Enhancing Onion Production and Productivity through Introduction of Seed Production Techniques in Central Zone of Tigray Region, Ethiopia

The main reason of low production and productivity is restricted use of inputs, notably improved seeds and fertilizers. May vegetable seeds are imported which results in different problems like disease outbreak, timely unavailability, costly and so on. The demand of vegetable seed is increasing from time to time. Though vegetable seed production is difficult, there are attempts and efforts to produce at local level. Strengthening of community based seed multiplication is a means to develop the vegetable seed production techniques and business. In order to bring this to practical, demonstration and scaling up activities conducted since 2009 to 2014. Farmers Research Group (FRG) approach was used to implement the research. In 2013 an average yield of 7q/ha of onion seed was recorded while the maximum was 10 q/ha. While in 2014 a maximum yield 16 q/ha was recorded at farmers field. The yield increment might be due to skill development by the farmers. Farmers could get gross income of 24, 000 thousand from a parcel of 300 m2 land. Thus local seed production practice is technically possible and economically feasible and should be encouraged and promoted by all stakeholders so as to enhance the income and livelihood of farmers.

Phytochemical Profiling, Antimicrobial Activity and Brine Shrimps Lethality of Croton zambesicus Seeds and Leaves Extracts

It is a well known medicinal plant in Sudan with different traditional uses. To date there are no chemical or biological records reported on C. zambesicus seeds. Air dried ground seeds and leaves of C. zambesicus were extracted using 80% methanol. The methanolic extract was sequentially fractionated with petroleum ether, chloroform and ethyl acetate. The obtained extracts of C. zambesicus seeds leaves were screened antimicrobial activities against four standard bacteria (Bacillus subtitles, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and two fungi (Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans) using in vitro agar diffusion method. The cytotoxicity evaluation of the bioactive fractions was carried out in vitro using brine shrimp lethality assay. The MIC of the seeds crude extract was 12 mg/ml against B. subtitles, E. coli, and P.aeruginosa. After fractionation of the seeds methanolic extract the antibacterial activity was mainly accumulated in the ethyl acetate phase with an MIC of 50 mg/ml against Bacillus subtitles. The MIC of the leaves crude extract was 6.25 mg/ml against S. aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. After fractionation of the leaves methanolic extract the antibacterial activity was mainly accumulated in the chloroform phase with an MIC of 12.5 mg/ml against Bacillus subtitles. Terpenoids were mainly detected in the petroleum ether fraction in addition to four compounds which were suggested to be phenolics. Phenolic acids and flavonoids were detected in the ethyl acetate fraction giving typical blue, yellow and orange colours with NPR at 366 nm. Terpenoids and polyphenols, mainly flavonoids, detected in C. zambesicus active extracts were believed to be responsible of the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities mentioned above. All extracts were quite safe in brine shrimp lethality assay. These results justify the traditional use of C. zambesicus seeds and leaves.

The Effects of Nutrients on the Biodegradation of Crude Oil

The results of this study deal with addition of nutrient to the contaminated media with the hydrocarbon compounds (crude oil) on degradation of this compounds by bacteria, Showed 14 isolates of bacteria exhibited good indications of ability to degrade crude oil, eight of which belongs to the genus Bacillus, two to Pseudomonas and four to Chromobacterium. Five of these promising strains were selected for further study, two of which (V10 and D35) belongs to the genus Bacillus and three (V16, D39 and W1) to Chromobacterium. The two Bacillus strains were further identified depending on biochemical tests as B. larvae (V10) and B. alcalophilus (D35). Strains D35, V10 and W1 were used as consortium for treatment. The addition of nitrogen, phosphorus or both fertilizers to the medium inoculated by a consortium of the bacterial strains D35,V10 and W1 resulted in improved crude oil degradation as revealed by chromatographic separation of the crude oil fractions.

Molecular characterization and phylogeny of Staphylococci from white tail deer, Odocoileus virginianus, in Western New York

Staphylococcus is a prevalent and versatile bacterium found in many different settings, from numerous animal hosts in the environment to healthcare facilities in the community. It has become very successful in establishing itself as a commensal in various humans and animals. Concern over this bacterium has increased due to the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between strains. This study specifically investigated the prevalence of Staph from the nasal passages of white tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, in Western New York. This source of bacteria is unique in that it should not be under direct influence of antibiotic use. DNA was isolated from strains of Staph from the deer, and PCR was performed to amplify a region of the 16s rRNA gene and a number of genetic markers used for multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) for DNA sequence analysis. Tentative phylogenetic relationships of these bacterial strains were made to previously characterized type strains of Staphylococcus. The use of MLST and 16s rRNA gene sequence deserve analysis with respect to their broad applicability beyond the strains typically found associated with humans and agriculture.

Heat Shock Proteins and the Maintenance of Gut Barrier Following Burn Injury

Traumatic injury, specifically burn injury, remains a prominent medical problem due to the prevalence of secondary, burn-induced complications of sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. These complications arise as a result of gut barrier breakdown following injury. As the gut harbors trillions of resident bacteria, any compromise in barrier integrity would allow for bacteria or bacterial products to gain access to extraintestinal sites potentiating systemic infections and inflammation associated with burn injury. Both experimental and human data provide evidence linking heat shock proteins with gut barrier maintenance under various pathological conditions. This article highlights the intestinal pathophysiologies associated with burn injury while proposing a potential cytoprotective role of heat shock proteins of the intestine in the innate immune response to injury.

Screening and antimicrobial activity of actinomycetes isolated from the rhizosphere of Clitoria ternatea

The air dried rhizosphere soil samples pretreated with calcium carbonate was employed for the isolation of actinomycete strains. Serial dilution plate technique was used for the isolation of actinomycetes. A total of 20 actinomycete strains designated as BS1-BS20 were isolated from the rhizosphere of medicinal plant Clitoria ternatea. All the 20 strains were subjected to primary screening for antimicrobial activity. Among the 20 strains screened, 10 strains exhibited high antimicrobial spectrum against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans.

In vitro propagation of Althaea rosea - a valuable medicinal plant of Kashmir Himalaya

Althaea rosea, commonly known as Hollyhock is an ornamental and medicinal plant. A. rosea has been reported to contain highest amount of tannins, carbohydrates, cyanide and mucilage. The purpose of this study was to optimize conditions for multiplication of Althaea rosea using shoottip explants. Varying concentrations solo and in combinations of auxins and cytokinins were experimented. The development of micro-propagation protocol for this valuable medicinal plant can ensure continuous supply of the plant product for pharmaceutical and food industry. In this regard an efficient and reproducible micro-propagation protocol has been developed using Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) (1962) medium augmented with different phytohormonal combinations like BAP, NAA, IBA and IAA. Both direct and indirect multiplication was obtained using in vitro raised shoot tip explants. Maximum shoot number was obtained using combination of BAP and NAA and rooting of isolated shoots was obtained using IBA. 60% of the transplanted plantlets survived under laboratory conditions.

Biomolecular-conjugated nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Bimolecular-conjugated nanoparticles (NP) demonstrate unique properties with wide-ranging applications in the diagnosis of infectious diseases as well as application in gene therapy and drug delivery therapies. The unique properties and utility of NP arise from a variety of attributes, including the similar size of nanoparticles and biomolecules. Biological functions depend primarily on units that have nanoscale dimensions, such as viruses, ribosomes, molecular motors and components of the extra cellular matrix. In addition, engineered devices at the nanoscale are small enough to interact directly with sub-cellular compartments and to probe intracellular events. This review focuses on the methods of nanoparticle interaction with different biomolecules such as antibodies, DNA, lipids, and proteins. More specifically, there is discussion about bioconjugation linkage and a summary of potential biomedical applications of bio-conjugated nanoparticles as targeted drug delivery vehicles.

Morpho-biochemical evaluation of EMS regenerated mutants of Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb. under in vitro conditions

The present work has been carried out with the objective to evaluate the morpho-biochemical changes in the EMS generated mutants of Bergenia ciliata before transferring them to field conditions. In this regard, range of EMS doses from 0.1% to 0.9% have been given. The present doses have shown adverse effect on seed germination, root number and decreased soluble protein content of plant. However shoot length, root length, chlorophyll content and total carbohydrate content were improved at lower doses (0.3%) of EMS treatment and decreased thereafter.

Scope and Status of Vegetable Seed Production in Ethiopia

This paper reviewed the scope and status of vegetable seed production in order to assess the current vegetable seed supply, production, distribution scenario and production potential. Adaptation and demonstration of improved vegetable technologies have shown the potential of producing different types of vegetable in different agro climatic regions in the country. It is important to identify suitable production belts and establish model seed multiplication scheme with strong collaboration of research, farmers/growers, seed distributors, vegetable producers and the extension sector. It is important to encourage private sectors that are interested in the horticulture seed industry. In many Asian countries the seed are commercially handled in which the market share of the private sector is more than 80%. It is important that variety development program be linked with the seed system. In additions, the economics of seed production be considered to assist farmers for decision. For efficient, economic and sustainable seed supply, seed production should be decentralized into major crop production zones with active participation of both public and private sectors. At the same time, the local seed supply should be organized using both local and improved varieties through secondary seed multiplication scheme. Improved seed production and distribution are predominantly carried out in the public sector; the scope of the formal seed supply systems is limited in developing countries like Ethiopia. Though there is huge potential; horticultural crop production and multiplication of improved variety of the seed is a great bottle neck problem. Lack of varieties and inadequate breeder and basic seed supply for effective seed production, limited technical and managerial experience and material resource absence of specialized seed farms in adequate coverage of economically important crops and lack of independent quality seed control system specially the foreign seed should be addressed by the responsible seed center.