Study of distribution and biodiversity of crabs in intertidal soft substrate of Chabahar Bay

The population dynamics depend on environment and habitat stability and environmental conditions are the main element effecting biodiversity and richness. The main objective of this study was to assess biodiversity of intertidal crabs in Chabahar bay. During this research TOM, moisture, density, dominance, richness and evenness were measured. Sampling were carried out at 3 stations: Tiss, Jazireh Kharchang and Konarak in July 2009. Totally, 7 species were recorded belonging to the family Ocypodidae. The results of biodiversity indices in 3 Stations revealed that Jazireh Kharchang with 5 species and Konarak with 1 species have the highest and lowest diversity, respectively. The percentage of TOM and grain size showed significant differences between the 3 stations, while the highest TOM and lowest sand percentages were observed in Jazireh Kharchang

SURVEY THE MUTATION OF FGB (BETA FIBRINOGEN) AND FV (FACTOR V LEIDEN), FACTOR XIII AND FACTOR II (PROTHROMBIN), IN PATIENTS WITH RECURRENT ABORTIONS ALONG WITH NORMAL KARYOTYPE

Some pregnancies are abnormal in human genetically and end with the spontaneous abortion, which is the most common problem of pregnancy. The recurrent abortions are often referred to as multifactorial disease that one of which is thrombosis. The thrombosis in placenta capillaries seems to disturb the blood circulation between the mother and the fetus and eventually lead to abortion. Recently, studies have shown that genetic basis for thrombophilia relates with recurrent abortion. The aim of this study is the survey of G1691A and G4070A mutations in the Factor V gene, -455G>A mutation in the gen of XIII factor, G103T mutation in Beta fibrinogen and A20210G mutation in the thrombin gene. The samples were collected from 60 patients referred to Tehran Imam Khomeini hospital .DNA was extracted from patients' blood samples by multiple PCR simultaneously containing different mutations were duplicated then the existence of mutation was evaluated by the strip technique. The genes mutation of G1691A in Factor V, G4070A in Factor V, G103T in Beta fibrinogen, -455G>A in the XIII factor and G20210A were identified 6.6, 45, 36, 40 and 3.3 respectively. Studies on the other population showed that frequency of examined mutations varies with other communities. Anyway, more samples are required in order to obtain more accurate statistics related to the frequency of mutations

Detection of FLT3/TKD and IDH1 Mutations in Pakistani Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients by Denaturing HPLC

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by an increase in the number of myeloid cells in the marrow and an arrest in their maturation. Various genetic mutations are associated with AML. FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3), a member of the class III receptor tyrosine kinase family, plays an important role in stem cell survival, and the development of dendritic and natural killer cells. FLT3/TKD mutations are generally missense mutations or in-frame alterations of residues D835 and I836 within the activation loop of the FLT3 protein. D835 mutations have been reported to occur in ≈ 7% of AML patients. Mutations have also been reported in exon 4 of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) in ≈9% of AML patients. Mutations in FLT3/TKD and IDH1 genes were studied in AML patients from Pakistan and correlated with the laboratory findings. FLT3/TKD mutations were found in 7%, while IDH1 mutations were found in 10% Pakistani AML patients. Neither of these mutations was significantly correlated with age and sex, although the incidence of these mutations was higher in female patients. These mutations were found to be positively associated with each other. IDH1 mutations were positively associated with FAB type M1 and negatively associated with FAB type M2. In conclusion, the overall incidence of all these mutations in Pakistani patients was within the globally reported ranges

Hepatic Responses of A Freshwater Fish Against Aquatic Pollution*

Abstract.-Freshwater fish, Tor putitora caught from polluted portion of River Kabul was studied for various hepatic biochemical parameters and was compared with control fish caught from non polluted Warsak Dam to know the possible toxic effects of pollution in the river. Fish liver was dissected out and analyzed for various biochemical parameters like total protein, soluble protein, total cholesterol, total lipid, glucose, free amino acid, DNA, RNA and enzymes such as amylase, GOT, GPT and LDH. The hepatic total proteins, soluble proteins, total cholesterol, total lipids, glucose content and free amino acids in fish sample 1 and sample 2 increased 29% and 16%, 6% and 15%, 75% and 68%, 41% and 65%, 47% and 26%, and 333% and 729%, respectively as compared to control sample. The DNA content decreased 14% and 20%, whereas the RNA decreased 41% and 32% in sample 1 and 2, respectively. The fish sample from site I and II showed 5% and 17% increased hepatic amylase activity, 69% and 72% decreased GOT activity in sample 1 and 2, respectively. The GPT activity decreased 45% in sample 1 and increased 28% in sample 2. The LDH activity was decreased 69% in sample 1, but showed 14% increase in sample 2 as compared to control sample. The increase and decrease in various biochemical parameters and enzymes in the liver of test fish samples in comparison with the control shows the adverse effect of aquatic pollution on the fish health. Aquatic pollution could be one of the major reasons of rapid decline in population of this endangered South Asian fresh water fish

Fish white muscle as biomarker for riverine pollution.

Abstract.-An endangered South Asian freshwater fish, Tor putitora netted from polluted part of River Kabul was studied for various muscle biochemical parameters and was compared with control fish caught from non polluted Warsak Dam water reservoir to investigate the remedies caused by the ambient pollution in the fish health. Fish muscle was analyzed for various biochemical parameters like total protein, soluble protein, total cholesterol, total lipid, glucose, free amino acid, DNA, RNA and free fatty acids and enzymes such as amylase, GOT, GPT and LDH. The muscles showed an increase in total muscle proteins (11.8% and 89.6%), total lipid (406.8% and 119.6%), DNA (18.7% and 18.8%) in sample 1 and 2 respectively. Soluble protein, however, remained unaffected in sample 1 but showed a drastic 77.35% increase in sample 2. The muscles showed a decrease in total cholesterol (17.22% and 12.43% ), glucose (41.26% and 51.00%) and RNA (23.95% and 40.04%) in sample 1 and sample 2 respectively. However, free amino acids decreased 12.14% in sample 1 and increased 31.3% in sample 2. Similarly free fatty acids decreased 53.5% in sample 1 but showed 97% higher value in sample 2. Among enzymes amylase (36.3% and 42.8%), LDH (21.8% and 45.8% ) increased, likewise GOT activity ( 18.72% and 43.34%) and GPT (45.82% and 48.6%) decreased in sample 1 and 2, respectively, as compared with that of control fish. The increase and decrease in various biochemical parameters and enzymes in the white muscle of test fish samples in comparison with the control, reveals the adverse effect of aquatic pollution on the inhabitant fish health. Pollution stress could be one of the reasons of rapid decline in population of this South Asian endangered freshwater fish

In vivo Effect of Spinosad on Proteases of Insecticide-Resistant and Susceptible Strains of Musca domestica

Abstract.-To further elucidate the possible involvement of intracellular protein catabolism in the development of resistance to insecticides, we determined in vivo effect of one of the environment friendly naturalite insecticide available and marketed in Pakistan, spinosad, on the activities of cytoplasmic and lysosomal proteases in insecticideresistant and -susceptible strains of adult houseflies, Musca domestica (Muscidae: Diptera) under laboratory conditions. Spinosad at LD 50 dose level after 48 hour treatment decreased all cytoplasmic proteases in living (ranging from 21 to 93%) and dead flies (ranging from 20 to 97%) in susceptible strain except proline endopeptidase which was increased considerably. Likewise spinosad also depleted all proteases in live (in the range of 28-74%) and the dead flies (in the range of 41-82%) except proline endopeptidase which was elevated. The results also showed considerably higher levels of all cytoplasmic (54 to 95%) and lysosomal proteases (142 to 158%) in control groups of resistant compared with susceptible strains. This probably reveals the efficacy of spinosad to control the resistant strain of M. domestica effectively and suggests involvement of proteases in the development of insect resistance to this insecticide

Biosorption of Mercury by Bacteria, Isolated from Industrial Effluents: Potential Use in Bioremediation of Wastewater

Abstract.-Two mercury resistant bacterial strains-Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas sp. H1-G1 were isolated from industrial wastewater of Sialkot (Pakistan 650, 350, 150, 550, 50, and 250 µg/mL, respectively. The isolates showed typical growth curves but lag and log phases extended in the presence of mercury. Both isolates showed optimum growth at 37ºC and pH 8-9. Metal processing ability of the isolates was determined in a medium containing 100 µg/mL of Hg 2+ . Both Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas. sp. H1-G1 could reduce 90% of mercury from the medium after 40 hours of incubation at 37ºC. Both bacterial strains have shown remarkable ability to uptake metal ions from the culture medium. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was observed to uptake 75% and Pseudomonas sp. H1-G1 65% of Hg 2+ from the medium after 24 hours of incubation at 37 o C. The isolated strains can be exploited for specific environmental clean-up operations

Plasmid Profile Analysis and Antimicrobial Resistance Pattern of Shigella flexneri Strains Isolated From

Abstract.-This study was carried out to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of 584 Shigella flexneri isolated from diarrheal patients admitted in hospitals in Azad Kashmir Pakistan and to evaluate their changing trends against twenty antibiotics. The isolates showed highest resistance against penicillin followed by carbenicillin, ampicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin, ceftizoxime, kanamycin, co-trimoxazole, piperacillin, amoxicillin, amikacin, streptomycin, nalidixic acid, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, cephalothin and ceftriaxone. All S. flexneri isolates were sensitive to cefixime, ciprofloxacin and enoxacin. Multiple drug resistance (MDR) was observed against 3-10 drugs and was resistant against three or more antibiotics was at the level as high as 300µg/ml. The resistant isolates showed different patterns of antibiotics resistance. The most common pattern was PCaA. The plasmids were observed in 32.8% MDR strains of S. flexneri which were found resistant against three or more antibiotics. The number of plasmids varied from one to seven. Analysis of plasmid DNA of S. flexneri revealed that all the strains contained a heterogeneous population of plasmids ranging between >23.1 kb to <2.0 kb. Based on molecular weight, the pattern of different plasmids was also very diverse. Depending on the number of plasmids, individual strains were grouped into nine different plasmid patterns. Some of the antibiotic resistance determinants were cured by acridine orange, indicating that widespread antibiotic resistance is mediated through plasmid. Transformation experiments showed that the factors for resistance against ampicillin, chloramphenicol and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim resided in >23.1 Kb and 23.1 Kb plasmids

In vivo effects of cyfluthrin on proteolytic enzyme activities of malathion-resistant and susceptible strains of Tribolium castaneum.

Abstract.-To elucidate whether insecticide toxicity in insects involves insecticide -induced abnormalities of the intracellular protein catabolic process, we have determined the in vivo effect of a synthetic pyrethroid, cyfluthrin on the activities of representative protein catabolising cytoplasmic and lysosomal proteases (responsible for the various stages of the protein degradation cascade and essential for normal cell functioning) in resistant and susceptible strains of Tribolium castaneum. Effect of cyfluthrin was determined at LC 50 after 48 hour of treatment both in the live and dead adult beetles and compared with controls. In treated live beetles, cyfluthrin decreased alanyl aminopeptidase (18%), arginyl aminopeptidase (6%), leucyl aminopeptidase (22%), tripeptidyl aminopeptidase (12%), proline endopeptidase (43%) and dipeptidyl aminopeptidase I (23%) and increased cathepsin H (42%), while in dead beetles, almost all cytoplasmic proteases as well as cathepsin H manifested further decreasing trend. On the other hand in treated resistant strain live beetles, all lysosomal proteases and leucyl aminopeptidase were considerably decreased ranging from 19% to 58% of control activity and this decreasing trend was further intensified in treated dead beetles, which ranged from 30% to 96%. We conclude that the effect of cyfluthrin on proteolytic enzyme activities induced inhibition of proteases and could be important in the development of insecticide resistance in T. castaneum