Isolation and Identification of Pathogenic Bacteria from Brackish Waters of Chilika Lagoon, Odisha, India for Pharmaceutical Use

Aims: The present investigation was undertaken in order to isolate bacteria from eighteen different water samples collected from three different sectors of ‘Chilika’ lagoon of India and to study the resistance against ten different antibiotics viz., norfloxacin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, neomycin, nalidixic acid, ofloxacin, chloramphenicol, nitrofurantoin, streptomycin and amoxicillin as well as their serological implications.Methodology and Results: Four different pathogenic bacteria species viz., Shigella dysenteriae, Streptococcus lactis, Bacillus cereus and Klebsiella pneumoniae were isolated which showed a wide range of sensitivity to norfloxacin,tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin and nitrofurantoin. S. dysenteriae was sensitive to streptomycin where as other isolates were found to be resistant. Agarose gel electrophoresis failed to reveal plasmid DNA band indicating that theobserved resistance was perhaps encoded by nucleotide sequences harboured on the chromosomal DNA. Bacterial isolates were used as antigen for the production of polyclonal antibodies in rabbits.Conclusion, significance and impact of study:All the isolates exhibited strong antigenic character with specific serological relationship which can be implicated towards development of novel and pharmaceutically effective antibacterial products

Study - Pityriasis versicolor in the pediatric age group

BACKGROUND: Pityriasis versicolor (PV) is a mild chronic infection of the skin caused by Malassezia yeasts. Although it is primarily seen in adults, children are often affected in the tropics . METHODS: Over a period of 2 years, children (up to the age of 14 years) who were clinically and mycologically diagnosed as PV were included in the study. The clinical and epidemiological pattern in different age groups was noted. RESULTS: PV in this age group formed about 31% of the total cases of PV; 4.8% cases presented in infancy. The commonest site of involvement was the face in 39.9% of the cases. Most of the cases presented in summer months. CONCLUSIONS: PV is not an uncommon disease among children in the tropics. There is a sudden resurgence of cases in the hot monsoons and even infants are not spared

Assessment of soil organic and inorganic carbon stock at different soil depths after conversion of desert into arable land in the hot arid regions of India

Soil organic carbon (SOC) and inorganic carbon (SIC) are important carbon reservoirs in terrestrial ecosystems. But, little attention was paid to carbon dynamics in hot arid regions of India. In order to assess the carbon stock after conversion of desert into irrigated arable land in arid regions, the variability of SOC and SIC concentrations in the Suratgarh block of Rajasthan, India were analyzed using geostatistics. Soil samples were collected from depths of 0–15 cm, 15–30 cm, 30–60 cm and 60–90 cm at 150 sampling sites in the study area over an area of 3000 km2. The coefficient of variation (CV) for SOC and SIC was high for all depths (> 35%). Geostatistical analysis showed that spherical, circular, Gaussian and exponential models were the best-fit models for soil carbon stocks. The average stock of SOC and SIC were 4.55 and 10.9 Mg ha−1 in the 0–15 cm soil layer, and 3.02 Mg ha−1 SOC and 12.42 Mg ha−1 SIC in the 15–30 cm soil layer, respectively. Our results showed that SOC and SIC stocks over 0–90 cm were 15.54 and 76.71 Mg ha−1, respectively. There was significantly positive correlation (r = 0.33, p < 0.01) between SOC and SIC stock in 0–90 cm depth. Our study suggested that increasing SOC might lead to an increase in SIC stocks after conversion of desert into irrigated arable land. Thus the study highlights the importance of SIC in the carbon cycle of India’s arid region

Phenotypic and genotypic assessment of elite rice varieties for brown plant hopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål.) resistance

Popular rice varieties from India which exhibited field resistance against Brown Plant Hopper attack were selected to validate their resistance reaction. Genotyping using twenty-four gene-specific markers for BPH resistance was carried out. Besides this, phenotyping of morpho-economic traits along with resistance reaction was performed. Stepwise regression of phenotypic data showed that the traits viz. trichome number, leaf area and leaf number per tiller were significantly correlated to BPH damage score, while the traits, grains per panicle, tiller number, plant height and leaf number per plant contributed significantly towards seed yield. It was observed that there was a positive association between leaf area and BPH damage while trichome number was negatively associated, causing decreasing value in damage score. In the case of yield, except leaf number per plant, others traits showed a positive association. Further, PCA biplot analysis results confirmed the findings. Phenotypically, the rice variety Hasanta exhibited the highest BPH resistance followed by Jyotirmayee, Mahanadi, Konark and Pratap. Out of the twenty-four gene-specific markers, six markers exhibited polymorphism and RM247 showed the highest polymorphic information content (PIC) value. Cluster analysis of the varieties based on the marker data placed the variety Hasanta in a separate cluster, confirming its distinctness. Genotyping confirmed the genetic nature of BPH resistance in Hasanta variety. The cluster 2.2a included the highest number of varieties based on genetic similarity although it comprised of resistant, moderately resistant and susceptible types. This finding indicated that phenotypic variation within genotypic similar groups might be due to environment or different sources of origin. Hence, this phenotypic and genotypic variation among the genotypes would be useful for selecting elite and potential BPH-resistant donors in a crop improvement program

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Not AvailableThe evaluation of soil quality is essential in monitoring the long term effects of rice cultivation. Present study investigated the effects of long term rice cultivation on soil properties and organic C pools and identified indicators for monitoring soil quality in Ghaggar-flood plains of hot arid India. Soil samples were collected from fields with 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 years of rice cultivation. The study revealed that electrical conductivity (EC) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) increased after 30–40 years of rice cultivation. Available nutrients increased with increas- ing years of rice cultivation. The organic carbon pools namely, total organic carbon (TOC), Walkley Black carbon (WBC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) were increased above 50% in 20 and above years of rice cultivation. The TOC and POC were increased by 40.6 to 132.4% and 31.7% to 104.8% in 10 to 40 years of rice cultivation. Cation exchange capacity, WBC, ESP and CaCO3 could serve as soil monitoring indicators of long term rice cultivation in arid region. The findings clearly indicated that long term rice cultivation could aggravate soil salinity and have negative impact on soil quality in arid environment.Not Availabl