Biotechnology Journal International

Background: Cellulose is the most abundant carbohydrate on earth and is considered as a good candidate for production of second generation biofuel (ethanol) and many other products of routine use. For degradation, cellulases are used which are mostly secreted by microbes such as fungi. Cellulases also play an important role in senescence of plants and in host-parasite relationship for invading the plant cell wall. However, comparatively lesser studies have been carried out on cellulase producing bacteria. Therefore, present study was aimed to isolate cellulase (Endo-β-1,4-D-glucanase; EC. 3.2.1.4.) from bacterial sources.

Methodology: To isolate thermophilic/ mesophilic cellulase producing bacteria, soil samples were collected from wood furnishing area and agricultural farm around Indore. Besides, soil sample was also collected from the vicinity of Amlai Paper Mill in Budhar district, Madhya Pradesh. These soil samples after suitable dilutions were streaked on different nutrients agar petri-dishes having carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as an inducer. After screening, four colonies were isolated capable of producing good amount of cellulase. Screening was done using Congo red staining and confirmation was done after growth of the bacteria in liquid nutrient medium having CMC. These colonies individually were grown in suitable nutrient media having CMC as an inducer and enzyme activity was determined in the nutrient media after harvesting bacterial cells by centrifugation.

Results: The highest enzyme producing bacteria were identified as Bacillus lichenoformis and Ochrobactrum anthropi after biochemical analyses, 16S rRNA sequencing and subsequently phylogenetic tree analysis.

Allium sativum assay was widely used to assess the compound's cytotoxicity and genotoxicity on plants and animals. Only few studies analyzed the genotoxic effect of potassium bromated (KBrO₃) on the DNA content of plant cells. DNA content assay is an efficient test for the measure of chromosomal DNA damages. Based on this approach the effect of KBrO₃ on DNA content change was investigated in root tip nuclei of A. sativum. Different concentrations of food additives KBrO₃. 3 g/l, 5 g/l 7 g/l and 9 g/l % were prepared and treatments were given. A. sativum root were incubated for 2, 6 and 24 hours and DNA image analysis of root tip nuclei was performed. The analysis was based on the measurement of the Mean Optical Density (MOD) which represents the cellular DNA content. The results showed that the KBrO₃ significantly decreased of DNA content compared to the control at all concentrations and treatment periods in dose-dependent manner. The present study suggests that extensive use of food additives should be banned due to genotoxic effect on living cells. Therefore, there is an urgent need to evaluate potential mutagenic effects of KBrO₃ on human.

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a widely grown crop with a high rate of photosynthetic activity due to its C4 pathway leading to higher yields of grain and a potential for biomass. It is predominantly cross-pollinated crop, a feature that has contributed to its wide morphological variability and geographical adaptability. Abiotic stress such as drought stress negatively affects plant growth and development. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of drought stress on the morphological and biochemical content of seven different maize varieties. Here we have tested 7 different varieties of maize from the Marathwada region of Maharshtra, India. One week old plants have been affected by drought stress. After one week of drought stress, the plants were subjected to various morphometric and biochemical tests. The results showed that water stress treatment significantly affects root length, shoot length and fresh biomass of seven different varieties, i.e. TMMH 806, NMH 1008, DELTA 10V30, INDAM 1122, SRIKAR 3555, DKC 9141, SGA. Drought stress also had a negative impact on chlorophyll and proline content. Result further exhibited that based on drought tolerance index, variety SRIKAR 3555 could be ranked as drought tolerant and NMH 1008 as drought-sensitive, while remaining cultivator ranked as drought intermediates.

Labeling of genetically modified (GM) food and other food ingredients from GM source has become an important national policy issues receiving serious attention not only in Ghana but globally.   This paper focused on public perceptions of labeling of GM foods in Ghana as a way of garnering a view of the public understanding of the technology that has become so much controversial for which several millions of public sector money is spent on education in the last few years. The survey which elapsed over a period of three months, shows results that indicate a dearth of knowledge on the technology and yet a high demand for labelling of the products, even though not many people read the labels on food products. This leads to the question as to ‘who is doing the listening’. The authors conclude that the limited knowledge and technology essentials among others explain why the public seems to reject the technology and call for labelling of the products in spite of the fact that labelling is nothing but a choice variable, which has nothing to do with safety measure. Modifying the present attitude of the opponents of the technology and the demanders of labelling ignoring the cost that may be involved require extensive education and awareness creations throughout the country using tailor made communication forms to address various different groups.

Introduction: Maize is an important cereal grown globally across wide range of altitude and latitude. Temperature is one of the factors that affect the viability of maize under storage conditions.

Aim: This study, therefore, assessed the effect of different temperature storage levels on the morphological characters and molecular variability of maize genotypes.

Materials and Methods: The seeds of maize genotypes: TZLCOMP4C3, EVDT-W200STRCO, POP66SR/ACR94, POOL18SR QPM, TZM 132, TZM 1291, EVDT- Y2008 STR and TZM 1326 obtained from the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) Ibadan were stored at different temperature conditions of -80°C, -20°C, 5°C, 50°C, and 25°C for 6 hours. The stored maize was sown in perforated polythene bags containing 7 kg of soil and replicated thrice in a complete randomized design. The molecular variability was also investigated on the maize genotypes stored under the varying temperatures. The effect of storage temperature was significantly higher at 50°C for all growth characters but was not significant at -80°C.

Results: The genotypic effect on the growth characters was significantly (p< 0.05) higher in TZM 132 with plant height (99.09 cm), leaf length (46.54 cm), leaf width (3.05 cm), number of leaves (6.25) and stem length (50.12 cm). The contribution of principal component axis (PCA) showed that PC 1 had the height variation with a proportion of 47.17% and eigen value of 2.83 across the growth characters. Molecular evaluation showed that EVDT-W200STRCO had the highest DNA concentration of 4885.7 ng/μl at storage temperature of 25°C, while EVDT-W200STCO at -20°C recorded the least DNA concentration of 26.60 ng/μl. The highest DNA concentration across the maize varieties were recorded at -20°C (POOL18SR QPM, TZM 132 and TZM 1326), 5°C (TZLCOMP4C3), 25°C (EVDT-W200STRCO and EVDT- Y2008 STR) and 50°C (POP66SR/ACR94 and TZM 1291). OPB 10 had the highest allelic no, gene diversity and polymorphic information content of 15, 0.97 and 97.0% respectively. The genetic distance matrix established relationship among the stored maize genotypes.

Conclusion: Maize seeds can therefore be stored at temperature range of -20°C to 50°C depending on the variety, without losing its viability and molecular constituents.