Marine Microalgae: Culture and their Industrial Applications

Microalgae such as Chaetoceros gracilis, C. calcitrans, Chlorella salina, C. marina, Chromulina pleoides, Dunaliella tertiolecta, Isochrysis galbana, Nannochloropsis oculata, Pavlova lutheri, Skeletonema costatum, Tetraselmis chuii, Thalassiosira sp., are microscopic unicellular phytoplankton having size less than 10 μ, and have widely used in the aquaculture industry. The selection of these live feed organisms are based on many factors such as nutritional requirements of the cultured larvae, size of the mouth gape of larvae, development of the digestive tract of the cultured larvae, nutritional value and availability of the live feed and suitability for mass scale production. Though much efforts are been taken world-wide to supplement live feed totally or partially with artificial feeds, various studies pointed out that supply of suitable live feed organisms fortified with vitamins and fats are essential for the successful completion of the larval stages

Spinal myxomas: review of a rare entity.

Intramuscular myxomas are rare, benign mesenchymal tumours, occurring predominantly in large skeletal muscles as large, slow-growing and painless masses. Spinal occurrence is rare, and may present incidentally, or diagnosed via localized symptoms secondary to local infiltration of surrounding structures. Differential diagnosis based on imaging includes sarcomas, meningiomas and lipomas. We discuss two contrasting cases presenting with well-circumscribed cystic paraspinal lesions indicative of an infiltrative tumour and discuss the radiological and histological differences that distinguish myxomas from similar tumours. Surgical resection of the tumour was performed in both cases, however one patient required surgical fixation due to bony erosion secondary to tumour infiltration. Immuno-histopathological analysis confirmed the diagnosis of a cellular myxoma. Follow up imaging at 6 months confirmed no symptomatic or tumour recurrence in both cases. Histological analysis is the definitive means for diagnosis to differentiate myxomas from other tumours. Recurrence is rare if full resection is achieved

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Lung Cancer: Underlying Pathophysiology and New Therapeutic Modalities

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer are major lung diseases affecting millions worldwide. Both diseases have links to cigarette smoking and exert a considerable societal burden. People suffering from COPD are at higher risk of developing lung cancer than those without, and are more susceptible to poor outcomes after diagnosis and treatment. Lung cancer and COPD are closely associated, possibly sharing common traits such as an underlying genetic predisposition, epithelial and endothelial cell plasticity, dysfunctional inflammatory mechanisms including the deposition of excessive extracellular matrix, angiogenesis, susceptibility to DNA damage and cellular mutagenesis. In fact, COPD could be the driving factor for lung cancer, providing a conducive environment that propagates its evolution. In the early stages of smoking, body defences provide a combative immune/oxidative response and DNA repair mechanisms are likely to subdue these changes to a certain extent; however, in patients with COPD with lung cancer the consequences could be devastating, potentially contributing to slower postoperative recovery after lung resection and increased resistance to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Vital to the development of new-targeted therapies is an in-depth understanding of various molecular mechanisms that are associated with both pathologies. In this comprehensive review, we provide a detailed overview of possible underlying factors that link COPD and lung cancer, and current therapeutic advances from both human and preclinical animal models that can effectively mitigate this unholy relationship

Morphological, pathogenic and genetic variability in Colletotrichum capsici causing fruit rot of chilli in Tamil Nadu, India

Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) fruit rot disease caused by Colletotrichum capsici under tropical and subtropical conditions, results in qualitative and quantitative yield losses. Twenty (20) isolates of C. capsici were collected from conventional chilli growing areas of Tamil Nadu. In culture, most of the isolates produced cottony, fluffy or suppressed colonies. However, no significant differences were noticed in shape and size of conidia. The reaction of the 20 isolates on an indigenously developed differential set of Capsicum cultivars indicated the existence of different virulences in Tamil Nadu chilli populations. The genetic relationship between 20 morphological groups recognized within C. capsici was investigated using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Molecular polymorphism generated by RAPD confirmed the variation in virulences of C. capsici and different isolates were grouped into two large clusters. The pathological and RAPD grouping of isolates suggested no correlation among the test isolates.Keywords: Chilli, Colletotrichum capsici, variability, RAPDAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(17), 1786-179

EFFECT OF THRIPS (PSUDODENDROTHRIPS MORI NIWA) INFESTED MULBERRY LEAVES ON BIOCHEMICAL AND ECONOMIC PARAMETERS OF SILKWORM, Bombyx mori L.

Mulberry, (Morus alba L.) leaves are the predominant food source for silkworm, Bombyx mori L. that has been attacked by number of insect pests and pathogens. Among the sucking pests, thrips, (Pseudodendrothrips mori Niva) is a dominant pest causing enormous damages to mulberry leaves. Rearing of silkworm with thrips infected mulberry leaves affects growth, development and causes to reduce silk production. The present study deals with silkworm larvae fed with thrips infested mulberry leaves on biochemical and economic parameters. The biochemical parameters such as protein, lipid, carbohydrate and glycogen content, were studied in tissues of larvae like haemolymph, silkgland and fatbodies. The result showed that there was decreased in protein, lipid, carbohydrate, glycogen contents, when the larvae fed with thrips infested mulberry leaves than control. Maximum decrease (-53.80%) was noticed in the lipid content. There was also decreased in the economic characters such as cocoon weight (-20.26%), shell weight (-43.75%), shell ratio (-7.48%), filament length (- 30.19%), reliability (-29.28%) and denier (-25.22%)due to feeding of thrips infested mulberry leaves when compared to control

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Not AvailableThermal manipulation during embryogenesis has been demonstrated to enhance the thermotolerance capacity of broilers through epigenetic modifications. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are induced in response to stress for guarding cells against damage. The present study investigates the effect of thermal conditioning during embryogenesis and thermal challenge at 42 days of age on HSP gene and protein expression, DNA methylation and in vitro luciferase assay in brain tissue of Naked Neck (NN) and Punjab Broiler-2 (PB-2) chicken. On the 15th day of incubation, fertile eggs from two breeds, NN and PB-2, were randomly divided in to two groups: control (C)-eggs were incubated under standard incubation conditions, and thermal conditioning (TC)-eggs were exposed to higher incubation temperature (40.5°C) for 3 h on the 15th, 16th, and 17th days of incubation. The chicks obtained from each group were further subdivided and reared under different environmental conditions from the 15th to the 42nd day as normal [N; 25 ± 1 °C, 70% relative humidity (RH)] and heat exposed (HE; 35 ± 1 °C, 50% RH) resulting in four treatment groups (CN, CHE, TCN, and TCHE). The results revealed that HSP promoter activity was stronger in CHE, which had lesser methylation and higher gene expression. The activity of promoter region was lesser in TCHE birds that were thermally manipulated at the embryonic stage, thus reflecting their stress-free condition. This was confirmed by the lower level of mRNA expression of all the HSP genes. In conclusion, thermal conditioning during embryogenesis has a positive impact and improves chicken thermotolerance capacity in postnatal life.ICAR-NICR

Induction of defence enzymes activities in grape plant treated by seaweed algae against Plasmopara viticola and Uncinula necator causing downy and powdery mildews of grapes

Plasmopara viticola and Uncinula necator are the causative agents of downy mildew and powdery mildew diseases, respectively, which become a major problem in grape crop (Vitis vinifera L.). The use of natural products such as seaweed provides a rich source of structurally diverse and biologically active secondary metabolites; and is the ultimate way of combating these diseases. In this context, six different seaweed algae such as; Sargassum wightii, Padina gymospora, Caulerpa peltata, Halimeda gracilis, Acanthophora spicifera and Gracilaria opuntia; were used to control the downy and powdery mildew diseases of grapes. Enzymatic studies were carried out during two growing seasons 1 and 2 on peroxidase; polyphenol oxidase, phenylalanine ammonia lyase and β-1,3- glucanase. During season 1; in grape plants treated with Sargassum wightii, the four enzymes raised the glucose concentration to 60.79µg, 3.87µg, 5.20µg and 225.5µg; respectively, and then these plants were treated with Bordeaux mixture at 1%. After seaweed application; enzymes raised the glucose level to 59.83µg, 3.57µg, 5.17µg, 221.7µg. During season 2; when plants were treated with Sargassum wightii, the enzymes raised the glucose concentration to 62.48µg, 5.93µg, 7.25µg and 226.2µg, and then these plants were treated with Bordeaux mixture at 1%. After application; the enzymes raised the glucose level to 61.92µg, 3.57µg, 7.21µg and 224.2µg, respectively. During both seasons; β-1,3-glucanase released more amounts of glucose in both normal plants and those treated with Bordeaux mixture. The present study was undertaken to evaluate whether various extracts of seaweeds algae such as; brown, red, and green seaweeds along with the defence enzymes studied, would increase the resistance of grapes to downy and powdery mildews

PHOTOSENSITIVE EFFECT OF THE BIOCHEMICAL AND ECONOMIC TRAITS OF Bombyx mori L.

The silkworm is by nature very delicate and sensitive to environmental conditions. The ecological factors, chiefly temperature, humidity and light during rearing show significant effect on growth larvae and finally cocoon crop quality. Silkworms are photosensitive and they have a tendency to crawl towards dim light. They do not like either strong light or complete darkness. In this way, based on various exposures of light on the effect of biochemical content and economic traits of silkworm were recorded. Biochemical content such as protein is highly essential for insects. The intracellular transport of the silk protein is dependent on hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of the amino acid residues of the heavy and light chain of the silk protein and the haemolymph is the only extracellular fluid of insects with diverse functions and serves as reservoir for the products required for every physiological activity of the insect body, thus changes in the composition of haemolymph reflect the physiological and biochemical transformations taking place in the insect tissue. In this way of study, effect of light on biochemical content such as protein and carbohydrate of haemolyph and silk gland are significantly increased. The protein content was high in the haemolymph (17.48%) when the larvae exposed to 5 watt light and silk gland (66.67%) in 3 watt exposure group but fat body (44.33 %) when the larvae exposed to 8 watt. The carbohydrate content of haemolymph (35.54 %), silk gland (12.85%) and fat body (57.26 %) were significantly increased in 3 watt exposure group. In this findings, biochemical content had direct relation to economic traits of B. mori. The cocoon characters such as cocoon weight (28.42 per cent), pupal weight (20.9 per cent), shell weight (71 per cent) and shell ratio (33.48 per cent) were significantly increased in the 3 watt exposed group