Solvent Induced Disulfide Bond Formation in 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole

Disulfide bond formation is the decisive event in the protein folding to determine the conformation and stability of protein. To achieve this disulfide bond formation in vitro, we took 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole (DMcT) as a model compound. We found that disulfide bond formation takes place between two sulfhydryl groups of DMcT molecules in methanol. UV-Vis, FT-IR and mass spectroscopic as well as cyclic voltammetry were used to monitor the course of reaction. We proposed a mechanism for the solvent induced disulfide bond formation on the basis of the results we obtained

Seaweed exploitation and Industry in India

Since the inception of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute at Mandapam in 1947, research on seaweeds and their utilisation is being carried out. Later on research on Indian seaweeds Was started by Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa and some State Government Fisheries Department

Murugan and its Worship in Kapilar songs

Kapilar sang most of the songs in Ettuthogai and Pathupaatu of Sangam literature. He was also called 'Kurinjikor Kapilar'. Out of that 235 songs were sung by Kapilar. Of these 38 songs are about the external subjects and the remaining 197 songs are about internal subjects. Out of this 197 1 songs belong to Paalai land, 3 to Neythal land, 1 to Mullai land and 1 to Marutham land.  The remaining 191 songs belong to Kurinji land. There are others who have sung a verse in such detail. Since Kapilar has sung many Kurinchi songs, the aim of this article is to study the Kurinji land god Murugan and its worship

Changes in growth, reproduction, alginic acid and Mannitol contents

Results obtained on the changes in growth, reproduction, alginic acid and mannitol contents of Turbinoria decurrens carried out for one year from March, 1973 to February, 1974 are presented. Young plants of T. decurrens appear in May and grow to a minimum size between December and February. Branching starts from August and maximum number of branched plants occur in November. Reproductive plants were observed throughout the year. The yield of alginic acid varies from 16.3 to 26.3 % and the estimated mannitol content from 1.5 to 8.7 %. T. decurrens may be harvested in the months between December and February for extraction of alginic acid

Tropical Cyclones

The term 'Cyclone' derived from a Greek word meaning the coil of a snake, is used for tropical revolving storms occurring in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. These storms are confined to definite regions of the earth and occur, for the most part, in the tropical portions of the western sides of the great oceans. The term cyclone is applied to all tropical storms although they are known as 'hurricanes' in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, as 'typhoons' in the Western Pacific, as 'willy willias' in the Australian Seas and as 'Baguios' in the Philippines

Need for conservation of economically important seaweeds of Tamil Nadu coast and time-table for their commercial exploitation

To conserve the natural stock and also to get consistent crop year after year, the seaweed collectors have to follow a suitable time-table. Attempts must be made by the seaweed based industries to exploit these seaweeds during the maximum growth periods from their places of occurrence in order to meet the raw material requirements and also to conserve the economically important seaweeds growing in Tamil Nadu coast

Seaweed potential and its exploitation in India

The potential areas in India for luxuriant growth of seaweeds are south Tamil Nadu coast, Gujarat coast, Lakshadweep and Andaman Nicobar Islands. The total standing crop of seaweeds from Intertidal and shallow waters of all maritime states and Lakshadweep Islands was estimated as 91339 tons (wet WI.) The quantity of seaweeds growing in deep waters ofTamiJ Nadu was estimated as 75372 tons (wet wt) in an area of 1863 sq km from Dhanushkodi to Kanyakumari. Data were collected every month from 1978 to 1995 from the seaweed landing centres in Tamil Nadu on the quantity of seaweeds exploited from the natural seaweed beds. During this period the quantity of agar yielding seaweeds Gelidiella acerosa, Graci/aria edulis, G. crassa and G. foliifera exploited in a year varied from 248 to 1289 tons (dry wt).; algin yielding seaweeds Sargassum spp and Turbinaria spp from 651 5537 tons (dry wt) and all the above seaweeds from 1177 to 6420 tons (dry wt). Since several years, agar yielding red algae are over exploited in Tamil Nadu. The need for conservat ion of commercially important seaweeds of Tamil Nadu and time - table for their commercial exploitation are given. The harvesting of under exploited and unexploited seaweeds from Tamil Nadu and unexploited seaweeds from other parts of Indian coast are suggested

Changes in Mannitol and Alginic Acid Contents of Turbinaria ornata (TURNER) J. AGARDH in Relation to Growth and Fruiting

Biological and chemical studies have been conducted on some important species of Sargassum and Turbinaria to determine the optirnum periods for harvesting the algin-yielding seaweeds o£ the Mandapam area (UMAMAHESWARA RAO, 1969). The present paper reports the results obtained on growth, fruiting in relation to quantitative changes in mannitol and alginic acid contents of Turbinaria ornata (TÜRNER) J. AGARDH for a period of four years, from January 1967 to December 1970. Materials and Method Turbinaria ornata in the Palk Bay, near Mandapam, commonly grows on coral debris and coral stones at l -- 2 m depth. About 50--100 plants were collected from this area at monthly intervals. Total length of all the plants was measured in the laboratory and mean heights of the plants together with their Standard deviations were calculated. Chemical analysis of the dried plants was carried out äs reported earlier (UMAMAHESWARA RAO, 1969

Seaweed recipes and other practical uses of Seaweeds

Seaweeds (a plant group of the sea) in botanical terms "Algae" form an important food item in many countries of the East as well as West. In China, marine algae bears the name sea-vegetable and it is not uncommon for coastal inhabitants of Japan, Malaya, China and Phillippines to be seen on the seashore during low tide collecting these sea-vegetables. Korea and Japan are the two ceuntries where algae are farmed but only in Japan extensive seaweed cultivation is done

In vitro micropropagation of orchid, Oncidium sp. (Dancing Dolls)

A successful procedure was established for in vitro mass multiplication of orchid (Oncidium sp.). In vitro regeneration multiplication and rooting of plantlets were achieved from the immature seeds on Murashige and Skoog's medium supplemented with BAP (2.0 mg/l). Rooted plantlets were then transferred to perforated plastic pots and grown in the green house