the lowest absolute effective surface concentration and highest repellent index. Considering the Insect properties, Sitophilus granarius is the strongest and hence had the highest Anti-Repellent Index of 5.8421 µl/gcm2 against Elettaria cardamomum essential oil. In photo sensitivity test all the insects showed more affinity towards the middle of the visible spectrum and are repelled by darkness.

111-116

Authors: Undirwade GP and Kulkarni GB

The seeds of Hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus L.) Sweet varieties Konkan bhushan and Konkan Wal-2 were treated with various doses of chemical (EMS- 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.15% and SA- 0.010%, 0.015%, 0.020%) and physical (Gamma rays- 5KR, 10KR, 15KR) mutagen and were sown in the field with control and harvested in bulk to raise M1 generation to observe the characters and number of mutants in each population. to observe the chlorophyll mutation and leaf morphology. Chlorophyll mutation frequency was calculated on the basis of plant population. A distinct range of chlorophyll and morphological mutants were observed in the M1 generations. Four different types of spectrum of chlorophyll mutant’s viz. albina, xantha, viridis and chlorina were identified in the treated population. Various morphological aberrations had been observe viz. Bilobed leaf, reduction in size of leaves, cotton shape leaf, obtuse and retuse apex, notch at margin, sinuate leaf margin, lanceolate leaf, wrinkled leaflet and triforked leaf. The frequency of leaf morphological changes noticed more in SA (0.020%) in Konkan bhushan and EMS (0.15%) in Konkan Wal-2 of Hyacinth bean variety.

123-130

Authors: Yadav OV, Mulla RR, Patel NA, Shende SS and Yankanchi SR

The extravagant use of mobile phones in recent years has attained the focus on research activities by many scientists to determine the effects of exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) produced by mobile phones. In present study, we investigated the effect of Aegle marmelos (Am) on Mobile Phone induced oxidative stress in brain and testis of Mice. Mice were exposed to 900-1800 MHz EMR from Mobile phones for 7 days (1 h/day). In the EMR+Am groups, mice were exposed to EMR and pretreated with Am. In the control and Am groups’ mice were kept without exposure. Subsequently, lipid peroxidation and pathological changes in tissues were examined for each group. Oxidative damage was prevented by Am treatment, Furthermore, Am prevented the Mobile phone induced tissue damage in both the tissues histopathologically. The protective activities of Aegle marmelos which is caused by EMR radiations may have potential implication in the future for prevention/protection against oxidative stress induced by mobile phones. Keywords:

137-142

Authors: Rajan Priya and Kuzhivelil Balu T

Heavy metals are one of the major pollutants influencing aquatic ecosystems. Toxic heavy metals often interfere with the normal physiological processes of organisms in various levels. Cadmium is a heavy metal with no known biological function, raising severe threat to the environment. In the present study influence of cadmium on the testicular recrudescence of Rasbora dandia is evaluated. R. dandia were exposed to three sublethal doses of cadmium (0.1 ppm, 0.2 ppm and 0.3 ppm) from February to May during which active gonad development take place before the onset of breeding season associated with south west monsoon in Kerala, India. At the end of the exposure period, control fishes became sexually mature with abundant ripe spermatozoa in the tubular lumen of the testis. Initial stages of spermatogenesis were prominent in cadmium treated fishes indicating that the testes were still in the recrudescence condition. However, reduction in ripe spermatozoa was observed in cadmium exposed fishes. GSI was found to be declined significantly by increasing concentrations of cadmium exposure during gonadal recrudescence.

150-152

Authors: Chandra Anup, Naithani HB, Verma PK and Kewat AK

Prunus armeniaca Linn. is a valuable oil seed producing tree species, planted in hilly parts of the Chakrata region of Dehradun district of Uttarakhand, India. Mistletoes attack various tree species and severely affect productivity. Aim of the study was to identify attack of mistletoe to important tree species. A survey was conducted in the Kathiyan and adjoining areas of Chakrata Forest division. It was reported that all the mature trees were invariably infested by the mistletoe. Species is identified as Viscum album Linn. Suitable preventive measures are suggested to prevent the spread of mistletoe.

156-160

Authors: Karhale Satish M, Adsul AD, Indulkar ST and Pai R

This study highlights the seasonal variation in polychaetes of intertidal mangrove area of Shirgaon, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. All polychaetes sample was collected by stratified random sampling method during the lowest low tide of each month. A total of six polychaetes species viz; Nereis sp., Perinereis sp., Lumbrinereis sp., Marphysa sp. I, Marphysa sp. II and Unidentified polychaetes sp. were recorded. The abundance of polychaetes during pre-monsoon (3.5442 no m-2), monsoon (2.5714 no m-2) and post-monsoon (2.8571 no m-2) was recorded among which Nereis sp. and Marphysa sp. were recorded consistently in all season while other polychaete species were sporadically distributed in all three seasons. Monthly variation in-situ parameter such as atmospheric temperature, intertidal water temperature, sediment temperature, dissolved oxygen of intertidal water, intertidal water pH, sediment pH, sediment organic carbon and intertidal water salinity were recorded during the study period.

166-172

Authors: Chokki Veettil Priyatha and Kumari Chidambaran Chitra

Triclosan is an effective antimicrobial agent commonly used in pharmaceuticals and personal care products. In this study, median lethal concentration i.e., 96h-LC50 value, along with behavioural and histopathological modifications of triclosan were investigated in the native fish, Anabas testudineus. For determining LC50-96h of triclosan, seven different concentrations of the test chemical at a range from 1 to 2.2 mg/L in a geometric series were selected after a range-finding test. Control group without the test solution and the positive control containing the solubilising agent (DMSO) as a vehicle was also maintained, comprising ten animals per group. The median lethal concentration of triclosan in Anabas testudineus estimated by using Probit analysis was 1.767 mg/L. Behavioural modifications noted during the study includes air gulping, surfacing, reduced opercular movement, mucous deposition, bulged and hemorrhagic eyes. Histopathological alterations observed in gill consist of uplifting and hyperplasia of epithelium, aneurysm, lamellar disorganization as shortened primary lamella, fusion or loss of secondary lamella and hyperplasia of gill arches. Hepatocytes showed histological alterations such as irregular or anucleated hepatocytes, cytoplasmic vacuolization, degenerated cytoplasm and aggregation of melanomacrophages. The intensity of morphological lesions increases when the concentration is increased and also substantiates the behavioural alterations exhibited by the fish during triclosan exposure. From the result of probit statistical method, it is evident that the acute toxic effect of triclosan is concentration-dependent, and therefore, triclosan contamination is a threat to aquatic organisms.

177-180

Authors: Shende Aroonaa and Korpenwar AN

The study was undertaken to determine microbial loads in indoor environment of poultry farm. Environmental factors influencing to increase airborn mycoflora. These airborne components were trapped by using the ‘Volumetric Tilak air sampler’which is an electrically operated device was fixed in middle of the poultry farm at the height of 1 meter from ground level and runs continuously in the month of rainy season 2016. Total 63 types and 679716 Spores/m3 were revealed from which Aspergilllus sp., Cladosporium sp., Unidentified Ascospores, Basidiospores, Bitrimonospora,Alternaria sp. were dominant. The maximum fungal load was found in the month of July. More number of fungi was found as incline of attraction towards the moisture availability and nutrition (litter) present in the poultry environment. 21 types and 82085spores/m3 from 63 types of spores including class Ascomycetes were obtained fortunately they was the indicator of rainy season.

187-193

Authors: Sarkar Chandan and Saha Nimai Chandra

Toxicity of a Biopesticide Spinosad to benthic Oligochaete worm, Branchiura sowerbyi and the fry of common carp, Cyprinus carpio along with their behavioural changes were evaluated in the present study. The 24, 48, 72 and 96 h LC50 values of Spinosad to Branchiura sowerbyi were 21.19, 12.40, 8.76 and 6.14 mg/l and to the fry of Cyprinus carpio were 5.03, 3.20, 2.16, 1.77 mg/l respectively. The mortality rate of B. sowerbyi and C. carpio showed significant variation (p<0.05) with the increasing concentrations at all exposure times. On the other hand, the mortality rate of B. sowerbyi and C. carpio also varied significantly (p<0.05) at all the doses with increasing exposure times (24, 48 and 72 and 96h). Excess mucous secretion, decreasing movements and decreasing clumping tendency were recorded in B. sowerbyi at higher concentrations. The excess mucous secretion with increasing concentration of toxicant and exposure time was recorded in the exposed fish. The treated fish showed faster movement and wide opening of mouth and gills at higher concentrations at 24 and 48h of exposure. At 72 and 96h of exposure the fish became sluggish and the movement was gradually reduced with increasing concentration. Similarly, the mouth and gill openings were reduced and were almost absent at the higher concentrations after 72h of exposure. The opercular movement of fish was increased significantly (p<0.05) at 24 and 48h but decreased significantly (p<0.05) at 72 and 96h.

205-208

Authors: Saha S, Mukherjee D and Saha NC

In the present study, acute toxicity of the fungicide, captan, was evaluated under experimental condition to adult Heteropneustes fossilis. The 96 h LC50 with 95% confidence limits of Heteropneustes fossilis is 6.26 (5.80- 6.64) mg/l. None of the unexposed control fish died and the first fish died 18 h after exposure to captan (9.50 mg/l and 10.5 mg/l). Mortality rate between each dose and mortality rate between 24-96 h depending on time was correlated. In the fish, significant relationship (p<0.05) was recorded between mortality rate and exposure times (24, 48, 72 and 96 h) at all concentrations. Similarly, significant variation was observed between mortality rate of fish at all the exposure concentrations at all the exposure times (p<0.01). The exposed fish showed abnormal behavior depending on dose of captan and duration of exposure.

213-216

Authors: Singh Girja Kumar and Ahirwar Ramesh Kumar

Present paper deals with 23 species of plants covering 23 genera and 19 families uses of various diseases by the tribals of Chanda, district Dindori, Madhya Pradesh. The plants are enumerated and arranged in an alphabetically order with botanical name followed by family, vernacular name, part(s) ethno-medicinal uses have been presented.

222-228

Authors: Nandeshwar Jayshri P and Zingare Arun K

The fossil unilocular fruit with peculiar characteristic of single spiny seed collected from the Deccan Intertrappean Sedimentary beds of the fossiliferous locality Mohgaonkalan coordinates (22 ͦ 1 ̍ N, 79 ͦ 11 ̍ ̍ E) in Chhindwara District in Madhya Pradesh, India. The Fruit is dicot, simple, capsule, unilocular, single with ridges or spiny seed, indehiscent, dry, basal placentation, polygonal shaped. The seed is large, dicotyledonous, anatropous, bitegmic, briolette with spiny seed coat. After a detailed study the fruit revails many peculier characters resembalance with modern family Capparidaceae, Caricaceae, Calophyllum, Moringaceae and Oxalidaceae. but do not shows affinity with reported fossil fruits.

235-238

Authors: Jadhav Anjali S and Yeragi SS

Air pollution is due to the presence of particulate matters e.g. varying mixtures of soot, ash, pollen grains, fungal spores, microscopic plant & animal fragments, dust etc. Aerobiologists have traditionally been involved in the measurement & reporting of airborne pollen & fungal spores as a service to allergy sufferers. Aerobiology, according to modern concept is a scientific multidisciplinary approach concerned with the source of the organisms, their release, dispersion, deposition and impact on human and animal systems. Many human allergic disease & seasonal allergic rhinitis are attributed to inhalation of airborne fungal spores. In garbage area due to decomposition caused by bacteria and fungus there is possibility of spreading spores in and around the human habitat. Aerobiological study to analyze airborne fungal spores around garbage depot of Mulund was conducted from January 2015 to December 2015. Identification of fungal spores was done using Gravity Slide Technique and Culture Plate Count Technique. The major fungal spores identified with this technique were Cladosporium,Alternaria, Curvularia, Aspergillus etc.

248-252

Authors: Kumbhakar SK, Chauhan SS and Chandraker SK

The evolution of antibiotic resistance by pathogenic bacteria poses a major task for human health. Whereas it is unambiguous that natural selection promotes resistance-conferring mutations, our understanding of the response of the mutation rate to antibiotics is limited. Ever since effective antibiotic treatment was first introduced almost seventy years ago, it has been a notable success story and antibiotic treatment is without a doubt the single most important medical procedure or treatment ever invented as measured by the reduction in human morbidity and mortality. However, the present studies based on the industrial area like pharmaceutical, where chemical mutagen release as an effluent. Continue contact with chemical mutagen some microbes got changes and show different behavior when antibiotic used. The intensive contact of microbes with chemical mutagen resulted in antibiotic resistance among almost all major human pathogens, and the resulting loss of therapeutic options might generate a post-antibiotic era where present and future medical advances are negated. As resistant bacteria significantly reduce the possibilities of treating infections efficiently and boost the risk of complications and fatal outcome for patients with severe infections, it represents a major public health concern and economic problem both within the globally worldwide.

260-264

Authors: Khandale DP, Khinchi PJ and Chilke AM

In the present study the focus was made on the change in organic metabolites like total protein, cholesterol and glycogen in the tissues such as gills, liver, kidney and muscle of O. punctatus on exposure to NP LC-50 for short term duration. It was observed that the total protein and cholesterol significantly increased but glycogen decreased in all the tissues. It is concluded that the increased in total proteins and cholesterol may be due to enhanced metabolic activity, however decreased glycogen level in the tissues can be attributed to metabolic stress induced by NP and there may be the chances of inducing the enzymes that involve in the process of glycogenolysis.

271-275

Authors: Saheb L Shinde

During the present studies, different solvent extracts i.e. aqueous, alcoholic and ethyl acetate extracts of different parts of some plant species were tested against two plant pathogens like Alternaria brassicicola, and Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of all these extracts were determined by zone of Inhibition and paper disc method. Most of the extracts were found effective against these pathogens. The positive results so obtained were compared with that of the reference standard fungicide (Carbendazim) and bactericide (Streptomycin). It was found that some extracts were more effective against pathogens than the fungicide and bactericide.

279-281

Authors: Gupta SS

Presence of Butterfly in an ecosystem is a healthy environmental indicator as pollination of flowering plants is crucial to achieve conservation of floral diversity. Present study was carried from Campus area of Amolokchand Mahavidyalaya Yavatmal, MS, India. Amolokchand Mahavidyalaya was established in 1956. The college has well flourished Botanical garden, play grounds Spread over on 39 acres of land with highly flourished floral and faunal diversity. For present study, a check list was made comprising a total number of 15 Species belonging to 12 genera from 4 families. The aim of the study is to investigate relationship between abundance of butterfly species from study area with relation to physical factors which are important for conservation of floral and faunal diversity. During this study Butterflies were observed from August to January 2016 for consecutive 6 months. The study areas were surveyed daily from 5PM to 6 PM excluding Sundays and Holidays.

285-290

Authors: Patil Anagha P, Patil Dilip B, Khandeshwar Shantanu R

Distilleries are the main source of water pollution due to presence of number of pollutants like total hardness, total dissolved salts, biological oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand and heavy metals into their effluents. There are about 295 distilleries in India mostly situated in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. In India, about 15,000 million liters of spent wash is produced annually. Molasses a by-product of sugar industry is used as a raw material by most of distilleries for production of ethanol by fermentation and distillation processes. The distillery effluent being rich in organic, inorganic as well as volatile material causes deterioration of ground water resources and surface water resources. The toxic materials present in spent wash discharged by distillery categorized as one of the highly polluting industry, enter into food chain due to percolation through soil and irrigation water causing health complications to the human-beings. Spent wash is hydrophilic viscous liquid waste with strong objectionable odor. Molasses based spent wash is highly recalcitrant waste product because of its melanoidin content which is a polymer formed by maillard aminocarbonyl reaction. The disposal of spent wash has becomes a major problem because of the ground water contamination but fresh and marine water pollution is gradually becoming a major threat. The water quality and human health are closely related. The water causes 75% of diseases to the human beings. It is estimated by World Health Organization (WHO) that the 2000 million people in the developing countries along-with India do not have access to safe drinking water, which is the cause of spreading of water borne diseases such as diarrhea and gastroenteritis. One distinct feature of spent wash is the high content of potassium salts which obviously originates from the cane sugar being rich in potash content. According to a study carried out by Muhammad Tariq Mahar et.al the presence of heavy metals in spent wash such as Cu, Cd, Cr, Co, Mn, Pb, Zn, Fe and As was observed higher than NEQS for industrial effluent whereas Tewari N et.al has studied the removal of heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, Fe by using the natural adsorbents by comparative analysis. This warrants to espouse the safe and effective means of effluent treatment to fulfill both practical necessity and a corporate social responsibility for ensuring the prevention of public health and to contribute in accomplishing the Zero Liquid Discharge Target.

295-298

Authors: Bhoyar VV

Freshwater is important to human life and large amount of wastewater is extracted from industries, farms cities. Our freshwater demands caused us to overlook the important benefits of water that remain essential to sustain healthy aquatic ecosystem. Surface waters are the most transforming water systems on earth. These systems are transformed by many things like use of chemical fertilizers, climate change, chemical inputs, industrial wastes etc. and it affects the hydrobiology of water. For many years we are using surface water for dumping sewage and garbage. Runoff from social life puts pesticides and toxic sediments to freshwater. This is changing the biogeochemistry of surface water systems day by day. And it will affect the biotic and abiotic components of the systems. All of these toxic substances kill the organisms in the water and make the water unsuitable for drinking purpose, it will also increase the eutrophication i.e. increase in the amount of nutrients in an aquatic ecosystems. The water from Kudla Lake is used for agriculture purpose, drinking, washing, and fishery management. During the study period Jan 2016 to Dec. 2016, samples were collected monthly from 7 to 9 am and analyzed, for the physico-chemical parameters, study of phytoplankton and zooplanktons.