Detection of genetic diversity among Indian strains of _Xanthomonas campestris_ pv. _mangiferaeindicae_ using PCR-RAPD

The randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was used to investigate the genetic diversity in 6 strains of _Xanthomonas campestris_ pv. _mangiferaeindicae_ (_Xcmi_), the causal pathogen of mango bacterial canker disease (MBCD). The RAPD analysis was also intended to identify molecular markers, specific to the species to develop PCR-based markers for detection of _Xcmi_ in mango field and planting materials. Twenty RAPD primers (CP 1-CP 20) were evaluated to establish molecular characters and genetic variability in the genome of _Xcmi_. Among these, only 4 were found efficient for development of reproducible banding pattern. It has been observed that the largest and smallest amplified RAPD products were of 2.036 and 0.201 kbp. A total of 136 bands were scored against 6 strains of _Xcmi_. There was 7.66 per cent polymorphism in individual isolates which indicates significant polymorphism among the evaluated strains, with mean difference of 0.33 (_Xcmi_ 2 vs. _Xcmi_ 8) and 0.29 (_Xcmi_ 10 vs. _Xcmi_ 12). However, the single linkage euclidean distances were statistically significant (P>0.05), i.e., 0.58. The markers CP 5, 10, 16 and 19 were amplified in all the strains with polymorphic alleles, which indicates that these markers could be used for rapid detection of genetic variability in _Xcmi_ strains

A study to estimate prevalence and risk factors of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome in a semi-urban Indian population

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) has been recognised as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries like India. There is still a paucity of Indian studies regarding the prevalence of OSAS. The current single centre prospective cross-sectional study was undertaken to know prevalence estimates for key symptoms and features that can indicate the presence of OSAS in an Indian population. A survey was conducted on subjects with age groups ≥ 25 years at King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India from August 2009 to July 2011. Data was recorded during the interview on the basis of Berlin Questionnaire (BQ). Risk factors for OSAS were also evaluated. Risk group categorization for OSAS was done with the help of a questionnaire and overnight polysomnography was performed in each group to measure apnea and hypopnea index (AHI). Out of 1816 subjects, 1512 (response rate 83.3%) finally participated in the survey with mean age 42.6±11.2 years, males 67.9% and females 32.1%. Of them 6.2% were found to be at high-risk OSAS; 12.2% were obese (Body Mass Index ≥30 kg/m2) and 33.5% of the obese population were at high-risk OSAS. Among high-risk patients with OSAS, 62.4% had hypertension. Statistically significant and independent risk factors found for OSAS were obesity, large neck size, alcoholism and use of sedatives/tranquillizers. High-risk category predicted an AHI ≥5 with a sensitivity of 86.3% (95% CI 73.1-93.8), specificity of 93.1% (95% CI 89.1-95.7), positive and negative predictive values of 70.9% (95% CI 57.9-81.4) and 97.2% (95% CI 94.1-98.8) respectively. It can be concluded that BQ questionnaire can still be used as a pre-assessment tool for predicting persons at risk for OSAS in clinical practice. Further studies on estimation of prevalence of OSAS by applying BQ are warranted in near future from other regions of India

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Not AvailableExperiment was conducted to find out the potent antagonist isolated from various sources for management of mango bacterial canker disease (MBCD) caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. Mangiferaeindicae (Xcmi). Calotropis sp, Lantana sp., and Ricinus communis leaf based organic liquid pesticides along with one commercial preparation (NPV) were evaluated Xcmi in vitro and showed inhibitory ( + ) effect. Further 16 bacterial isolate isolated from these organic pesticides of which 5 were found inhibitory ( + ) against Xcmi. Apart from these in vitro evaluated bacterial antagonists, LSF-8 (mango fruit surface), Bc (mango phyllopane), BDB-1, BDB- 2 and BDB -3 (leaf based organic pesticides)found effective in vitro earlier were tested under field condition for the management of MBCD. These host bacterium (xcmi). All the five antagonists and antibiotic, Streptocycline were applied pre, post and simultaneous (mixed) sprays with host bacterium (Xcmi). All the 5 antagonist and antibiotics were found significantly superior over control (63.63-74.35%) in reducing MBCD (0.00-58.82%) in all the 3 years of testing. Among the 3 methods, post application of antagonists followed by mix ones was found best in checking the disease with disease incidence ranging from 0.00 to 26 per cent. In a preliminary trial, all the 5 antagonists and antibiotics were also found significantly superior over control (58.92%) in reducing MBCD (22.39-35.10%) at its hot spot. The result of present investigation clearly indicates that the antagonistic bacterial organisms exist in different environment which could be purified and exploited in bio-control of MBCD, an important disease of mango.ICA