Current Trends in Usage of Traditional System of Medicine in Tamilnadu, India - From the Perspective of Occupation

Socio-economic parameters have significant impact on consumer’s attitude towards the usage of traditional system of medicine in Tamilnadu, India. Though traditional systems of medicine have made significant contributions towards fulfilling healthcare needs of the people in the past, impacts of modern medicine have been so large that traditional medicine witnessed a dark period in India. While such practices are common in the rural/ remote areas, off late, change in the trend with respect to the usage of Siddha medicine as complementary alternative therapy among urban population has been observed. Present study aims to evaluate the resurgence of interest in Siddha medicine among the people working in different sectors (occupation) in Tamilnadu, India

RESEARCH AND REVIEWS: JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY Farewell, Chloramphenicol? Is this True?: A Review

ABSTRACT Chloramphenicol has remained as a potent broad spectrum antibiotic over decades and due to its side effects its usage has been limited. In an era of increasing resistance to many antibacterial agents, chloramphenicol might have a role in the treatment of intra abdominal infections and respiratory tract infections caused by multi drug-resistant pathogens. This review article focuses on the spectrum of activity of chloramphenicol, mechanism of action , side effects , its parentral and oral use, its resistance mechanisms, toxicity elucidated by enteric pathogens against it and also on the possibility of its therapeutic use in treatment of multi -drug resistant bacterial infections

Characterization, hemolysis and multidrug resistance among Aeromonas spp. isolated from Bhavani river, Erode, South India

A total of 87 strains of Aeromonas spp. were identified biochemically. The strains were isolated from 50 samples of water from Bhavani river Erode, Tamil Nadu, India. In the present study among 87 Aeromonas spp. the prevalence strain was identified as A.hydrophila (60.9%), while the other strains belonged to the species A. sobria (20.7%), A. caviae (11.5%) and A.salmonicida (6.9%). The virulence factors like hemolysin, lipase, and serine protease were present in 96%, 93% and 94% of the strains respectively. Antibiotic susceptibility of Aeromonas spp. was determined by disc diffusion method. All Aeromonas spp. were examined for resistance against 16 antibiotics. All strains showed 100% of resistance to Ampicillin,Carbenicillin and Cephalothin. The highest resistances encountered were 91.9% to streptomycin,90.8% to polymyxin-B, 85% to rifampicin while the rest were under 50%.In contrast all the strains were sensitive to cefotaxime.The present work highlights the important incidence of Aeromonas spp., with virulence potential and antimicrobial resistance, isolated from river bhavani

High Resolution Genotyping of Clinical Aspergillus flavus Isolates from India Using Microsatellites

Contains fulltext : 124312.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Worldwide, Aspergillus flavus is the second leading cause of allergic, invasive and colonizing fungal diseases in humans. However, it is the most common species causing fungal rhinosinusitis and eye infections in tropical countries. Despite the growing challenges due to A. flavus, the molecular epidemiology of this fungus has not been well studied. We evaluated the use of microsatellites for high resolution genotyping of A. flavus from India and a possible connection between clinical presentation and genotype of the involved isolate. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A panel of nine microsatellite markers were selected from the genome of A. flavus NRRL 3357. These markers were used to type 162 clinical isolates of A. flavus. All nine markers proved to be polymorphic displaying up to 33 alleles per marker. Thirteen isolates proved to be a mixture of different genotypes. Among the 149 pure isolates, 124 different genotypes could be recognized. The discriminatory power (D) for the individual markers ranged from 0.657 to 0.954. The D value of the panel of nine markers combined was 0.997. The multiplex multicolor approach was instrumental in rapid typing of a large number of isolates. There was no correlation between genotype and the clinical presentation of the infection. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: There is a large genotypic diversity in clinical A. flavus isolates from India. The presence of more than one genotype in clinical samples illustrates the possibility that persons may be colonized by multiple genotypes and that any isolate from a clinical specimen is not necessarily the one actually causing infection. Microsatellites are excellent typing targets for discriminating between A. flavus isolates from various origins

Effects of biofertilizer containing N-fixer, P and K solubilizers and AM fungi on maize growth: A greenhouse trial.

An in vitro study was undertaken to evaluate the compatibility of indigenous plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) with commonly used inorganic and organic sources of fertilizers in tea plantations. The nitrogenous, phosphatic and potash fertilizers used for this study were urea, rock phosphate and muriate of potash, respectively. The organic sources of fertilizers neem cake, composted coir pith and vermicompost were also used. PGPRs such as nitrogen fixer; Azospirillum lipoferum, Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria (PSB); Pseudomonas putida, Potassium Solubilizing Bacteria (KSB); Burkholderia cepacia and Pseudomonas putida were used for compatibility study. Results were indicated that PGPRs preferred the coir pith and they proved their higher colony establishment in the formulation except Azospirillum spp. that preferred vermicompost for their establishment. The optimum dose of neem cake powder

In-vitro susceptibility testing by agar dilution method to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations of amphotericin B, fluconazole and ketoconazole against ocular fungal isolates

Purpose : To standardize in-vitro antifungal susceptibility testing by agar dilution method to find out the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of amphotericin B, fluconazole and ketoconazole on ocular fungal isolates. Methods: A total of 180 ocular fungal isolates (130 filamentous fungi and 50 yeasts) were included. The antifungal drugs such as amphotericin B (0.0625-8 μg/mL), fluconazole (0.2-819.6 μg/mL) and ketoconazole (0.025-6.4 μg/mL) were incorporated in doubling dilutions in the yeast nitrogen base medium. The MIC was determined as the lowest concentration of the antifungal drug preventing growth of macroscopically visible colonies on drug containing plates when there was visible growth on the drug - free control plates. Results: All 50 ocular isolates of yeast were susceptible to amphotericin B, while two (4%) and five (10%) strains were resistant to fluconazole and ketoconazole respectively. Of the 130 filamentous fungi tested, six (4.6%) were resistant to amphotericin B, 49 (37.7%) and 10 (7.6%) were resistant to fluconazole and ketoconazole respectively. Percentile 50 (MIC 50) and Percentile 90 (MIC 90) for all the three antifungal agents were calculated. Aspergillus niger , Aspergillus terreus and Candida krusei were found to be resistant to fluconazole and ketoconazole. Conclusion: This technique was found to be reliable, cost effective and easy to perform with consistent results

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Not AvailableIn the present study, P1 gene of Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV) has been proved to govern the RNA silencing suppressor activity. Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression assay with Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) has confirmed the RSS activity of P1 gene in the model plant Nicotiana tabaccum. The qRT-PCR analysis also confirmed the RSS activity of P1 gene of SCSMV infecting sugarcane. Further, the presence of conserved motif “WG” in the P1 protein across the 10 Indian isolates of SCSMV reiterates its role as RNA silencing suppressor of the Poacevirus. Although the Helper Component-Proteinase gene (HC-Pro) has been reported to govern the RSS activity in most of the viruses of the family Potyviridae, it does not show any such activity in the SCSCMV infecting sugarcane. The absence of “WG” motif across the 16 Indian isolates of SCSMV and low level of GFP expression in the Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression assay have clearly demonstrated lack of RSS activity in the HC-Pro gene of SCSMV. Thus, mosaic-resistant cultivars can be developed by targeting the P1 gene of SCSMV through RNAi approach.Not Availabl