Applied Botany

The ameliorating effect of Emblica officinalis was evaluated against changes in sperm and hormone of mice. The animals received aqueous preparation of Endosulfan (Pesticide) once daily for 35 days at the dose of 3 mg/kg body wt by oral gavage method and observed deleterious effect such as of reduction in the number of sperm count and motility. Declination in the level of Testosterone were observed which signify the testicular dysfunctions and finally causes infertility. To ameliorate the deleterious effect made by endosulfan, Emblica officinalis was administered to mice @ 100 mg/kg body wt & 150 mg/kg body wt The earlier study have demonstrated potent anti-microbial, antioxidant, adaptogenic, hepatoprotective, anti-tumor and anti-ulcerogenic activities in the fruits of Emblica officinalis. Emblica officinalis treatment mitigate the fluctuation in sperm count and sperm motility as well as elevated the level of testosterone which was depressed by pesticide treatment.

Sulfur is an essential macronutrient for plants. As a constituents of sulfure containing amino acids, methionine and cysteine are also important for animal and human nutrition. That is why understanding of how inorganic sulfure is taken up by plants and built into organic molecules in the process of sulfur assimilation is important. The process of sulfur uptake and assimilation is an integral part of sulfur metabolism. The major physiological problem connected with sulfur metabolism is a sulfur deficiency stress which can be diagnosed in two states. The short -term response is characterized by the development of enhance lateral roots exploring the space in search for lacking nutrients. The long- term response is characterized by decrease in internal lipids, and chlorophyll content and increase in photorespiration. These factor provide-cause effect connections to decrease photosynthesis leading to limitation in energy assimilation, which is turn induces in decline of plant metabolisms.

The Phytochemical studies were carried out on the aqueous, chloroform and ethanol extract of the powdered specimen using standard procedures. In this investigation terpenoids, steroids, tannins, saponin, and cardiac glycosides showed positive results in the extracts whereas flavonoids and phlobatannins showed negative results in the aqueous extract. Soxhlet apparatus were used for extracting the antibacterial active compounds from the powered leaves of Mentha arvensis. The discs were prepared and immersed in various solvents. Obtained pathogenic bacteria pure cultures were inoculated nutrient broth respectively. The antibacterial activities against the Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens and Staphylococcus pyogenes. Ethanol extract was found to be most effective followed by other water and chloroform extracts. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia were more sensitive for ethanol extract. Aqueous extracts showed low inhibition against the tested organisms when compared to other test plant extracts. The present study provides an important basis for the use of chloroform and ethanol extracts from the leaves of Mentha arvensis L. for the treatment of skin diseases. The crude extract as well as the isolated compounds found to be active in this study which would be useful for the development of new antibacterial drugs.

In present investigation mycoflora from groundnut, soybean, sesame, safflower and sunflower was isolated by using different agar media. Total thirty fungi were isolated from these oilseeds and screened against different plant leaf extract and latex. It was found that, out of five oilseeds, soybean yielded ninteen fungi, fifteen fungi were found to be associated with sesame and safflower seed. On the other hand sunflower yielded only nine fungi. Aqueous extract of Eucalyptus angophoroides retarded the growth of Alternaria dianthicola, Curvularia pellescens, Fusarium oxysporum, Macrophomina phaseolina, Rhizopus stolonifer, Penicillium digitatum and Penicillium chrysogenum. The latex of Calotropis gigantia for Alternaria dianticola; Aloe vera for Curvularia lunata and Penicillium digitatum were found to be fungitoxic.

Thirty six (36) cross combinations developed by crossing 2 CMS lines with 18 testers in line x tester mating design were evaluated for to find out best heterotic combinations in terms of yield and yield components. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among genotypes, crosses, lines, testers and line x tester interactions for all the traits studied. The SCA effects along with per se performance revealed that some of the crosses showing desirable SCA effects were also having superior per se performance for most of the traits thus indicating the selection of these crosses on the basis of per se performance will be effective. Assessment of heterosis based on standard checks (SR-1 and Jhelum) of effectively restored cross combinations showed that there was significant heterosis for all the traits except number of filled grains per panicle and the degree of heterosis varied from trait to trait. All combinations that showed superiority over standard checks for grain yield per plant also showed significant heterosis for majority of other traits. The average proportion of restorers, partial restorers, partial maintainers and maintainers were 16:22:33:27, respectively. The best cross combination in terms of grain yield was SKAU7A x K-08-61-2 and for early maturity SKAU11A x SR-2 over check SR-1 only. Cross combinations SKAU 7A x K-08-61-2, SKAU 7A x SR-2, SKAU 11A x K-08-60-2, SKAU 11A x K-08-59-3 and SKAU 11A x SKAU-389 were found to be good specific combinations for grain yield per plant and other desirable traits and needs to be tested on large scale for their commercialization under temperate conditions.

The study deals with survey of Aeromycoflora of commercial complexes like shopping malls of Raipur city and other commercial buildings like restaurants, hotels, educational building, gyms, parlors, bakery, shops etc was done to find out fungal spore types present in air and how they affect humans by spreading variety of allergic diseases. Raipur is the capital city of Chhattisgarh is an industrial and commercial hub. Fungal spores are abundant in nature and much evidence is now available to show that fungi can cause atopic clinical illnesses. Many of these fungal spores are lesser than 10 microns in diameter and their deposition into lower airways is common. Fungal sensitization is a significant risk factor for developing asthma in later part of life. Molds grow in indoor and outdoor environments. An experiment was conducted during the session 2013-2014 in commercial complexes to see the aeromycoflora of Raipur city and to explore the different forms of fungi. In present investigation in Malls less number of fungal spores were found as compared to other commercial buildings. Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, Mucor, Curvularia and Alternaria were found more prevalent in different commercial areas of the city. The present aerobiological investigation was carried out by using gravity petriplate method. Some important allergenic fungus like Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria,Curvularia, Fusarium, Cladosporium were found more prevalent in other commercial complexes. Study of this fungal spores in commercial areas play an important role in tracing number of respiratory allergies and cause a wide range of symptoms, including allergic rhinitis, asthma, chronic bronchitis, Atopic dermatitis etc. in human beings. Key words- Aeromycoflora, Allergic diseases, respiratory allergies, allergic rhinitis, Gravity Petri Plates.

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of vermicompost and urea on the growth and yield of the vegetable plant, Hibiscus esculentus.  Hibiscus esculentus is allowed to grew in the medium of vermicompost and urea. Three were 3 treatment viz., control, vermicompost (T1)and urea (T2). Observation was made from 10 randomly selected plants per pot. The effect of the organic fertilizer (vermicompost) and inorganic fertilizer (urea) on the growth and yield of the Hibiscus esculentus were studied. The germination percentage, shoot length and yield of the plant were recorded on 20^th, 40^th and 60^th days. The present study revealed that vermicompost seems to be maintained the soil which is ideal for growth of the plant. The highest yield of Hibiscus esculentus  was found in vermicompost treatment (T-1) followed by urea (T-2) and lowest in control. Application of vermicompost increased the vegetative growth and yield of Hibiscus  esculentus.

Four Trichoderma species with known biocontrol activity (T. harzianum, T. hamantum, T. viride and T. virens) were tested for their efficacy against Cephalosporium acremonium, a causal organism of Black bundle disease in maize. Interactions between the fungi were assessed in vitro to study mutual antagonisms. Among the four bio-agents, T. hamantum proved to be promising which showed maximum inhibition (51.3%) followed by T. virens (45.2%), T. harzianum (44.6%) and T. viride (20.3%). T. hamantum was also found to be hyperparasite on C. acremonium whereas, T. harzianum and T. viride showed mycelial deformation. The volatile toxicants released by all the Trichoderma spp. were inferior in inhibiting the growth of C. acremonium when compared to the control as evident by inverted plate technique. The results of in vivo experiments confirmed the results from the in vitro study and showed that all the four bio-agents significantly reduced the disease incidence of Black bundle disease.

In the present study, two cotton cultivars viz. LD 694 (Gossypium arboreum L.) and LH 2076 (Gossypium hirsutum L.) were used to investigate the effects of MS (Murashige and Skoog) and DKW (Driver and Kuniyuki) basal media compositions supplemented with different concentrations of BA (6-benzylaminopurine) and Kin (Kinetin) on the sprouting response (development of shoot bud primordia), morphogenetic response, and induction and regeneration of multiple shoots from shoot tip explants excised from 5-7 day-old seedlings cultured in vitro. The mean sprouting response in both cultivars LD 694 (81.66%) and LH 2076 (79.44 %) was higher in MS medium than in DKW medium. The best treatment for the formation of adventitious shoots (73.80%) in LD 694 was MS + 2.00 mg/l BA, while MS + 1.00 mg/l BA + 1.00 mg/l Kin was optimum for the formation of adventitious shoots (74.78%) in LH 2076. LD 694 and LH 2076 produced a maximum number of shoots/explant (3.96 and 3.85, respectively) when cultured on MS supplemented with 2.00 mg/l BA. Highest root development (62.38%) was obtained when shoots were cultured on ½ MS medium supplemented with 0.05 mg/l NAA in both cultivars. Plantlets raised in vitro were placed in water for two weeks and then transferred to small polythene bags filled with a sand : soil mixture in the greenhouse. These plantlets grew into healthy plants and reached maturity. The results of this study will facilitate the application of mass multiplication of elite breeding material including CMS lines or transgenic cotton cultures.

The seeds of Azadirachta indica A. Juss. popularly known as neem collected from five cities of Accra metropolis was studied. Trees with wide girth and different seed weight were observed. Maximum residual oil content was noticed in trees from Haatso. Weight of the seeds had no effect on the oil yield. Seed oil content in most of the cities was not significantly correlated with morphological parameters of seeds. A.indica seed oil extracted was analyzed for their physicochemical properties such as viscosity at 28 ^oC (0.07 kg/ms), pH (5.7), acid value (1.102 ml/g), iodine value (71.0 gI₂/100g) and free fatty acid value (48.35 ml/g). The maximum mean percentage oil obtained (52.5 %) makes the commercialization of the seeds of Azadirachta indica in Ghana a possible and profitable venture. The result also confirms the oil to be good quality and can find application in industrial purposes.