EFFICACY OF AN IMMUNO-MAGNTIC SEPARATION SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING CRYPTOSPORIDIUM OOCYSTS FROM SOILS

Studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of the commercially available immuno-magnetic system by Dynal^TM to recover C. parvum oocysts from silty clay, sandy clay loam and clay soils. Each soil type was spiked with known numbers of oocysts and their recovery using percoll-sucrose gradient centrifugation in combination with immuno-magnetic separation system was evaluated. The recoveries varied significantly. The silty clay loam soil had the highest recovery ranging between 91% and 26%, while the sandy clay loam had the lowest recovery ranging between 30% and 2%. The results indicate that though the Dynal^TM IMS system is capable of recovering oocysts from soils, the recovery efficiencies can vary significantly.     

IMPACTION-BASED SAMPLER FOR DETECTING MALE-SPECIFIC COLIPHAGES IN BIOAEROSOLS

Air quality within and around confined animal housing operations is important from both occupational exposure and environmental quality perspectives. Appropriate sampling equipment should be available so that bioaerosols are adequately characterized in terms of their component microbial populations. In this study the efficacy of a commercially available impaction-based bioaerosol sampler (SAS-100) was evaluated in terms of its ability to detect male-specific coliphages within and around poultry broiler houses. In addition to the manufacturer recommended agar medium, cellulose and cellulose-acetate filter media were also used as the collection surface. The agar medium and the cellulose ester filters provided very high recoveries of phages as compared to the cellulose filter (P<0.05). There was a wide range of recoveries ranging from 0–100% when the cellulose acetate filter was used to detect phages in bioaerosols within and around broiler houses. The results suggest that the sampler is capable of concentrating male-specific coliphages from bioaerosols. However, further studies are still needed to accurately determine the collection efficiencies of viruses.     

Revision and cladistic analysis of the jumping spider genus Onomastus (Araneae: Salticidae)

The jumping spider genus Onomastus Simon, 1900 is revised. Four new species: Onomastus indra sp. nov. , Onomastus kaharian sp. nov. , Onomastus pethiyagodai sp. nov. , and Onomastus rattotensis sp. nov. are described. Parsimony analysis of 26 morphological characters supported the monophyly of Onomastus. Lyssomanes is sister to Onomastus. Onomastus separates into two clades: the widespread South‐East Asia clade and the South Asia clade. The South Asia clade is restricted to the Sri Lanka–Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. Species of the South Asia clade appear to be spot endemics, highly in danger of extinction because of habitat loss and climate change. Male palps are complex and species‐specific, suggesting rapid divergent evolution. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 159 , 711–745.     

Alternative Respiration and Heat Production in Ripening Banana Fruits (Musa paradisiaca van Mysore Kadali)

The involvement of alternative respiration in thermogenesisduring the ripening of banana {Musa paradisiaca var. MysoreKadali) fruits, attached to a bunch, has been examined. Thetemperature of the youngest (unripened) banana fruit increasedfrom 27·0 ± 0·2°C to 30·8±0·1°C and the total respiration (in nmo1 oxygen min¹ g¹ drywt.) increased from 1·39·6 ± 5·5to 167·3 ± 7·0 at the fully ripened stage.Although the capacity for alternative respiration showed littlechange, the actual operation of this pathway increased from38 to 73% (p= 0·38 to 0·73) during ripening. Similarresults were obtained in fruits along the central axis at differentstages of ripening. It is suggested that alternative respirationmay contribute to the temperature rise observed in ripeningbanana fruit. Key words: Alternative respiration, tehrmogenesis, fruit ripening     

Sperm competition and maternal effects differentially influence testis and sperm size in Callosobruchus maculatus

The evolutionary factors affecting testis size are well documented, with sperm competition being of major importance. However, the factors affecting sperm length are not well understood; there are no clear theoretical predictions and the empirical evidence is inconsistent. Recently, maternal effects have been implicated in sperm length variation, a finding that may offer insights into its evolution. We investigated potential proximate and microevolutionary factors influencing testis and sperm size in the bruchid beetle Callosobruchus maculatus using a combined approach of an artificial evolution experiment over 90 generations and an environmental effects study. We found that while polyandry seems to select for larger testes, it had no detectable effect on sperm length. Furthermore, population density, a proximate indicator of sperm competition risk, was not significantly associated with sperm length or testis size variation. However, there were strong maternal effects influencing sperm length.     

Studies on the Water-Soluble Lens Proteins of the Lizard, Calotes versicolor III. Ontogenic Changes

Ontogeny of lens crystallins of the garden lizard, Calotes versicolor has been studied by gel filtration, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, 7M urea PAGE, SDS and 6M urea isoelectric focusing. Wet weight, diameter and the soluble protein content per lens were also determined as a function of age. The amount of α-crystallins increased slightly during development. The relative proportion of the putative δ-crystallins was significantly higher in the embryos than in the adult. The overall polypeptide pattern of crystallins changed markedly around the time of hatching.     

Palaeogene isotopic temperatures of western India

Oxygen isotopic measurements of larger benthic foraminifers from western India suggest that the Palaeogene temperature varied between 22deg;C and 32deg;C in this region. The warm climate of the Palaeocene and the Early Eocene, hovering around 32°C, deteriorated in late Middle Eocene (corresponding to planktic zones P13-P14) when the temperature dropped by 6deg;C. With progressive cooling through the Late Eocene, the temperature reached 22deg;C during Early Oligocene times. The cooling trend set in the Middle Eocene seems to have been terminated towards the end of the Palaeogene when the temperature rose to 25°C. □ Palaeotemperature, Palaeogene, oxygen isotopes, larger foraminifiers, India.     

A Note on the Nature and Sequence of Yeasts during Fermentation of Apples grown in India

Six morphologically different groups of yeasts comprising Kloeckera apiculata. Candida krusei, Candida valida, Candida sorbosa, Metschnikowia pulcherrima and Saccharomyces chevalieri were isolated from fresh, fermenting and fermented apple juice. This is the first report on the isolation of C. valida, C. sorbosa and S. chevalieri from fermenting and fermented apple juice.     

COMPARISON OF THREE PROBE LABELLING METHODS TO DETECT PCR AMPLIFICATION PRODUCTS

Polymerase chain reaction amplifications are finding increased applications in environmental microbiology. The development of sensitive and specific methods to detect amplified products is necessary especially when these amplifications are conducted in the presence of the environmental matrix. Gene probes specific to the npt11 locus were prepared by nick translation, 5'end labelling and by a PCR driven amplification. These probes were tested against a 300 bp PCR amplified segment of the npt11 region of the transposable element Tn5. The nick translated probe was the most sensitive, though not as specific as the other two types of probes. Sensitivity and specificity were found to be dependent on the hybridization format (Southern blots versus dot blots), the number of amplification cycles and on the purity of the target sequence.