May 2007
Papain-like proteases: Applications of their inhibitors
Proteases are one of the most important classes of enzyme and expressed throughout the animal and plant kingdoms as well as in viruses and bacteria. The protease family has drawn special attention for drug target for cure of several diseases such as osteoporosis, arthritis and cancer. Many proteases from various sources are being studied extensively with respect to activity, inhibition and structure. In...
May 2007
Alteration of post harvest diseases of mango Mangifera indica through production practices and climatic factors
Mango production in Senegal takes place over the two seasons of dry and humid conditions between April and November. The increasing demand for fresh mangoes has led to an increase in land area allocated to that crop. Mango production suffers, however, from fruit rotting due to post-harvest diseases during ripening. These diseases reduce the fruit quality and cause severe losses. A survey was carried out in...
May 2007
Effect of immersion systems on chlorophyll contents in micro-propagating banana
Banana is a nutritionally as well as economically important plant for which (Basrai variety) an efficient micro-propagation protocol was developed by using micro-stem cutting, as an explant. The maximum numbers of plantlets with higher chlorophyll and lower carotenoid contents were observed, which developed through routinely used tissue culture system (10.0 µM BA; 8.0 µM IAA; 3.0 g/L phytagel) for...
May 2007
Response of Tunisian autochthonous pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) to drought stress induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000
Seeds of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L) R. Br.) from six provenances of Tunisia were subjected to germination and shoot and root length tests on filter paper treated with polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) solutions made up to provide osmotic potentials of 0, -1 and -2 MPa. Mean germination percent for all provenances decreased about 73% in -2 MPa compared to control (0 MPa)...
May 2007
In vitro micropropagation of Musa sapientum L. (Cavendish Dwarf)
A complete protocol for micropropagation of Musa sapientum using shoot meristems was developed. Multiple shoots were induced in vitro from shoot meristems. Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with BAP and NAA (3.0 + 0.2 mg/l, respectively) was found to be most suitable combination. Further multiplication of shoots required habituation of cultures up to 3 passages of 21 days each on the...
May 2007
Mixed sugar fermentation by Pichia stipitis, Sacharomyces cerevisiaea, and an isolated xylose-fermenting Kluyveromyces marxianus and their cocultures
A yeast strain with higher rates and yields in the fermentation of glucose, mannose and galactose in semiaerobic conditions than Pichia stipitis and Sacharomyces cerevisiaeand ethanol tolerance than P. stipitis, was isolated from sugarcane baggase from Iranian resources. This strain that can ferment xylose with lower rates and yields than P. stipitisis characterized...
May 2007
Analysis of bacterial strains from contaminated and non-contaminated sites for the production of biopolymers
A total 18 strains were collected from non-contaminated and contaminated environments, and were purified. All purified strains were characterized for Gram reaction and biochemical analysis. Screening for bioplastic production was done by Sudan black staining. Strains isolated from non-contaminated sites showed no polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production. Biochemical analysis showed that PHA producing strains...
May 2007
Novel feeding strategies for Saccharomyces cerevisiae DS2155, using glucose limited exponential fedbatch cultures with variable specific growth rates (m)
The dual behavior of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on glucose feed as function of the dilution rate near the critical specific growth rate (µ=0.25) is a bottleneck in industrial production, hence the need for more efficient feeding strategies. In this work novel feeding strategies have been generated and evaluated. For each feeding profile, the 24 h fermentation time was discretized into 7...
May 2007
Polyhedral charge-packing model for blood pH changes in disease states
This work is the extension to an earlier report of a model, which explained the normal blood pH of 7.4 in terms of the octahedral packing of the six hydroxyl, OH-, ions to one hydrogen, H+, ion that exist at that pH, as this would be the most, naturally, stable arrangement. The logical, possible shifts from the octahedral ideal are suggested to be to the next most stable and efficient natural...
May 2007
Isolation and purification of membrane-bound cytochrome c from Proteus mirabilis
In the present studies, respiratory chain pathogenic bacterium, Proteus mirabilis, was investigated. In the first phase, growth profile study was performed to optimize the P. mirabilis growth. Maximum bacterial growth could be obtained between 10 – 12 h of culturing time. Down-stream processing was performed by using sonication, ultracentrifugation and detergent solubilization techniques....
May 2007
Identification of a naturally occurring 2, 6-bis (1.1-dimethylethyl)-4-methylphenol from purple leaves of the halophyte plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
2, 6-Bis (1.1-dimethylethyl)-4-methylphenol (BHT) is a synthetic antioxidant used generally for food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The leaf extract from the halophyte plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, was fractionated by using semi-preparative HPLC. The different fractions were tested for their antioxidant activity using DPPH method. One fraction exhibited a high level of antioxidant activity. The...
May 2007
Evaluation of ogi liquor from different grains for antibacterial activities against some common diarrhoeal bacteria in Southwest Nigeria
The effect of raw ogi liquor from five varieties of grains; white maize, yellow maize, white guinea corn, red guinea corn and millet on some diarrhoeal bacteria;Staphylococcus aureus, Shigella dysenteriae, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Enterobacter species was investigated. The ogi liquors prepared using cold and hot water methods were effective in inhibiting the growth of...
May 2007
In vitro cytotoxicity and antioxidant activity of Agaricus subrufescens extracts
Agaricus blazei Murill, most recently referred as Agaricus subrufescens is a fungus that belongs to the Brazilian diversity and, considered as an important producer of bioactive compounds beneficial to human health. Studies have demonstrated that these compounds present immunomodulatory, antioxidant and antitumor properties. However, there is little information about the appropriate methodology for...
May 2007
Evaluation of the anti-edematogenic activity of the aqueous extract of Leea guineensis
Leea guineensis leaf is a medicinal herb used in folk medicine for the management of inflammatory disease conditions such as in splenomegaly in children. Because of this use, the plant was evaluated for anti-inflammatory properties. The phytochemical studies revealed the presence of saponins and glycosides as the secondary metabolites. Using the carrageenan-induced paw oedema, there was a significant...
May 2007
Resolving genetic relationships in manna group of lichens from genus Aspicilia
As in many lichen-forming fungi, species of Aspicilia genus are widely distributed all over the world, but no reports exist about their phylogenetic relations based on molecular biological methods. In the current study the phylogenetic relations of someAspicilia species mainly manna group of lichens were investigated. The ITS rDNA sequence information of 12 samples from six species were...
May 2007
Effect of Trimeresurus albolabris (green pit viper) venom on mean corpuscular volume, osmotic fragility and red blood cell morphology: A preliminary report
An in vitro study was conducted by mixing small amounts of green pit viper venom with blood and observing changes. At a concentration of 10 mg crude venom, red blood cells (RBC) osmotic fragility slightly increased. RBC morphology changed to spherical shape which was compatible with what was observed in scanning electron microscope (SEM). However, there was no change in mean corpuscular volume...
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