Occurrence of Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteria in Rhizospheric and Pneumatophoric Sediment of Avicennia marina

The present study deals with the isolation and characterization of phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) from Avicennia marina rhizospheric sediment, pneumatophoric sediment and non-rhizospheric sediment. The sampling was carried out in four mangrove forests of Mumbai, India. The physicochemical parameters like pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, texture, total Phosphorus (P), inorganic P, organic P, Olsen P, iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc in sediment were analysed along with the isolation and molecular characterization of PSB. Significantly, lower pH was observed in the rhizospheric sediment than in the pneumatophoric and bulk sediment. Abundance of PSB was also found in the rhizospheric zone. This was supported by other physicochemical parameters such as high organic P, Olsen P, and higher bacterial count along with low inorganic P. In this study, 8 PSB were isolated and 16S rDNA sequence revealed that all the isolates belong to the genus Bacillus. Among the PSB isolates, B. subtilis sub. spizizenii TU-B-10 showed significantly higher solubilization activity (85.8±0.0 µg P released per 108 cfu in 72 hrs). The isolates that showed higher phosphate-solubilizing potentials can be explored as phosphatic bio-fertilizer to enhance the agricultural, aquacultural and mangrove productivity

RAINFALL FLUCTUATION AND FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF ERODE TALUK, TAMILNADU, INDIA

Precipitation is the most essential for horticultural reason yet the climatic components, the precipitation is the main list, ever considered by agriculturists. The precipitation information got from meteorological stations situated in Erode Taluk for a long time are gathered from Public Works Department (PWD) Therefore, the present study bargains the precipitation attributes of the Erode Taluk, which incorporates the precipitation vacillation as for spatial circulation utilizing GIS Technique. The precipitation varieties amid summer, winter, southwest storm and upper east rainstorm were dissected. Precipitation investigation was done in detail including the four seasons as arranged by the Meteorological Department. This investigation incorporates the investigations of occasional and spatial precipitation varieties. The study shows that an expanding pattern in precipitation focus is seen amongst January and May at all the stations and power of precipitation then reductions amid June and again increments till October. A pinnacle power of precipitation is seen amid October at all the precipitation stations. The region gets more precipitation amid the north-east rainstorm season and less precipitation amid the post-storm season

COMPARISON OF ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF EXTRACT OF PROSOPIS JULIFLORA SEEDS AGAINST AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC BACTERIA

Objective: To compare the antibacterial activity of prosopisjuliflora seed extract against aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted for 6 mo in the clinical microbiology laboratory of SMCH. Agar cup diffusion technique is used to isolate the strains of Clostridium perfringens ATCC 3624, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and Escherechiacoli ATCC 25922. The prosopisjulifloraseeds are collected from the saveetha medical college. Results: By performing the research with proper guidance it is observed that all the three bacterias–Staphylococcus aureus, Escherechia coli, Clostridium perfringens showed sensitivity to prosopisjulifloraseed extract. Conclusion: Due to its vast antibacterial activity it can be used along with other antibiotics to increase its efficacy. This is used for the treatment of infectious diseases

Animal hygiene and sustainable livestock production: impact of ground water contamination with arsenic

There is a growing concern all over the world about contamination of ground water with Arsenic. One of the major repercussions of arsenic contamination is degradation of animal hygiene that ultimately affects sustainable livestock production. The reports suggest that concentration of Arsenic in ground water of twenty one countries is well above the guideline values. Use of such contaminated water for animal husbandry and livestock production compromises with the hygienic value of animal products. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop low cost treatment technologies for reducing the level of arsenic in ground water to maintain the hygiene and sustainability of livestock production. Most of the traditional treatment technologies are costly and less effective in reducing arsenic concentration to safer limits. Therefore, during present study, an attempt was made to design a low-cost algal adsorbent based filtration unit consisting of polyurethane columns with entrapped algal adsorbents. The column was made of adsorbents of algal origin like agar-agar, alginic acid, calcium alginate and Spirulina platensis biomass entrapped in polyurethane foam matrix. The performance of the column was assessed in terms of removal efficiency and the quantity of metal sequestered in unit time interval. The results from the study the show that algal biosorbents and S. platensis biomass combination has a capacity to adsorbed arsenic from aqueous solution. The simple design, easy fabrication and no energy requirement for the operation of the filtration unit developed under the present study is suitable to rural areas where arsenic contamination of ground water is adversely affecting the animal hygiene and sustained livestock production

Growth performance of Spirulina (Arthrospira) platensis in a low cost medium: An assessment

The unialgal culture of Spirulina platensis was sub-cultured in Zarrouk’s medium under photoautotrophic conditions. Initially, indoor batch cultivation was carried out for a week in four different types of cultivation media viz., Zarrouk’s, Modified Zarrouk’s, prescribed Nallayam Research Centre (NRC), and Modified NRC. In modified medium, urea and phosphoric acid of NRC medium were replaced with sodium nitrate and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate (anhydrous) and concentration of ferrous sulphate heptahydrate was reduced. The batch and airlift indoor culture experiments were carried out with an illumination of 3500±100 lux, photoperiod of 12:12 hour light and dark periods and temperature of 24±1°C. The specific growth rate value was 5.7 % higher in Zarrouk’s medium as compared to modified NRC medium. However, the cost of modified NRC medium was considerably lower than Zarrouk’s medium; therefore, modified NRC medium was selected for outdoor studies. The outdoor mass cultivation was done under natural conditions with the solar radiation reaching the surface of culture was between 2160 and 8450 lux and temperature ranged from 27 to 34°C. An assessment of the performance of growth in batch, airlift and FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) tanks revealed that culture grown in airlift units showed best growth which was evident from higher specific growth rate and number of doublings per day. There was a 3.4-fold increase in cell density (in terms of turbidity at 750 nm) of the cultures in such units. The growth in outdoor FRP tanks was also comparable to the airlift cultures

Occurrence and Abundance of Phosphatase-Producing Bacteria in Mangrove Ecosystem

The study detailed the isolation and characterization of phosphatase producing bacteria (PPB) from rhizospheric, pneumatophoric and bulk sediments of Avicennia marina along Mumbai coast, India and also estimated alkaline phosphatase activity in sediment in addition to the Phosphatase enzymatic activity of isolates. The inorganic-organic nature of phosphorus was also examined. About, 42 PPB were isolated and identified from the sediment samples. 16S rDNA sequence revealed that all the isolates belong to the genus Bacillus except the one which belong to Geobacillus in the environment and B. anthracis str. Ames showed the phosphatase-producing activity of 84.11±0.01 µg p-NP released per 1×108 cfu in 72 hrs. The isolates, B. cereus strain APT23 and B. thuringiensis strain INRS4 showed the next best phosphatase activity. It was observed that PPB was very much abundant in A. marina mangroves. The pneumatophoric sediment showed significantly higher number of PPB with higher alkaline phosphatase activity, inorganic P and low organic P than those of other sediment types indicating that pneumatophoric region of A. marina harbours favourably the phosphatase-producers than the rhizospheric or bulk sediments and forms the first reference worldwide depicting this relationship. The isolates that showed higher phosphatase-producing potentials can be explored for using as phosphatic bio-fertilizer to enhance the agricultural, aquacultural and mangrove productivity on a larger scale

Occurrence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs) in Beached Plastic Pellets from Mumbai Coast, India

PAHs are a class of ubiquitous pollutants that are found in polluted marine areas whichconsist of two or more fused benzene rings in various arrangements. There are over 100different PAH compounds. A number of PAH compounds are known carcinogens andbioaccumulate and biomagnify. These compounds originate naturally as well asanthropogenically through oil spills, incineration of waste and combustion of fossil fuels andwood. Plastic pellets (small granules 1-5 mm in diameter) are the raw material used for theproduction of many different plastic products. The environmental consequence of theseorganic polymers is the sorption organic pollutants on their surface from the sea surfacemicrolayer (SML) where the hydrophobic contaminants are known to be enriched. Theplastic pellets were collected along the recent high tide line from four beaches of Mumbaicoast bimonthly during May 2011 - March 2012. A total of 72 pools of plastic pellets wereextracted, fractionated and analysed by Gas Chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometerto evaluate the extent and sources of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of thepriority list of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The mean ΣPAHconcentration in pellets was 9202.30±114.89 ng g-1 with a wide range (35.4-46191.58 ng g-1). The concentration of fluorene was found to be the highest (1606.30±251.54 ng g-1)followed by anthracene, chrysene and phenanthrene. The ΣPAH concentration wassignificantly varied among months and there was no significant difference among sites atp=0.05. The 2-3 aromatic ring compounds accounted for 60% of the total PAHs in pellets ofMumbai coast while 4 rings and 5-6 rings compounds accounted for 26 and 14%,respectively. The ratio of low and high molecular weight PAHs indicated that thecontamination by petrogenic sources was predominant over the pyrogenic ones in plasticpellets suggesting oil pollution in coastal area of Mumbai