Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in the coastal districts of Odisha

Ethnobotanical study was carried out in the coastal districts of Odisha during 2010-2011 to document the medicinal utility of plants. The present paper deals with traditional uses of 46 plant species belonging to 44 genera and 32 families along with correct botanical identification, local names, parts used and mode of administration in respect to different diseases.  The documented ethnomedicinal plants are mostly used to cure skin diseases, diarrhoea, jaundice, piles and urinary troubles

Potential microbial diversity in mangrove ecosystems:A review

249-256Mangroves provide a unique ecological niche to different microbes which play various roles in nutrient recycling as well as various environmental activities. Mangrove forests are large ecosystems distributed in 112 countries and territories comprising a total area of about 181,000 km2 is over a quarter of the total coastline of the world. The highly productive and diverse microbial community living in mangrove ecosystems continuously transforms nutrients from dead mangrove vegetation into sources of nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients that can be used by the plants and in turn the plant-root exudates serve as a food source for the microbes. Analysis of microbial biodiversity from these ecosystems will help in isolating and identifying new and potential microorganisms having high specificity for various applications. The present study consists literature on diversity of predominant microbes such as bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes from mangrove ecosystems

<span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language: HI" lang="EN-GB">Floral and microbial dynamics in relation to the Physico-chemical constituents of the Devi-estuary of Odisha Coast of the Bay of Bengal, India</span>

90-96The floristic and microbial diversity, were assessed with respect to the prevailing physico-chemical composition of the mangrove forest of the Devi estuary, Odisha, India. Floristic composition showed that Avicennia officinalis L., Avicennia alba Bl., <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Sonneratia apetala Buch.-Ham. and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Acanthus ilicifolius L. were dominant plant species. Microbial population dynamics was more i.e. <span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang="EN-US">3.34×106 CFU/gm at Bandara and lower i.e. 2.96×105 CFU/gm <span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US" lang="EN-US">at Machamachikuda region of the mangrove sediments. Aspergilus and Streptomyces spp. were most abundant microbes in the five sampling sites. Organic carbon content and pH were significantly correlated with microbial dynamics, whereas salinity had negative relation. A positive correlation was found among the physico-chemical character viz. pH, organic carbon and salinity. </span