Mode of action of acibenzolar-S-methyl against sheath blight of rice, caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn

The mode of action of acibenzolar-S-methyl (BTH) was investigated against sheath blight of rice and its pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani. BTH exhibited limited fungitoxicity against R solani, in the form of reduced mycelial growth, hyphal browning and sclerotia formation. Parasite fitness of mycelia and sclerotia formed on BTH-amended media was also reduced. When applied as soil drench or foliar spray, BTH inhibited both disease development on inoculated sheaths and its spread to the younger sheaths. The degree of protection against sheath blight increased with increase in duration between BTH application and inoculation. The curative effect of BTH was poor. When applied through roots a protective effect of BTH was visible even with only a 1-h interval between application and inoculation. However, in the case of foliar application, protective effect was recorded only when the gap between application and inoculation was 24 h. BTH reduced the frequency of penetration by R solani, colonization of host tissue and spread of the hyphae from primary lesions to form secondary lesions. BTH induced swelling of hyphal tips on the sheath surface, formation of papillae, browning of penetrated epidermal cells and degeneration of intra-cellular hyphae colonizing epidermal and mesophyll cells. Therefore, the protective effect of BTH against sheath blight was due to combination of its host defence-inducing activity and its adverse effect on growth and vigor (parasite fitness) of the pathogen.     

Endocrine modifications produced by o,p′-DDT in the male adult rat

The action of o,p′-DDT on plasma steroids and steroidogenesis in adrenal and brain tissues has been studied using 26 Sprague-Dawley adult male rats. The animals were divided into three groups: the first was injected with sesame oil, the second injected with 20 mg of o,p′-DDT in 0.5 ml of sesame oil and the third group was not treated. The animals were sacrificed 8 hr after the injection; blood, adrenal, and brain were removed and used for plasma steroid determinations. A decrease in testosterone and an increase in estradiol were found in plasma of treated animals. The injection of o,p′-DDT produced also a decrease in corticosterone formed from progesterone and in unchanged progesterone in the adrenal glands, an increase in dihydrotestosterone and a decrease in androstenediol formation from testosterone in the brain. These results indicate that the effect of o,p′-DDT administration implies: (i) a general decrease in androgen biosynthesis, which is evident also from the lower level of plasma testosterone; (ii) a decrease of plasma estradiol level, which could indicate a binding of o,p′-DDT to estradiol receptor sites; (iii) a decrease in 11β-hydroxylase activity, which is evident from the lower amount of corticosterone formed from progesterone in the adrenal tissue.     

The metabolism of p,p′-DDT by the feral pigeon (Columba livia)

Male feral pigeons were dosed with ring-labeled $\text{[}{}^{14}\text{C}\text{]p,p′-}\text{DDT}$ and the tissues and droppings analyzed for total ¹⁴C, extractable ¹⁴C, and metabolites. Only 16% of an intraperitoneal dose of 1.5–2.2 mg kg^?1 was voided in the droppings over 28 days; the rate of loss reached a maximum on the 14th day and then fell quickly away. The rate of removal of ¹⁴C in droppings was low in comparison to that found in the rat and the Japanese quail. When pigeons were dosed with 32–38 mg kg^?1 DDT per bird, and killed after 77 days, 5.4% of the dose was eliminated in droppings and 87% was recovered in the body. The tissues and droppings from this experiment were analyzed for DDT and its metabolites. Of the ¹⁴C remaining in tissues 88% was accounted for as the apolar compounds DDE, DDT, and DDD. Approximately half of the ¹⁴C in droppings was present as DDE, DDT, and DDD, whereas 27–35% was apparently in conjugated form, extractable from aqueous solutions by ethyl acetate after prolonged acid hydrolysis. Two polar metabolites were isolated from the acid-released material. One was p,p′-DDA; the other was extractable from aqueous solution at pH 8 and was tentatively identified as a monohydroxy derivative of p,p′-DDT. DDE accounted for 93% of the ¹⁴C present as metabolites in tissues and droppings, clearly indicating the importance of this intermediate in this study. The metabolism of DDT in the feral pigeon is discussed in relation to its metabolism by other species.     

α-Amylase inhibitor in local Himalyan collections of Colocasia: Isolation, purification, characterization and selectivity towards α-amylases from various sources

The α-amylase inhibitor from corms of Colocasia collected from Bhota village of Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh was purified to 17.21 folds with 61.61% recovery using ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration chromatography (sephadex G-200) and ion exchange chromatography (DEAE-sephadex). A single band of the purified inhibitor was obtained by Native-PAGE. SDS-PAGE revealed the purified inhibitor to be a monomer with molecular weight of 13,900 daltons. The nature of inhibition was found to be of non-competitive type as determined by Lineweaver-Burk plot and a K_i value of 0.54 nmole was obtained by Dixon’s plot. The inhibitor was found to be heat stable and retained 81.50% activity at 70 °C temperature. Inhibitor was found to have pH optima of 6.9. The purified inhibitor was found to have inhibitory activity against α-amylases extracted from the larvae of Callosobruchus chinensis, Tribolium castaneum, Corcyra cephalonica and midgut α-amylase of Spodoptera littoralis. 100% larval mortality of C. cephalonica was observed when fed on wheat flour mixed with 0.0036% (w/w) of purified inhibitor. Purified α-amylase inhibitor was found to inhibit the activity of human salivary α-amylase. It also had inhibitory activity against potato α-amylases and reduced sugar content in treated potato slices. The purified inhibitor was found to be a glycoprotein. In the present study, the ability of the inhibitor to inhibit insect amylases highlights its possible role in pest resistance and post harvest decay of crop plants. Inhibitory activity of α-amylase inhibitor against mammalian amylases could suggest its potential in treatment of diabetes and cure of nutritional problems, which result in obesity.