Fungal Involvement in Biodeterioration of Ancient Monuments: Problem and Prospects

The air contains a large amount of biological and a biotic component such as, pollen grains, fungal spores, insects, mites, fibers and dust particles but their number and concentration depend upon the geographical location, types of vegetation and meteorological parameters. Fungal ability in production of pigments and organic acids have crucial role in discoloration and degradation of different types of stone in cultural heritage objects. Additionally, stone objects may support novel communities of microorganisms that are active in Biodeterioration process. The problem of deterioration of ancient monuments caused by Microbial agent, of which fungi play an important role in the deterioration. Present investigation focuses on mycobial survey of The Temple group  of Satmahla (Surguja region) and study carried out March 2010 to February 2011. During the investigation period 24 fungal species were isolated from the surface of monument which are  Aspergillus, Penicillium, Curvularia, Cladosporium, Fusarium and Rhizopus. reported as dominant fungal type in tample of Satmahla

Biodeterioration of Ancient Monument (Devarbija) of Chhattisgarh by Fungi

Chhattisgarh is the land of ancient culture which has lots of ancient monuments, temples and fort. Every nook and corner of Chhattisgarh has traditional heritage. Numerous factors affect the stone durability. Stone surfaces are conti- nuously exposed to physical, chemical and biological degradation. Physical, chemical, and biological agents act in co-association, ranging from synergistic to antagonistic, to the deterioration. Among biological agents miroorganisms have critical importance, in stone deterioration. They can cause various damages on the stone surface.Biodeterioration processes result from complex interactions of surface-invading microbes with each other as well as with the surface material. Fungal ability in production of pigments and organic acids have crucial role in discoloration and degradation of monuments. Air acts as a vehicle for the dispersion of microorganisms. It introduces into air from different sources i.e. soil, water, organic waste of man, plant leaves, sneezes and cough. This investigation focuses on mycological survey of The Sita Devi Temple of Devarbija,Durg,Chhattisgarh. The 15 fungal floras were isolated. Aspergillus, Penicillium, Curvularia, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Mucor, Rhizopus, were dominant. During present study 88 fungal colonies were observed.Key words: Biodegradation, Devarbija, FungiDr Kavita Sharma and Sandhya Lanjewar. Biodeterioration of Ancient Monument (Devarbija) of Chhattisgarh by Fungi. J Phytol 2/11 (2010) 47-4

Ecological Study of Fungi Isolated from the Surface Water of Dudhawa Dam Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh, India

Dudhawa Dam is located in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh in India. It is built across Mahanadi river in Dudhawa villag. The quantitative and qualitative fungal composition of dam water was surveyed monthly for a year i.e. March 2010 to February 2011. A variety of fungal strains was isolated and identified from the water of Dam. Out of a total 193 fungal colonies, 35 fungal species belongs to 16 fungal genera were isolated. Aspergillus niger was most frequent species with 91.67%, Neoarachnotheca keratinophila (75%) followed by A. flavus and A. fumigatus with 66.67% frequency. It was also found that maximum percentage contribution was observed for Aspergillus fumigatus (19.68%), which was followed by Aspergillus niger with (18.65% ) contribution

Biodeterioration of ancient monuments: Problems and prospects

Fungal ability in production of pigments and organic acids have crucial role in discoloration and degradation of different types of stone in cultural heritage objects. Additionally, stone objects may support novel communities of microorganisms that are active in biodeterioration process. The air contains a large amount of biological and a biotic component such as, pollen grains, fungal spores, insects, mites, fibers and dust particles but their number and concentration depend upon the geographical location, types of vegetation and meteorological parameters. The problem of deterioration of ancient monuments caused by microbial agent, of which fungi play an important role in the deterioration. Present investigation focuses on mycobial survey of the Temple of Sirpur and study carried out March 2010 to February 2011. During the investigation period 18 fungal species were isolated from the surface of different ancient monuments of Sirpur which are Aspergillus, Penicillium, Curvularia, Cladosporium, Fusarium and Rhizopus reported as dominant fungal type in Laxman tample of Sirpur

Toxicity of Heavy Metals on Germination and Seedling Growth of Salicornia brachiata

Seed is a developmental stage that is highly protective against external stresses in the plant life cycle. In this study, we analyzed toxicity of heavy metals (Cd2+, Ni2+and As3+) on seed germination and seedling growth in a halophyte Salicornia brachiata. Germination percentage for Ni2+ is lower than Cd2+and As3+ metal at 200 µM concentration. Shoot length and root length decreased significantly upto 400 µM and 100 µM of Ni2+ and As3+ respectively While in case of Cd2+ seedlings could survive up to 300 µM concentration with a minor reduction in growth. Salicornia brachiata can serve as substantially important plant species for phytoremediation of heavy metals at lower concentrations in saline areas

Bioactivity of some medicinal plant extracts against Musca domestica L.

Musca domestica, is a major vector responsible for spreading many human and veterinary pathogenic organisms. Many methods have been tried to control them but none is found to be 100% effective and even some synthetic ones have given good results but their residues which are being accumulated in water, food, milk, etc. have become serious cause of concern. These residues are known to remain active for many years and their degradation is slow. Moreover, chemical pesticides and insecticides show good results in the beginning but later on these become less effective due to the resistance generated by the insects / pests. Therefore, there is every need to find out alternative for the chemical pesticides. By topical application of some ethnolic extracts the percentage mortality were recorded. Percent mortality and index of repellency induced by the extracts found to be dose-dependent. Extracts of the two plant species may be useful as insecticides for controlling the houseflies and should be exploited as a component of integrated vector control strategies or could be useful in the search of new insecticidal natural compounds. In the present study the different concentrations extracts of some plants were tested for adulticidal and repellent activity against Musca domestica L. The percentage mortality was found to increase with higher concentrations of plant extracts which indicates direct relationship between the dose and percent mortality. The plant Artemisia nilgirica (C.B.Cl.) Pamp. and Annona squamosa L. were shown wide spectrum activity to control Musca domestica L. While some other species such as Blumea eriantha DC., Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br., Lavandula bipinnata O. Ktze. have also shown the activity

Biotechnology and conservation of medicinal plants

Plants have been an important source of medicine for thousands of years. Medicinal plants are the most important source of life saving drugs. Even today, the WHO estimates that up to 80 per cent of people still rely mainly on traditional remedies such as herbs for their medicines. Medicinal plants are resources of new drugs.  Approximately one quarter of prescribed drugs contain plant extracts or active ingredients obtained from plant substances. Many of the modern medicines are produced indirectly from medicinal plants, for example aspirin and digitalis. Plants are directly used as medicines by a majority of cultures around the world, for example Chinese medicine and Indian medicine. Plants are directly used as medicines by a majority of cultures for example Chinese medicine and Indian medicine. Studying medicinal plants helps to understand plant toxicity and protect human and animals from natural poisons. This paper reviews the role of biotechnology for conservation of medicinal plants

Quantitative Changes of Immune Complexes and Leukocyte Count Due to Periodontitis and their Effect on Diabetes Mellitus

The formation of circulating immune complexes (CIC) is a normal human response but persistence elevated level of CIC is a feature of many diseased conditions. These immune complexes produced due to Periodontitis may give rise to a variety of systemic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (DA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to investigate the level of CIC in serum of patients with severe chronic Periodontitis and their effect on type 2 diabetes mellitus. Polyethylene glycol (6000) method was used to isolate immune complexes from sera. The concentration of immunoglobulins was determined by radial immunodiffusion plates.The level of neutrophils(

Bioprospection of Some Plants for Management of Aedes egypti L.

Insecticides and pesticides of plant origin have been receiving attention in recent years to overcome the environmental hazards caused due to exhaustive use of synthetic ones. India is rich in biodiversity and Known for vast treasure of knowledge about use of plants for various purposes. In the present study the different concentrations of ethanolic extracts of some plants were tested for larvicidal and adulticidal activity against the of Aedes ejypti L. The percentage mortality was found to increase with higher concentrations of plant extracts which indicates direct relationship between the dose and percent mortality. The plant Artemisia nilgirica (C.B.Cl.) Pamp. and Annona squamosa L. were shown wide spectrum activity to control vector Aedes ejypti L. While some other species such as Blumea eriantha DC. , Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br., Lavandula bipinnata O. Ktze. have also shown the activity