Relative Desiccation Survival Potential of Two Root-Knot Nematode Species,Meloidogyne Incognita and M. Triticoryzae and Relationship With Their Habitat and Cuticle Characteristics*

Abstract

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Caulogenic Efficacy of Cytokinin in Internodal Explants of Rosmarinus officinalis L. as Affected by Auxin and Inorganic Salts

Caulogenesis took place in internodal stem segments of Rosmarinus officinalis in the presence of both 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 3-indoleacetic acid (IAA). There existed a synergism between BAP and IAA, where lower concentration of 0.1 mg/l IAA increased the shoot bud inducing efficacy of BAP to about ten times, while at 0.25 mg/l IAA it was counteracted. Presence of both NH₄NO₃ and KNO₃ was essential for shoot bud differentiation. While caulogenesis greatly declined if any of the inorganic salts was lacking in the medium, it increased in the absence of CaCl₂. The regeneration potentiality of the first internode was more than the second internode and within the internode it was more in the upper end than the lower. Shoot meristems differentiated from the subepidermal tissue from the meristemoids, which were formed in close proximity with nests of tracheary tissue. There was no direct regeneration from the epidermal cells.     

Structural and Functional Properties of Exopolysaccharide Excreted by a Novel <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus anthracis</Emphasis> (Strain PFAB2) of Hot Spring Origin

Exopolysaccharide produced by a unique avirulent Bacillus anthracis strain PFAB2 of hot spring origin has been characterized and its functional properties are investigated which is a first report. Maximum yield of EPS is 7.66 g/l with 2% glucose and 1% peptone as optimum carbon and nitrogen source respectively. The EPS is found to be a homopolymer consisting of only glucose as principle monosaccharide component. Through ¹H NMR study, different dextran-like proton peaks are observed. Molecular weight of the EPS resembles low molecular weight bacterial origin polysaccharides. Melting transition of the EPS has started after 276 °C which indicates good thermal stability. The EPS also shows potent antioxidant activity in terms of DPPH and ABTS mediated free radical scavenging property compared to standard ascorbic acid. Emulsifying property of the EPS is also observed and has shown good emulsification of vegetable oils. The polysaccharide forms a thermo resistant gel during the heating phase, with G′ higher than G″ indicating excellent shear-thinning behaviour and viscoelastic nature of the EPS.     

Effect of cations,including heavy metals,on cadmium uptake by Lemna polyrhiza L.

Cations, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper, iron, nickel and zinc, inhibited (up to 40%) extracellular binding and intracellular uptake of cadmium by Lemna polyrhiza in solution culture. Test plants showed a high capacity of extracellular cadmium binding which was competitively inhibited by copper, nickel and zinc; however, calcium, magnesium and potassium caused non-competitive inhibition. Iron and sodium increased K _m and decreased V _max, thereby causing mixed inhibition of extracellular binding. Intracellular cadmium uptake displayed Michaelis-Menten kinetics. It was competitively inhibited by calcium, magnesium, iron, nickel and zinc. Monovalent cations (sodium and potassium) caused non-competitive and copper caused mixed inhibition of intracellular cadmium uptake. Thus, high levels of cations and metals in the external environment should be expected to lower the cadmium accumulation efficiency of L. polyrhiza.     

Functional group substitutions of the branchpoint adenosine in a nuclear pre-mRNA and a group II intron.

Splicing of nuclear mRNA precursors (pre-mRNAs) takes place in the spliceosome, a large and complex ribonucleoprotein. Nuclear pre-mRNA splicing and group II intron self-splicing occur by a chemically identical pathway involving recognition of a specific branchpoint adenosine and nucleophilic activation of its 2'-hydroxyl group. The chemical similarity between these two splicing reactions, as well as other considerations, have suggested that the catalytic core of the spliceosome and group II introns may be related. Here we test this hypothesis by analyzing splicing and RNA branch formation of a pre-mRNA and a group II intron in which the branchpoint adenosine was substituted with purine base analogues. We find that replacement of the branchpoint adenosine with either of two modified adenosine analogues or guanosine leads to remarkably similar patterns of splicing and RNA branch formation in the two systems.     

Growth responses and dependence of Acacia nilotica var. cupriciformis on the indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal consortium of a marginal wasteland soil

 The responses of Acacia nilotica L. var. cupriciformis to phosphorus application and inoculation with the indigenous consortium of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi were evaluated in a nursery experiment using soil from a marginal wasteland. A positive growth response to mycorrhizal inoculation was observed at an Olsen-P level of 20 ppm in the presence of the natural population of AM fungi. There was growth stimulation by either inoculation or additional P at the highest soil P of 40 ppm. Colonization was negatively correlated to soil P but P content of both shoot and root were positively correlated. Inoculation with the indigenous AM consortium significantly increased the uptake of P at all levels of applied P. Acacia is moderately dependent upon the AM symbiosis and exhibited a maximal mycorrhizal dependence (MD) of 18.25% at 20 ppm Olsen-P level under the conditions studied. A sharp and considerable reduction in MD and dry matter yield observed at 40 ppm P suggests that the external P requirement for maximal production of biomass was met at approximately 20 ppm Olsen-P. Accepted: 25 June 1996     

Blastomyces dermatitidis in India: first report of its isolation from clinical material

The isolation of Blastomyces dermatitidis in India is reported from the bronchial aspirate of a female asthmatic patient who had never travelled abroad. The patient was a resident of Rodhain, a small town in the District of Badaun (Uttar Pradesh), situated about 250 km south-east of Delhi. Apart from its demonstration by culture and direct microscopy of a bronchial aspirate, B. dermatitidis was seen microscopically on two occasions in KOH wet mounts and smears of sputum stained with periodic acid-Schiff's reagent. Anti-B. dermatitidis serum precipitins were shown by immunodiffusion in 3 of 4 serum samples from the patient. The identity of the fungus was based on its characteristic morphology in clinical specimens and in culture, conversion of the mold form to the yeast from in vitro and vice versa, and by verification of its pathogenicity in white mice. A detailed clinical and laboratory evaluation of the patient indicated that she had suffered from an episode of self-limited acute pulmonary blastomycosis that required no antifungal therapy. This is believed to be the first authentic report of the isolation of B. dermatitidis from clinical material in India.