Isolation, characterization, and antimicrobial activity of Actinomycetes isolated from garden soil

Five different strains of Actinomycetes were isolated from rhizosphere soil sample taken from Tulsi gardens of Kayathar, Tuticorin District. Heat treated Tulsi growing rhizosphere soil samples (Kayathar, Tuticorin District) were subjected to serial dilution and plated on starch casein medium, incubated at 37 °C for 7 - 14 days. The isolated strains were subjected to morphological, biochemical and cultural characterisation to study their spore morphology, asexual reproductive spores, substrate mycelial growth and enzyme degradation. Tests were performed as per International Streptomyces Project (ISP). Morphological and cultural characteristics showed that the strains AJ1, AJ2, AJ3, AJ4 and AJ5 belonged to the genus Actinomycete. The cultures showed substrate and aerial mycelial growth and also soluble pigments. Based on their morphology the isolates were subjected to antimicrobial activity against pathogens. Antimicrobial activity was performed against seven clinical isolates. AJ1 was found to show maximum activity against Klebsiella, S.typhi and Enterobacter whereas AJ5 was found to show inhibitory activity against Klebsiella.

PREDICTION OF ANTI-PARKINSON POTENTIAL OF PHYTOCONSTITUENTS USING PREDICTION OF ACTIVITY SPECTRA OF SUBSTANCES SOFTWARE

Objective: Neurodegenerative disorders are group of diseased conditions in which there is loss of neuron cells occur. The main objective of this study to find/search out the phytochemical with the help of prediction of activity spectra of substances (PASSs), those show maximum activity over the selected targets of the Parkinson’s disease (PD).Methods: PASSs is a valuable software which is used in this study, to predict the anti-Parkinson activity of different compounds. Canonical simplified molecular-input line-entry system is used for the prediction of anti-Parkinson activity which is obtained from PubChem website. The predicted activity also compared with marketed compound like levodopa.Results: From the study, it was found that resveratrol was the only compound which has the activity on all the selected targets. On the other hand, stemazole and celastrol were found to have the least active compounds as both have the activity only on a single target.Conclusion: In this research work, we tried to compile the information regarding the PASS predicted anti-Parkinson activity of some important phytoconstituents. We found that resveratrol can be a target for further investigation in the development of drug therapy for PD.

Effects of Tannin Extract fromGongronema latifoliumLeaves on LipoxygenaseCucumeropsis maniiSeeds

Lipoxygenase (EC 1.13.11.12) was partially purified from germinated seeds ofCucumeropsis maniito a purification fold of 47.14, enzyme activity recovery of 72.18%, and specific activity of 326.25 units/mg protein, using a three-step process of centrifugation, ammonium sulphate precipitation and gel filtration. Kinetic properties show maximum activity at pH 6.0 and at optimum temperature of 40°C. Inhibitory effects of the extract fromGongronema latifoliumand two other known antioxidants: ascorbic acid and propyl gallate on lipoxygenase fromCucumeropsis maniiwere studied. Result shows presence of inhibition with IC50 of4.2×10−3±0.09×10−3 g/L,4.3×10−2±0.11×10−2 g/L and7.9×10−2±0.11×10−2 g/L for the extract from ascorbic acid and propyl gallate, respectively. The extract when compared to the other antioxidants exhibits a competitive mechanism of inhibition. This tannin extract could be included during food processing as preservative against food deterioration that might be caused by oxidative enzymes such as lipoxygenase.

The effect of temperature on the development and survival of the infective larvae of Strongyloides ratti Sandground, 1925

The development of the free-living infective larvae of a homogonic strain Strongyloides ratti is described.The larvae develop only between 15 and 34 °C. Transfer experiments show the temperature block to be in the preparation for the second moult.Within the temperature range 15–34 °C, increasing the temperature speeds up the rate of development of all the larval stages equally, the Q10 for development being 2·5.The maximum percentage development occurs at 20 °C. The percentage development is highest in faeces–peat culture (95% development at 20 °C), whilst the percentage development in charcoal and vermiculite cultures is about the same (75% development at 20 °C.).Larvae grown on charcoal cultures are larger than those grown on vermiculite, which are larger than those grown on peat. No significant difference was found in the length:oesophagus and length:width ratios or in the variability of larvae grown at different temperatures or on different culture media.Different worm densities in the cultures of from 2000 to 10000 larvae per g of culture did not affect either the size of the infective larve or the percentage development.The optimum temperature for survival is 15 °C. Worms grown at 20 °C lived longer than worms grown at any other temperature. There was no evidence of temperature adaptation by the larvae.The infective larvae are positively thermotactic, and show maximum activity at 37 °C.I should like to thank my supervisor, Dr Tate, for his advice and encouragement. The work was carried out during the tenure of a Medical Research Council Scholarship.