Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences

The most comfortable approach to deliver an active pharmaceutical ingredient to the eye has been via topical instillation of aqueous drops. However, the aqueous drops suffer a major setback due to the rapid drainage leading to loss of drug. The aim of the present work was to formulate oil preparations of celecoxib in different oils. Partition behavior, trans-corneal permeation, viscosity, in vivo anti-inflammatory study and gamma scintigraphy of the preparations were investigated. Incorporation of benzyl alcohol resulted in a significant increase in drug permeation across the cornea (p < 0.05). The in vivo efficacy of optimized castor oil formulation was found to be better than control as well as CXB-aqueous suspensions in arachidonic acid triggered eye swelling model in rabbits. Further, results of gamma scintigraphy also indicated prolonged retention. Therefore, the oil eye drops may be a promising alternative, to aqueous eye drops circumventing poor retention in management of ocular ailments.

In order to study the genetic diversity among 16 genotypes of Hippophae salicifolia D. Don of Uttarakhand region, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)–PCR analysis along with protein profiling of seed storage proteins was carried out for selection of superior genotype having high economic importance. A total of 21 RAPD primers were assayed for their specificity in detecting genetic variability in H. salicifolia genotypes, of which 11 RAPD primers were highly reproducible and were found suitable for use in PCR analysis. A total of 198 bands were scored corresponding to an average of 10.8 bands per primer with 138 bands showing polymorphism (73.2 %) with similarity coefficient ranging from 0.011 to 0.999. A dendrogram constructed based on the UPGMA clustering method revealed two major clusters. Cluster-I comprises of 13 cultivars, while cluster-II includes the remaining three cultivars. The cultivar ST-4, ST-5 and ST-16 were quite unique from the remaining cultivars as evident from the dendrogram. The analysis of total seed storage protein (quantitative) and protein profiling (qualitative) among 16 genotypes of H. salicifolia was performed to indentify novel proteins of important functional attributes. SDS-PAGE based generated profiles of seed proteins showed major differences in banding patterns among these genotypes with respect to altitude besides differences in seed protein contents. This study helps in the selection of superior genotype of H. salicifolia having higher economic importance by using developed molecular and protein based markers in Uttarakhand regions.

Morphological characterization is the first step in studying the genetic diversity of cultivated plants. The present study examined agro-morphological performance of the pearl millet local accessions collected across the Niger country, aimed to: (a) characterize, (b) discriminate morphologically the pearl millet accessions groups and (c) identify the pearl millet genotypes with promising grain and fodder potential. Fifty-six pearl millet accessions collected in the eight Niger regions (Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Niamey, Tahoua, Tillabéry and Zinder) were evaluated in an Alpha lattice design with 3 replicates in Djirataoua and Kollo localities. Twenty-five specific agro-morphological descriptors were used for this purpose. The data set was submitted to descriptive analyses and indicated wide significant accessions diversity. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed 5 phenotypic groups, and principal component analysis showed 3 components representing 60.45% of total variability. Canonical discriminant analysis indicated 20 major traits of the discriminated phenotypic groups. Group G1 holds early accessions, with average performances in grain production and low performances in biomass production. Group G2 holds early accessions, with good performances for grain production and fodder biomass. Group G3 holds early–late accessions with good grain performances and low fodder performances. G4 holds both early and late accessions with good fodder performance and good grain performance. Finally, G5 includes both late accessions with better fodder performances and bad grain performances. These groups can be used as parents in the creation of improved varieties for better grain and fodder production performance. Otherwise, Djirataoua would be ideal for the tested accessions to express their agro-morphological potentials.

The use of Isodon in folk medicines has a long tradition. The tetracyclic compound ent-kaurane diterpenoids present in the genus have varied biological activities including antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antitumor activity and makes it a good candidate in drug research. Being a cosmopolitan and important genus of the family Lamiaceae with considerable taxonomic dispute, a review on chromosome complements and its evolution is of great significance. The prevalence of confusion regarding the members of the genus makes it obligatory to include the synonymised members also. Hence, the review is made inclusive of Rabdosia, Isodon and members of Plectranthus which have now been included under the genus Isodon. The chromosome counts of all the reported species of Isodon have been examined and the haploid chromosome number was found to be n = 12. Except for the two species Isodon lophanthoides and Isodon ramosissimus for which the chromosome counts were reported as 2n = 36 and 2n = 42 respectively, all other species had 2n = 24 as its diploid count. The secondary basic chromosome number of x2 = 12 prevalent in majority of the taxa might have evolved from the primary base number x1 = 6 via protoautoploidy.

Drought is a natural hazard which may temporarily affect any region in the world by several means. In the present study frequency analysis of meteorological drought in the Bellary region of Karnataka has been investigated for 52 years (1961–2012) using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at short (SPI-1 and SPI-3), medium (SPI-6) and long (SPI-12) time scales. This method aims to provide a concise overall picture of drought, regardless of the actual probability distribution of the observed cumulative amount of rainfall for a given time scale. By applying the SPI methodology, results indicated that drought randomly affected a region and several drought events occurred during the period analyzed. The generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution was fitted to data from the location to describe the extremes of rainfall and to predict its future behavior. Minimum assured drought at 50 % probability level was observed to be a better representative of long-term average of drought (minimum SPI) in the region as depicted by the GEV distribution. The return period analysis indicate that the region experiences extreme drought (SPI < −2) every ten or less years for all time scales, whereas moderate to severe drought occurs every alternate year. There is thus a necessity to prepare contingency plans for the region and focus on the cultivation of those crops with a capacity of withstanding droughts of moderate intensity which will be used as a guide for water resource management in the region during droughts.

Careful handling of fish and shellfish onboard at the vessel is of prime importance in order to maintain the freshness. Use of slurry ice for onboard fish storage allows rapid heat transfer as well as reduces damage to the product by conventional ice. In the present investigation, the effect of onboard chilling with conventional ice and slurry ice on the quality of squid was evaluated. Samples stored at different time intervals (7th and 11th day) were collected and analyzed for their biochemical, textural and microbiological quality characteristics. Use of slurry ice, immediately after catch of squid reduced the formation of nitrogenous substances as well as the rate of pH increase during storage. Total volatile base nitrogen, tri methyl amine nitrogen and thio-barbituric acid values were within the acceptable limit in both the samples. Texture analysis showed higher hardness, springiness, gumminess and chewiness values for squid samples stored under slurry ice than the samples stored under conventional ice. Further, squid samples stored under slurry ice exhibited higher values of salt content. Microbiological analysis showed significant difference (p < 0.05) in psychrophilic counts of squid stored under slurry ice than the conventional iced ones.

Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki is a soil bacterium that produces insecticidal toxins called delta-endotoxins. In order to increase the toxic crystal concentrations in a low-cost culture medium and thus improve the biopesticide quality to control insect pests, the Plackett–Burman screening method was applied. It was shown a tool to evaluate the significance of the selected seven factors (KH2PO4, K2HPO4, MgSO4, MnSO4, FeSO4, soybean meal, starch) which are necessary to the production of the delta-endotoxins. This was performed into two different shake flasks (250 and 500 ml). The main factors that affected the production of delta-endotoxins are shown to be soybean meal, starch, and FeSO4 in 250 ml culture flasks. In 500 ml culture flasks, soybean meal and FeSO4 are the principal factors influencing the delta-endotoxin production. The multiple linear regression, a method applied as the merging dataset of the two Plackett–Burman designs, established that soybean meal and starch are the factors positively affecting the production of delta-endotoxins, in contrast to FeSO4. Furthermore, the available oxygen in culture flasks showed no significant negative effect on delta-endotoxin production. This study revealed that mixed method designs were useful to identify the significance and the effect of hidden culture parameters.

The hilsa, Tenualosa ilisha fishery in the northern Bay of Bengal (nBoB) is passing through a crisis manifested by the persistent decline of fish catch in spite of increasing efforts. During the period 2002–2015, the number of boats engaged in the fishery increased by 25% while the hilsa catch decreased by 13%. The exponential value (b) and condition factor (K) of hilsa has also decreased by 46% and 28% respectively. The value of fishing mortality (F = 2.34 year−1) has considerably exceeded the natural mortality (M = 0.56 year−1) during the study period. It is observed that in place of maximum exploitation rate (Emax) of 0.78, the current exploitation rate (E) of hilsa is 0.81 which is above the sustainable limit. It is a matter of serious concern that with 75% probability the first spawners of the population are being targeted by the present fishing practice. The present study observes that the hilsa population of nBoB are being significantly overexploited in the present level of fishing pressure. The maximum sustainable yield (MSY) limit for hilsa is estimated to be around 25,440 tons per year with the corresponding effort (fMSY) that may be deployed to achieve the above mentioned catch ranged from 3571 to 3987 (number of boats). It can be inferred that the hilsa fishery in the nBoB is being unsustainably exploited.

The membrane-associated water transport proteins called aquaporins are quite significant in water reabsorption from renal tubular fluid. The present study was performed to analyze the expression level of AQP isoforms in normal renal tissue, their alteration in the development of chronic kidney disease in rat induced by the administration of 0.75% adenine accompanied by their treatment with the ethanolic extract of Boerhavia diffusa. The qPCR analysis demonstrated an upregulation of certain aquaporin genes like aqp3 and aqp4 and a downregulation of other genes like aqp1 and aqp7. Furthermore, the treatment with the ethanolic extract of B. diffusa was pivotal in restoring the expression levels of these aquaporins to normal, i.e., upregulating the downregulated aquaporins and vice versa, thereby exemplifying its renoprotective nature. The serum urea and creatinine concentration were found to elevate in the infected group of rats accompanied by their lowering in the treated group. The analysis involving the determination of body weight and the urinary ACR manifested elevated values in the diseased group followed by their decline in the treated group. Histopathological study revealed clear signs of acute necrosis with tubular distention caused by the administration of adenine, while the treatment of rats with B. diffusa extract brought improvement in histologic appearance with decreased necrotic areas. Our findings implicate the probable involvement of certain aquaporins in adenine-induced chronic kidney disease and also the curative property of B. diffusa in reversing the condition back to normal as reflected by the functional, biochemical and histopathological parameters.