Actinomycetes isolates of arid zone of Indian Thar Desert and efficacy of their bioactive compounds against human pathogenic bacteria.

Twenty-six morphotypes of actinomycetes bacteria were isolated from the soils of arid zone of Indian Thar desert, Rajasthan. A significant and positive correlation was found between density of actinomycetes isolates and availability of nitrogen in sandy soil of arid zone suggesting the influence of soil nitrogen on occurrence and propagation of actinomycetes in this region. Molecular identification based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that the bacterial isolates belong to four actinomycetes genera, viz.

Oxidation of crotyl alcohol by N-chloro-4-methylbenzene sulphonamide in acidic medium and in alkaline media in the presence of os(VIII) catalyst-a kinetic pathway.

The kinetic pathway of oxidation of crotyl alcohol by sodium salt of -chloro-4-methylbenzene sulphonamide (chloramine-T) in acidic and alkaline medium has been studied. The speciation of chloramine-T has been made to suggest a proper and reasonable reaction mechanism. The thermodynamic quantities such as activation energy and activation entropy are evaluated in acidic as well as in catalysed alkaline medium.

Characterization of a novel seed protein of Prosopis cineraria showing antifungal activity.

An antifungal protein with a molecular mass of 38.6 kDa was isolated from the seed of Prosopis cineraria. The protein was purified using ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration.

Synergistic effects of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria in bioremediation of iron contaminated soils.

Three Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) from Glomus, Acaulospora and Scutellospora, and four plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) isolates related to genera Streptomyces, Azotobacter, Pseudomonas and Paenibacillus were found to be effective in phytoremediation of Fe(3+) contaminated soil where Pennisetum glaucum and Sorghum bicolor were growing as host plants. Co-inoculation of AMF and PGPR showed better results in comparison to either, AMF and PGPR under pot conditions. Both AMF and PGPR were able to produce siderophores.

Genome sequence of Ensifer sp. TW10; a Tephrosia wallichii (Biyani) microsymbiont native to the Indian Thar Desert.

Ensifer sp. TW10 is a novel N2-fixing bacterium isolated from a root nodule of the perennial legume Tephrosia wallichii Graham (known locally as Biyani) found in the Great Indian (or Thar) desert, a large arid region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. Strain TW10 is a Gram-negative, rod shaped, aerobic, motile, non-spore forming, species of root nodule bacteria (RNB) that promiscuously nodulates legumes in Thar Desert alkaline soil.

Morphometric and molecular characterization of fungus Pestalotiopsis using nuclear ribosomal DNA analysis.

Taxonomy of the fungus Pestalotiopsis based on morphological characters has been equivocal. Molecular characterization often Pestalotiopsis species was done based on nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) amplifications. Results of the analyses showed that species of genus Pestalotiopsis are monophyletic.

Effect of the incorporation of a low-band-gap small molecule in a conjugated vinylene copolymer: PCBM blend for organic photovoltaic devices.

The effect of the incorporation of a low-band-gap small-molecule BTD-TNP on the photovoltaic properties of vinylene copolymer P:PCBM bulk heterojunction solar cells has been investigated. The introduction of this small molecule increases both the short-circuit photocurrent and the overall power conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic device. The incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of the device based on P:PCBM:BTD-TNP shows two distinct bands, which correspond to the absorption bands of P:PCBM and BTD-TNP.

Surface plasmon resonance based immunosensor for serological diagnosis of dengue virus infection.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a promising tool in sensor technology for biomedical applications. An SPR based immunosensor was established for label free and real time assay for the serological diagnosis of dengue virus infection employing the dengue virus antigen as the sensing element. The dengue virus antigen conjugated with bovine serum albumin is covalently immobilized on a gold sensor chip via activated self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid, by amide coupling.

A new chlorophycean nickel hyperaccumulator.

Bioremediation of nickel by chlorophycean bioremediator, Chlorococcum hemicolum was investigated. The growth rates at various concentrations of Ni2+ were assessed in terms of protein level and 12 mg L(-1) of the Ni2+ is the tolerance limit (46.76% level of growth kinetics).

Potential utilization of guar gum industrial waste in vermicompost production.

Recycling of guar gum industrial waste through vermitechnology was studied under laboratory conditions by using composting earthworm Perionyx excavatus (Perrier). Three different combination of guar gum industrial waste namely guar gum industrial waste:cow dung:saw dust in 40:30:30 ratio (T1), guar gum industrial waste:cow dung:saw dust in 60:20:20 ratio (T2), and guar gum industrial waste:cow dung:saw dust in 75:15:10 ratio (T3) were used for vermicomposting experiments. Chemical changes during vermicomposting were measured and comparatively T2 showed great increase (from its initial level) for total N (25.

Hypolipidaemic efficacy of Capparis decidua fruit and shoot extracts in cholesterol fed rabbits.

High fat diet caused significant (8-fold) increase in serum total cholesterol in rabbits. Administration of C. decidua fruit extract (50% ethanolic) at the dose of 500 mg/kg body weight significantly reduced serum total cholesterol (61%), LDL cholesterol (71%), triglycerides (32%) and phospholipids (25%).

Contraceptive effect of Curcuma longa (L.) in male albino rat.

Aim: To study the contraceptive effect of the crude extracts of Curcuma longa in male albino rats.

Methods: Rats were fed orally with Curcuma longa aqueous and 70% alcoholic extract for 60 days (500 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1)).

Results: A reduction in sperm motility and density was observed in both the treated groups.

Comparative studies on biomass production, life cycles and composting efficiency of Eisenia fetida (Savigny) and Lampito mauritii (Kinberg).

Comparative studies were performed to evaluate composting potential, biomass growth and biology of a non-native (Eisenia fetida) and an endemic (Lampito mauritii) species of earthworm in the semiarid environment of Jodhpur district of Rajasthan in India. Earthworms were reared in a mixed bedding material comprised of biogas slurry, cowdung, wheat straw, leaflitter, sawdust and kitchen waste. The percentage of organic carbon of the culture bedding material declined upto 105 days with E.

Extension of Vedernikov's graph for seepage from canals.

In this investigation, using previously derived equations by Vedernikov and Morel-Seytoux, closed-form solutions have been obtained to compute the seepage from a slit and a strip. Also, a graphical solution as an extension of Vedernikov's graph has been presented for computing quantity of seepage from triangular, rectangular, and trapezoidal canals. The solution replaces approximately the cumbersome evaluation of improper integrals with unknown implicit transformation variables.

Micropropagation of Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew. - a tree of arid horticulture.

A method for micropropagation of mature trees of Capparis decidua was developed. Multiple shoots were obtained from nodal explants on Murashige and Skoog's (1962) medium+0.1mgl(-1) NAA+5.