Hitherto unreported Agaricus species of Central India

Karwa A, Rai MK. 2010. Spesies Agaricus dari India Tengah yang belum dilaporkan sampai sekarang. Nusantara Bioscience 2: 141-145. Kawasan hutan Melghat di India Tengah disurvei untuk mengetahui keberadaan jamur yang berkhasiat obat dan kuliner selama tahun 2005-2008. Dari total 153 spesies jamur, sepuluh spesies Agaricus ditemukan di berbagai lokasi yang berbeda. Dari jumlah tersebut, tujuh spesies yaitu Agaricus bitorquis, A. subrufescens, A. augustus, A. placomyces, A. essettei, A. basioanolosus dan Agaricus sp. nov. (spesies baru) baru pertama kali dilaporkan keberadaannya di kawasan ini. Jamur komersial Agaricus bisporus tidak memiliki karakter perkembangbiakan yang baik karena secara alamiah bersifat bispora. Kerabat liar dari jamur ini dapat digunakan sebagai sumber manipulasi genetik pada strain yang ada dan juga untuk mengembangkan strain baru dengan karakter yang lebih baik. Kata kunci: Agaricus, India Tengah, komersial, dimakan, Melghat

Review: Colchicine, Current Advances and Future Prospects

Ade R, Rai MK. 2010. Colchicine, current advances and future prospects. Nusantara Bioscience 2: 90-96. Colchicine isa toxic natural compound and secondary metabolite commonly produced by plants like Colchicum autumnale and Gloriosa superba. Itis originally used to treat rheumatic complaints, especially gout, and still finds its uses for these purposes today despite dosing issuesconcerning its toxicity. It is also prescribed for its cathartic and emetic effects. Initially oral colchicine has not been approved as a drugby U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But now FDA approved colchicine as a drug for some disorders. Colchicine's presentmedicinal use is in the treatment of gout and familial mediterranean fever. It is also being investigated for its use as an anticancer drug.In neurons, axoplasmic transport is disrupted by colchicine. Due to all the pharmacological application of colchicine, there is urgentneed to enhance the properties and increase the production of colchicine with the help of in vitro technologies. The present review ismainly focused on the chemistry of colchicine, its medicinal uses and toxicity

Gall bladder dysfunction in chronic diabetics (type 2): an ultrasonography based prospective study

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is commonest endocrine disorder now a days and its prevalence is continuously rising in India due to spread of modern life style so its associated complications are also increasing. Gall bladder is one of the commonly affected organs in chronic diabetics, most probably due to autonomic neuropathy which adversely affects gall bladder motility and provokes bile stasis.   Methods: This institution based prospective study had been performed among 100 chronic diabetics; randomly selected from diabetic clinic of department of medicine, people’s college of medical science and research centre, Bhopal M.P. India. Only those patients selected for study who have type 2 diabetes mellitus more than 5 yr and have well controlled sugar levels. 100 controls/volunteers were selected for comparative evaluation. All patients and volunteers had undergone abdominal ultrasonography for any existing hepatobiliary pathology and to measure fasting and post fatty meal gall bladder volume.Results: Among 100 chronic diabetics seventy-six (76%) patients didn’t show any hepatobiliary abnormality however cholelithiasis was seen in thirteen (13%) patients, cholecystitis in five (5%) patients and sludge was seen in six (6%) patients.  In group of 100 controls ninety-one (91%) didn’t show any hepatobiliary pathology however cholelithiasis was detected incidentally in four (4%) persons, cholecystitis in two (2%) persons and sludge in three (3%) persons.  Significant difference is observed in fasting gall bladder volume of chronic diabetics and controls (p value- 0.001). Major difference is also observed in percentage of gall bladder contraction among chronic diabetics and controls (p value- 0.001).Conclusions: Higher fasting gall bladder volume and decreased percentage of contraction both are observed in patients of chronic diabetes mellitus attributed to autonomic neuropathy. Prolonged stasis of bile leads to complications e.g. cholelithiasis, cholecystitis and sludge deposition as late outcome. Hepatobiliary ultrasonography in chronic diabetics can be used as screening tool for early diagnosis of complication and to avoid its serious consequences when presents in emergency and undergone for surgery.

Management of phytopathogens by application of green nanobiotechnology: Emerging trends and challenges

Nanotechnology is highly interdisciplinary and important research area in modern science. The use of nanomaterials offer major advantages due to their unique size, shape and significantly improved physical, chemical, biological and antimicrobial properties. Physicochemical and antimicrobial properties of metal nanoparticles have received much attention of researchers. There are different methods i.e. chemical, physical and biological for synthesis of nanoparticles. Chemical and physical methods have some limitations, and therefore, biological methods are needed to develop environment-friendly synthesis of nanoparticles. Moreover, biological method for the production of nanoparticles is simpler than chemical method as biological agents secrete large amount of enzymes, which reduce metals and can be responsible for the synthesis and capping on nanoparticles. Biological systems for nanoparticle synthesis include plants, fungi, bacteria, yeasts, and actinomycetes. Many plant species including Opuntia ficus-indica, Azardirachta indica, Lawsonia inermis, Triticum aestivum, Hydrilla verticillata, Citrus medica, Catharanthus roseus, Avena sativa, etc., bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria, Pseudomonas stutzeri, Lactobacillus sp., Klebsiella aerogenes, Torulopsis sp., and fungi, like Fusarium spp. Aspergillus spp., Verticillium spp., Saccharomyces cerevisae MKY3, Phoma spp. etc. have been exploited for the synthesis of different nanoparticles. Among all biological systems, fungi have been found to be more efficient system for synthesis of metal nanoparticles as they are easy to grow, produce more biomass and secret many enzymes. We proposed the term myconanotechnology (myco = fungi, nanotechnology = the creation and exploitation of materials in the size range of 1–100 nm). Myconanotechnology is the interface between mycology and nanotechnology, and is an exciting new applied interdisciplinary science that may have considerable potential, partly due to the wide range and diversity of fungi. Nanotechnology is the promising tool to improve agricultural productivity though delivery of genes and drug molecules to target sites at cellular levels, genetic improvement, and nano-array based gene-technologies for gene expressions in plants and also use of nanoparticles-based gene transfer for breeding of varieties resistant to different pathogens and pests. The nanoparticles like copper (Cu), silver (Ag), titanium (Ti) and chitosan have shown their potential as novel antimicrobials for the management of pathogenic microorganisms affecting agricultural crops. Different experiments confirmed that fungal hyphae and conidial germination of pathogenic fungi are significantly inhibited by copper nanoparticles. The nanotechnologies can be used for the disease detection and also for its management. The progress in development of nano-herbicides, nano-fungicides and nano-pesticides will open up new avenues in the field of management of plant pathogens. The use of different nanoparticles in agriculture will increase productivity of crop. It is the necessity of time to use nanotechnology in agriculture with extensive experimental trials. However, there are challenges particularly the toxicity, which is not a big issue as compared to fungicides and pesticides

Arbuscular mycorrhiza -like biotechnological potential of Piriformospora indica , which promotes the growth of Adhatoda vasica Nees

We report the growth promoting potential of Piriformospora indica , which is a newly discovered Arbuscular mycorrhiza -like fungus. It is a facultative symbiont and unlike arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, it can be cultured in vitro. Adhatoda vasica is a medicinal plant. Rapid proliferation of roots was recorded in A. vasica withan important root colonization estimated to 95% after 6 months. P. indica improved growth of A. vasica. This association forms a new host-symbiont combination

Antibacterial activity of Thymus vulgaris essential oil alone and in combination with other essential oils

Essential oils (EOs) from plants represent an alternative approach in combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One of the EOs with proven antibacterial properties is Thymus vulgaris EO. The purpose of the present work was to investigate in vitro antibacterial activity of T. vulgaris EO alone and in combination with other EOs. The activity of T. vulgaris EO was screened in combination with 34 EOs against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli by disk diffusion method; then the most effective combinations were evaluated by broth microdilution method. Against S. aureus the synergistic effect was found in combination of T. vulgaris and Cinnamomum zeylonicum EOs with fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index of 0.26; Juniperus communis and Picea abies EOs showed additive effect (FIC indexes were 0.74 and 0.78, respectively). Combination of T. vulgaris EO with Aniba rosaeodora and Melissa officinalis EOs demonstrated synergistic effect against E. coli (FIC indexes were 0.23 and 0.34, respectively); combination of T. vulgaris and Mentha piperita EOs was additive (FIC index 0.55). Therefore, combining T. vulgaris EO with other EOs has potential in further enhancing its antibacterial properties

Plant essential oils and their constituents in coping with multidrug-resistant bacteria

Antibiotic resistance is documented to be a serious problem that affects the choice of appropriate antibiotic therapy and increases the probability of unfavorable infection outcome. One of the proposed methods to cope with multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria is the use of alternative antibacterial treatments, which include natural antimicrobial substances such as plant essential oils (EOs). The aim of the present article is to review published studies on the activity of EOs and their constituents against MDR bacteria and to formulate perspectives for the future. In general, published studies indicate that EOs can be used as effective antiseptics against many species, including MDR bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, resistant isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and others; certain EOs may potentiate the effectiveness of antibiotics against MDR bacteria; EOs can be synergistic with bacteriophages; and polymeric nanoparticles can be used for delivery of EOs and enhancement of their activity at the site of infection

Phytofabrication of silver nanoparticles by using aquatic plant Hydrilla verticilata

Sable N, Gaikwad S, Bonde S, Gade A, Rai M. 2012. Phytofabrication of silver nanoparticles by using aquatic plant Hydrilla verticilata. Nusantara Bioscience 4: 45-49. In the context of current drive to developed new green technology in nanomaterials, synthesis of nanoparticles is of considerable importance. There has been considerable work done in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology during the last decade due to the introduction of various protocols for the synthesis of nanoparticles by using plants and microorganisms. Here we firstly report the extracellular phytosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) using aquatic plants Hydrilla verticilata. The characterization of the phytosynthesized Ag-NPs was done with the help of UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA), Zeta potential and SEM. The SEM micrograph revealed the synthesis of polydispersed spherical nanoparticles, with the average size of 65.55 nm. The phytofabricated Ag-NPs can be used in the field of medicine and agriculture, due to their antimicrobial potential

Using the information value method in a geographic information system and remote sensing for malaria mapping: a case study from India

Background This paper explores the scope of malaria-susceptibility modelling to predict malaria occurrence in an area.Objective An attempt has been made in Varanasi district, India, to evaluate the status of malaria disease and to develop a model by which malaria-prone zones could be predicted using five classes of relative malaria susceptibility, i.e. very low, low, moderate, high and very high categories.The information value (Info Val) method was used to assess malaria occurrence and various time-were used as the independent variables. A geographical information system (GIS) is employed to investigate associations between such variables and distribution of different mosquitoes responsible for malaria transmission. Accurate prediction of risk depends on a number of variables, such as land use, NDVI, climatic factors, population, distance to health centres, ponds, streams and roads etc., all of which have an influence on malaria transmission or reporting. Climatic factors, particularly rainfall, temperature and relative humidity, are known to have a major influence on the biology of mosquitoes. To produce a malaria-susceptibility map using this method, weightings are calculated for various classes in each group. The groups are then superimposed to prepare a Malaria Susceptibility Index (MSI) map.Results We found that 3.87% of the malaria cases were found in areas with a low malaria-susceptibility level predicted from the model, whereas 39.86% and 26.29% of malaria cases were found in predicted high and very high susceptibility level areas, respectively.Conclusions Malaria susceptibility modelled using a GIS may have a role in predicting the risks of malaria and enable public health interventions to be better targeted