Development of a New Pipeline for Identification and Characterization of Micro RNAs from Plants

Open source microRNA analysis pipelines for next generation sequencing data (NGS) often make necessary use and working knowledge of command line interface, massive data processing resources and expertise which is a daunting task for biologists. Further, the microRNA data generated from NGS platforms will not be in a form from which one could understand or make use of it. Hence a comprehensive pipeline has been developed by integrating several open source NGS tools along with a graphical user interface called sRNAbench. It is used for expression profiling of small RNAs and prediction of microRNAs from NGS data. The pipeline features functionalities such as read processing, sequence identification, target prediction and enrichment analysis. It provides even prediction of novel microRNAs and its sequences. The pipeline will be very useful for plant genomics community and it does not require knowledge in computational biology in order to discover miRNAs and utilize the same in genomics studies

The apterous endemic genus Omphra Dejean (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Helluonini) of the Indian subcontinent : taxonomy with notes on habits and distributional patterns

Among the four oriental genera of the tribe Helluonini, Omphra Dejean (Coleoptera: Carabidae), is unique for its endemism to the Indian subcontinent and aptery. High intraspecies variability in morphological characters and limited diagnostic information makes species differentiation of the genus Omphra a complicated task. The present study provides a description of a new species, Omphra drumonti n. sp. from the Western Ghats, redescriptions and a key to the species of Omphra, details of intraspecies variation, discussion of relationships between taxa and distributional patterns of the genus. Based on the distributional patterns in the Indian subcontinent and flightlessness of the genus, inability to cross the physical barrier of the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta between north and peninsular India is indicated as the reason for its absence in the northeastern Indian subcontinent and endemism to the lower Indian subcontinent

FATTY ACID COMPOSITION OF THE FRUITS OF SYZYGIUM ZEYLANICUM (L.) DC. VAR. ZEYLANICUM

Objective: Wild indigenous fruits are believed to be extremely nutritious, contributing a great deal to the general health of the tribal and rural population. To validate this claim, systematic studies are required to estimate their nutritional composition. The objective of the study was to analyze the fatty acid composition of Syzygium zeylanicum (L.) DC. var. zeylanicum.Methods: The fatty acid composition of S. zeylanicum var. zeylanicum fruits were analysed by GC-MS/MS.Results: The major fatty acids were cis-oleic acid (43.47±0.62 %) and linoleic acid (31.14±0.35%). Total monounsaturated fatty acids in the sample was 44.21%. Omega-6, omega-7 and omega-9 fatty acids were detected. The polyunsaturated fatty acids in thefruits were linoleic acid (31.14±0.35 %) and arachidonic acid (0.15±0.22 %), whereas 24.51 % of the total fatty acids were saturated. The ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids was approximately 3:1. The order of abundance of fatty acids, in some of the healthiest oils, viz. olive, canola, peanut oils is, Oleic acid>Linoleic acid>Palmitic acid>Stearic acid and the same order was observed in the present study.Conclusion: Fruits of S. zeylanicum var. zeylanicum too shows a healthy balance between unsaturated and saturated fats.Â

Ultrasonic studies on interionic interactions of some alkali metal halides in aqueous d-glucose solution at varying molalities and temperatures

The  present experimental investigation was carried out in order to explore the possible molecular interionic interactions of alkali metal halides namely, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, potassium bromide and potassium iodide in aqueous D-glucose solution at 303.15, 308.15K and 313.15 K. Experimental values of density (ρ), viscosity (η) and ultrasonic velocities (U) were carried out on the liquid ternary mixtures of water +D-glucose + alkali metal halides The binary solvent mixture of water + D-glucose was prepared under molality(m) basis say, at two fixed   molalities (0.2 and 0.4mol.kg-1). Alkali metal halides (NaCl, KCl, KBr and KI) were added under different molalities with these binary solvent mixtures. The related and relevant parameters correlated to our present study such as adiabatic compressibility (b), molal hydration number (nH), apparent molal compressibility (jk), apparent molal volume (jv), limiting apparent molal compressibility ( ), limiting apparent molal volume ( ) and their associated constants (SK, SV), partial transfer volume (∆ ) from water to aqueous solution were determined. In order to stress more on the viscometric data to substantiate its importance, the viscosity B-coefficient has been meticulously evaluated, The present investigation has exploited the possible molecular associations such as ion-ion, ion-solvent, solute-solvent, solute-solute etc., which are identified and eventually discussed about the behaviour of solutes (alkali metal halides) in the solvent mixture

Ultrasonic studies on interionic interactions of some alkali metal halides in aqueous d-glucose solution at varying molalities and temperatures

The present experimental investigation was carried out in order to explore the possible molecular interionic interactions of alkali metal halides namely, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, potassium bromide and potassium iodide in aqueous D-glucose solution at 303.15, 308.15K and 313.15 K. Experimental values of density (ρ), viscosity (η) and ultrasonic velocities (U) were carried out on the liquid ternary mixtures of water +D-glucose + alkali metal halides The binary solvent mixture of water + D-glucose was prepared under molality(m) basis say, at two fixed   molalities (0.2 and 0.4mol.kg-1). Alkali metal halides (NaCl, KCl, KBr and KI) were added under different molalities with these binary solvent mixtures. The related and relevant parameters correlated to our present study such as adiabatic compressibility (b), molal hydration number (nH), apparent molal compressibility (jk), apparent molal volume (jv), limiting apparent molal compressibility ( ), limiting apparent molal volume ( ) and their associated constants (SK, SV), partial transfer volume (∆ ) from water to aqueous solution were determined. In order to stress more on the viscometric data to substantiate its importance, the viscosity B-coefficient has been meticulously evaluated, The present investigation has exploited the possible molecular associations such as ion-ion, ion-solvent, solute-solvent, solute-solute etc., which are identified and eventually discussed about the behaviour of solutes (alkali metal halides) in the solvent mixture.&nbsp