Life Sciences

Fresh water fishes are economically important and an alternative source of significant human dietary constituents. The experimental fishes treated with lethal concentrations (1.00, 1.50, 0.63 and 2.00 ppm) of mercuric chloride showed many histological changes during 1 to 4 days of exposure. The gills showed vacuolization in the gill stem, gill lamellae ruptured, connective tissue cells in the stem damaged, destructed and congestion of haemocytes in the gill lamellae are observed.

The study is focused on the effect of two species of Glomus and Trichoderma in order to control the wilt disease and plant growth of cow pea. In vitro condition, among the bioagents, T. harzianum produced the maximum inhibition zone of 18.20 per cent compared to the minimum of 7.30 per cent by T.viride. Soil application of T. harzianum biomass at 60 g/kg soil in infected soil effectively controlled the Fusarium wilt disease and ultimately improved growth of different characters of plant under glasshouse condition.

The aim of this work was to study the fermentation of lactose substrate in mineral salts medium for the production of L(+) lactic acid and lactase enzyme using Lactobacillus bifermentum. The effect of different process parameters such as various lactose concentration, pH of the medium, temperature and inoculum concentration was monitored to enhance the lactose conversion into lactase and lactic acid. Fermentations were performed in batch mode method with suitable environment.

Our attempts in this study were to identify QTLs which controlling the salinity tolerance of rice by using F2/F3 population which derived from the crossed combination between the Chanhtrui (high salinity tolerance) and Khangdan18 (susceptible) rice cultivars. The results have shown that: salinity tolerance was controlled by multiple genes.

Six protein rich artificial diets were formulated & tested on Apis mellifera colonies during dearth periods. The main components of these diets were Defatted Soy Floor, Parched Gram, Brewer’s Yeast, Skimmed Milk Powder, Protein Hydrolysate Powder, Spirulina, Natural Pollen, Sugar & Glucose Powder. Physico-chemical analysis of diet formulations was carried out to know the exact concentration of various nutrients.

A study was carried out to investigate farmers’ perceptions on the impact of Mushandike dam on livestock dynamics in an initial resettlement scheme, located in a drought prone area. The study focused on farmers resettled in Mushandike resettlement scheme who depend on a dam located upstream in Mushandike Sanctuary, Masvingo. Data were collected through focal group interviews and structured questionnaires that were administered to local farmers and agricultural extension workers. Farmers were selected from the 9 villages in Mushandike resettlement scheme.

Studies were conducted at Regional Research Station, College of Agriculture, Wadura, SKUAST-K, to evaluate the quality of municipal and agricultural waste under aerobic and anaerobic composting. Composting methods with enrichment techniques were adopted with 2 methods (Aerobic & Anaerobic) and 7 treatments in each method. The samples of the aerobic were drawn after 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after composting and in anaerobic compost samples were drawn after 150 days of compost.

Ground water is the only source for irrigation, drinking and domestic purposes in Batticaloa District. This study focused on the characterization of an independent aquifer in three selected GN divisions namely Koduwamadu, Pankudaweli and Veppaweduwan in EravurPattu DS division for its suitability for drinking. Groundwater samples were collected from wells to represent public and individual wells including dug and tube wells in the period of November 2013 to May 2014.

The thermal stability of beta-glucosidase from the land crab digestive juice (Cardisoma armatum) was investigated by studying the effect of heat treatment over a range of 60 to 75 °C. Thermal inactivation of this enzyme, evaluated by loss in activity, was apparently followed by first-order kinetics with k-values comprised between 0.0049 to 0.0391 min-1. D and k-values decreased and increased, respectively, with increasing temperature, indicating faster inactivation of beta-glucosidase at higher temperatures. Ea and Z-values were estimated to 172.98 kJ mol-1 and 12.80 °C respectively.

The different types of seaweeds viz., Caulerpa racemosa, Caulerpa scalpelliformis, Ulva fasciata, Padina tetrastromatica, Stoechospermum polypodioides, Sargassum wightii, Cheilosporum spectabile and Gracillaria edulis were collected and processed for the extraction. The effect of methanol extract of different seaweeds was studied on the larvae of Meloidogyne javanica at different exposure of time (24 hrs, 48 hrs, 72 hrs). The test seaweed extract were taken into two different concentrations (2 mg/ml, 4 mg/ml).