ANTIBACTERIAL POTENTIAL OF ESSENTIAL OILS DERIVED FROM NATURAL, CALLUS AND IN-VITRO PROPAGATED SOURCES OF MELALEUCA ALTERNIFOLIA AGAINST COMMON BACTERIAL PATHOGENS

Objective: Melaleuca alternifolia (M. alternifolia) and its essential oil (EO) fractions have been used widely and traditionally in the treatment of various infectious diseases and hence its antibacterial potential is investigated in the present study. Methods: The antibacterial activity was studied through the agar disc diffusion method and broth dilution method, DNA fragmentation studies and confocal microscopy morphological studies were done. In-silico molecular interaction was studied against microbial target using docking software. Results: The inhibitory concentration of the EOs was recorded at 75% dilution with larger inhibition zones. The DNA fragmentation analyzed in the essential oil derived from in-vitro propagated leaves (EOIPL) of M. alternifolia treated bacterial cultures was compared with negative and positive controls. In Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of EOIPL treated Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) showed time-dependent growth inhibition. The DNA content in the EOIPL treated bacterial cultures was comparatively less than in control cultures. The cell morphology changes of S. aureus cells were studied through confocal laser scanning microscopic analysis which showed a significant decrease in viable bacterial cells. The active component, terpinen-4-ol docked to autolysin receptor revealed stable interaction with the microbial target. Conclusion: Thus EOIPL was explored to possess bactericidal activity against common infectious bacteria and could in incorporated in therapeutic natural antibiotic formulations as with future studies

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF SWIRLING FLOW IN CYLINDER OF CI ENGINE BY GOVERNING AIR MOTION INTO CYLINDER USING BOTH FOSSIL AND RENEWABLE FUELS

Abstract: The depletion of fossil fuels and its emissions prompted the researches to conserve the fossil fuel and their controlled combustion. In this connection to achieve the said condition one of the operation parameters like in cylinder Air flow motion has considered. Hence, in the present work the experimental Analysis has been carried out to study the impact of in cylinder swirling flow using both fossil and renewable fuels. For this, the experiment is carried out on the four stroke single cylinder water cooled diesel engine using both diesel and biodiesel fuels with varied piston geometry. In this work an attempt is made using hemispherical piston bowl and flat piston without any change in clearance volume. The swirl motion is created by modifying the inlet manifold. The performance and emission characteristics obtained are presented in the results

Culm anatomy revealed association of vascular bundle number and silicon content with lodging behaviour in Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.)

893-898In dry lands, small millets such as kodo millet contribute to regional food security to some extent. It is normally harvested using paddy combine harvester due to labour scarcity. However, the current varieties are not amenable for mechanized harvesting as they lodge at grain filling and maturity stages, thus resulting in heavy grain loss in terms of quality and quantity. In this context, we studied the anatomical features of culm and elemental composition in relation to lodging behaviour in kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L.), which is one of the important yield limiting factors in this crop. The strong culm genotype, Adari had higher culm thickness, thicker mechanical tissue, more lignin deposition and more number of vascular bundles per cross section when compared to the weaker counterpart, Aamo10. However, not all the genotypes with thicker culm were lodging resistant. Sel21 which recorded the highest culm thickness (1283.4 μm) among the genotypes lodged heavily as higher culm thickness in Sel21 was not supported by an increased number of vascular bundles. Interestingly, TNPsc183 which had a moderate culm thickness of 782.82 μm exhibited a low degree of lodging and had more number of vascular bundles per cross section than Sel21. Hence, ‘number of vascular bundles per unit area’ appears to be an important trait in contributing lodging resistance in kodo millet. SEM-EDX studies for silicon and potassium contents in culm implicated the role of silicon, but not potassium in imparting culm strength in kodo millet. However, more potassium content in parenchymatous cell wall suggests its role in imparting strength to the non-lignified cells of the culm