Introduction and Objective: Potassium iodide (KI) has been used as an effective drug for the treatment of sporotrichosis since centuries. Still it is one of the best drug fin the treatment of infections caused by Sporothrix schenckii, but its exact mechanism of action is unknown. Hence, it was aimed to study the effect of increasing concentration of KI on the normal growth curve of S. schenckii in mycelial phase. Material and Method: A MTCC 1359 strains of S. schenckii was used to study the effect of KI on its growth. A filamentous stage of this thermally dimorphic fungus was inoculated in broth culture medium i.e., yeast nitrogen base (YNB) medium and incubated at 25 ºC for 1 week. The broth culture was adjusted to turbidity of 90% transmittance at 530 nm in a colorimeter to obtain a master inoculum. A varying concentration of KI i.e., 0.05 gm%, 0.1g m% , 0.2 gm%, 0.4 gm%, 0.8 gm%, 1.6 gm%, 3.2 gm%, 6.4 gm%, 12.8 gm% and blank (0.00gm%) was added in ten tubes containing 5ml of YNB. All the tubes were inoculated with 0.1 ml of master inoculum and then incubated at 25ºC. Optical densities (ODs) of all the tubes were measured by taking readings of ODs at 530 nm of wavelength in a colorimeter for 34 days. Result: A significant change in ODs of all the phases of normal growth curve of mycelial form of S. schenckii was seen in increasing concentration of KI. The effect was more prominent in higher concentration of KI that too in exponential and decline phase of the normal growth curve than the lag and logarithmic phase. Conclusion: The study reveals an inhibitory effect of KI in its increasing concentration on normal growth curve of mycelial form of S. schenckii, but higher concentration had always shown the pronounced effect on all the phases of the normal growth curve. Hence, this study suggests that KI has an inhibitory activity on the growth of S. schenckii. percent.

Camptothecin derivatives are clinically used as anti-tumor indole alkaloids that are currently obtained by extraction from intact plants. In the present study, we developed a method for transient expression of Catharanthus roseus strictosidine synthase (CrSTR) gene by Agro infiltration method in Ophiorrhiza mungos plant with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Our results indicated that the construct in the LBA 4404 strain imparted a higher transient expression as evident by a higher accumulation of the end product, CPT (0.022 %) compared to the untransformed as well as the mock treatments. These results point at the possibility that overexpression of Strictosidine synthase could in principle lead to the overproduction of strictosidine which then can lead to the higher production of terpenoid indole alkaloids, such as camptothecin.

This study reported that optimum and economic conditions for baker’s yeast production using sugarcane molasses were 10% molasses culture medium containing 0.15% urea at pH=5.0 and the initial count of yeast inoculum as 103 cell/ ml. At optimized conditions, FJ1 showed biomass yield of 5.63g/L which further increases to 6.54g/L on supplementation with CSL. Therefore, CSL was found to increase the biomass yield by 16.16%.

Field experiment on fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) was carried out in the clay loam soil under agro ecological zone “Northern Plain and Central Highlands including Aravallis” at Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, MPUAT, Udaipur during the rabi season of 2010-11. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of phosphorus and sulphur on soil fertility, nutrient balance and productivity of fenugreek in Southern Rajasthan. The experiment was laid out in Factorial Randomized Block Design (FRBD) with four levels of phosphorus (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg P2O5 ha-1) and four levels of sulphur (0, 20, 40 and 60 kg S ha-1) with three replications. The results revealed that application of 60 kg P2O5 ha-1 significantly affected total chlorophyll content, grain, haulm and protein yield of fenugreek over its lower levels but did not significantly differ with 40 kg P2O5 ha-1 with respect to chlorophyll content and haulm yield. It was also recorded significant improvement in phosphorus content in soil and enhanced nutrient balance after harvest of crop over rest of the treatments. Application of sulphur at 45 kg ha-1 significantly improved total chlorophyll content as well as grain, haulm and protein yield as compared to other remaining levels of sulphur. Furthermore, it was significantly influenced the sulphur content in soil after harvest of crop and also improved the nutrient balance in soil. However, it was statistically identical with 30 kg S ha-1 in respect to sulphur content in soil. Hence, application 60 kg P2O5 ha-1 as well as 45 S kg ha-1, was found to be the best treatment as sustaining the higher productivity of fenugreek with improvement in soil fertility and nutrient balance in Southern Rajasthan.

Muga silkworm, Antheraea assamensis Helfer is an economically important sericigenous insect and produces unique golden colour silk. Muga silkworm is endemic to North Eastern States of India. The silkworm is polyphagus, multivoltine and reared outdoor mainly on leaves of Som (Persea bombycina) and Soalu (Litsea monopetala) trees. Since Muga silkworms are reared on outdoor conditions, diseases and pests are the major constraints for enhancing production and productivity. Muscardine or mycosis is a deadly fungal disease occurred mostly in winter crops and thereby causing death of considerable number of Muga silkworm larvae which ultimately affects the cocoon production. Nevertheless, information on characterization and lifecycle of the fungal isolate obtained from muscardien diseased Muga silwkor is obscure. In the present study muscardine (mycosis) infected dead mummified Muga silkworm larvae has been collected and fungus has been isolated (isolate MSFP1). The fungal isolate was cultivated in different media. Asexual reproductive stages of the fungi have been identified as microconidia and blastospores. Different developmental stages of conidiogenous cells and blastospores were documented. Based on the conventional morphological characters and microscopic observations, the fungal isolate MSFP1 has been putatively identified as Beauveria sp. under ‘Hypocreales’ order and ‘Cordycipitaceae’ family.

Early infant diagnosis (EID) project was implemented in 18 districts of Gujarat through 33 PPTCT (Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission) centres, one of them being Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, from 1st April 2010 to diagnose HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) in infants below 18 months. The method used for this purpose was Total Nucleic Acid-PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction). This study was done on 97 infants whose mothers were enrolled under the PPTCT program at Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India from January 2016 to December 2017. The study determined the infant positivity rate and evaluated the associated factors. PPTCT is a component of the National AIDS Control Program (NACP) which was upgraded to NACP-IV in 2012. Therefore, the obtained results were also compared with the data from 2012-2015 from the PPTCT centre record. The results indicated that six infants out of 97 were found to be HIV positive (6.18%).

Two and a half years old male Pomeranian dog was reported with a history of fever, haemorrhagic gastroenteritis, frequent vomition, foul smelling diarrhoea, hematochezia, profuse salivation, halitosis, inappetence and lethargy. Diagnostic protocol included haematological examination, serum biochemical examination, routine urine examination, trans-abdominal ultrasonography (USG), plain and contrast radiography of abdomen. Hematological examination indicated viral haemorrhagic gastroenteritis with severe leucopenia. During the course of disease, urinary tract infection (UTI) was observed as a secondary bacterial complication, diagnosed through routine urine tests and urine bacteriological culture examination. Culture examination of urine revealed Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Serum biochemical examination revealed deviation from the normal values in the initial phase which were later on found to be normal at the time of recovery. USG and radiography reports were normal. The treatment involved administration of appropriate fluid therapy, sensitive parenteral antibiotic and supportive therapy. The condition of the dog improved gradually and complete recovery occurred three weeks after the treatment.

An experiment was conducted in the laboratory of the Department of Seed Science and Technology, UAS, Bangalore to find out the effect of different chemicals, botanicals and different containers on storability of foxtail millet. The study was conducted with two seed dressing chemicals viz., Thiram and Neem seed kernel and three different containers viz., cloth bags, polythene bags (700 gauge) and gunny bag. Highly significant differences were observed for treatment with different seed dressing chemicals and type of container irrespective of per cent germination, seedling length, seedling dry weight, seedling vigour index, electrical conductivity, seed infection and moisture content of stored seeds. The present study on storage revealed that foxtail millet seeds can be stored in polythene bags (700 gauge) after treating with thiram (3g/kg) for extending the storage life.