An oxidant, detergent and salt stable alkaline protease from Bacillus cereus SIU1

A novel soil bacterium, Bacillus cereus SIU1 was earlier isolated from non-saline, slightly alkaline soil of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India. The isolate B. cereus SIU1 was grown in modified glucose yeast extract (modified GYE) medium at pH 9.0 and 45°C. It produced maximum protease at 20 h incubation. The enzyme was stable at pH 9.0 and 55°C. It was fully stable at 0.0 to 3.0% and moderately stable at 4.0 to 10.0% (w/v) NaCl concentrations. Whereas PMSF, EDTA and ascorbic acid were inhibitory, cysteine and β-mercaptoethanol enhanced protease activity. Calcium, magnesium, manganese and copper at 1 mM concentration increased the enzyme activity. Hydrogen peroxide, sodium perborate, sodium lauryl sulphate, Triton X100 and Tween 80 significantly increased the activity, while protease remained fairly stable (52 to 98%) at 0.1 and 1.0% concentrations of commercial detergents. The halotolerant thermoalkaline protease of B. cereus SIU1 was highly active and stable in the presence of several modulators, oxidants and detergents, revealing its possible use in several commercial and biological applications.Key words: Bacillus cereus SIU1, thermoalkaline protease, PMSF, EDTA, Hydrogen peroxide, Triton X100, Tween 80

Quadruple context-free L-System mathematical tools as origin of biological evolution

It is well known that A, T, G, C annealed together early in evolution and the long stretch of DNA was found which ultimately resulted into chromosomes of different organisms. But it is unclear till date how exons, introns, conserved protein domains was formed. Using the DNA sequences of the largest known gene-family present in human genome, i.e., olfactory receptors and simplest possible quadruple context-free L-Systems, we show that conserved protein domains and intergenic regions which lies at the heart of the biological evolution started with a sixteen base-pairs stretch of DNA

KAP Study on Immunization of Children in a City of North India – A 30 Cluster Survey

Background: To determine the knowledge, attitude and practices about immunization among respondents of children aged 12-23 months.\ud Methods: A total of 510 respondents were interviewed in the urban slums of Lucknow district of India, using 30 cluster sampling technique from January 2005 to April 2005. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to elicit the information about the knowledge, attitude and practices of the respondents regarding immunization. \ud Results: Knowledge regarding the disease prevented, number of doses and correct age of administration of BCG was highest among all the categories of respondents. The paramedical worker was the main source of information to the respondents of completely (52.0%) and partially immunized (48.5%) children while community leaders for unimmunized children. Those availing private facilities were more completely immunized, as compared to the government facilities. 55.8% of those who took 20 minutes to reach the immunization site were completely immunized as compared to 64.1% of those who took more than 20 minutes.\ud Conclusion: Considering the incomplete knowledge, and inappropriate practices of the people, the policy makers and medical professionals require Herculean efforts to raise the knowledge and to break the old beliefs of the peopl

A novel mathematical tool for generating highly conserved protein domain via different organismal genomic landscapes

Darwinian evolution hypothesizes that a short stretch of DNA was first constructed and then it expanded to give rise to a long strand. This long strand then produced a mix of exons, introns and repetitive DNA sequence. The order of production of above three kinds of DNA sequence is unknown. Reshuffling of stretches of DNA like above within organisms has given rise to different chromosomes. Till date it is not known how this process is governed. In this paper we show that starting with a sixteen base-pair human olfactory DNA sequence one can form a highly conserved protein domain. Once this domain is formed repetitive DNA sequences of a particular kind starts generating which signifies that this particular conserved protein domain will be unique in nature. The entire mathematical exercise presented in this paper is based on simplest possible context free L-System which we think has been adopted by biological system in general

Antibacterial activity of seed extracts of Argemone mexicana L. on some pathogenic bacterial strains

Antibacterial activity of seed extracts of Argemone mexicana L. (Papaveraceae) was evaluated against some pathogenic bacterial strains. Chloroform extract of seeds exhibited varying level of antibacterialactivity, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 2.0 - 5.0 mg/ml, against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The chloroform extract was found to be more active than the other extracts against all the test bacteria. MIC values were 2.0 and 3.0 mg/ml, respectively, for Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and their respective drug-resistant strains. The sensitivity of the test bacteria varied with the species and strains. The study provides basis for the isolation andpurification of antibacterial compound(s) from the seeds of A. mexicana L

Weathered basalt application for management of Vertisols: A traditional knowledge of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) growers of Gujarat, India

793-799Gujarat tops with 27.87% of total groundnut production. The basaltic shrink-swell soils are generally evaluated as unsuitable for groundnut production in Saurtashtra region of Gujarat. They have untapped source of traditional knowledge for managing heavy shrink-swell soils of basaltic terrain. Groundnut growers of the region are applying weathered basalt (WB, Vēraḍēḍa bēsālṭanuṁ in Gujarati) in pure form which is naturally available or sometimes treated by mixing the farmyard manures (FYM) or groundnut husk, and/or fortified with nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilizers. A study was planned to find out the reason for higher production of groundnut with the application of WB before sowing the seed. For this study the farmers were divided in to 05 groups on the basis of forms and combinations of WB application in groundnut fields. The participatory approaches and personal interviews were combined to collect the data from 25 farmers of each group. After interviewing the farmers, we came to know that this practice is being followed since 40 years. The study revealed that the practice significantly reduces the contracting and expanding phenomenon in black Vertisols and improve physico-chemical properties of soils like hydraulic characteristics (infiltration, permeability, percolation and drainage), aeration, bulk density, porosity, thermal conductivity and also improve availability of secondary (Ca, Mg & S) and micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn & Cu). The present study forms the basis for upgrading the traditional management packages for sustainable groundnut production in black soil region of India

An ecological study of Indian open drain sewage and it’s treatment

The disposal of a large volume of untreated and partially treated domestic wastewater is causing pollution of various water sources. Sewage treatment involving conventional wastewater treatment technologies is costly. In the present study, in-situ treatment of sewage using a commercially effective microbial consortium was investigated in two community open drains of Chanarthal village in Haryana state of India. The pH, turbidity, BOD, and COD were determined in accordance with standard methods. The optimum dose for treatment in the batch study was 1ml/L, and the optimum time for treatment was 5 days. The batch study results were used for continuous in-situ treatment study performed in drains over a period of six weeks. The turbidity, BOD, and COD removal were 60.1, 82.1, and 64.7% in the batch study and 40.1, 61.1, and 56.4% in the continuous in-situ treatment study. It was also observed that a higher dose of microbial consortia gives the same performance as low doses at a later stage of the study

Phosphate uptake kinetics and its regulation in N2- fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena oryzae Fritsch under salt stress

Phosphorous (P) starved cells of the cyanobacterium Anabaena oryzae showed higher phosphate uptake rates than P-sufficient cells. The P-uptake obeyed saturation kinetics. The Km value for Pdeficientcells was lower (54.34 mM) than P-sufficient cells (82.64 mM) while Vmax was higher in Pdeficient and lower in P-sufficient cells. Salinity (NaCl) stimulated phosphate uptake significantly in thecyanobacterium which is followed by greater amount of P-accumulation in the form of polyphosphate bodies. Inhibition of P-uptake in P-deficient cells was 45% in dark grown compared to light grown cells.P-uptake was inhibited 52 and 85% in culture treated with 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU; 10 mM) and carbonyl cyanide m-chloro phenylhydrazone (CCCP; 100 mM), respectively,suggesting that energy for uptake could be derived from oxidative phosphorylation and photophosphorelation