Range extension of a mantis Shrimp <em>Harpiosquilla harpax</em> (Family: Squillidae) in the Chilika Lagoon

18-24The present study describes the first live occurrence of a species of mantis shrimp i.e. Harpiosquilla harpax from the Chilika lagoon. It was a new record to Chilika after the opening of natural inlet due to super cyclone Phailin during October 2013 and range extension from Visakhapatnam coast.  However, concrete information regarding its population and spatio-temporal distribution is certainly not known. since it was caught as by catch. Food and feeding behaviour and morphological structure of the compound eye and ommatidia was also studied

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Sources and variability of petroleum hydrocarbon residues in sediments of Chilika Lagoon, East Coast of India

The spatio-temporal distribution and the controlling factors of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) in sediments of Chilika lagoon was investigated. Samples were collected during three seasons and quantified using UV-fluorescence spectroscopy. Concentrations of PHCs in surface sediments varies from 0.18 to 12.13 ppm (mean 3.71 ± 3.94 ppm). Compared to the lagoon, the monitoring stations adjacent to jetties with high boating activities tend to have higher PHC concentrations, suggesting that the contribution is likely to be from fossil fuel combustion and accidental seepage. The sediment organic matter (OM) of Chilika ranges from 0.26% to 6.23%. PHC maintains a positive correlation with OM (p < 0.05; f = 0.334), indicating the long term deposition of PHC as sediment OM. However, there is no significant relation between PHC and sediment texture, indicating its negligible control over PHC. The recorded PHC concentrations are below the threshold limit (70 ppm) as classified by United States (US) National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and also lower than those reported from similar ecosystems in India and overseas. Since the long term deposition and the bioaccumulation of PHC cannot be avoided, it is essential to monitor these parameters periodically

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Not AvailableSingle chain fragment variable (ScFv) antibodies specific to the nucleoprotein (NP) of avian influenza virus (AIV) were developed using a phage display system. The variable heavy (VH) and the variable light (VL) chain gene fragments were derived from spleen cells of Balb/c mouse immunized with a recombinant NP (rNP) antigen (∼63 kDa) of H5N1 influenza virus. The VH and the VL DNA fragments were assembled through a flexible linker DNA to generate ScFv DNA that was cloned subsequently in a phagemid to express ScFv protein in Escherichia coli cells. The specific reactivity of the ScFv with the rNP antigen and viral antigen (H5N1) was confirmed by Western blot and ELISA. A competitive inhibition ELISA (CI-ELISA) was developed using the rNP and the anti-NP ScFv for detection of type-specific antibodies to AIV in chicken sera. The ScFv based CI-ELISA was compared with hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test and agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test over 850 sera. Sensitivity of the CI-ELISA was 100% with HI and AGID and specificity was 98.7% with HI and 100% with AGID. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Not Availabl

Assessing wetland ecosystem services and poverty interlinkages: a general framework and case study

The wise use of wetlands is expected to contribute to ecological integrity, as well as to secure livelihoods, especially of communities dependent on their ecosystem services for sustenance. This paper provides a conceptual framework capable of examining the goals of wetland management, poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods. The framework highlights ecological character as a social construct and, with the notion of wetlands as settings for human well-being, builds a concept for assessing the inter-linkages between ecosystem services and livelihoods.The value and broader applicability of our framework is then tested by applying it to a case study from India (Lake Chilika) to evaluate the degree to which the mutual goals of improving both human well-being and the ecological character of wetlands have been achieved. The case study maps changes in human well-being induced in the basin communities due to external vulnerability contexts, institutions and freedoms. It further assesses the response strategies in terms of their impacts on ecological character and poverty status

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Not AvailableBacillus anthracis secretes three secretary proteins; lethal factor (LF), protective antigen (PA) and edema factor (EF). The LF has ability to check proliferation of mammary tumors, chiefly depending on mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Evaluation of therapeutic potential of recombinant LF (rLF), recombinant PA (rPA) and lethal toxin (rLF + rPA = LeTx) on the primary mammary ductal carcinoma cells revealed significant (p < 0.01) reduction in proliferation of tumor cells with mean inhibition indices of 28.0 ± 1.37% and 19.6 ± 1.47% respectively. However, treatment with rPA alone had no significant anti-proliferative effect as evident by low mean inhibition index of 3.4 ± 3.87%. The higher inhibition index observed for rLF alone as compared to LeTx is contrary to the existing knowledge on LF, which explains the requirement of PA dependent endocytosis for its enzymatic activity. Therefore, the plausible existence of PA independent mode of action of LF including direct receptor mediated endocytosis or modulation of signal transduction cascade via unknown means is hypothesized. In silico protein docking analysis of other cellular receptors for any plausibility to play the role of receptor for LF revealed c-Met receptor showing strongest affinity for LF (H bond = 19; Free energy = -773.96), followed by nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-1. The study summarizes the use of rLF or LeTx as therapeutic molecule against primary mammary ductal carcinoma cells and also the c-Met as potential alternative receptor for LF to mediate and modulate PA independent signal transduction.Not Availabl