RESEARCH IN ENVIRONMENT AND
LIFE SCIENCES
Volume-3, Number-4, November-2010
(A Multidisciplinary, Peer reviewed / Referred Research Journal
Concerned with Environment and Life Sciences)
(p-ISSN: 0974-4908)
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31. |
Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 163-168 (2010) Evaluation of water quality and plankton population in a
perennial shallow lake R. Shanthi1,
P. Saravana Bhavan1*,
P. Vijayan2, S. Radhakrishnan1
and 1Department of Zoology, 3Department of Educational Technology, *e-mail: bhavan@buc.edu.in,
bhavanps1967@yahoo.in (Received: April 02, 2010; Revised
received: October 05, 2010; Accepted: October 08, 2010) |
Abstract: The
phytoplankton and zooplankton populations in relation to physicochemical
parameters of a perennial shallow lake at Sulur
(11°1’42"N 77°6’54"E), Coimbatore (South India) was studied for a
period of six months from October, 2007 to March, 2008. This is to assess its
suitability for inland aquaculture. The physico-chemical
parameters, such as temperature (26-29o C), salinity (0.25-0.48 g
Kg-1) and free ammonia (0.22-1.15 mg L-1) levels were
found to increase from rainy months (October and November) to winter months
(December and January) and to early summer months (February and March).
Correspondingly, the populations of phytoplankton and zooplankton were found
to increase during the study period from rainy to early summer months.
Therefore, the relationship between plankton abundance and these water
quality parameters were positively correlated. However, dissolved oxygen
(7.4-6.2 mg L-1), pH (7.7-6.3), total alkalinity (240-165 mg L-1),
total hardness (195-149 mg L-1), total dissolved solids (398-258
mg L-1), iron (2.08-0.8 mg L-1), nitrite (0.22-0.15 mg
L-1), nitrate (5.0-1.5 mg L-1), chloride (40-22 mg L-1),
phosphate (0.06-0.03 mg L-1),sulphate
(18-11 mg L-1) and fluoride (0.4-0.2 mg L-1) were found
to decrease fromrainy months to early summer
months. Therefore, these parameters were negatively correlated with the
phytoplankton and zooplankton populations. The presence of members of three
families of phytoplankton, bacillariophyceae, chlorophyceae and cyanophyceae
were observed. Among these chlorophyceae remains
dominant (690-2320 No. of ind.L-1)
followed by bacillariophyceae (586-2250 No. of ind.L-1) and cyanophyceae
(545-1250 No. ind.L-1). Similarly, the
presence of members of zooplankton, copepoda, ostracoda, cladocera, protozoa
and rotifera were recorded. Among the zooplankton copepoda (908-1378 No. of ind.L-1)
was found to dominant followed by ostracoda
(650-1020 No. of ind.L-1), cladocera (565-1150 No. of ind.L-1),
protozoa (595-835 No. ind.L-1) and rotifera (545-930 No. of ind.L-1).The
results suggest that the lake was oligotropic in
nature with good primary productivity. Thus, it may be utilized for inland
aquaculture of fishes. Key words: Phytoplankton,
Zooplankton, Water quality, |
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32. |
Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 169-172 (2010) In-vitro evaluation of some higher plants against pathogen Cercosporidium personatum,
the causal organism of Tikka disease of ground nut S.K. Sahoo1*,
Aditya Verma2
and A. R. Saxena3 1Department of Botany, 2Department of Botany, 3Department of Botany, D.A.V.P.G.College,
Azamgarh-276 001, *e-mail:
drsantoshksahu@yahoo.in (Received: December 29, 2009; Revised received:
September 25, 2010; Accepted: October 08, 2010) |
Abstract: An screening
the extract of different parts of 95 higher plants belonging to 51 families
were screened for antifungal activity against Cercosporidium
personatum by the poisoned food technique. The leaf
of Murraya koenigii
Linn. Exhibited absolute toxicity against the test fungus inhibiting the mycelial growth maximum. Key words: in
vitro, antifungal higher plants |
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33. |
Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 173-176 (2010) Induction of oxidative
stress due to Cd toxicity and stimulation of
antioxidant in cauliflower Fauzia Siddiqui* and P.K. Tandon Department of Botany,
Faculty of Science, *e-mail: fauzy@rediffmail.com (Received: April 12, 2010; Revised received: October 26,
2010; Accepted: October 30, 2010) |
Abstract: In
present study toxic effects of cadmium (Cd) and its
detoxifying responses in Brassica oleracea var. botrytis L .
have been investigated. Brassica
oleracea L. is one of the commom
vegetable. Plants were exposed to various concentrations of cadmium
accumulated good amount of cadmium in root and shoot with increasing concentration.Reduction in biomass, photosynthetic
pigments and protein level at higher concentrations were evaluated as gross
effect, while induction in lipid peroxidation
reflected oxidative stress. Enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants were
monitored as plants primary and metal detoxifying responses. Enzymes viz.,
superoxide dismutase guaiacol peroxidase and
ascorbate peroxidase showed stimulation at lower concentrations. Cysteine was found to increased
at lower concentrations, However plant showed progressive increase in
non-protein thiols and proline
content at all concentrations. The study concludes that plant could tolerate Cd toxicity at lower concentrations at higher
concentration plant could not tolerate oxidative damage. Key words:
Cadmium,
Brassica oleracea,
Photosynthetic pigments, Antioxidants, |
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34. |
Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 177-182 (2010) Flow through a pipe with two plane walls and two wavy walls: The
symmetric case Akhilesh Tripathi* Department of mathematics, *e-mail: sv.datta@gmail.com,
nivelesh@rediffmail.com (Received: January 02, 2010; Revised received: March 18,
2010; Accepted: March 23, 2010) |
Abstract: The
rectilinear pipe bounded by four wavy plates has possible applications in oil
recovery, biological transport processes, polymeric composite manufacturing
and for enhancement of heat transfer in heat exchangers. In this paper we
model steady viscous flow of Newtonian fluid through a long square sectioned
pipe bounded by four walls separated by a constant mean distance 2h in which
two opposite planes are sinusoidally varying but
having phase difference of; the other two opposite walls are planar ones. Key words: Pipe,
wavy walls, Reynolds number, non orthogonal coordinates |
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35. |
Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 183-188 (2010) Effect of heavy metals (Ni and Pb)
stress on sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) Poonam Misra*, Kamlesh
Nath and P.K. Tandon Department of Botany, *e-mail: dr.poonammisra@yahoo.com (Received: January 02, 2010; Revised received: September 25,
2010; Accepted: October 08, 2010) |
Abstract: Nickel in lower amounts caused a
conspicuous increase of plant growth in sugarcane cultivar. Protein content
increased significantly with 2.0 and 4.0 mM of nickel
in leaves of sugarcane plants. The maximum decrease in sugar of 85.1% was
noticed at 4.0 mM dose of nickel. Younger leaves of
lead treated plants showed maximum effect in the form of yellowing of leaf
and reduced leaf area and bending of margin of leaf in sugarcane plants.
Inhibition in the growth of sugarcane plants was started even at 1.0mM dose
of Pb. At 4.0mM dose of Pb
15 folds reduction of sugar content was observed. Protein content of this
plant exhibited positive responses with supply of 1.0 to 4.0mM concentration
of Pb. The concentration of chlorophyll‘a’
and ‘b’ was also decreased with increasing concentration of nickel.
Chlorophyll ‘a’ was more sensitive at all concentration of Ni than
chlorophyll ‘b’. Total chlorophyll contents of sugarcane plant was stimulated
at 1.0 mM of this metalThe
concentration of ‘a’, ‘b’ and total chlorophyll in leaves of sugarcane plants
decreased significantly with increasing levels of lead. Pheophytin also
showed same trend with nickel, except pheophytin ‘b’ at 1.0mM concentration.
The plants that were grown at 2.0 mM dose of nickel
gave minimum activity of this enzyme as compared to control. Activity of ,
and total amylase in plant leaves
increased at increasing concentration of nickel. Catalase activity was found
to be decreased at excess doses of lead. Maximum reduction in catalase
activity was measured at 2.0mM of Pb. Activity of a , and total amylase showed variable
results with different increasing concentration of lead in sugarcane plants. -amylase
had non significant response at 1.0 and 4.0mM dose of Pb
and inhibitory effect at 2.0mM concentration of Pb.
Activity of -amylase inhibited at 1.0 and 4.0 mM of Pb and stimulated at 2.0 mM concentration. Key words:Pb, Ni, Saccharum
officinarum, Catalase, Peroxidase, Pigments,
Sugar, Protein |
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36. |
Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 189-194 (2010) Biochemical changes and
Bioaccumulation in Raphanus sativus and Zea mays grown on chromium contaminated soil Kamlesh Nath Laboratory of Environmental
Sciences, Department of Botany, e-mail: nathkamlesh@rediffmail.com (Received: February 22, 2010; Revised received: September 15,
2010; Accepted: September 21, 2010) |
Abstract:Tannery is one of
the major consumers of water and the effluent discharged from it, contains hexavalent Cr. It is a heavy metal and when concentration
exceeds a particular limit, it becomes mutagenic, carcinogenic and teratogenic. Wastes from tanneries are useful slow-acting
sources of nitrogen for crops. The pot experiments were performed on radish (as
a first crop) and maize (as a fellowup crop). In
fellow up experiments, pots previously given treatments were used without and
further treatments of chromium/ zinc, potassium or iron applications, just
grew on distilled water.On other hand, in fallow-up
experiment the maize crop was grown in residual soils of radish crop. In
radish leaves at 45th day protein
gradually increased from 0.5 to 5 ppm chromium and
decreased with 10 ppm chromium. Sugar was increased
at 0.5 ppm and decreased from 2 ppm
to 10 ppm of chromium concentration. Catalase and
peroxidase increased as chromium concentration increased from 0.5 ppm to 10 ppm at 45th day in leaves. The chromium concentration
in leaf and root were increased with increase in concentration of 10 ppm chromium over control which was found decreased in
recovery treatments over 10 ppm chromium. The
concentration of zinc, potassium and iron were found increased over control
but at higher concentration it was slightly decreased in both leaf and root.
In recovery treatments, the concentration of these elements was found
increased over 10 ppm chromium. In maize (fellowup experiment) at 45th
day, protein and sugar decreased gradually with increasing concentration of
chromium. In recovery treatments when 10 ppm of
chromium was applied with 25 ppm zinc sulphate, iron sulphate and 10 ppm of potassium sulphate,
caused higher protein and sugar contents. The catalase and peroxidase were
increased with increase in chromium concentration while catalase was found
decreased at 10 ppm of chromium concentration. The
chromium concentration significantly increased with increasing concentration
of chromium in both leaf and seeds. The recovery treatments of zinc,
potassium and iron, successfully reduced the toxicity of chromium in both plants.
Key words:Chromium, Zinc, Potassium, Iron, Maize,
Radish, Protein, Sugar, Catalase, Peroxidase and Bioaccumulation |
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37. |
Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 195-200 (2010) Combinatorial effect of Low temperature and benzyl adenine (BA)
on flowering responses, metabolites and enzymes activity in Cucumis sativus G. Tewari*,
Department of Botany, *e-mail: tewarigopal@gmail.com (Received: April 14, 2010; Revised
received: October 12, 2010; Accepted: October 24, 2010) |
Abstract: Low
temperature and BA separately decreased the days to anthesis
of male and increases in female flowers. However, this decrease was more
pronounced when BA was applied together with low temperature. The days to anthesis of female flowers decline was less pronounced
when BA was provided with low temperature than when BA was provided at normal
temperature. The average nodal position bearing first male flower also
decreased from control on providing low temperature and/or BA to the seeds,
alone or in combination, the reduction being more noteworthy when BA and low
temperature were given in combination. The significant increase of male
flowers was recorded in plants raised from the seeds that were treated with
50 µM BA at normal temperature (21.8). The total number of female flowers
formed, however, increased with the exposure of seeds to low temperature but
decreased with the application of BA in a concentration dependent manner. The
application of BA to the seeds caused a decrease in the sucrose content
during pre-flowering stage. Exposure of seeds to low temperature further
decreased the sucrose and starch content. Both contents, however, declined
when plants shifted from pre-flowering stage to flowering stage. However
opposite to the trend shown by the sucrose and starch content, the
application of BA to the seeds resulted in a gradual increase in the protein
content. This increase was even more when BA and low temperature were given
in combination. At pre-flowering stage, the activity of sucrose synthase was increased slightly in plants which were
exposed to low temperature during seed germination. Application of BA to the
seeds, however, decreased the activity of sucrose synthase,
the decline being proportional to the concentration of BA applied. But this
decline was somewhat less when BA was provided with low temperature than that
when it was applied at normal temperature. Activity of acid invertase, though, showed a tendency just opposite to
that shown by sucrose synthase. The activity of IAA
oxidase at pre-flowering stage was significantly
increased in all the treatments as compared to control, with the increase in
the activity being proportional to the concentration of BA applied. However,
the exposure to low temperature slightly reduced the activity of the enzyme.
The application of BA and exposure to low temperature to the seeds, both enhanced the activity of PPO in a
concentration dependent manner at pre-flowering as well as at flowering
stage. At flowering stage, again just opposite to the IAA oxidase,
the activity of PPO increased from that in pre-flowering stage in all the
plants. The peroxidase activity increased slightly on the application of BA
and low temperature as compared to control at pre-flowering stage. Key words: Low
temperature, Benzyl adenine, IAA oxidase, PPO,
Sucrose synthase, Anthesis |
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38. |
Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 201-203 (2010) Comparison of sequential and
batch bioreactor for colour removal of distillery
effluent Radhika Agarwal1*, Sneh Lata2 and Meera Gupta3 1Deptt. of Chemistry, Ideal Institute of Tech., Govindpuram -201301, 2Deptt. of Botany, 3Deptt. of Chemistry, *e-mail: raradhikaagarwal9@gmail.com (Received: June 28, 2010; Revised
received: October 20, 2010; Accepted: November 08, 2010) |
Abstract: The main objective of this study is
to evaluate the colour removal efficiency of the
microbes with the help of bioreactor in which undiluted distillery effluent
is used. This reactor is arranged in laboratory scale using glass columns.
The lower portion of the bioreactor contained a layer of gravel (100g),
followed by send (50g) and finally by a soil layer (50g). The three layers
were used for immobilization of the strains. The performance of bioreactor
was analyzed in terms of colour removal over 14
days of operation. The sequential bioreactor was more efficient in comparison
to batch bioreactor. The maximum colour removal was
found when we used fungus and bacteria both in sequential bioreactor that was
89.91% but in case of batch bioreactor it was 82.92%. Key words: Bioreactor, Colour, Fungus, Bacteria |
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Exclusively Online Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 204-207 (2010) Status and trends of
amphibian declines and extinctions worldwide Chitra Singh Department of Zoology, Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow-226007, Uttar Pradesh, India *e-mail: csingh19a@gmail.com (Received: May 11, 2010; Revised
received: September 11, 2010; Accepted: October 19, 2010) |
Abstract: The Earth currently contains
approximately 6800 species of amphibians. This is an underestimate because
new species are still being discovered, partly as a result of exploration of
previously unknown parts of the world and partly because new genetic
techniques have revealed many instances in which what were thought to be
single species are in fact several species. About a third of all amphibian
species are currently listed as threatened or endangered, and several have
recently become extinct. Amphibian populations are declining throughout the
world, a phenomenon that is symptomatic of a general decline in global
diversity which many regard as a mass extinction event. Large number of
amphibians depends upon the water in which they live. Any such change in
water quality due to rising temperature or rising pollution affects the
survival of amphibians. The International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) has described of about 40 % amphibian species under the threat of
extinction in Red list of Threatened Species. In last 30-40 years a large
decline in amphibian population is observed. Several steps were taken and
plans were set up to investigate the cause of decline and increase amphibian
population. The Global Amphibian assessment listed 427 species as “Critically
Endangered” and 168 species probably “Extinct”. Key words: Genetic
techniques, Amphibian Species, Symptomatic, Global diversity |
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Exclusively Online Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 208-211 (2010) A review on tuberculosis: A
global issue Chitra Singh Department of Zoology, Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow-226007, Uttar Pradesh, India *e-mail:
csingh19a@gmail.com (Received: May 23, 2010; Revised
received: September 16, 2010; Accepted: October 21, 2010) |
Abstract: Tuberculosis (TB) is asignificant threat which causes major health problem all
over the world.Due to TB large number of infections
and even deaths in severe condition occur. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the
infectious agent that causes TB. When an infected TB person coughs or sneezes
in front of a non-infected person, the M tuberculosis comes out in form of
droplets and infects the person. In people, different types of TB occur, out
of which few are pulmonary, abdominal, TB related to CNS etc. they all are
dangerous in their own forms. In this review article, focus on drug resistant
TB has also made. Drug resistant TB occur when M
tuberculosis become resistant to drugs used to treat TB. When TB becomes drug
resistant, it becomes more dangerous, and the survival rate becomes very low.
For the diagnosis of TB, tests like tuberculin skin test, clinical suspicion,
chest radiographs, staining for acid-fast bacilli (AFB), culture for mycobacteria, nucleic acid amplification (NAA) assays are
available. Key words: Tuberculosis,
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, pulmonary TB, Tuberculin skin test. |
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Exclusively Online Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 208-211 (2010) Seed polymorphism in Tephrosia purpurea Pers. of
Indian dessert B.S.V. Prakash Department of Botany, Lucknow Christian Degree College,
Lucknow, India *e-mail:
sylvin1@rediffmail.com (Received: May 29, 2010; Revised
received: September 12, 2010; Accepted: September 28, 2010) |
Abstract: Tephrosia purpurea (fabaceae) commonly known in sanskrit
as ‘sharapunkha’ is highlybranched
,herbaceous, suberect, perennial herb.,a sub- tropical genus widely grown in india. It is a characteristic species of semi arid and
arid lands of world.Two populations consisting of
plants with long (L) and short (S) leaves have been discovered inTephrosia purpurea medicinal
uses of drugs are tonic, laxative, diuretic, bronchitis, bilious febrile
attack, boils, pimples, diarrhea, gonorrhea, rheumatism and cures disease of
heart, spleen and blood. The pharmacological studies haveshown
that Tephrosia purpurea
posses following biological activity such as antiulcer, antimicrobial,
antibacterial, anti viral, anti asthmatic, hepatoprotective,
antihyperglycemic andantihyperlipidemia, immunomodulatory
activity, antioxidant, wound healing property, antiallergic
activity. Some morpho-ecological variationsand further categorisation of the populations
into different forms have been discussed in relation to Indian desert
ecosystem. Key words: Tephrosia purpurea, medicinal
uses, perennial herb, desert |
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Exclusively Online Res. Environ. Life Sci., 3(4) 208-211 (2010) Seed conglomeration in Crotalaria burhia buch, - ham, in Indian
desert B.S.V. Prakash Department of Botany,
Lucknow Christian Degree College, Lucknow, India *e-mail: sylvin1@rediffmail.com (Received: May 25, 2010; Revised
received: September 14, 2010; Accepted: September 27, 2010) |
Abstract: The article describes the somatic
polymorphism in Crotalaria burhia Buch. Ham. seeds. Each
individual may produce yellow dormant seeds, brown quiescent seeds and
unviable dark brown ones. Therefore, regarding physiology it is a dimorphism.
We show that autogamy reduces dimorphism, favoring
the formation of dormant seeds. However, the significant variation in
dimorphism is seasonal as consequence of increased viability of dormant seeds
under drier weather conditions. The variation is a phenotypic response to
changes of humidity in the environment during plant reproduction, a mechanism
inducing the prevalence of dormant seeds in the dry season and quiescent
seeds during the rainy season. The seasonal alternation between dormancy and
quiescence in seasonally dry environments has an apparent adaptive value. The
chromatic polymorphism increases on the more humid coast and during the rainy
season, due to increased mortality of dormant seeds under wetter weather
conditions. Unviable seeds accumulate oxidized phenols in their seed coat
that possibly act as induced chemical defenses. Key words: Crotalaria burhia, autogamy,
dimorphism, phenotypic response |