Intercontinental spread of pyrimethamine-resistant malaria

Here we present molecular evidence demonstrating that malaria parasites bearing high-level pyrimethamine resistance originally arrived in Africa from southeast Asia. The resistance alleles carried by these migrants are now spreading across Africa at an alarming rate, signaling the end of affordable malaria treatment and presenting sub-Saharan Africa with a public health crisis.     

Molecular differentiation in Indian Citrus L. (Rutaceae) inferred from nrDNA ITS sequence analysis

Molecular differentiation in 24 accessions representing 19 taxa of Indian Citrus has been examined through sequence analysis of Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of nrDNA. Sequence length in the 24 accessions of Citrus taxa ranged from 512 to 665 bp (ITS1 & ITS2 partial and 5.8S complete sequence). The ITS sequences were very rich in G+C content ranging from 61.40 to 66.60% with an average of 64.2%. Genetic distance within Citrus group ranged from 0 to 13.4% with an average of 4.6%, showing moderate rate of nucleotide divergence. The phylogeny was inferred using the Maximum parsimony (MP) and Neighbor-Joining (NJ) methods. Both MP and NJ trees separated all the 24 accessions of Citrus into six distinct clusters. The disposition of all the accessions of Citrus in separate clusters in ITS-derived dendrograms was partly in accordance with the morpho-taxonomic affinities of the target taxa. This study supports the concept of Citrus medica (citron), C. reticulata (mandarin), and C. maxima (pummelo) as the basic species of the genus. However, ITS marker could not find any clear cut differentiation between subgenera Citrus and Papeda as proposed in Swingle’s Citrus classification system. The present study also supports the distinctiveness of C. indica (Indian wild orange), C. latipes (Khasi papeda) and C. hystrix (Melanesian papeda) as true species, besides elucidating the probable hybrid origin and relationships among the cultivated species/biotypes, such as Citrus ×aurantiifolia (sour lime) C. ×limon (lemon), C. ×taitensis (Indian rough lemon), C. limettioides (sweet lime), C. ×aurantium (including sour and sweet oranges and grapefruit), and other indigenous varieties of Indian origin: C. megaloxycarpa (sour pummelo), C. karna (karna orange), C. pseudolimon (Hill lemon), ‘Memang athur’, ‘Pummelo-lemon’ and ‘Kathairi nimbu’.     

The importance of potassium buffer power in the growth and yield of cardamom

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum M.), one of the world's most valuable spice crops, has very high potassium (K) requirement and the K fertilizer recommendations for it are routinely made on the basis of NH₄OAc extractable K which has not given satisfactory results in many instances. When prices of K fertilizers escalate, as has recently happened in India, and the K fertilizer recommendations are unreliable, farmer confidence will be at risk. This investigation was initiated to test whether, as an alternative, determination of the K buffer power of the soils and its integration into routine soil test K data would result in better predictability of soil K availability. Results showed that as opposed to a non‐significant low r value between NH₄OAc extractable K and leaf K in the absence of the K buffer power, its integration resulted in a very highly significant r value explaining nearly 44% of the variation in leaf K. Soil samples and leaf samples were obtained from 94 locations on nearly 20,000 ha in the two most important cardamom growing states of Southern India. Capsule yield was closely related to the K buffer power of the soils and not NH₄OAc extractable K and it is suggested that a re‐orientation of K fertilization schedule based on K buffer power of the soils, rather than merely on NH₄OAc extractable K, might lead to better and more reliable K fertilizer recommendations.     

Effect of infestation with the isopod, Alitropus typus M. Edwards (Crustacea: Flabellifera: Aegidae) on the haematological parameters of the host fish, Channa striatus (Bloch)

Detailed accounts supported by experimental data are furnished regarding the haematological parameters of the host fish, Channa striatus infested by the isopod, Alitropus typus. Results demonstrate that the infested fish become anaemic through loss of blood as shown by a reduction in the total erythrocyte count, haemoglobin content and haematocrit. Considering the mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration and volume index, the anaemia can be designated as macrocytic and hypochromic. The total and differential counts of white blood corpuscles of the infested fish indicate leucopenia coupled with lymphocytosis. The percentages of monocytes, neutrophils and macrophages, which were 0.65%, 0.39% and 1.04%, respectively, after 24 h of infestation, had increased to 2.31%, 4.91% and 2.02%, respectively, after 96 h of infestation and declined thereafter.     

Cytotoxicity and Inhibition of Lymphocyte Proliferation of Fasciculatin,a Linear Furanosesterterpene Isolated from Ircinia variabilis Collected from the Atlantic Coast of Morocco

Fasciculatin, a furanosesterterpene isolated from the marine sponge Ircinia variabilis from the Atlantic Coast of Morocco, has been evaluated for its influence on a mitogen-induced proliferation of human lymphocytes and growth of human tumor cell lines.     

Properties of starch and dietary fibre in raw and processed quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa,Willd) seeds

We investigated certain properties of starch in raw and in heat-treated samples of quinoa, properties that are of importance to the nutritional quality of an infant food currently being developed. Scanning electron microscopy of the starch in raw seeds showed polygonal granules (0.6 to 2.0 µm diameter) to be present both singly and as spherical aggregates. Thermograms (DSC) of the flours showed one transition phase for gelatinisation of the starch and another for the amylose-lipid complex. The gelatinisation temperature of the starch was 67°C. Cooked samples manifested the highest degree of gelatinisation (97%), followed by the drum-dried (96%) and autoclaved (27%) samples. Separation of the starch on a SEPHAROSE CL-2B column showed the quinoa starch to be affected by the heat treatment, manifesting changes in the degree and extent of degradation. The amylograph viscosity of the quinoa flour showed no distinct peak for pasting, but the viscosity remained constant after gelatinisation. Cooking and autoclaving modified the viscosity of the paste. The drum-dried sample manifested a higher initial viscosity at 25°C. Thein vitro digestibility of raw quinoa starch determined by incubation for 60 min with -amylase was 22%, while that of autoclaved, cooked and drum-dried samples was 32%, 45% and 73%, respectively. Saponins did not affect the digestibility of the starch, though they tended to increase the amylograph viscosity. The total dietary fibre content in the cooked sample (11.0%) was significantly lower than that in the autoclaved (13.2%), drum-dried (13.3%) or raw samples (13.3%), while the insoluble dietary fibre fraction in the samples did not change with heat treatment. However, as compared with that of raw quinoa, the soluble dietary fibre fraction was reduced significantly both by cooking (0.9%) and by autoclaving (1.0%).     

Functional Food Quality of Curcuma caesia, Curcuma zedoaria and Curcuma aeruginosa Endemic to Northeastern India

Curcuma spp. (Zingiberaceae) is one of the significant ingredients in food and traditional medicines. The current study was to investigate health-benefits of the rhizomes of endemic Curcuma caesia, Curcuma zedoaria and Curcuma aeruginosa using in vitro antioxidant, antiinflammatory and human tumor cell proliferation inhibitory activities. Among these, C. caesia (black turmeric) showed the best overall biological activities based on [3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] (MTT) and lipid peroxidation (LPO), cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and -2) enzymes, and tumor cell growth inhibitory assays. The hexane and methanolic extracts of C. caesia (CCH and CCM) showed LPO inhibition by 31 and 43 %, and COX-2 enzyme by 29 and 38 %, respectively, at 100 μg/ml. Eleven terpenoids were isolated and identified. The MTT antioxidant assay revealed that the extracts of three Curcuma spp. at 250 μg/ml and isolates at 5 μg/ml demonstrated activity comparable to positive controls vitamin C and t-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ) at 25 μg/ml. The extracts inhibited LPO by 40 % at 250 μg/ml whereas pure isolates 1–11 by about 20 %. The extracts and isolates inhibited COX-1 and -2 enzymes between the ranges of 3–56 and 5–30 %, respectively. The in vitro biological activity exhibited by the extracts and isolates of C. caesia rhizome further supported its use in traditional medicine.     

Identification of new limonoids from Swietenia and their biological activity against insects

BACKGROUND: Natural limonoids are one group of compounds being studied for their insecticidal properties. To discover new limonoids with better activities, analogs were prepared via acylation and hydrolysis, and bioassayed. RESULTS: Analogs were identified using one‐ and two‐dimensional (COSY, HMQC and HMBC) ¹H and ¹³C NMR, IR and MS. 3‐O‐Isovalerylswietenolide (13) and 3‐O‐isobutyrylswietenolide (14) showed excellent antifeedant activity, with DC₅₀ values of 0.19 and 0.009 mg L^?1 respectively, compared with the natural limonoid swietenolide (80.6 mg L^?1) against fourth‐instar Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) larvae. CONCLUSION: This work shows that limonoid analogs prepared through semi‐synthesis can be used as lead compounds for the development of new insecticides. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

ISSR polymorphism in Indian wild orange (Citrus indica Tanaka,Rutaceae) and related wild species in North-east India

Inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) polymorphism in Citrus indica Tanaka (Rutaceae), an endemic and threatened wild species, was examined along with three other closely related wild taxa (C. medica L., C. latipes (Swingle) Tanaka, and C. sp. ‘Memang athur’) by analyzing 53 representative accessions sampled from North-east India. Jaccard's similarity values among 53 accessions of Citrus ranged from 0.46 to 0.97 (average = 0.75). Genetic similarity values among all the 34 accessions of C. indica were found in the range of 0.82 to 0.97 with an average of 0.90. Heterozygosity (Ht = 0.123) and Shannon's information index (I = 0.188) values estimated for C. indica revealed significantly low level of genetic variation within the species. UPGMA dendrogram grouped all 53 accessions of Citrus into four major clusters: Cluster I – C. latipes; Cluster II – C. medica; Cluster III – ‘Memang athur’ and Cluster IV – C. indica. The dendrogram placed all the 34 accessions of C. indica in five sub-clusters under Cluster IV. The placement of C. indica accessions in various sub-clusters and groups in the dendrogram was based on molecular differentiation of individual accessions rather than their geographical origin. Very low genetic diversity and destruction of its natural habitat pose serious threat to C. indica even in the Citrus Gene Sanctuary in Nokrek Biosphere Reserve (NBR) in Meghalaya. Low genetic variability, heterozygosity and Shannon's information index in C. medica, C. latipes and ‘Memang athur’ are also concerns that need to be addressed for developing appropriate strategies to conserve the genetic diversity extant in these valuable genetic resources.     

Evaluation of Arthrospira fusiformis as a Protein Source in the Diet of Penaeus monodon Fabricius

The cyanobacterium Arthrospira fusiformis (AF) has a high protein content of 60%-65% and is rich in vitamins, minerals, fatty acids (gamma-linolenic acid), carotenoid, and other antioxidant pigments. A 60-day feeding trial was conducted using postlarval Penaeus monodon (0.041 g mean initial weight) to evaluate the efficacy of six isonitrogenous (40% protein) test diets containing various inclusion levels of AF. Clam meat was replaced with AF at an inclusion level of control, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%. The diet with 20% AF produced a significantly greater weight gain, specific growth rate, food conversion ratio, and protein efficiency ratio than all other diets (p<0.05). Further increase in the AF inclusion levels significantly decreased growth and feeding performance. Percentage survival and water stability of diet was significantly higher at inclusion levels of 10% and 20%. The results suggest that AF cannot serve as the sole protein source in the diet of P. monodon postlarvae, but can be effectively used as a supplementary protein source.