Seasonal abundance and composition of finfish and shellfish seeds inmangroves of Gangolli estuary, off south-west coast of India.

The composition and seasonal abundance of the fin and shellfish seeds in mangrove areas of Gangoli estuary were studied for one year from January to December, 2013. Monthly day time sampling was conducted with a rectangular dragnet of 75 m2 length having 5 mm mesh size. The mean monthly density was highest in January (Avg. of 12,996/haul) and lowest during May (Avg. of 859/haul). Thirty species of fish, four species of shrimps and two species of crabs belonging to 26 families were recorded during the study. Ambasis sp., Feneropenaeus indicus, Etroplus suratensis,Leognathus sp., Liza sp., Stolephorus vaganensis, Hemiramphus sp., Terapon sp. and Gerres sp. were the most abundant species/taxa. A total of 10 commercially important species comprising F. indicus, Etroplus suratensis, Liza sp., Gerres sp.,Siganus sp., Lutjanus russei, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Lutjanus argentimaculatus, Sillago sp. and Penaeus monodon constituted 8.5% (April, 2013) to 93.7% (October, 2013) with an average of 37.2% of the total fish and shellfish seeds. Higher Species diversity (H') and Species richness (D) was recorded during January. The result of the present investigation gives an insight of the abundance and seasonality of commercially important fish and shellfish seeds, which may facilitate the brackishwater fish farmers to exploitthe seeds more pragmatically for their culture practice.

Effect of chronic low-dose treatment with chitooligosaccharides on microbial dysbiosis and inflammation associated chronic ulcerative colitis in Balb/c mice.

The study aimed to investigate the potential of low dose chitooligosaccharide (COS) in ameliorating dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) induced chronic colitis by regulating microbial dysbiosis and pro-inflammatory responses. Chronic colitis was induced in BALB/c mice by DSS (4% w/v, 3 cycles of 5 days) administration. The mice were divided into four groups: vehicle, DSS, DSS + mesalamine and DSS+COS. COS and mesalamine were administered orally, daily once, from day 1 to day 30 at a dose of 20 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg respectively. The disease activity index (DAI), colon length, histopathological score, microbial composition, and pro-inflammatory cytokine expression were evaluated. COS (20 mg/kg, COSLow) administration reduced the disease activity index, and colon shortening, caused by DSS significantly. Furthermore, COSLow restored the altered microbiome in the gut and inhibited the elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and IL-6) in the colon against DSS-induced chronic colitis in mice. Moreover, COSLow treatment improved the probiotic microflora thereby restoring the gut homeostasis. In conclusion, this is the first study where microbial dysbiosis and pro-inflammatory responses were modulated by chronic COSLow treatment against DSS-induced chronic colitis in Balb/c mice. Therefore, COS supplementation at a relatively low dose could be efficacious for chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

Vertical distribution of polychaetes in brackishwater pond of Nethravathi estuary, India.

Vertical distribution of polychaetes in a semi-enclosed brackishwater pond of Nethravathi estuary was studied for one year from February 2004 to January 2005. The semienclosed brackishwater pond is a shallow water body with an average depth of 1-1.5 m with an area of 12 ha having direct connection with the estuary which opens into the Arabian sea. A total of nine species of polychaetes were identified. Among these, Dendronereis aestuarina and D. arborifera were most common and accounted for 65.62% of total abundance. The fauna were more abundant at 5-10 cm depth than at 0-5 cm depth and decreased beyond 10 cm depth. Species composition and the abundance of polychaetes were generally high during postmonsoon followed by premonsoon and monsoon season. Polychaete abundance showed positive significant correlation with organic carbon content at all depth layers of sediments in all the stations.

Taxonomic studies on Oriental Microplitis Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Microgastrinae) with description of two new species from South India.

The Oriental species of Microplitis Foerster are reviewed. 21 species are recognized from the Oriental region, of which two are described as new, Microplitis narendrani sp. nov. and M. pennatulae sp. nov., and Microplitis carinicollis (Cameron), M. demolitor Wilkinson, M. maculipennis (Szépligeti) and M. similis Lyle are redescribed. Four species, Microplitis areyongensis Austin & Dangerfield, M. bicoloratus Xu & He, M. vitellipedis Li, Tan & Song and M. zhaoi Xu & He are recorded for the first time from the Indian subcontinent. Host records are summarized. An illustrated key to the Oriental species is provided along with a character matrix to aid identification. Distributional pattern in Oriental region, host-parasitoid association and biology of the genus are critically summarized.

Lantana camara leaf extract mediated silver nanoparticles: Antibacterial, green catalyst.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been synthesized by Lantana camara leaf extract through simple green route and evaluated their antibacterial and catalytic activities. The leaf extract (LE) itself acts as both reducing and stabilizing agent at once for desired nanoparticle synthesis. The colorless reaction mixture turns to yellowish brown attesting the AgNPs formation and displayed UV-Vis absorption spectra. Structural analysis confirms the crystalline nature and formation of fcc structured metallic silver with majority (111) facets. Morphological studies elicit the formation of almost spherical shaped nanoparticles and as AgNO3 concentration is increased, there is an increment in the particle size. The FTIR analysis evidences the presence of various functional groups of biomolecules of LE is responsible for stabilization of AgNPs. Zeta potential measurement attests the higher stability of synthesized AgNPs. The synthesized AgNPs exhibited good antibacterial activity when tested against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp. and Staphylococcus spp. using standard Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion assay. Furthermore, they showed good catalytic activity on the reduction of methylene blue by L. camara extract which is monitored and confirmed by the UV-Vis spectrophotometer.

Water quality, biofilm production and growth of fringe-lipped carp (Labeo fimbriatus) in tanks provided with two solid substrates.

The effects of two substrates, sugarcane bagasse (T(1)) and paddy straw (T(2)) on water quality and growth of Labeo fimbriatus were studied in mud-bottomed, manured cement tanks, in triplicate; a set of three tanks without substrate served as control (T(3)). Addition of manure and substrate brought about a decrease in dissolved oxygen level, but it stabilized after 15 days, when the tanks were stocked with 30 fish each, fed at 3% body weight daily and reared for 90 days. Total ammonia content in substrate based treatments was relatively lower than in the control. Significantly higher nitrite-nitrogen was recorded in the control tanks. The total plate counts (TPC) of bacteria in water did not differ significantly between treatments and control. The overall mean value of TPC with substrate was higher in T(2) than in T(1). The mean phytoplankton density in water was the highest in T(1), followed by T(3) and T(2), whereas zooplankton density was the highest in T(1) followed by T(2) and T(3). The growth of fish was significantly (P<0.05) higher in substrate-based tanks, the percentage increases over control being 30.44 (T(1)) and 28.71 (T(2)) respectively. Higher RNA, DNA and RNA:DNA ratios were recorded under T(1), followed by T(2) and T(3). Higher enzyme activity was observed in fish from substrate treatments, which was attributable to the additional nutrients derived through the biofilm. The results demonstrated that production of L. fimbriatus can be significantly increased by the introduction of biodegradable substrates into culture systems where fertilization and feeding are employed.