Effects of organic selenium supplemented diet on growth performance and antioxidant response in Cirrhinus mrigala

The present study was conducted to evaluate the …effect of dietary selenium on growth performance and antioxidant enzymes activity in Cirrhinus mrigala for a period of 45 days. Four numbers of experimental diets were prepared, T_c for Control (0 mg organic selenium/kg of diet), T₁ (2.5 mg organic selenium/kg of diet), T₂ (5.0 mg organic selenium/kg of diet) and T₃ (10 mg organic selenium/kg of diet). The water quality parameters (temperature, DO, pH, conductivity, hardness, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite) were found to be insignificant (p > .05) among all the treatments. Superoxidase dismutase (SOD) was found to be significantly highest in T₂ (6.10 ± 0.07) when compared with the other treatments. Similarly, catalase (CAT) activity in T₁ (13.21 ± 0.13) was significantly (p < .05) different with that of Control, T₂ and T₃. Present study also revealed that 2.5mg organic selenium/kg supplemented diet (T₁) showed highest results in net weight gain (15.55 ± 1.36 g), net weight gain percentage (185.88 ± 8.98%) and SGR (2.35 ± 0.06 g) compared with other experimental diet.     

Greenhouse gas implications of water reuse in the Upper Pumpanga River Integrated Irrigation System, Philippines

Enhancing water productivity is often recommended as a “soft option” in addressing the problem of increasing water scarcity. However, improving water productivity, particularly through water reuse, incurs additional investment and may result in increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, we analysed the water productivity and GHG implications of water reuse through pumping groundwater and creek water, and compare this with gravity-fed canal irrigation in the Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System (UPRIIS) in the Philippines.Water productivity indicators show that water reuse contributes significantly to water productivity. For example, water productivity with respect to gross inflow (WP_gross) with water reuse (0.19 kg grain/m³) is 21% higher than without water reuse (0.15 kg grain/m³). However, there is a tradeoff between increasing water productivity and water reuse as water reuse increases GHG emissions. The estimated GHG emission from water reuse (pumping irrigation) is 1.47 times higher than without water reuse (gravity-fed canal irrigation). Given increasing concerns about climate change and the need to reduce carbon emissions, we recommend that a higher priority be given to water reuse only in areas where water scarcity is a serious issue.     

Restriction analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of male-sterile and maintainer lines of pearl millet, Pennisetum americanum L.

Mitochondrial DNA from two pairs of cytoplasmic male-sterile (cms) and maintainer lines of pearl millet was investigated by restriction-enzyme analysis and Southern-blot hybridization using three mitochondrial gene probes. Each pair of male-sterile and maintainer lines was of a different nuclear origin. The objective was to distinguish differences in the DNA base-sequence organization of the mitochondrial genomes of cms and maintainer lines from the two sources. Restriction-enzyme analysis revealed differences between the different cms and maintainer lines. Southern-blot hybridization experiments using cloned mitochondrial gene probes further distinguished differences between different lines. It is expected that the restriction-fragment-length polymorphisms revealed in the Southern-blot-hybridization experiments will be useful in distinguishing and classifying cms and maintainer lines obtained from different nuclear backgrounds.     

Molecular phylogeny in Indian Citrus L. (Rutaceae) inferred through PCR-RFLP and trnL-trnF sequence data of chloroplast DNA

The taxonomy and phylogeny of Indian Citrus is revisited using PCR-RFLP of the trnD-trnT and rbcL-ORF 106 regions as well as sequence data analysis of the trnL-trnF intergenic spacer region of cpDNA. The study was based on 50 accessions of Citrus genotypes, collected from wild, semi-wild and domesticated stocks. Of the 13 restriction enzymes (RE) used for restriction digestion of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplicons, four (Hinf I, Msp I, Alu I, Hae III) generated 47 restriction fragments, of which 24 (51%) were polymorphic. PCR-RFLP data showed a genetic distance ranging from 0 to 0.79 among 50 accessions of Citrus, and a cluster analysis, based on Neighbor-Joining (NJ) method, placed all the accessions in eight major clusters. Analysis of trnL-trnF sequences from 23 representative accessions of Citrus showed a pair-wise sequence divergence rate in the range of 0–0.064. NJ, minimum evolution (ME) and maximum parsimony (MP) analyses of trnL-trnF sequences produced phylogenetic trees, which placed all the 23 accessions in five clusters. PCR-RFLP analysis resulted in a well resolved phylogenetic tree with branches supported by moderate to high bootstrap values, while the trnL-trnF sequence-based trees showed only moderate to low bootstrap support for the internal tree branches, indicating uncertain origin of some Citrus genotypes. This study shows that the trnL-trnF spacer sequence data can detect genetic variation in Indian Citrus genotypes, but the utility of the data in inferring phylogeny at intra and inter-specific levels is limited probably by factors such as hybridization, bud mutations, apomixis and polyploidy. However, PCR-RFLP and trnL-trnF data supported the recognition of C. maxima, C. medica, and C. reticulata as the basal species of edible Citrus.     

Cryopreservation of silver barb Puntius gonionotus (Bleeker) spermatozoa: effect of extender composition,cryoprotective agents and freezing rate on their postthawing fertilization ability

The effects of extender composition, cryoprotectant concentration and freezing and thawing on the fertilization efficiency of cryopreserved spermatozoa of Puntius gonionotus were evaluated. Computer‐aided motility analysis of semen was conducted to check the suitability of spermatozoa for cryopreservation after mixing with different extenders and cryoprotective agents (CPAs). Extender‐4 with an osmolality 260 mOsmol kg⁻¹and pH 7.6 was used for the cryopreservation study. Among the CPAs, dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) was least toxic and more than 60% fertilization was achieved when used at 1.4 M at 0 °C for 10 and 30 min, whereas the toxicity of all CPAs to spermatozoa was evident when tested at 30 °C. Semen frozen at −16 °C min⁻¹ with 1.4 M DMSO showed 70% fertilization, which was significantly higher (P<0.05) than other freezing rates. Samples thawed at 35 °C water showed a fertilization rate comparable with that of fresh semen. Computer‐assisted semen analysis of fresh and frozen semen after thawing showed variations in different types of motility in spermatozoa and in their class. There was no significant difference in motility before or after cryopreservation; however, significant differences could be observed in the average path velocity (VAP), straight line velocity (VSL) and curve linear velocity (VCL). Semen of silver barb could be cryopreserved with extender‐4 by addition of 1.4 M DMSO to a final cryopreservation medium (MED 2) cooled at a rate of −16 °C min⁻¹, stored in liquid nitrogen (−196 °C) and utilized after thawing at 35±2 °C.     

Laser annealing of ion-implanted semiconductors

The physical and electrical properties of ion-implanted silicon annealed with high-powered laser radiation are described. Particular emphasis is placed on the comparison of materials properties that can be achieved with laser annealing to those which can be achieved by conventional thermal annealing. Applications of these techniques to the fabrication of high-efficiency solar cells, and potential applications of this new technique to other materials areas are discussed.     

Biosurfactant-assisted phytoremediation of potentially toxic elements in soil: Green technology for meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Biosurfactants are biomolecules produced by microorganisms, low in toxicity, biodegradable, and relatively easy to synthesize using renewable waste substrates. Biosurfactants are of great importance with a wide and versatile range of applications, including the bioremediation of contaminated sites. Plants may accumulate soil potentially toxic elements(PTEs), and the accumulation efficacy may be further enhanced by the biosurfactants produced by rhizospheric microorganisms. Occasionally, the growth of bacteria slows down in adverse conditions, such as highly contaminated soils with PTEs. In this context,the plant's phytoextraction capacity could be improved by the addition of metal-tolerant bacteria that produce biosurfactants. Several sources, categories,and bioavailability of PTEs in soil are reported in this article, with the focus on the cost-effective and sustainable soil remediation technologies, where biosurfactants are used as a remediation method. How rhizobacterial biosurfactants can improve PTE recovery capabilities of plants is discussed, and the molecular mechanisms in bacterial genomes that support the production of important biosurfactants are listed. The status and cost of commercial biosurfactant production in the international market are also presented.     

Gravitational lens optics

Several instances of multiple imaging of cosmologically distant sources by intervening galaxies and galaxy clusters have been discovered over the past decade. These "gravitational lenses" have distinctive optical properties. Pointlike sources such as quasars generally produce two or four images when lensed, whereas extended sources such as galaxies produce spectacular arcs and rings. The salient features of most of the observations can be reproduced with the use of simple elliptical lens models that approximate the lenses made by ellipsoidal mass distributions such as are common in the universe. In addition to illustrating simple optics in operation on a cosmological scale, multiple images and arcs provide useful probes of the lensing galaxies and clusters. Also, gravitational lenses can make magnified images of cosmologically distant sources and may eventually furnish important cosmographic data such as the Hubble constant.     

Properties of gamma-ray burst progenitor stars

We determined some basic properties of stars that produce spectacular gamma-ray bursts at the end of their lives. We assumed that accretion of the outer portion of the stellar core by a central black hole fuels the prompt emission and that fall-back and accretion of the stellar envelope later produce the plateau in the x-ray light curve seen in some bursts. Using x-ray data for three bursts, we estimated the radius of the stellar core to be approximately (1 - 3) x 10(10) cm and that of the stellar envelope to be approximately (1 - 2) x 10(11) cm. The density profile in the envelope is fairly shallow, with rho approximately r(-2) (where rho is density and r is distance from the center of the explosion). The rotation speeds of the core and envelope are approximately 0.05 and approximately 0.2 of the local Keplerian speed, respectively.