Marine Biodiversity Museum (A Designated National Repository) Catalogue

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin was recognized as a 'Designated National Repository' by the Government of India, in December 2007 in consultation with the National Biodiversity Authority under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. A Designated National Repository (DNR) is an Institution authorised to keep in safe custody specimens of different categories of biological material. The Museum offers a glimpse of the bioresources of the Indian seas. Currently the museum houses six holotype specimens, 878 finfish species, 136 crustaceans, 217 molluscs, 44 echinoderms, 162 corals, 12 sponges, 20 ascidians, 82 seaweeds and 8 seagrasses besides a dolphin and three Antarctic birds. The Museum is open to scientists, teachers, students and the general public. The fact that students form more than 85% of the visitors highlights the role played by the Museum in education. A catalogue of the specimens available in the Museum has been prepared as it is expected to be of immense use to those engaged in marine biodiversity studies. I sincerely thank Dr. G. Syda Rao, Director, CMFRI whose guidance and encouragement made this a reality

Effect of administration of rifampicin on the adrenocortical function in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis

Adrenocortical function was studied on admission and during treatment in 57 newlydiagnosed patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 16 of whom were treated with a daily regimen containing Rifampicin (R-7), 22 with a twiceweekly regimen containing the same drug (R-Z) and 19 with a daily regimen that did not contain Rifampicin (NR-7). In patients on daily treatment (R-7 and NR-7), there was a slight increase in plasma cortisol at 1 week followed by a decline; while the mean level at 4 weeks was similar to that on admission in the R-7 patients, that in the NR-7 patients was significantly lower (P < 0.01). No change was observed in the R-2 patients. A positive response to tetracosactrin was observed in the 7 R-7, 14 R-Z and 7 NR-7 patients on admission and in 6, 14 and 14, respectively at 4 weeks. The increase in the proportion of positive responders in the NH-7 patients was significant (P = 0.05). On admission, the diurnal rhythm of the release of cortisol, as assessed by changes in salivary cortisol, was disturbed in the patients with an evening rise in the cortisol levels; it had, however, reverted to a near-normal pattern after 2 months of treatment in all 3 groups of patients

New distributional record of the insular shelf beauty Symphysanodon typus Bleeker, 1878 (Family: Symphysanodontidae) from Indian waters

The family Symphysanodontidae comprises of small to medium sized bony fishes commonly known as banquelovelies, slopefishes and insular shelf beauties. They are caught in trawls operating in depths from 50 to 500 m, mainly on the continental shelf and slopes

Finfish diversity in the trawl fisheries of southern Kerala

Among the maritime states of India, Kerala with a coastline of 590 km and 39,139 sq km of continental shelf area enjoys the distinction of being the foremost marine producer and exporter. The potential yield of the area up to 200 m depth has been estimated to be about 8 lakh tonnes

Crystal structure of the jacalin-T-antigen complex and a comparative study of lectin-T-antigen complexes

Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen (Galβ1-3GalNAc), generally known as T-antigen, is expressed in more than 85% of human carcinomas. Therefore, proteins which specifically bind T-antigen have potential diagnostic value. Jacalin, a lectin from jack fruit (Artocarpus integrifolia) seeds, is a tetramer of molecular mass 66 kDa. It is one of the very few proteins which are known to bind T-antigen. The crystal structure of the jacalin-T-antigen complex has been determined at 1.62 Å resolution. The interactions of the disaccharide at the binding site are predominantly through the GalNAc moiety, with Gal interacting only through water molecules. They include a hydrogen bond between the anomeric oxygen of GalNAc and the π electrons of an aromatic side-chain. Several intermolecular interactions involving the bound carbohydrate contribute to the stability of the crystal structure. The present structure, along with that of the Me-α-Gal complex, provides a reasonable qualitative explanation for the known affinities of jacalin to different carbohydrate ligands and a plausible model of the binding of the lectin to T-antigen O-linked to seryl or threonyl residues. Including the present one, the structures of five lectin-T-antigen complexes are available. GalNAc occupies the primary binding site in three of them, while Gal occupies the site in two. The choice appears to be related to the ability of the lectin to bind sialylated sugars. In either case, most of the lectin-disaccharide interactions are at the primary binding site. The conformation of T-antigen in the five complexes is nearly the same

Productivity of the Arabian Sea along The southwest coast of India

Monsoon plays a critical role in triggering environmental features such as seawater temperature, salinity, disolved oxygen content and nutrient generation which In turn become responsible for production of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Along the southwest coast of India the intensity of southwest monsoon as evidenced by annual rainfall showed a declining trend during the years 1983 to 1988. An attmpt is made here to correlate certain environmental features with the abundance and fluctuations in phytoplankton and zooplankton in the inshore waters off Cochin, Vizhinjam and Minicoy

Phytoplankton Blooms along the Indian Coasts-some highlights

The present article embodies a critical appraisal of the blooms observed at Karwar, Mangalore, Cochin, Vizhinjam, Tuticorin and Madras from 1982 to 1987. Noctiluca miliaris, Coscinodiscus sp. and Fragilaria oceanica are the three common species which appear in blooms regularly. There are some other phytoplankters also which bloom occasionally at restricted areas. These include species of Ceratium, Chaetoceros, Rhizosolenia, Biddulphia, Skeletonema, Thalassionema, Thalassiosira subtilis, Thalassiothrix and Trichodesmium