Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of three important medicinal plants of South India

India is found to be a country with rich biodiversity and enormous treasure of herbal plants and consequently called as medicinal garden of the world. Plants are the richest source of natural antimicrobial agents. In recent years drug resistance to human pathogenic bacteria has been commonly reported from all over the world. Therefore, there is a need to develop alternative antimicrobial drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases; one approach is to screen local medicinal plants for possible antimicrobial properties. The present study was designed to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of hexane, chloroform and methanol crude extracts of the leaves of three important medicinal plants viz., Biophytum sensitivum (L.) DC, Bougainvillea spectabilis L. and Caesalpinia bonducella (L.) Fleming, collected from in and around Visakhapatnam District. The antimicrobial activity of the crude extracts was tested against three Gram Positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis MTCC 441, Enterococcus faecalis MTCC 439, Staphylococcus aureus MTCC 737), Three Gram Negative bacteria (Escherichia coli MTCC 443, Proteus vulgaris MTCC 426 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 1688) and three Fungal strains (Candida albicans MTCC 227, Epidermophyton floccosum MTCC 613 and Trichophyton mentagrophytes MTCC 7687) using agar well diffusion assay. Our results demonstrated that methanol extracts of these plants leaves have concentration dependent antibacterial activity against some of the tested organisms. Further studies should be undertaken to elucidate the exact mechanism of action of antimicrobial effect to identify the active ingredients which can be used for drug development program.

Effect of pruning levels and growth regulator application on guava (Psidium guajava l.) cv. Lucknow – 49 for high yield and quality

A field experiment to standardize the levels of pruning and growth regulator application in guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Lucknow-49 was undertaken at Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam during 2016-2017. The experiment consists of seven different levels of pruning and growth regulator application and the treatments were imposed on two years old trees. The result of the experiment revealed that, the treatment T5 (Light pruning + Paclobutrazol application) recorded the highest mean fruit weight, fruit length, fruit circumference, fruit pulp weight. Major objective of canopy management in guava cv. Lucknow -49 under high density planting system is to maximize the yield and maintaining the optimum canopy without overlapping. In a nutshell, taking into consideration of the performance of various pruning and chemical treatments, particularly yield and yield components, the treatment followed by T3 (Moderate pruning + Paclobutrazol application) in guava cv. Lucknow – 49 under high density planting system.

Efficacy of new insecticide molecules against leaf eating caterpillar, Diaphania indica in bitter gourd

Field experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of seven new insecticides against leaf eating caterpillar, Diaphania indica in bitter gourd, being maintained by farmer field in Thuyyaneri, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu. It revealed that Chlorantraniliprole @ 150ml/ ha was most effective, followed by Chlorantraniliprole 18.5 SC 125 ml/ha, spinosad 45 % SC 160 ml/ha, Thiodicarb 75 %WP 750 g/ha, and Imidacloprid 17.8 SL 250 ml/ha, were moderately effective. While Dichlorovos 76 %EC 325 ml/ha and spiromesifen 22.9 SC 500 ml/ha, were least effective against bitter gourd leaf eating caterpillar.

Studies on morpho- taxonomy anatomical and Palynology of Ipomoea carnea Jacq growing in Jharkhand, India.

The current paper deals with the morpho-taxonomy, anatomy and pollen studies of Ipomoea carnea a member family Convolvulaceae. This is one of the important invasive plants spreaded throughout the nation as weed1, 2. It has been also reported from all the parts of Jharkhand3. Owing to unique charter of its survival in land as well as water the current study has been under taken.

Lectotypification of four accepted names and six synonyms in the genus Agrostistachys (Euphorbaiceae)

Lectotypes are designated for four accepted names and six synonyms in the Indo-Malesian genus Agrostistachys Dalzell (Euphorbiaceae) in accordance with the ICN.

Studies on underutilized weeds of family Amaranthaceae used as edibles by the Munda tribe of Jharkhand, India.

Amaranthaceae, a common family of flowering plants distributed worldwide, also shows its presence in Jharkhand. Jharkhand have some of the species which are wild growing and are considered as weeds. The people of Munda tribe have a rich traditional knowledge of utilizing these weeds as edibles and for medicines. This paper deals with the study and documentation traditional knowledge of Mundas, which resulted in documentation of seven wild growing underutilized Amaranthaceae species. This type of documentation work is very important in the present century where the natural resources and their related knowledge are depleting due to unawareness about their importance and utilities.

Regeneration of Gardenia gummifera Linn.f by using cyanobacteria- A novel approach to tissue culture

Propagation of the medicinal plants by usage of different media and PGR’s is laborious, cost-effective and is the possibility of genetic variation. In the present investigation, a novel protocol was first time developed for propagation of Gardenia gummifera Linn.f. This protocol is useful in all aspects viz low cost, time and free from genetic variation. This technology is efficient as compared to normal tissue culture technique which is used for conservation from last of two decades.

Stomatal responses to environmental variation among Duranta erecta L.

Stomata are pores found in the epidermis of leaf that allow for consequently water loss through transpiration, pores are bound by specialized cells, called guard cells. Abnormalities present in the stomata such as contiguous stomata, twin stomata are of great importance to the global-water cycle and plant’s ability to respond to environmental variation. Elevation of atmospheric carbon di-oxide concentration often results in lower stomatal density. Inspection of the distribution of stomata in leaves growing in environment with different levels of available water gives clues for the role of stomata in plant adaptation. The plant environment is continuously changing, and stomatal apertures are perceived by the guard cells. They adapt to local and global changes on all timescales from minute to millennia.

Two new records of Trypetheliaceae (Lichenized Fungi) from India.

Two lichen species namely, Astrothelium interjectum R.C. Harris and Trypethelium xanthoplatystomum Flakus & Aptroot of the family Trypetheliaceae are reported here as new distributional records for India.

Pollen morphology of selected taxa of Ehretiaceae from Western Ghats, India.

Pollen Morphology is an important tool in the identification of a genera. Data on pollen morphology is used as a reference in other fields of palynology like allergic studies, melissopalynology, tracing the history of vegetation, genetic and evolutionary studies, climate change studies etc. Pollen morphology of two genera of Ehretiaceae family is studied using Scanning electron microscope. Palynological contributions are still fragmentary in the family Ehretiaceae of southern India. Ehretia pubescens Benth is a small tree belonging to Ehretiaceae family located at the foothill of Chamundi hill reserve forest which is a part of Western ghat near Mysuru and Cormona retusa (Vahl) Masam is a shrub found 3400ft above on top of Chamundi Hill. Pollen grains were acetolyzed and Scanning Electron Microscopic studies conducted to obtain data on pollen morphology. The study is conducted to assess the taxonomic significance of pollen morphology in relation to their phylogenetic origin of the two genera of Ehretiaceae in the region. The palynological evidence shows Ehretia pubescens with tri-zonocolporate and heterocolpate pollen grains and Cormona retusa with tricolpate pollen grain without the pseudocolpi. Both genera have foveolate tectum. Palynological data indicate that these two naturalized taxa ie. Ehretia pubescens and Cormona retusa belong to two different lineage of Ehretia and can be identified by their pollen morphology. Diversity in the pollen characters points towards the eurypalynous nature in Ehretiaceae.