An attempt was made to develop the best method to extract DNA from four selected varieties of the ornamental and medicinal plant, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis which can be distinguished one from the other morphologically. DNA extraction was carried out in several sets and each time there were more modifications that have been documented to bring out an efficient method to extract DNA from this plant of the Mavlacea family, which have a high content of gummy, mucilaginous substances. That apart, the DNA extracted was qualified and quantified based on the Beer-Lambert’s law using UV- Visible Spectrophotometer. The results were not up to the mark of purity but further modifications can be made in this respect. Then a comprehensive protocol to isolate the DNA from Hibiscus sp was developed. The plant genomic DNA was extracted and also restriction digested by several combinations of restriction enzymes and conditions of incubation. The best one was found to completely digest the genomic DNA and this was the combination of three restriction enzymes Eco RI, Bam HI, Hind III at 37ºC for 15-18 hours. The dual success in developing a standardized condition for restriction digestion of genomic DNA from this species as well as the obtaining of completely digested plant genomic DNA can be further used in DNA Analysis of the related cultivars, and their RAPD analysis can be carried out which helps to identify and characterise the plants within this species as part of germplasm conservation.

Fermentation of citrus juice may offer a relative simple avenue for reducing post-harvest wastage of citrus fruits in low utilization environment and in places where the production of citrus concentrates is low or nonexistent. Orange juice concentrates are readily storable and can be used for production processes even when the fruit is out of season and investigated the possibility of exploiting the fermentative ability of yeasts to produce orange wines.

Procuring considerable quantity of DNA of nearly fair quality from trees is difficult because of the presence of metabolites and mucilaginous substances, which is found in excess in their leaves that interfere with the isolation procedures. Gmelina arborea, a fast growing species of the family verbenaceae occurs naturally in tropical and sub tropical regions of Asia. Currently, though there are a number of methods for isolation of DNA like the CTAB method, SDS Method etc., no single method was suitable for obtaining fine quality DNA from the leaves of Gmelina arborea for further molecular studies because of the presence of polyphenols and mucilaginous substances in the leaves. Herein we describe a modified protocol based on Dellaporta et al. (1983) for isolating DNA from dried leaves of Gmelina arborea, which is suitable for further molecular analysis. The protocol overcomes the problem of coprecipitation with contaminating agents. The yield of the DNA was found to be 50μg from 0.2 g of starting material. The purity of the DNA was also checked by the absorbance ratios at 260nm and 280nm respectively. The DNA thus obtained was used for RAPD and ISSR analysis.

Musa accuminata is the member of family Musaceae. The fruits of M. accuminata are harvested in unriped green in order to better withstand transportation and to slow down the natural ripening process because of several weeks travel from the production areas to the end markets. The ripening process is a multi-step reaction involves a number of complex enzymes. The present work is aimed to computational characterization of these ripening enzymes in order to understand the ripening mechanism. In this work identification of the enzymes/proteins involved in ripening process are characterized by their conserved domains (conserved, 3-dimension region). The domains are identified by using the computational tool, CDART (Conserved Domain Architecture Retrieval Tool). By using this applied approach a number of conserved domains were identified, out of these enzymes, the domain pattern of Aspartate aminotransferase (AAT_Like), Glycosyl hydrolase (Glyco_Hydr) and oxoglutarate (20G_Fe) were reported the most conserved followed by Ethylene insensitive (EIN3), GT1, DPBB & Pollen in ripening enzyme complexes. The data, thus, obtained provide new insights in order to understand the role of the proteins playing in different stages of ripening process. These results provide a basis for further studies on the molecular mechanism of ripening process and food technological applications for delayed ripening in fruits, where ripening proteins plays an important role in.

Five different types of bacteria were isolated from Municipal Solid Waste and identified as Neisseria subflava, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium kutscheri, Bacillus pasteurii and Aeromonas species. Of these five different types, Neisseria subflava and Staphylococcus aureus were capable of growing on propoxur containing media. These two bacteria were grown on synthetic broth containing 100 and 200 ppm of propoxur respectively for 12 days. Residual phenol produced as a metabolite was estimated every 24 hours by colorimetry using 4 – aminoantipyrine method. Degradation pattern showed that, Neisseria subflava and Staphylococcus aureus degraded propoxur into residual phenol and basic compounds. Neisseria subflava showed constant increase in degradation of propoxur over the time after 144hrs of exposure to propoxur at 100 and 200 ppm. Nevertheless, degradation of 200 ppm propoxur was comparatively less than that of 100 ppm propoxur by Neisseria subflava. Staphylococcus aureus showed zigzag pattern of degradation indicating that for every 24 or 48 hrs of degradation of propoxur, there was decrease in growth rate indicating that the metabolite of propoxur was inhibiting the growth and then therewas recovery once again leading to increased growth rate for another 24 hrs.

Adenosine deaminase is a catabolic enzyme, part of the purine salvage metabolic pathway. The principal function of ADA nevertheless appears to be related to the development of immune system and cell differentiation in human. Tuberculosis is an ancient disease of man and is still of the most widespread. Case rates are varied markedly according to age, sex, race and geographic locations. The global incidence of tuberculosis (TB) has sharply increased particularly in areas where HIV and tuberculosis are both prevalent. The Adenosine deaminase activity was found to be elevated in the fluid sample of most of the suspected cases of Tuberculosis and HIV. But it has been observed that though the patients presented typical clinical picture of tuberculosis infection and HIV, the adenosine deaminase activity is much above the reference range. Estimation of the various fractions of protein of the patient with high Adenosine Deaminase activity in the fluid showed increase in albumin, alpha -1 , alpha- 2, beta and gamma globulin while protein electrophoresis of the serum of the same patient showed a decrease in the albumin and increase in the alpha – 1, alpha – 2, beta and gamma globulin. The Adenosine deaminase activity along with the lymphocyte to neutrophil ratio, total leucocyte count and protein electrophoresis can be used as a diagnostic test for the diagnosis of HIV and HIV plus tuberculosis infection.

Treatment of disorders through immune manipulation of the host has come a long way in the last decades and has broadened its applications from infectious diseases to control of allograft rejection, induction of tolerance for the treatment of autoimmunity and break of tolerance to induce cancer rejection. Immunotherapy, biological response modifier therapy or biotherapy uses the immune system to fight disease like cancer. The potentials of immunotherapy are many. The objective of this review article is to increase awareness of contemporary immunologic therapies and recent advances in immunotherapy.

Industrial waste and sewage pollute more than 2/3 of India’s water resources. Stream pollution is a serious and growing problem in most developing countries where there is little waste water treatment. Increasing contamination of aquatic resources with pollution including heavy metals (like chromium, lead, cadmium, zinc, nickel etc.) endangers aquatic biota and declines water quality. Bioremediation is a process that uses microorganisms or their enzymes to return the environment altered by contaminants to its original condition. Biological methods for the removal of heavy metals from industrial waste may provide an attractive alternative to the physico-chemical process; biosurfactants are one of the compounds that aid in alleviating the heavy metals. Microorganisms while trying to utilize substrates like hydrocarbon as carbon source facilitate the diffusion into cell by producing a variety of substances called biosurfactants. Several microbes such as Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Acinetiobacter sp. and Arthobacter sp. are reported to produce biosufactants. Compared to synthetic compounds, biosurfactants offer the advantages of little or no environmental impact and the possibility of in situ production. Studies in recent past have demonstrated the successful use of biosurfactants for facilitating the degradation of organic pollutants in soil and water. In the light of above the present study is aimed to carry out the assessment of efficiency of biosurfactants (Rhamnolipid) producing microorganisms (Pseudomonas sp.) isolated from heavy metal contaminated site.