Studies on the proteinaceous gel secretion from the skin of the catfish, Arius maculatus (Thunberg, 1792)

The Catfish Arius maculatus (Thunberg, 1792) causes injury to the fisherman while handling the fish and it was proven that the skin mucus of the fish have several properties including the toxicity. In the present study, the biochemical property of the catfish skin mucus was characterized and it was found that the protein content of the soluble and insoluble fractions were 9.34 and 12.64 ìg/g, respectively. The total lipid was 0.005 ìg/g and the total carbohydrate was 0.08 ìg/g. Of the total 17 amino acids recorded, cysteine availability was very low; 0.01 and 0.02 mole % in the soluble and insoluble fractions, respectively. Leucine was available in high quantity (9.8 mole %) in the soluble fraction and aspartic acid (9.0 mole %) was high in the insoluble fraction. On SDS-PAGE analysis, seven and six bands with a distinct band at 35 KDa in the soluble and insoluble fractions, respectively, were observed. On haemolytic activity, lysis was observed by 50 ìg/ml of insoluble fraction and 25 ìg/ml of soluble fraction. Both soluble and insoluble fractions showed maximum and minimum activities against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aueruginosa, respectively

Morphological, micro and macro nutrient analysis of the medicinal plant glory lily (Gloriosa superba L.)

In this study the three different treated tuber and seed samples of Glory lily were collected from farmer field's of Udayarpalayam and analyzed for the possible presence of colchicines using SEM technique. The results of SEM have shown that the presence of elements Ca and Fe are found only in Organic Manure Treatment. Also the quantitative estimation of EDX spectra observation confirms the percentage of Zn in Organic Manure Treatment (T3) was the highest among all the treatments. In conclusion from the results, Glory Lily may be considered as colchicines sources for the chemical constituents of medicine industry. Further it would be useful of producing high amount of colchicines for pest control based on natural products

FTIR spectroscoptc study and antifungal activity of the medicinal plant glory lily (Gloriosa superba)

In this present study, the presence of the phyto compound (i.e.) Colchicine and other chemical constituents present in three different treated tuber and seed samples of Glory Lily (Gloriosa superbd) was confirmed using FTIR. An attempt has been made to correlate the extinction coefficient (K) values of all the samples. And also the samples were extensively studied for their antifungal activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella phemoniae, and Salmonella typhi. The results indicated that the Organic Manure treated samples were highly active against the three fungi

Effect of Industrial Effluent on the Growth of Marine Diatom, Chaetoceros simplex (Ostenfeld, 1901)

The marine centric diatom,Chaetoceros simplex (Ostenfeld, 1901) was exposed to five different concentrations of industrial effluent for 96 hrs to investigate the effect on growth. The physico-chemical parameters viz. colour, odour, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH, alkalinity, hardness, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, inorganic phosphate, total phosphorous, reactive  silicate, calcium and magnesium were estimated in the effluent. The Ammonia  (326 μg. L-1), Nitrite (19.53 μg. L-1) and Nitrate (471.4 μg. L-1) were observed at higher levels. About 50% of the cell density of C. simplex reached a lesser dilutions of effluent viz. 1:625 and 1:1250 than the control. The highest cell density (14.3 × 104 cell ml-1) was recorded in 1:10000 diluted effluent followed by control and the lowest cell density was observed in 1:625 diluted effluents. From the results, it is evidenced that the lower volume of effluent discharge into higher volume of water could not affect the growth rate of phytoplankton. It is more important that to reduce the effect of pollution and environmental sustainability. @JASEMJ. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage. December, 2010, Vol. 14 (4) 35 - 3

Microbial load reduction using modified Solar Conduction Dryer with composite filters

[EN] The present work studies the microbial load reduction in sapota and beet root by three different drying methods i.e. Open Sun Drying (OSD), Solar Conduction Drying (SCD) and a modified SCD with filters (SCDF). Parameters analyzed were water activity, moisture content, drying kinetics, Total Viable Counts, Total Fungal Counts and ash content. It was found that the samples dried in SCDF showed least microbial counts, faster drying times and lower ash content as comparison to OSD. This study shows that SCD and its modification provide a better alternative for low cost drying of fruits and vegetables for quality retention.Jadhav, P.; Ashokkumar, S.; Nagwekar, N. (2018). Microbial load reduction using modified Solar Conduction Dryer with composite filters. En IDS 2018. 21st International Drying Symposium Proceedings. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1743-1750. https://doi.org/10.4995/IDS2018.2018.7728OCS1743175

Adaptive regulation of riboflavin transport in heart: effect of dietary riboflavin deficiency in cardiovascular pathogenesis

Deficiency or defective transport of riboflavin (RF) is known to cause neurological disorders, cataract, cardiovascular anomalies, and various cancers by altering the biochemical pathways. Mechanisms and regulation of RF uptake process is well characterized in the cells of intestine, liver, kidney, and brain origin, while very little is known in the heart. Hence, we aimed to understand the expression and regulation of RF transporters (rRFVT-1 and rRFVT-2) in cardiomyocytes during RF deficiency and also investigated the role of RF in ischemic cardiomyopathy and mitochondrial dysfunction in vivo. Riboflavin uptake assay revealed that RF transport in H9C2 is (1) significantly higher at pH 7.5, (2) independent of Na+ and (3) saturable with a Km of 3.746 µM. For in vivo studies, male Wistar rats (110–130 g) were provided riboflavin deficient food containing 0.3 ± 0.05 mg/kg riboflavin for 7 weeks, which resulted in over expression of both RFVTs in mRNA and protein level. RF deprivation resulted in the accumulation of cardiac biomarkers, histopathological abnormalities, and reduced mitochondrial membrane potential which evidenced the key role of RF in the development of cardiovascular pathogenesis. Besides, adaptive regulation of RF transporters upon RF deficiency signifies that RFVTs can be considered as an effective delivery system for drugs against cardiac diseases

3′-UTR SNP rs2229611 in G6PC1 affects mRNA stability, expression and Glycogen Storage Disease type-Ia risk

The frequency of rs2229611, previously reported in Chinese, Caucasians, Japanese and Hispanics, was investigated for the first time in Indian ethnicity. We analyzed its role in the progression of Glycogen Storage Disease type-Ia (GSD-Ia) and breast cancer. Genotype data on rs2229611 revealed that the risk of GSD-Ia was higher (P = 0.0195) with CC compared to TT/TC genotypes, whereas no such correlation was observed with breast cancer cases. We observed a strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) among rs2229611 and other disease causing G6PC1 variants (| D′| = 1, r2 = 1). Functional validation performed in HepG2 cells using luciferase constructs showed significant (P < 0.05) decrease in expression than wild-type 3′-UTR due to curtailed mRNA stability. Furthermore, AU-rich elements (AREs) mediated regulation of G6PC1 expression characterized using 3′-UTR deletion constructs showed a prominent decrease in mRNA stability. We then examined whether miRNAs are involved in controlling G6PC1 expression using pmirGLO-UTR constructs, with evidence of more distinct inhibition in the reporter function with rs2229611. These data suggests that rs2229611 is a crucial regulatory SNP which in homozygous state leads to a more aggressive disease phenotype in GSD-Ia patients. The implication of this result is significant in predicting disease onset, progression and response to disease modifying treatments in patients with GSD-Ia

Brown−Vialetto−Van Laere and Fazio−Londe syndromes: SLC52A3 mutations with puzzling phenotypes and inheritance

BACKGROUND: Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere Syndrome (BVVLS) and Fazio-Londe Disease (FLD) are rare neurological disorders presenting with pontobulbar palsy, muscle weakness, and respiratory insufficiency. Mutations in SLC52A2 (hRFVT-2) or SLC52A3 (hRFVT-3) genes can be responsible for these disorders with an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. The aim of this study is to screen for mutations in SLC52A2 and SLC52A3 among Indian families diagnosed with BVVLS and FLD. METHODS: SLC52A2 and SLC52A3 were screened in one FLD and three BVVLS patients by exon-specific amplification using PCR and sequencing. In silico predictions using bioinformatics tools and confocal imaging using HEK-293 cells were performed to determine the functional impact of identified mutations. RESULTS: Genetic analysis of a mother and son with BVVLS was identified with a novel homozygous mutation c.710C>T (p.Ala237Val) in SLC52A3. This variant was found to have autosomal pseudo-dominant pattern of inheritance, which was neither listed in the Exome variant server or in 1000 genomes database. In silico analysis and confocal imaging of the p.Ala237Val variant showed higher degree of disorderness in hRFVT3 that could affect riboflavin transport. Furthermore, a common homozygous mutation c.62A>G (p.Asn21Ser) was identified in other BVVLS and FLD patients. Despite having different clinical phenotypes, both BVVLS and FLD disorder can be attributed to this mutation. CONCLUSION: A rare and peculiar pattern of autosomal pseudo-dominant inheritance is observed for the first time in two genetically related BVVLS cases with Indian origin and a common mutation c.62A>G (p.Asn21Ser) in SLC52A3 can be responsible for both BVVLS and FLD with variable phenotypes