Background: Tuberculosis is a major health problem of India. Sputum AFB smear study is the age -old method of laboratory diagnosis of Pulmonary tuberculosis. CB NAAT is a recent nucleic acid based technology to diagnose Tuberculosis. Although it is highly sensitive and specific for diagnosis of TB it is costly and not available in resource poor area. We have conducted a research to compare efficacy of sputum AFB and CB NAAT to diagnose TB in suspected HIV negative patient attending a tertiary care hospital of Western Odisha. Methods: Sputum sample of 823 suspected TB patient who were HIV negative were collected and subjected to both AFB smear study and CB NAAT. Result: Among 823 samples 61(7.4%) were positive for AFB and 65(7.89%) were positive by CB NAAT.1 patient positive by AFB was negative by CB NAAT. And 4 patients who were negative for AFB were positive by CB NAAT. Conclusion: Sputum AFB is a good screening method for Pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV negative individual.

The biological control through various isolated strains of fungi from naturally infected Parthenium plants collected from different locations of Punjab. Total nine fungal species were isolated viz., three Alternaria sp., four Fusarium sp., Cladosporium sp. and Cephalosporium sp. Isolated strain’s pathogenicity was tested individually as well as in combination (both in lab and field conditions) against Parthenium with different control plants. Out of all the isolated strains, Fusarium equiseti followed by Fusarium solani and Cephalosporium sp. showed defoliation of leaves in laboratory conditions whereas less effective in the field conditions. In another approach, disc plate technique was used to investigate the spore germination time and fungus penetration route with a Scanning Electron Microscope. In addition, methods for fungal inoculum development with silica beads, wheat bran, CM-cellulose and Tween80 were also explored for spraying of fungal cultures in the field.

Bacterial endophytes are endosymbiotic microorganisms live inside plants for at least part of their life cycle without causing visible symptoms and involved in plant growth promotion. The present investigation the endophytic B. thuringiensis was isolated from the plant sample. Five isolates were confirmed on the basis of crystal formation and identified as Bacillus thuringiensis. The colonization capacity of the isolates was studied by recovering B. thuringiensis from the inoculated leaf and stem (2.9 × 107/g) and root (3.9 × 107/g) of the plants. The cauliflower seed germination and seedling development, seven days after planting showed significant increase over un-inoculated control. Further, the selected isolates were screened for the production of cell wall degrading enzymes and multiple plant growth promoting (PGP) traits viz. phosphate (P) and zinc (Zn) solubilization abilities. All five endophytic B. thuringiensis isolates were found positive for the production of cell wall degrading enzymes viz., cellulase, pectinase, protease, endoglucanase, and also having capacity to solubilize phosphate and zinc. The maximum phosphate and Zn solubilization was achieved by the standard strain HD1 followed by isolate CF4 followed by CF2. The ability of Bacillus thuringiensis isolates for IAA production, Gibberellic acid production and Siderophore production too was assessed. IAA and GA3 production were found to be maximum with CF4 (42.67 and 356.8 ?g l-1 respectively), followed by CF2 (31.51 and 296 ?g l-1). Maximum siderophore production was observed in CF4 (374 mg l-1) followed by CF2 (270 mg l-1).