Bio Technology

Phytochelatins (PCs), are enzymatically synthesized Cys-rich peptides, found widely distributed in the plant kingdom and was the functional equivalent of metallothioneins (MTs). Synthesis of PC was activated by the exposure to heavy metal ions like cadmium. PC may have a role in the metal ion detoxification and help in phytoremediation approach. Hence this study was focused on the structural aspects of phytochelatin protein isolated from Cynodon dactylon. Protein sequence was retrieved from NCBI protein database with gene bank id AAO138102. Various bioinformatics online tools like GOR 4, Geno3D, ProtParam, ProtScale, TmPred, EsyPred3D analysis and GlobPlot were used to predict the structure and properties of the protein. An unstable protein with 504 amino acid residues and of molecular weight of 55803.5 Daltons was identified by In Silico studies. Further analysis using a wide range of tools revealed that the protein is a structural variant of the phytochelatin protein.

Silk fibroin (SF), a naturally occurring protein polymer, has several unique properties such as biocompatible, slowly biodegradable, minimal inflammatory reaction and endowed with excellent mechanical properties and process ability. The silk blended scaffolds were prepared by using SF as vehicle with dextrin and other healing agent of honey and Epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) is used as drug releasing model. Scanning electronic microscope (SEM) was used to observe the morphology of prepared scaffolds for process versatility and the highly specific surface area. The structure was studied by Fourier transform infrared. The samples, treated at different concentration of honey and EGF, are analysed to investigate the growth inhibition effect of bacterial growth. These data showed the potential application of silk based scaffolds along with honey and rhEGF is intended to provide improved environments for zone of incubation when compared with normal scaffolds without rhEGF. Next the wound pus samples were collected from different diabetic patients and they were tested for antimicrobial test. Silk scaffolds had shown a promising natural product with healing for wound treatment. Processing silk scaffolds with honey and EGF offers a very attractive opportunity for producing a variety of medical products with great potential for bio medical end uses due to its superior biocompatibility of Silk. This prepared silk fibre based protein scaffold would be better in healing of diabetic wound healing as a very widespread model.

Thyroid hormones has profound effects of lipid metabolism and carbohydrate homeostasis . Abnormalities in serum lipids and lipoproteins are frequent findings in thyroid dysfunction, mainly in hypothyroidism. Impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance have been documented in patients with thyroid dysfunction. In addition, thyroid hormones are remarkable regulators of energy metabolism, being the adipose tissue the largest fuel storage compartment. Furthermore, thyroid hormones share some physiological actions with adiponectin, such as reduction of body fat by increasing thermogenesis and lipid oxidation .However, a few number of studies have found low adiponectin levels in hypothyroid subjects (Díez and Iglesias, 2009). Cortisol excess in man is characterized by abdominal obesity, hypertension, glucose intolerance or diabetes and dyslipidemia. All these features share a state of insulin resistance, and contribute to high cardiovascular risk typical of this condition. Glucocorticoids negatively regulate adiponectin mRNA in human visceral adipose tissue. Cortisol counteracts the action of insulin at multiple sites, and increases hepatic gluconeogenetic efficiency (Fallo et al.,2004). Study the relationship between adiponectin with thyroid hormones and cortisol for both gender and for both control and diabetic groups also in diabetic patients according to duration of disease. This study was conducted between November 2010- November 2012 and, it was carried out at the diabetic Centre / Merjan Teaching Hospital in Babel Province by taking 120 diabetic patients(Type II DM) (60 male and 60 female) with disease duration (0-5),(>5-10 )and (>10 )years ,with age average (30-65 year)and most of them were on oral hypoglycemic drugs. While the study included 40 people apparently healthy that included 20 male and 20 female with age average (30-65 year).

Plant cell culture provides an alternative means for producing secondary metabolites. In this study, experiments were carried out to study the effect of cholesterol as precursor and salicylic acid and sodium nitroprusside as elicitors on the enhancement of diosgenin production in the cell suspension culture of Momordica charantia. Callus was induced from seeds when inoculated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various concentrations and combinations of auxins and cytokinins to initiate cell suspension culture. The maximum diosgenin recovery was estimated in 6 week old callus (7.54 mg/gdw) which was significantly superior then the rest of time treatment and the treatment doses of salicylic acid (0.05 mM) gave highest diosgenin recovery (8.98 mg/gdw) in comparison to Sodium nitroprusside (8.53 mg/gdw) and control (7.61 mg/gdw).

The pulse beetle, C.maculatus is a major storage pest of stored grains. Different botanicals were evaluated for their bioefficacy against this pest. The present study was undertaken to study the effect of A. indica (L), C. gigantea (L.), O.tenuiflorum (L), P. amarus (linn) and T. purpurea ((L.) Pers.). Oviposition deterrence and adult emergence activity were carried out at three different concentrations (4%, 8% and 12%) on blackgram, Vigna mungo (L.) against C. maculatus. Maximum oviposition deterrence activity was observed in T. purpurea (70.09%) followed by A. indica (69.44%), P.amarus(56.21%), O.tenuiflorum (50.32%) and C.gigantea (39.39%) at higher concentration. Reduction in adult emergence was higher in C. gigantea and O.tenuiflorum (87.85%) treated seeds. The other plant powders also exhibited their higher potential against C. maculatus.

The antibacterial activity of the ethyl acetate extracts of two marine sponges collected from Tuticorin gulf of mannar region was tested against six human pathogenic bacteria and five human pathogenic fungi using the agar disk diffusion method. Bacteria cultures, Vibrio cholarae, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Klebsiella pneumonia (Gram negative bacteria), Bacillus subtilus, Staphylococcus aureus (NCIM 2079). Sponge extracts of Aurora globostellata (Carter) and Spirastrella inconstans Var. moeandrina Dendy appeared to be quite promising due to their capacity to inhibit the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin resistant strains Staphylococcus aureus and E.coli as well as a broad-spectrum activity against all the other bacteria. The highest activity was obtained for the ethyl acetate extract of Aurora globostellata (Carter) against the Gram-positive bacteria Klebsiella pnemoniae (inhibition zone 12.33±0.33 mm) and Salmonella typhi (14.00±0.57) and against C. albicans (12.66±0.66 mm), T. rubrum (12.33±0.33 mm) and Aspergillus flavus (14.33±0.33). This extract is currently undergoing further analysis to identify the active compounds. These promising results in relation with antibacterial and antifungal activity in vitro open the way for complementary investigation in order to purify and identify active molecules.

Trypsin protease inhibitor have been identified and purified from extracts of Mucuna Pruriens. Mucuna Pruriens seed sample were purified using ammonium sulphate precipitation, Saphadex G-75 gel filtration chromatography technique including analysis of trypsin inhibitors by dot-blot method, and electrophoretic analysis and visualization of protease inhibitor bands by gel X-ray film contact print method. Saphadex G-75 gel filtration chromatography identified a small molecular weight trypsin inhibitory fraction. In the present paper we described, a simple and inexpensive procedure to detect protease inhibitors of seed by the gel-x-ray film contact print technique.

Treatment of crop residues with some species of fungi can enhance their digestibility. This study investigated changes in the nutrient composition of Cassava Starch Residue (CSR) biodegraded with two selected fungi: Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viride. The experimental designed was a 3x4 factorial arrangement. Biodegradation of CSR for 21days at 30⁰C recorded a significant biomass loss of 33.11% (A. niger), followed by 30.01% (combination of A. niger x T. viride) compared to 27.44% (T. viride). The crude protein  increased significantly (P>0.05)  from 4.05% to 7.16%, 6.84% and 6.88% within 14days for A. niger, T. viride and combination of  A. niger x T. viride respectively. Similarly, the fibre in Cassava Starch Residue decreased from 17.07% to 10.31%, 12.83% and 11.89% for the A. niger, T. viride and combination A. niger x T. viride treatments respectively with a corresponding effect of 2897.1%kcal/kgDM, 2719.2kcal/kgDM and 2739.1kcal/kgDM in the level of metabolisable energy. Cellulose was extensively degraded in all the treatments (P>0.05) than the hemicellulose.  Results of this study suggests that fungal biodegradation of whole cassava starch residue is regulated by a complex combination of various factors and consequently enhanced its nutritional profile.

The phenotypic analysis and correlations of the eggs laid by black-skinned and white-skinned ectotypes of giant African land snails (Archachatina marginata var. saturalis) in Calabar, Nigeria were evaluated. Two hundred (200) snails, One hundred (100) each of black-skinned and white-skinned ectotype were used to generate eggs used for this study. The snails were divided into two mating groups, black-skinned x black-skinned and white-skinned x white-skinned. The results of the study on phenotypic traits of the eggs revealed a high significant (P<0.05) mean number of egg, mean egg weight, mean egg length and mean egg width between the black-skinned and white-skinned ectotypes. The variations in mean egg traits between the two ectotypes in this study may indicate variation in genetic composition of the snails. The results of correlation among the egg traits revealed positive and highly significant phenotypic correlation (rp) within egg traits for the two ectotypes studied. The correlation could suggest that there are direct relationships between the traits, and that selection for one trait will lead to improvement in the other trait. It is recommended that intensive production and domestication of black-skinned be carried out since it seems to have high production rate to meet the animal protein supply of the populace then the white-skinned. This is due to its larger size.

The marine micro organisms are the store house of a wide variety of biologically active products. Among the vast population of microorganisms which include algae, bacteria, actinomycetes etc., marine fungi are considered as the most useful microorganisms in biotechnology field. The marine environment conditions the micro flora to generate metabolites that have antimicrobial qualities as a self- defending mechanism. The objective of this paper was to isolate the Zinc resistant fungal strains from marine samples like wood , seashore sand , sea water and wooden boat and identify the isolated cultures morphologically till the genus level. The antimicrobial compounds were extracted using different organic solvents and their antibacterial activity was cheked on the selected pathogenic bacteria at different varying concentration. A confirmatory test was performed for each test organism in their selective media. The fungal cultures were found to belong to the genus Aspergillus, Mucor and Fusarium. The extracts of hexane and chloroform on mucor showed very good activity on E.coli while average activity on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia and least activity in S. aureus cultures was found.