UGC Sponsored 2015-UGC Sponsored National Conference on Innovationsin Microbial World

"UGC Sponsored 2015 Conference Papers "

Antagonistic activity of Bacitracin on Staphylococcus aureus[ ]


Bacitracin (C66H103N17O16S) is a metal dependent complex mixture of cyclic polypeptides that is produced by Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis. Bacitracin consists of mixture of structurally similar polypeptides from 12 amino acids. Bacitracin has wide spread application in pharmaceutical for the treatment of chronic sinusitis, Clostridium difficult associated disease, necrotic enteritis, topical antibiotic feed additive and reduction of diseases in poultry. Bacitracin is produced by many bacteria but well known organism for the production of bacitracin is Bacillus subtilis, also known as the hay Bacillus, it is a gram+ve, catalase positive bacterium commonly found in soil. B.subtilis is a member of the genus Bacillus, is rod shaped and has the ability to form through, protective endosperm. The ability of the antibiotics to suppress protein synthesis was determined by exposing cocci to an inducing substrate in the presence of antibiotic and observing the extent of inhibition of induced enzyme formation. Isolation and screening of the isolates was carried out on the basis of bacitracin production (IU/ml) and was determined by agar diffusion method. In this study both physical (UV for 15 and 20minutes) and chemical (MNNG and HNO2 for 15 and 20minutes) mutagens were employed in systematic manner to obtain mutants that gave higher bacitracin production in the treatment of UV for 20minutes and 15minutes in chemical mutagens. Minimum inhibitory concentration method was used to check the cultures for the production of antimicrobial metabolites against Staphylococcus aureus. The results indicated that, the test organism, S. aureus was inhibited to the extent of 0.8 to 1.9cm in normal production method and 0.7 to 1.4cm in chemical method by end of the study i.e seventh day after initiation of the study. Whereas, the inhibition of S.aureus was not significant in physical method.

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Community-acquired urinary tract infections by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Gram negative bacteria[ ]


Antibiotic resistance among uropathogens causing community acquired urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is increasing worldwide. Severity and endemicity persists despite of wide spread availability of drugs. Knowledge of the aetiology and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of uropathogens is important in order to determine the best empiric treatment option. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing strains of Enterobacteriaceae and other Gram negative bacteria are a cause of increasing concern. Delay in the detection and reporting of ESBL pro¬duction by gram-negative bacteria is associated with prolonged hospital stay, increased morbidity, mortality and health-care cost. This study was aimed to determine the aetiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of uropathogens in culture-positive, CAUTIs. The incidence, MAR index and virulence characters of ESBL-producing strains were also analyzed. Double-disk synergy test (DDST) and E test was performed according to CLSI recommendation in order to detect the ESBL producers. In addition to antibiotic resistance, virulence characters like mucoid and hydrophobic nature of isolates,Protease and Biofilm production were studied. The commonest organism isolated was Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. Among the antibiotics tested,isolates were most susceptible to Amikacin ,Netilimicin and Gentamicin. Maximum resistance was observed with cephalosporins.ESBL production was predominant in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp. Most commonest virulence feature in the present study was found to be exopolysaccharide production

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Increased Efficiency of Feather degradation by Immobilising cells on Composite Cellulose acetate fibres[ ]


The use of immobilised cells for degradation of feathers continues to generate worldwide interest. Whole cell immobilisation provides easy separation of cells with enhanced stability and reusability. The popular immobilization matrices include natural polymers such as agar, alginate, carrageenan, chitosan and cellulose acetate have received considerable attention due to their high biocompatibility. The keratinase activity of entrapped cells in cellulose acetate of four Bacillus sp. was significantly higher 605-638 U/ml, when compared with that of the free cells which was in the range of 335-367U/ml. Further, the utilization of immobilized cellulose acetate fibers enhanced the biodegradation process of feather significantly as the fibers could be recycled for a minimum of 3 batches spanning for 15 days making the process of biodegradation economically viable

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Influence of the isolated probiotic bacteria on the water quality parameters of shrimp pond and their effect on growth and survival of the shrimp[ ]


Pond ecosystem is an important parameter influencing the shrimp production. Healthy and hygienic pond parameters promote higher shrimp production rates. As the culture period progress water quality of the pond changes due to the metabolic activities carried out by the animal. All these parameters should be maintained at optimum levels for higher survival and growth rates. Though several pond probiotics has been launched in the market search for isolation of potent probiotic bacteria with suitable pond application is a never ending process. This indicates the importance of pond environment in the animal production. In the present research isolated and identified probiotic bacteria are applied in the shrimp ponds to observe their influence on the water quality variables, growth and survival of the shrimp.

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FUNGAL BIOTRANSFORMATION STUDIES OF ZOLMITRIPTAN – A SUBSTRATE FOR CYP1A2[ ]


Human beings during their lives take a wide almost infinite variety of drugs into their bodies which are necessary for their well-being and these drugs undergo metabolism.Metabolism or biotransformation is defined as the structural or chemical alteration of a drug by enzymatic systems. Hence understanding of drug metabolism plays an important role in the development of new drug entities. Drug metabolism studies have relied on the use of model systems to produce the expected human metabolites of drugs. A microbial model is one of the in vitro model which constitute an alternative to the use of animal model and other in vitro models. The fungal biotransformation of a substrate of CYP1A2 [Zolmitriptan] was performed using six fungi in the present study. The screening studies were performed by selected fungi using their respective broth media. Fermentation was carried out for each organism by maintaining two controls and one sample to find the ability of fungi to biotransform the selected drug using HPLC method. Among all these organisms Cunninghamella elegans had shown an extra peak at 6.5min in HPLC when compared with its controls indicated the formation of its metabolite. The metabolite thus formed was identified, isolated and structure was confirmed by mass spectroscopy and NMR. Based upon the results obtained it was concluded that Zolmitriptan was biotransformed to its microbial metabolite i.e the sulphate conjugate of hydroxy indole acetic acid derivative of zolmitriptan by desmethylation, hydroxylation and sulphation of Zolmitriptan by Cunninghamella elegans. Further metabolism inhibition and induction studies were performed for the confirmation of enzyme CYP1A2 involved in biotransformation of Zolmitriptan by Cunninghamella elegans. There was no change in % of metabolite formed in presence of both inducer and inhibitor used. It indicated that Cunninghamella elegans converting the zolmitriptan to its metabolite not like by human CYP1A2 enzyme. Hence, the present study revealed that Cunninghamella elegans can be used as a suitable microbial model to study the biotransformation of drugs by different reactions to a new metabolite.

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Screening and Exploration of azo dye decolorizing Actinomycetes from Marine Sediments[ ]


Effluent discharge from textile industry into water bodies is currently causing significant health concern to environmental regulatory agencies. Reactive azo dyes have been identified as the most problematic dyes in textile effluents due to their high stability against light, temperature, detergents, chemicals and microbial attacks. The present study was designed for screening and identification of dye decolorizing bacteria from marine Sediments. Marine Actinomycetes were isolated from marine sediments on Maltose Yeast extract agar medium by serial dilution method. The isolated strains were evaluated for their decolurisation ability against reactive Red dye. The optimum pH and temperature on the rate of decolourisation was determined. The effect of carbon and nitrogen sources was determined by supplementing mineral salt medium with different carbon and nitrogen sources.

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Lead Effect on the Mineral Composition in Sansevieria roxburghiana Schult. and Schult. f.[ ]


The present investigation reported that mineral levels in plant Sansevieria roxburghiana Schult. and Schult. f. (Agavaceae) exposed to different lead (Pb) concentrations from 60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 mg/l under hydroponics for 40 day duration. Pb accumulation (13, 24, 55, 71 and 98 mg/kg DW) was reported in different concentrations. Results showed that the decrement in mineral levels sodium (598±0.3 to 454±0.2 mg/100g DW), potassium (18±0.2 to 6±0.4 mg/100g DW), calcium (245±0.3 to 122±0.2 mg/100g), zinc (0.14±0.5 to 0.7±0.4 mg/100g DW), copper (0.65±0.2 to 0.44±0.1 mg/100g DW), manganese (0.55±0.2 to 0.25 ±0.1mg/100g DW) and iron (2±0.3 to 0.73±0.4 mg/100g DW). Pb accumulated to a greater degree in plants resulted in oxidative stress, as evidenced by increased concentrations of malondialdehyde. This result clearly indicates potential lead toxicity affects the nutritive status of Sansevieria roxburghiana plant.

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Enhancement In Nutritive Value And invitro Digestability Of Keratinse Treated Feather Meal[ ]


Feather is produced in bulk quantity as a by-product of poultry industry. Feather meal produced by traditional means has disadvantage of low nutritional value as well as low digestibility. Improving the nutritive value and digestibility by adopting novel biological techniques can result in high quality feed supplement from feather waste. Earlier studies in our laboratory resulted in isolation and characterization of four improved Bacillus sps. - MBF11, MBF20, MBF21 and MBF45 which produced keratinase enzyme that could degrade feather completely. Keratinase treated feather meal (KTF) was analyzed for the invitro-digestibility and compared with feather meal produced by traditional methods like heat treated, acid treated and trypsin digested feather. Total nitrogen, non-protein nitrogen, total free amino acids and essential amino acids were estimated for all the treatments. Non- protein nitrogen increased four folds upto ~3.5-4fold with keratinase hydrolysis where as heat and acid treatments resulted in low free nitrogen of a maximum of ~2. The invitro digestibility of untreated feather powder was 24% where as for KTF it increased to ~61-72%. The digestibility of the traditionally treated samples was around 27-32%. There was ~2-3 fold increase in amino acids like proline and glycine, ~2 fold increase in lysine and cystine methionine and histidine content in KTF as compared to controls. Thus, feather meal prepared by keratinase treatment was significantly better than the feather meal produced by traditional methods and this could be an important technique to convert feather waste into value added product.

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Effect of Triazophos on soil enzyme activities in paddy (Orizae sativa sp.) cultivated soil[ ]


The present study aimed that reveals the relation between soil dehydrogenase and urease enzyme activity and various concentrations of triazophos an organophosphorus insecticide.The effects of pesticides on soil micro organisms can cause a ripple effect that can last for years. Triazophos is an organophosphorous broad-spectrum insecticide and acaricide with contact and stomach action. It penetrates deeply into plant tissues through translaminar action. It controls thrips ,aphids, beetles, midges, spider mites , caterpillars, and whiteflies in field paddy, cotton, vegetables, ornamentals and fruit trees. Micro-organisms are essential to healthy soil. Without them, plants will not reach their true potential. In order to determine the changes in microbial activity in a black clay soils of paddy (Oryzae sativa sps.) cultivated fields, the laboratory studies were conducted to resolute the effects of triazophos (organophosphorus insecticide) on enzymatic activities of soil microorganisms in paddy cultivated soils at different concentrations of 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 ppm. Soil enzymes are dehydrogenase and urease activities were determined. The lower and higher dose of triazophos resulted in the significant decrease in dehydrogenase and urease activity till third and fourth week of treatment compared to untreated control.

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Decolourization of Reactive azo dyes by Aspergillus niger from dying industry effluent[ ]


The textile industry, which is one of the largest water consumers in the world, produces wastewater composed of various recalcitrant agents such as dye, sizing agents, and dyeing aids, that should be of concern in releasing into the environment. The present study was carried out to examine the fungal decolourization of hazardous azo dyes by utilizing single fungus i.e., Aspergillus niger as the experimental organism and selected textile azo dyes Orange107 and Red 1.The apparent dye removal for dyes was seen largely due to biosorption/bioadsorption into/onto the fungal biomass. Decolourization capabilities of these fungal species against the azo dyes were carried out in potato dextrose agar medium and Mineral salt media under static invitro conditions and different physic-chemical conditions on dye decolourization were studied. Highest percentage of decolourization was achieved against Orange-107 by Aspergillus niger (92%) after 5 days of incubation when compared to Red -1 dye. This study has confirmed that the potential fungi Aspergillus niger in the decolourization of azo dyes and opened scope for the future analysis of their performance in the treatment of textile dyes.

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Fermentative production of keratinase using solid agricultural wastes[ ]


Keratinases are robust and have high potential to degrade keratin wastes. Present study is oriented towards utilization of solid agricultural wastes as fermentation substrates by the Bacillus sps offers development of a low-cost medium for producing keratinase enzyme. To economize media cost for production of keratinase further, in the present study agricultural byproduct waste like wheat bran, rice bran, green gram husk, black gram husk were tested as nitrogen sources to replace SM/GC. Optimization of parameters for fermentative production of keratinase enzyme in our earlier studies resulted in design of media with starch as carbon source and soyabean meal/ ground nut cake as nitrogen source. Keratinase production was highest with rice bran for MBF11 with maximum activity of 318KU/ml, black gram for MBF20 (354KU/ml), green gram for MBF21 (374KU/ml) and wheat bran for MBF45 respectively (497KU/ml). Hence solid agricultural wastes have the possibility of replacing fermentation substrates that were used in earlier studies which offers development of a low-cost microbial technology for producing keratinase enzyme and it is also eco-friendly.

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Molecular identification and evaluation of inhibitory activity of antagonistic Bacteria isolated from Pomegranate field of Rajuluru village against Phyto-pathogens[ ]


Phyto- pathogens are the causal agents of plant diseases, which is one of the most destructive crop loss through worldwide. The yield of crop plants is severely diminished by the regular outbreaks of plant diseases, a large part of which is caused by pathogenic fungi and bacteria. Biological control is thus being considered as an alternative way of reducing the use of chemicals in agriculture. The present study was aimed to evaluate the antagonistic activity of bacteria isolated from pomegranate soils from Rajuluru village of Chittoor district. Thirty two bacterial isolates were isolated from soil sample. To evaluate the antagonistic activity of all the isolates, they were screened against Phyto pathogens i.e Colletotrichumgloeo sporioides from Pomegranate, Helminthosporiumturcicu from sorghum, Phytoptheradrechsleri from Red gram, Colletotrichum lindemuthianum from Dolichos, Xanthomonasphaseoli var. sojense from Horse gram, Xanthomonas axonopodis from lemon. Among all the isolates PI 9, PI 12, PI 27, PI 28 shows antagonistic activity. Isolate PI12 suppressed the growth of all tested pathogens potentially. Based on16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis the above potent antagonistic isolate PI 12 were identified as pseudomonas aeruginosa.

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Effects of Acetamiprid, Carbofuran on Soil Enzyme Activities in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Soils.[ ]


The effects of two pesticides viz., acetamiprid (Neonicotinoid) and carbofuran (Carbamate) were evaluated on amylase and cellulase enzyme activities in the groundnut cultivated soils of Anantapur District. Compared to untreated control, application of both acetamiprid and carbo-furan resulted in the stimulation of amylase and cellulase enzyme activities at lower concentrations (10.0 kg ha-1to 5.0 kg ha-1) but inhibition at higher concentration (7.5 kg ha-1to 10.0 kg ha-1) over untreated control after 10 days of incubation. However the stimulatory effect was continued up to 20 days of incubation in both soil samples. Whereas, the decline phase was started after 20 days and the minimum enzyme activities were noticed at the end of 40 days of incubation. But higher concentrations of insecticides at the level of 7.5 to 10.0 kg ha-1 were either toxic or innocuous to amylase and cellulase activities in both soil samples.

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Herbal Extracts As Beta Lactamase Inhibitors[ ]


Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is an increasingly serious threat to the ability to routinely treat microbial infections. The emergence of bacteria resistant to several important classes of antibiotics has become a major clinical problem in the last decade. ß-Lactamases secreted by bacteria confer resistance against ß-lactam and they are gaining more and more prominence with increase in the number of multiresistant strains of bacteria particularly those producing Extended spectrum of ß-lactamases (ESBLs). Plants have been found to have ability to synthesize a wide variety of chemical compounds that are able to inhibit pathogens. Hence herbal extracts were screened for source of ß- lactamase inhibitors which can be effective in synergy with existing antibiotics in delaying the emergence of resistance.. Significant inhibition of ß-lactamase activity was achieved by the herbal extracts of Calotropis procera, Lawsonia inermis, Ocimum sanctum, Zingiber officinale, Allium sativum against ESBL pathogens as test organisms.

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Purification and Characterization of Polyhydroxybutyrate produced from Marine Bacteria[ ]


Microbial plastic Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) have attracted research and commercial interests because of their biodegradability and wide usage in various areas like industries, pharmacy and agriculture. Polyhydroxybutyrate accumulating bacteria CMM3 isolated from the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh and identified based on their biochemical and phylogenetic characterization. On screening with Sudan black B staining method polyhydroxybutyrate granules appeared as bluish black droplets against the pink coloured cytoplasm. Effect of various process parameters like best carbon, nitrogen sources and their concentrations, Nacl tolerance, temperature and PH of the medium were optimized for fermentative production of Polyhydroxybutyrate. Then PHB purified from the fermentation broth by sodium hypochlorite assay method and estimated by measuring the colour intensity at 235nm using UV-Visible spectrophotometer with crotonoic acid as standard. Characterization of extracted polyhydroxybutyrate was carried out by FTIR.

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Production, purification and molecular level identification of cellulase degrading enzyme from improved strains of Aspergillus niger[ ]


Cellulase is a degrading-enzyme provides a key opportunity for achieving tremendous benefits of biomass utilization. The objective of this study was production, purification and molecular characterization of cellulase from Aspergillus niger. A total of 7 Aspergillus isolates (WA1-WA7) were isolated from agricultural field soils. WA2 isolate was found to produces highest zone of hydrolysis on cellulase screening media and selected for strain improvement studies. A total of 5 WA2 colonies were isolated after UV radiation for enzyme production. Several agricultural and natural wastes were used for cellulase production by Aspergillus sp. Among the 5 isolates WA2M4 showed higher cellulase production followed by WA2M2 and WA2M3. WA2M4 was found to be the superior in cellulase production with dry leave (5.6U/m), paper (5.2 U/ml) and other substances (2.2-2.8 U/ml). Cellulase was extracted from Aspergillus sp. (WA2M4), used to determine the homogeneity with existed strains and molecular weight of the enzyme.

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Chickpea Endophytic Bacteria Inhibiting Dry Root Rot Fungus Rhizoctonia bataticola[ ]


Chickpea (Cicer arietinium) is the world’s most important pulse crop with a production of about 9.2 million tons worldwide. India is the largest producer of Chickpea with 75% of world’s production and an average of about 15-20 quintals per hectare. Despite of high production, yields of Chickpea were low due to many biotic and abiotic constraints. More than 50 diseases have so far been reported on Chickpea. Dry root rot caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia bataticola is causing severe damage in many chickpea growing regions. This fungus is polyphagous, seed and soil borne. Chemical control is not an effective practice and also environmentally hazardous. In the present scenario biological control of dry root rot of chickpea offers a great promise. In last decades endophytic bacteria attracted more and it is a novel resource in biological control of plant diseases. Infected plants of JG 62 were collected from experimental plot of Regional Agricultural Research Station Nandyal and fungi was isolated on PDA and grown at 300C. The fungi appear greyish to black. Commonly growing variety JG11 chickpea Plants were collected from the fields of Kadapa and Kurnool. Endophytic bacteria were isolated from the roots of these plants using phosphate buffer. Individual colonies were streaked on plates of Nutrient Agar media and Tryptic Soy Agar media. Anti microbial assay was performed by dual culture method. Twenty three isolates were tested against Rhizoctonia bataticola among them five isolates were showing good inhibition. Maximum (81 %) inhibition was recorded by the isolate B5.

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Synthesis, Characterization and evaluation of the antimicrobial efficacy of me-dicinal plants extract mediated silver nanoparticles[ ]


Biogenically synthesized silver nanoparticles (BAgNPs) are being widely using in the field of medicine. Extra-cellular biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using medicinal plant extracts is been gaining importance due to the simplified method coupled with enhanced medicinal properties, antimicrobial properties in particular. Herein, we used the extracts of two important medicinal plants Eclipta prostrata and Gloriosa superba for the quick reduction and stabilization of aqueous silver ions. The silver nanoparticles formation was confirmed by the col-our change of plant extracts from pale yellow to dark brown. These BAgNPs were further characterized using the techniques like, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The formed silver nanoparticles were spherical in shape with the size range of 100-200nm.The antimicrobial efficacy of these BAgNPs was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudo-monas aureginosa using disc diffusion method. The increase in measured inhibition zone with the application of BAgNPs indicates the antimicrobial potentiality of the synthesized silver nanoparticles over conventional antibiotics.

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Studies on physico-chemical analysis of probioticated malted cereals with Lactobacillus casei & their possible applications[ ]


The objective of this study was to find out the suitability of different malted cereals for probiotication by using Lactobacillus casei. Phyto-chemical analyses of cereals like ragi, pearl millet and jowar were carried out using the standard methods. The carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins, phenols and glycosides were present where as the alkaloids and steroids were absent in all the above malted cereals. Generally these foods are nutritious and health beneficial. We have chosen them as raw material for our work due to the presence of several macro and micro nutrients. The malted powders of cereals were used to study the probiotication using Lactobacillus casei and phyto-chemical and physico-chemical properties were carried out using the stranded methods. Quantitative analysis of antioxidants was carried out using DPPH method, revealed the presence of good amount of antioxidants in all malted and probioticated cereals. The results showed that there is a clear decrease in the amount of total sugars, increase in the flavonoid content, protein content and antioxidant activity. The probioticated cereal food products have more nutritive values than the normal grains. These are beneficial to children, teenagers, pregnant women, lactating women and anemic patients.

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Isolation of yeast and ethanol production from papaya (Carica papaya) and grape (Vitis vinifera) fruits[ ]


The present study was carried out to isolation of yeast and production of ethanol using papaya (Carica papaya) and grape (Vitis vinifera) pulps with isolated yeast. Using selective medium, the yeast strains were isolated from fruit pulps and differential tests were applied for identification of the yeast. Percentage of yield of ethanol and effect of different nutrient supplements for the production of ethanol was studied using isolated yeast as synthetic medium is control. The reducing sugar was also estimated after 72 hrs saccharification, the amount of reducing sugar increased significantly (14.6 g/100g) in papaya fruit than grape fruit pulp (10.3 g/ 100g) and it is evident that high amount of carbohydrate levels. The fermented papaya yielded (6.20%) more ethanol content than grape pulp (3.83%). Addition of carbohydrate supplement, sucrose and nitrogen supplement of soya meal produced high yield of ethanol with yeast in papaya (11.45% & 9.16 %) than grape pulp (7.61% & 6.03%). The present study revealed that the fully ripened papaya fruit is a good source for ethanol production and it is possibility of ethanol production from our locally available fruits using simple, cheap, and adaptive technology with biochemically characterized yeast isolated from fruit pulps.

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Isolation and Characterization of Cellulase Producing Streptomyces albaduncus from Gut of Eisenia foetida[ ]


Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on earth, recognized as the major component of plant biomass. The cellulolytic microorganisms were isolated from gut of earthworm (Eisenia foetida). Using Glycerol asparagine agar media, the organisms were identified as Actinomycetes sps.. The endoglucanase activity of the culture broth was determined during actinomycetes growth by measuring the release of reducing sugar from carboxyl methyl cellulose, mineral salts medium. The reducing sugar was assayed by the dinitro salicylic acid method, using glucose ass the sugar standard. One unit of cellulose was defined as the amount of enzyme which produced one micro mole glucose equivalent per minute under the assay condition. The production of enzyme in Mineral salts medium was studied for the effect of temperature and pH. The production of cellulose enzyme was low and at 370C to 500C optimum was observed. The optimum production of cellulose was observed at pH of 6.5-7.0.

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Toxicity of Bisphenol-A and Probiotic Treatment on Total Proteins in Hypothalamus and Liver of Rattus norvegicus.[ ]


In the present study, total proteins were analyzed in Rattus norvergicus (SD rats) of healthy, Bisphenol A treated and probiotic treated along with Bisphenol A for 30days. 18 rats weighing between 230-270g were used and divided into 3 groups of six each. 1st Group received soyabean pellet diet only and served as control, 2nd group were exposed with Bisphenol-A (32.2mg/kg /bw) and 3rd group were exposed with probiotic Lactobacillus salivarus (one capsule weight 300mg ) along with Bisphenol-A and the total protein contents were estimated in hypothalamus and liver tissues. To determine the best method for protein quantification, we followed three different methods for quantification, Lowry’s method, Bradford method and BCA kit method. BCA kit method was more appropriate method when compared to other methods for conducting further analysis of proteomic studies. The protein levels were significantly decreased in hypothalamus and liver after Bisphenol-A treatment when compared to control. While, the animals supplemented with probiotics along with Bisphenol A were showed significantly increased protein level in hypothalamus and liver when compared to Bisphenol A treated animals. These results indicated that probiotic Lactobacillus species work as an antidote against Bisphenol A toxicity in Sprague dawley rats.

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Antimicrobial activities of selected medicinal plants against bacteria and fungi[ ]


Microbial organisms such as virus, bacteria and fungi can survive in all environmental conditions in the world and they can withstand high temperature, pressure, and pH. They infect plants, animals and human beings, they cause severe damage to host and lead to lot of economic loss. Medicinal plants are used widely for treating various diseases caused by protozoans, helminthes, bacteria, fungus and viruses. Many drugs are identified from medicinal plants and are active against microbes. But still there is a need for identification of new efficient drugs. Most of the drugs are available for several diseases but usage of natural drugs is more efficient, safe and cheap when compare with the synthetic drugs. Therefore author wants to focus on antimicrobial activity, including antibacterial and antifungal activity of medicinal plants and herbs. Five medicinal plants with five different solvents were used to study antibacterial and antifungal activities.

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In silico approach for exploration of Anti-inflammatory activity of cis9,trans11 Conjugated Linoleic acid[ ]


Cycloxygenase-2 (COX-2) and Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) are hallmark of chronic inflammation which are over expressed in many cancers, and are key targets for treatment of many inflammatory related diseases. Several synthetic and biological Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been studied for their inhibitory activities. Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) are family of Linoleic acid isomers which has potential health benefits .The isomers cis9, trans11 and trans10, cis 12 CLA are the most abundant. The present study is focused to evaluate the anti- inflammatory activity of cis9, trans11 CLA against proinflammatory genes like COX-2 and iNOS using in silico docking studies. Molecular docking experiments were carried out using Discovery studio v3.5 to determine their probable binding levels, Interaction energy, Hydrogen bonding and Intermolecular distance. cis9, trans11 CLA has been docked into COX-2 and iNOS active binding sites with binding energies -48.7 and -43.0 Kcal/mol respectively. These results reflect the anti inflammatory potential of cis9, trans11 CLA.

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Assessment of the use of cell binding agents useful in the generation of viable offsprings – Biodiversity conservation strategy through production of androgenetic fish[ ]


Production of androgenetic clones is one of the important strategies in the conservation of endangered species. In conventional method of producing androgenetic clones, genome inactivation of eggs is done by using radiation, followed by subjecting to thermal /hydrostatic /pressure shock for diploidization after monospecific activation. Due to these two types of subsequent treatments, the eggs are noticed to get severe stress leading to embryonic aberrations and poor survival. Thus the present study was done to test the use of Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) and Calcium chloride to produce fused sperms which can activate the genome inactivated eggs thus using only one treatment. But success of production of putative diploid androgenetic clones depends on the availability of the number of viable fused sperms (dispermy). Hence influence of combination of Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG) and High pH-Calcium chloride on the production of dispermy or the fusion efficiency, viability and motility of fused spermatozoa and rate of activation of genome inactivated eggs with the use of dispermy have been studied.

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Physiological changes in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Plantsinoculated with Sclerotium rolfsii andTrichoderma species[ ]


Groundnut contributes immensely to food security, income generation and maintenance of the environment for millions of small-scale farmers in India. Stem rot of groundnut caused by Sclerotium rolfsii is a Stem rot of groundnut caused by Sclerotium rolfsii is found throughout groundnut producing areas of the world and causes the severe damage during any stage of the crop growth with greatest yield losses up to 80% in severe conditions. In this study, the effect of Trichoderma species on resistance induction in groundnut plants was studied in vivo in pot culture experiments by maintaining three treatments i.e., Tt1- plants treated with neither pathogen nor antagonist, Tt2- plants inoculated with S. rolfsii only and Tt3- Plants inoculated with S. rolfsii + Trichoderma. Results obtained showed that Trichoderma species have significantly reduced the disease incidence and induced the growth of the plant.

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Optimization of Reaction Parameters for Production of p-tert-butylbenzoic acid[ ]


Para-tertiary-butylbenzoic acid is produced by oxidizing p-tert-butyltoluene with air. P-tert-butylbenzoic acid is a colourless crystal and an important organic intermediate. It is mainly used for the preparation of fine chemicals, cosmetics, resin additives, nucleating agent, anticorrosive additive, polyethylene stabilization addi-tive. In the present work, p-tert-butylbenzoic acid is produced by oxidizing p-tert-butyltoluene with air and with acetic acid as solvent, cobalt acetate as catalyst and sodium bromide as catalyst initiator in an autoclave. Ther-mochemistry calculations reveal that the oxidation reaction of p-tert-butyltoluene is feasible and is exothermic in nature. Equilibrium constant of the reaction indicate that the reaction is irreversible. The optimization of the reaction parameters such as reaction time, temperature, catalyst loading, and solvent quantity has been carried out in an autoclave and the reaction mixture analyzed using gas chromatograph. The results indicated the con-version is increased with increase in weight ratio of reactant to solvent, catalyst concentration and temperature. The reaction kinetics showed that the reaction follows pseudo first order reaction. The activation energy for the reaction is 24463.94 J/mol. The optimum conditions for the oxidation reaction are 130oC, 1:3 weight ratio and 5% of catalyst with respect to reactant weight.

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Synthesis, Characterization, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of 2,5-Dihydroxy-benzaldehydethiosemicarbazone and their Cu(II) and Pd(II) Complexes[ ]


Complexes of Copper(II) and Palladium(II) with general composition of M(L)2Cl2, have been synthesized with the ligand containing 2,5-dihydroxybenzaldehydethiosemicarbazone (L). The ligand characterized by HRMS, NMR and FT-IR & Raman studies. All the complexes were subjected to characterization by elemental analyses, IR & Raman, electronic and EPR spectral studies. The FT-IR spectral data of ligand indicate the coordination of sulphur and azomethine nitrogen with the central metal ion. The electronic, FT-IR and EPR studies reveal on elongated tetragonal geometry for cu(II) and square planar geometry for Pd(II) complexes. The synthesized ligand and its Cu(II) and Pd(II) complexes were evaluated for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activity.

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Cloning of Arabidopsis thaliana phloem proteins Atpp-1 and Atpp-2[ ]


Phloem proteins that contribute to the both exogenous and endogenous signaling molecules. Role of phloem in viral particle trafficking of the plant viruses, having RNA as the genetic material. Phloem proteins having RNA binding domains. Studied from the pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima, having16 K.Da protein CmPP16 (Cucurbita maxima phloem protein 16). Exists in two types as CmPP16-1 and CmPP16-2 CMV moves long distance exclusively through phloem Potential. Involvement of a Cucumber Homolog of Phloem Protein 1 in the Long-Distance Movement CMV particle. Elucidated the role of phloem protein involved in viral transmission through Aphids. AtPP16-1(471 bp) and AtPP 16-2(444 bp) Cloning of Arabidopsis thaliana phloem protein (Atpp16-1 and Atpp16-2) into two versions, viz. N-His and C-His- tag. Standardization of over expression at different temperature for Atpp16-1 and Atpp16-2 gene.PCR amplification of N-His and C-His tag versions of Atpp16-1 and Atpp16-2. PCR amplified products of AtPP16-1 and16-2 were cloned into pTZ57R/T Cloning vector. Screening of plasmid through Blue-white selection, Plasmids isolated from white colonies Attp16-1 and Atpp16-2.Restriction digestion analysis of Positives plasmid and Conformation of pET AtPP16-1 and AtPp16-2 clones by PCR and Restriction digestion confirmation PCR confirmation of pET 28a clone of AtPP16-1 and AtPp16-2. Gene specific primers amplified the wild type clones into two versions like AtPP16-1N, 16-1C and AtPP16-2N, 16-2C.Cloning and sub cloning are successful. Phloem proteins are expressing under various temperatures, solubulizations need to be standardized. Most of the proteins are coming in inclusion bodies except one clone (16-1C).At room temperature is also phloem proteins are stable.

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Antioxidant Role of Clitoria ternatea extract against Aluminum-induced Oxidative Stress in Hippocampus of albino Rats[ ]


The present investigation aims to know the exact mechanism of Clitoria ternatea (CT) extract as protective and therapeutic agent against neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease induced by Aluminum maltolate (AlM) in the hippocampus of albino rats. Animals were divided into four groups, six for each, control, AlM treated group, CT administered group and AlM plus CT treated group for one month. After experimental period, the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in hippocampus were assayed. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBA-RS) levels were measured as a marker of lipid peroxidation. The results demonstrated that AlM could induce TBA-RS levels and decrease SOD, CAT and GPx activities in hippocampus. However, treatment with C. ternatea significantly attenuated the lipid peroxidation process and restored the levels of antioxidant enzymes. These findings strongly implicate that CT has potential to protect hippocampus from oxidative damage resulting from AlM toxicity.

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Tissue Engineering Application of Air Dried 3D – Collagen - Chitosan Bio – Composite Scaffolds[ ]


Composite scaffolds of collagen–chitosan with different ratios were successfully prepared using emulsion air drying method. As collagen without any additive (e.g. cross linkers) has low tensile strength, 10–30 wt% of chitosan addition improved the mechanical properties of the composite scaffold but collagen–chitosan at 7:3 ratio was found to be a better composite having 13.57MPa ultimate strength with 9% elongation at break. The water uptake characteristics were performed at different pH and found to be ameliorated for the composite scaffolds compared with pure collagen and chitosan scaffold, respectively. The pores ranging from 100-300µm were well interconnected and their distribution was fairly homogeneous in the scaffold as observed in the scanning electron microscopic images. Furthermore, this collagen– chitosan composite scaffold decreased the bacterial counts and supported fibroblasts attachment and proliferation which demonstrate this composite to be a good substrate for biomedical application.

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IDENTIFICATION OF AN ALKALOID MOMORDICIN FROM FRUITS OF MOMORDICA CHARANTIA L.[ ]


Momordica charantia commonly known as Bittergourd belongs to Cucurbitaceae family, widely used in treatment of different diseases. The fruits of Momordica charantia were extracted with methanol, ethanol, hexane and water.The present investigation was aimed at to study the presence of phytochemicals in fruits extracts of Momordica charantia. Phytochemical screening shows the presence of terpenoids,flavonoids,proteins,saponins,alkaloids,and carbohydrates. The structure of the active compound was determined by interpretation of the spectral data (FTIR and LC- MS) and its structure was elucidated as13-hydroxy-28-methoxy-urs-11-en-3-one which is known as momordicin.

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Microbial Keratinases and their Applications[ ]


Bioremediation of feather is an issue requiring serious attention with burgeoning global poultry production which is dumping this byproduct continuously. In spite of being highly rich in protein content, this by-product is neither profitable nor environmentally friendly due to its extremely slow degradation in nature. A value added use of feather is its conversion to feather meal. Traditional methods of feather meal production using physical and chemical treatments result in destruction of essential amino acids thereby affecting both protein quality as well as digestibility. Keratinases have the ability to degrade the tough insoluble keratin of feather and produce nutritious, cost effective, environmentally benign feather meal for poultry. Due to its robust nature, keratinase enzyme is also gaining prominence as feed supplement, organic fertilizer, Degradation of prion proteins, Production of films, coatings and glues and other applications.

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Identification of Novel Inhibitors for Inositol Mono-phosphatase of Staphylococcus aureus through Virtual Screening[ ]


Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive bacterium which causes pneumonia, endocarditis, osteomyelitis and meningitis in humans. The growing incidence of bacterial drug resistance of S. aureus enforced a new look on existing antimicrobial drugs lead to the development of new drug targets. In view of this genome sequence of S. aureus was retrieved from the NCBI to perform sRNA predict. Fifty three sRNA candidates were predicted, among fifteen were identified as enzymes. Among these fifteen enzymes, inositol monophosphatase is essential for the survival of S. aureus and non-homologous to the host causes host immunosuppression and disturbs cellular osmoregulation hence was selected as a drug target. The co-crystal structure of inositol monophosphatase (4G60) was retrieved from the PDB. Protein preparation and optimization of the crystal structure was performed and a grid of 10 × 10 × 10 Ã… was generated around 4 Ã… of the co-crystal ligand by using Schrödinger. Through literature search seven published inhibitors were selected and shape screened against ASINEX 3D ligand database using PHASE module. The obtained shape screened structural analogs and published inhibitors were subjected to molecular docking with 4G60 by Glide virtual screening workflow, which includes high throughput virtual screening (HTVS), standard precision (SP) and extra precision (XP) docking methods. Eighteen leads were obtained and all the eighteen leads showed better binding affinity than the published inhibitor molecules and ranked based on prime MM-GBSA scores. Among which Lead 1 (2-[4,6-Bis-(bis-ethoxycarbonyl-nitro-methyl)-[1,3,5]triazin-2-yl]-2-nitro-maloni) has showed good pharmacological properties, similar binding orientation with that of the co-crystal ligand, better binding affinitiy, van der Waals interactions and least ?G score of -54.86 kcal/mol. Inhibition of inositol monophosphatase using lead 1 would enable the pathogen to expose to host immune system, cellular osmoregulation and suppresses the disease progression of Staphylococcus aureus.

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BIODIVERSITY OF GRAM POSITIVE BACTERIA IN MARINE WATER BODIES AND THEIR SEASONAL VARIATION[ ]


The marine realm is one of the major habitats of the biosphere and covers around 70% of the earth’s surface. The knowledge of the oceanic biodiversity, as a whole is limited, in spite of the advances in sampling techniques and use of insitu methods to study natural communities. The biodiversity of the Indian subcontinent is one of the richest in the world owing to its vast geographic area, varied topography and climate. There is significant variation in the spatial and temporal distribution of microbial diversity. A complete knowledge on the diversity physiology of the marine microflora is essential to enable optimum explotation of the marine environment. The diversity of gram positive bacteria was studied in the coastal environment of Andhra Pradesh. The microbial counts of gram positive organisms was high though the diversity in terms of the generae isolated was low.Among the gram positive bacilli, Bacillus and Lactobacillus sp. were predominant forms whereas Micrococcus and Planococcus were predominant among cocci. There was a two-three fold quantitative variation in the microbial counts with higher in winter as compared to summer

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Enhancing the Ability Of Keratinase By Using Immobilised Enzymes[ ]


Keratinases are a group of proteolytic enzymes that display the capability of degrading insoluble keratin substrates such as feather resulting as poultry waste. Entrapment of crude/purified enzyme within a matrix is a common method for immobilization. An immobilized enzyme provides increased resistance to changes in conditions such as pH or temperature. It also allows enzymes to be held in place throughout the reaction, following which they are easily separated from the products and may be used again. As this is an efficient process it is widely used to increase the efficiency and recycling for enzyme catalysed reactions thereby reducing expenses in industry making the process convenient, and economical. As biodegradation of feather deals with a waste of bulk with low profit margin, immobilization can be used as a strategy to enhance the efficiency of feather degradation. Our earlier studies resulted in isolation of few strains of bacteria with good keratinolytic potential. The crude enzyme of MBF 20 and MBF 45 isolates were extracted from feather-grown medium by simple-buffer contact method and purified by ammonium- sulphate precipitation. The partially purified enzyme from both the isolates was immobilized using carrageenan as a matrix. Immobilized enzyme in ?-Carrageenan beads showed higher stability of the enzyme when compared to other substrates from the earlier studies. Complete degradation was achieved in 4 days with immobilized partial purified keratinase as compared to free cells which took 5-6 days. Beads could be recycled for 3 batches achieving complete degradation of feather making the process economical.

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Identification of Novel Inhibitor Molecules for Choloylglycine Hydrolase of Enterococcus faecalis[ ]


These Enterococcus faecalis is a Gram-positive, coccus bacterium which majorly causesnosocomial infections, abdominal infections, wound infections and endocarditis.E.faecalisdepicts multi drug resistance to antibiotics such aspenicillin, ampicillin, vancomycin, gentamycin, streptomycin anddaptomycine. The drug resistance of pathogen to the existing drug molecules necessitates the implementation of alternative strategy through in silico techniques. sRNAs are non-coding,small RNAs that regulate the metabolic function in the bacteria. Eight sRNA candidates were predicted inE.faecalisusingsRNAPredict. Choloylglycine hydrolase of linear amide C-N hydrolases cleaves the carbon-nitrogen bonds other than peptide bonds in linear amides.Its critical role in various biological activities such as emulsification, absorption of lipids and glycocholate metabolism leads to growth, multiplication of the pathogens and non-homologous to humans hence, it was selected as putative drug target forE.faecalis.Homology model for choloylglycine hydrolasewas generated using Modeller 9v13 and validated through Ramachandran plot, ProQ and ProSA. Five existing inhibitors were taken for shape based similarity screening against Asinex database using Phase v3.2 and resulted hits were taken for docking (HTVS, SP and XP) through Maestro v9.6. Further, to validate the docking interactions binding free energy (?G) were calculated for each dockedcomplexes. Comparing the leads to the existing inhibitors revealed 15 leads have better binding affinity and molecular interactions. Among that, lead1 has the lowest?G of -88.90 kcal/mol and found to obey the ADMET properties. Thus the lead1 predicted in the present study is adequate to block the biological activity of choloylglycine hydrolaseand in turn decreases the emulsification, absorption of lipids and multiplicationof E.faecalis.

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Evaluation of Classifiers Performance using Resampling on Breast cancer Data[ ]


Data Mining refers to extracting or mining knowledge from large amount of data. One of the data mining techniques i.e., classification is an interesting topic to the researchers as it accurately and efficiently classifies the data for knowledge discovery. Classification is used in every field of real life. The datasets contain many irrelevant and redundant features that mislead the classifiers. Furthermore, many huge datasets have imbalanced class distribution which leads to bias over majority class in the classification process. Preprocessing techniques are helpful to handle these problems. To balance the data either Under-sampling i.e., reduces the set of examples of majority class or Over-sampling i.e., replicates minority class examples, can be used. In this paper, experiments are conducted on popular and frequently used classifiers on breast cancer datasets without-resampling and with resampling. Breast cancer datasets are considered because the breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women. Finally, the results are analyzed and the best classifier for each dataset is identified.

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PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ALTERATIONS IN GLYCINE MAX.L PLANTS UNDER CONTINUOUS STRESS CONDITIONS[ ]


The present study was aimed at evaluating the effects of progressive and continuous abiotic stress conditions on four varieties of Glycine max. L. In order to emphasize the main effects of different continuous stress conditions on physiological and biochemical changes in Glycine max. L, pot experiments were carried out. After germination, seedlings were well watered until two complete weeks, then the plants were subjected to one week of heavy metal treatment (50µM) followed by one week of salinity treatment (150mM) and finally left for drought treatment for a week. Several parameters known as indicators of plant status were monitored which include plant shoot length, root length, protein, chlorophyll, soluble carbohydrates, ascorbic acid, proline and glycine betaine levels. However significant changes were observed in physiological parameters and decrease in total chlorophyll, protein and starch. Apart from that, there was a significant increase in sugars, proline and glycine betaine levels as a consequence of stress induced to plants. This fact reveals the inefficient osmotic adjustment as a consequence of continuous stress applied to the plants.

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Prediction of Novel Inhibitors against Exodeoxyribonuclease ? of H. influenzae through In Silico Approach[ ]


These Haemophilus influenzae is a Gram-negative bacterium which causes pneumonia in humans. Due to its multidrug resistance to penicillin, rifampin and polymyxin and adverse effects of existing treatments, the condition became an open challenge for many researchers to discover novel antagonists for the treatment of pneumonia caused by H. influenzae. 5 potential sRNA candidates were identified in H. influenzae using sRNA predict tool, among them3 were enzymes and 2 were non-enzymes. Among the three identified enzymes ex-odeoxyribonuclease ? of H. influenzae was non-homologous to humans was selected as novel drug target in the present study. Exodeoxyribonuclease ? is an enzyme involved in the mismatch repair mechanism of H. influenzae. The 3D structure of the exodeoxyribonuclease ? was modeled based on the crystal structure of 4JRP using Modeler 9v13 and built model was validated using PROCHECK analysis, ProQ and ProSA. The existing eight inhibitors of exodeoxyribonuclease ? were searched in 3D ligand database through shape screening against ASINEX database using Phasev3.2 module and structural analogs were docked with exodeoxyri-bonuclease ? in Maestro v9.6 virtual screening workflow, that implements three stage Glide docking protocol. The docking results revealed that 11 leads were having better docking and ?G scores when compared with the eight existing inhibitors among them lead 1 was having ?G score of -68.78 kcal/mol. The major significance of the study revealed that lead 1 can obstruct the function of exodeoxyribonuclease ? by blocking the replication mechanism in H. influenzae which stops the endurance of the bacterial growth. Hence, lead 1 was proposed as therapeutic antagonist in the treatment of pneumonia caused by pathogenesis of H. influenzae.

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Effect of Cobalt Chloride on Lipid Profiles in the Mid Gut of Silkworm Bombyx mori L.[ ]


The administration of cobalt chloride on the lipid profiles was investigated in the mid gut of the control and cobalt chloride treated fifth in-star larvae of silkworm, Bombyx mori L. The increase in the total lipids, phospholipids, free fatty acids, triglycerides and glycerol may be due to enhanced biosynthetic activity of mid gut. The decrease in the lipase activity in mid gut indicates the decreased lipolytic activity. The enhanced lipid profiles of the mid gut

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Invitro anti oxidant and anti inflammatory potential of marine actinomycetes[ ]


Marine Actinomycetes are considered as the potent source for the production of pharmaceutically important secondary metabolites. The enormous bio chemical diversity of marine micro organisms renders as potential producers of bio active compounds. In the present work 15 strains of Actinomycetes were isolated from marine sediments collected from kottakodduru of Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh. Out of these 15 strains, the strain (KN8) showed potential activity and was used for the present study. Ethyl acetate extractions of Marine Actinomycetes derived from marine sediments were tested to investigate the level of anti oxidant potential by DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity and also for invitro Anti inflammatory activity by Red blood cells membrane stabilization. The results obtained suggest that the KN8 possess anti oxidant and anti-inflammatory metabolites and could be considered as a potential source for anti cancer drug development.

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Polyherbal drug of Cumin seeds: A future remedy for Diabetes mellitus?[ ]


In the present investigation an attempt is made to study the hypoglycemic effect of different combinations of cumin seeds in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetes rats. Cumin is the second most traded herb in the world. Cumin seeds are an excellent source of dietary fibre and contain many beneficial phyto-chemicals. The oral feeding of cumin extract in diabetic rats at a dosage of 250mg/kg body weight exhibited a significant reduction in fasting blood glucose level. Body weights were reduced in STZ- induced rats compared to control and only cumin extrac rats. In histology studies pancreatic cells were destroyed in diabetic treated rats, the rats fed with Cumin extract has regenerative effect on pancreatic tissue compared with control rats. In spleen, the changes caused after induction of diabetes was severe hyperemia in red pulp and sinusoids. The red pulp appeared control, which was brought back to normal after feeding with Cumin extract. While in kidney sections Diabetic rats showed degenerated glomeruli infiltrated by the inflammatory cells. Rats fed with Cumin seeds powder extracts showed features of healing i.e. normal glomeruli, absence of in-flammatory cells. These results demonstrate that the combinational Cumin extract possesses a potent hypoglycemic effect in STZ- induced diabetic rats, thus supporting its traditional use in diabetes mellitus control.

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Quantitative Estimation of Some Metabolites in Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels. Affected With Cassytha filiformis L.[ ]


The seasonal variation of nitrogen and total lipids content has been investigated S.cumini leaves affected with Cassytha filiformis. Syzygium cumini are the medicinally important plant, comparative account of nitrogen content of healthy leaves showed high level (range mg/g dry wt) than affected leaves (range mg/g dry/wt.). The healthy leaves are of showed high level of lipids content (range mg/g/dry wt.) than affected leaves.

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Influence of Basic Education and Income on Nutritional Status of Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis: A 6 Month’s follow-up study[ ]


The majority of patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) have only limited knowledge of their condition. Various studies of the benefits of patient education programs have shown that educated patients have a reduced incidence of emergency dialysis compared with uneducated patients. The risk of end stage renal disease (ESRD) is increased among individuals with low income and in low income communities. Low socioeconomic status has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of end-stage renal disease on dialysis and mortality. This study was performed on 277 patients undergoing hemodialysis at 2 dialysis centers in Nellore (Andhra Pradesh). Data was collected on educational qualification and income through interview method and compared with Subjective Global Assessment. At baseline SGA scores 4.6% illiterateswere under well nourished, 54% were in mild to moderate nourishment and 41.2% were in severe malnutrition. After 6 months SGA scores 6.9% were under well nourished, 58.8% were in mild to moderate nourishment and 34.4% were under severe malnourishment. Under the category of degree +Pgat baseline SGA scores 4.3% were under well nourished, 58.6% were mild to moderate nourishment and 36.9% were severe malnutrition. After 6 months SGA scores 13% were under well nourished, 50% were under mild to moderate nourishment, 36.9% were under severe malnutrition. There is significant association in pre and post SGA scores based on income. Neither basic education nor acquired education (knowledge about the disease) did not show any influence on the nutritional status. However income of the family has shown a favorable effect on nutritional status.

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Conotoxin Mr1.1, a Potential Peptide Analgesic[ ]


Peptide therapeutics are becoming a promising addition to the pharmaceutical arena. The huge biodiversity offered by Conus venom peptides, isolated from predatory marine snails, hold enormous promise for development of future peptide-based drugs. Prialt, a synthetic version of the ?-MVIIAconotoxin, was the first conotoxin to gain FDA approval in 2004 for treatment of chronic pain. Its introduction onto the market not only demonstrated the therapeutic potential of conotoxins but also stimulated more interest from biotechnology companies into conotoxin research.

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Novel Compounds From Marine Bacteria Of Ap And Tamilnadu Coastal Regions – A Review[ ]


Marine bacteria are promising candidates for production of a wide range of unique substances due to the specific environment they survive in. Hence an extensive study has been made to explore the medical and environmental importance of these bacteria isolated from from different coastal regions . In the present study, two marine microorganisms namely Bacillus licheniformis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been proved to produce new antibiotics at 300C and pH 7 with optimum yield at NaCl 3%, peptone 1% and 2% lactose concentration. Further, an unidentified bacterial isolate from Puducherry seacoast is a potent agent of anticancer enzyme L-Glutaminase (1160 units) at Ph 8 and 400C . Bacillus amyloliquefaciens isolated from Nellore coastal region and another marine bacteria cultured from Chirala coast showed positive reaction for biodegradable plastic, polyhydroxy butyrate.

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Discovery of Potent Inhibitors against GTP Pyrophosphokinase of Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup B[ ]


Neisseria meningitidis (N. meningitidis) is a non-motile, Gram-negative bacterium. N. meningitidis is often referred as meningococci and causes cerebrospinal fever and bacterial meningitis. Although antibiotics such as penicillin, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, rifampin and polymixin were used to treat bacterial meningitis, but N. meningitidis exhibits multi drug resistance. Therefore, designing novel inhibitors against N. meningitidis would be useful for developing therapies directed towards management of cerebrospinal fever and bacterial meningitis. Genome sequence of N. meningitidis was explored using sRNAPredict tool to identify 249 sRNA candidates of which 68 were enzymes and rests were non enzymes. The enzyme GTP pyrophosphokinase plays a pivotal role in the growth and metabolisms of the pathogen and non-homologous to Homo sapiens, so it was selected as a potential drug target against N. meningitidis. Homology model was built to GTP pyrophosphokinase using Modeller 9v13. Model with lowest DOPE score was selected and validated using PROCHECK, ProSA and ProQ. Published inhibitors such as alpha beta ethylene-ATP, microccin, tetracycline, thiostrepton and viomycin were selected for shape based similarity screening against ASINEX database to generate an in-house library. Docking studies were accomplished using Glide v6.2 for in-house library with GTP pyrophosphokinase which revealed 39 potential leads. Binding free energies (?G score) of resulted leads and existing inhibitors were compared to propose five compounds as potent inhibitor of GTP pyrophosphokinase. Lead1 showed lowest ?G score of -63.65 kcal/mol with strong hydrogen bonding network and with good van der Waals interactions. Five best leads are observed to obey the pharmacological properties at par with 95% of the existing drug molecule. Thus, the lead1 can freezes the functional activity of GTP pyrophosphokinase in the purine metabolism necessary for the replication and DNA repair, to halt proliferation of the of N. meningitidis.

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Impact of prolactin on the feed conversion effi-ciency of the silkworm, Bombyx mori L.[ ]


The effect of prolactin on the feed conversion efficiency has been investigated in control and prolactin treated fifth instar larvae of silk-worm, Bombyx mori L. The ingestion, digestion, ingestibility and digestibility gradually increased over the control from the first day to the seventh day of the fifth instar silkworm larvae. The increase could be attributed to enhanced metabolic activities, production of digestive enzymes and in turn resulting in enhanced larval growth, early pupation and synthesis of silk

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Control of Biofouling In Marine Environment – Past, Present And Future[ ]


Biofouling is a worldwide phenomenon plaguing mariners and accounting for economic burden on shipping, aquaculture and various other maritime industries. The fouling organisms cause extensive damage to commercially important marine structures causing increased drag of marine surface and submarine vessels incurring increased fuel penalties. . Antifouling is the phenomenon of preventing biofouling. Conventionally the principal protective method against fouling has been the use of antifouling paints. Environmental concerns of high toxicity against non- specific targets including marine flora and fauna have resulted in imposition of worldwide ban on the use of most chemical antifouling formulation including TBT in 2006. Currently, other available approaches are far from ideal and consequently they do not provide a complete or long term answer to this expensive problem. Consequently exploration for alternatives coating has been intensified to bridge the gap. Great deal of attention is being currently focused on identification of nontoxic, environmentally friendly, Natural Product Antifouling agents (NPA).

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Phytochemical Screening And Ftir Analysis Of Clitoria Ternatea Leaves[ ]


Medicinal plants have served as a constant source of medicaments, which have a great efficacy and demand for the treatment of various diseases. One of the plants, that deserve attention is Clitoria ternatea because of its multipotent bioactive compounds. All parts of Clitoria ternatea roots, leaves and flowers have medicinal properties, leaves are used for hepatoprotective, cytotoxic, antifungal, antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, antimicrobial, antioxidant activity, etc. The present study was designed to investigate the preliminary phytochemical screening and FTIR analyses for the qualitative identification of bioactive compounds in Clitoria ternatea leaves extract. The phytochemical analyses showed presence of proteins, carbohydrates, glycosides, resins, alkaloids, steroids, tannins, and phenols. The FTIR spectra analyses confirmed the presence of different functional groups with a peak value of Phenols at 3389.57, Alkanes at 2925.41 and 2856.66, Primary amines at 1632.33, Aromatic amines at 1409.06, Carboxylic acids at 1057.61, Alkenes at 926.50, Primary and Secondary Amines at 869. The presence of these photochemical of leaf extract revealed its medicinal values, Hence C. ternatea leaf methanolic extract was concluded to be most effective and essential to discover bioactive natural products that may serve in the development of new pharmaceuticals for natural plant-based medicine.

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Rhizosphere: An Innovative Approach for Remediation of Contaminants[ ]


The vast amount of organic carbon secreted by plant roots forms, sustains and drives the rhizosphereic zone, a variety of microbial populations colonizing niches from plant’s interior and into the bulk soil, responding to the plant, interacting with each other and impacting upon their environment. Within this continuum, the rhizosphere forms a transition zone between the bulk soil and the plant root surface. Plant roots exert strong effects on the rhizosphere through ‘rhizodeposition’ (root exudation, production of mucilages and release of shoughed-off root cells) and by providing suitable ecological niches for microbial growth (Bais et al.2006). Bacteria residing in the rhizosphere most likely originate from the surrounding bulk soil and will thrive under conditions prevailing in the neighbourhood of plant roots. It must therefore be assumed that bacterial communities in the rhizosphere form a subset of the total bacterial community present in bulk soils. Important parameters, like the quantity and the quality of available carbon compounds originating from plants, as well as novel sites for microbial attachment discriminate rhizosphere from bulk soil (Curl and Truelove 1986). Other parameters, intrinsic to the plant’s physiology, genetic make-up, life history and ecology, and the soil itself, certainly have major influences on the structure of rhizomicrobial communities, impacting on their spatial, temporal and functional components. It is a narrow zone of soil affected by the presence of plant roots which is defined as rhizosphere. The rhizosphere is known to be a hot spot of microbial activities. This is caused by an increased nutrient supply for microorganisms, since roots release a multitude of organic compounds (e.g., exudates and mucilage) derived from photosynthesis and other plant processes (Brimecombe et al. 2007).The root system of higher plants is associated with a vast community of metabolically active microorganisms alongwith that of soil environment composed of inorganic and organic matter. The living plants create a unique habitat around the roots and the microbial population on and around the roots is found to the considerably higher than that of root free soil environment. It is the zone/region of soil immediately surrounding the plant roots together with root surfaces, or it is the region where soil and plant roots make contact, or it is the soil region subjected to influence of plant roots and characterized by increased microbial. The rhizosphere region is a highly favourable habitat for the proliferation, activity and metabolism of numerous microorganisms.

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Characterization of Arsenic-Resistant Bacteria and their ars Genotype for Metal Bioremediation[ ]


The estuarine and coastal waters of Goa situated on the West coast of India, are known to be highly contaminated with arsenic. The rivers Mandovi and Zuari flowing through the iron and manganese mining areas are daily used for the transportation of over 300 barges of iron-ore to the harbour. However, studies related to the identification of ars genotype in arsenic-resistant bacteria inhabiting these estuarine waters are not available. This has prompted us to isolate diverse arsenic-resistant bacteria from the Mandovi and Zuari estuarine systems and characterize the ars genotype among the isolates. Additionally, we report the cloning of arsenic detoxification genes (arsB and arsC) from the arsenic-resistant isolates. These genes, in particular arsC gene could be successfully utilized in designing potential arsenic remediation strategies.

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Compatability Studies with fungicides, insecticides and their combinations on Trichoderma viridae in invitro conditions[ ]


Invitro (lab) experiments were conducted to check the compatibility of two insecticides, three fungicides and their combinations on Trichoderma Viridae. It shows variable responses against the tested pesticides (fungicides and insecticides) and their combinations at recommended concentrations for field studies. The treatments of Mancozeb (3000 ppm), Imidacloprid (2000 ppm) and combination of Mancozeb (3000 ppm) + Imidacloprid (2000 ppm) showed high compatibility with Trichoderma Viridae by showing 7, 11 and 11 percent growth inhibition respectively. The treatments viz. Carbendazim (1000 ppm) + Chlorpyriphos (6000 ppm), Tebuconazole (1000 ppm) + Imidacloprid (2000 ppm) and Tebuconazole (1000 ppm) + Chlorpyriphos (6000 ppm) showed high incompatability with 100 percent growth inhibition. While moderate compatibility were recorded in the treatments of Chlorpyriphos (6000 ppm) with 68 percent, Tebuconazole (1000 ppm) with 60 percent, Carbendazim (1000 ppm) + Imidacloprid (2000 ppm) with 57 percent, Mancozeb (3000 ppm) + Chlorpyriphos (6000 ppm) with 55 percent, carbendazim (1000 ppm) alone with 55 percent growth inhibition respectively.

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DEVELOPMENT OF SHELF STABLE INTERMEDIATE MOISTURE CAULIFLOWER BRASSICA OLERACEA, VAR, BOTRYTIS CABBAGE BRASSICA OLERACEA, VAR, CAPITATA USING RADIATION AS HURDLE TECHNOLOGY[ ]


Processing conditions were established for developing shelf stable ‘intermediate moisture (IM) cabbage and cauliflower. The new protocols were based on the hurdle technology (HT) - a mild heat treatment, addition of 1% Potassium meta bi sulphite as antimicrobial agent, partial dehydration to lower water activity (aw ) using two methods - Infrared drying (IR) / Tray drying (TD). The IM vegetables prepared were packed in 400 gauge polyethylene covers and treated with low doses of gamma radiation as major hurdle technology and observed for shelf life stability at ambient conditions (30oC and 65% RH). The physical, chemical and pathological stability was monitored during storage. Infra red dried (IR) vegetables treated with gamma radiation at 0.75-1.0 kGy yielded a product with improved rehydration potential, appearance and maximum nutrient retention up to 43.1%-44.6 % of vitamin C with maximum shelf life of 5 to 7 months. No significant changes were noticed in scores for colour, taste, flavor, texture and overall acceptability during storage period. The product was microbiologically safe throughout the study.Among the four treatments studied, infrared dried with radiation dose of 0.75 kGy and1.0 kGy was found to be best in obtaining high quality IM products with optimum sensory, microbial nutritional quality and storability.

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Nitrogen Metabolism of Groundnut (Arachis hy-pogeae L.)Plants Inoculated with Sclerotium rolfsii[ ]


Sclerotium rolfsii is a ubiquitous soil-borne fungal pathogen known to cause disease on worldwide range of agricultural and horticultural crops. In spite of economic loss caused by this pathogen, very few reports were available on this aspect; hence the present study was under taken to study the nitrogen metabolism in Sclerotium rolfsii inoculated groundnut plants. Inoculation of Sclerotium rolfsii to groundnut plants influenced the various nitrogen fractions (total, protein, soluble and amino nitrogen) at different stages of disease development. All the nitrogen fractions were increased with the progression of the disease development and age of the plant.

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EVALUATION OF DEGRADATIVE PRODUCTS OF FEATHER DEGRADATION BY BACILLUS SP. [ ]


Assay of products of degradation is important to evaluate the economic value of the possible by-products of the fermentation process as well as to get a suggestive idea for the mechanism of degradation. Four native keratinase producing isolates identified as Bacillus sps. and producing < 10KU/ml were subjected to strain improvement and optimization of parameters of fermentation to yield 500KU/ml. The four improved isolates (MBF11, MBF20, MBF21, MBF45) were analysed for degradative products of fermentation. The results clearly indicated a significant increase in the amounts sulfur containing amino acids with optimum levels observed on 5th to 6th days of fermentation. Maximum concentration cysteine was in the range of 12.5-14µg/ml whereas that of cystine reached 18.1-15.7 µg/ml for all the isolates. Maximum concentration of methionine reached 2.1-2.9 µg/ml. Quantity of inorganic sulphur is significantly lower than organic sulphur. Highest concentration, 3.1-3.7 µg/ml of free aminoacids was recorded for the four improved isolates. Sulfitolysis along with cleavage at other aminoacyl sites is the suggestive mechanism of degradation.

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Molecular approaches to the diagnosis of infectious diseases[ ]


Molecular diagnostics, a combination of laboratory medicine and molecular genetics, has come a long way in understanding the prognosis of disease and effect of therapy to cure it. It is also used to detect and quantify specific microorganisms causing disease. PCR is an important technique used to specifically amplify specific DNA and RNA in molecular diagnostics. Fluorescent in situ Hybridization, Micro array, Caplillary electrophoresis and multiple next generation sequencing help in amplifying and mapping out the target proteins and genes, expression of a large number of genes and in prognosis and targeted therapy. Molecular diagnostics also predicts a persons predisposition to different types of cancers. Nanotechnology would help molecular diagnostics to be made cheaper and available to general public in near future.

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