Enhanced biodegradation of wastewater with electron beam pretreatment.

The traditional biological aerobic treatment of domestic wastewater only reduces the pathogen load, biological oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) to some extent. Irradiation with electrons to 1kGy alone was found to be sufficient to eliminate all the pathogens, but no significant reduction in COD and BOD was observed. However, electron irradiation to 1kGy followed by the biological treatment resulted in more complete and faster reduction in the pathogen count, COD, and BOD than the biological treatment alone.

Decoloration and degradation of Reactive Red-120 dye by electron beam irradiation in aqueous solution.

The decoloration and degradation of aqueous solution of the reactive azo dye viz. Reactive Red-120 (RR-120) was carried out by electron beam irradiation. The change in decoloration percentage, removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC), solution pH and five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD(5)) were investigated with respect to the applied dose. However, the concentration of the dye in the solution showed a great influence on all these observables. During the radiolysis process, it was found that the decoloration of dye was caused by the destruction of the chromophore group of the dye molecule, whereas COD and TOC removal were depended on the extent of mineralization of the dye. The decrease in pH during the radiolysis process indicated the fragmentation of the large dye molecule into smaller organic components mostly like smaller organic acids. The BOD(5)/COD ratio of the unirradiated dye solution was in the range of 0.1-0.2, which could be classified as non-biodegradable wastewater. However, the BOD(5)/COD ratio increased upon irradiation and it indicated the transformation of non-biodegradable dye solution into biodegradable solution. This study showed that electron beam irradiation could be a promising method for treatment of textile wastewater containing RR-120 dye.

Plant regeneration and multiplication of the emergent wetland monocot Juncus accuminatus.

A reliable callus regeneration and shoot multiplication system for wetland monocot Juncus accuminatus has been established. Callus was induced from 6-day-old seedlings on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 5 mg/l picloram. The callus differentiated into shoots upon transfer to 5 mg/l benzyladenine (BA)-supplemented medium. Effects of medium pH (3.8-7.8) and source of callus (grown in the dark or continuous light) on regeneration were determined. Both parameters significantly influenced regeneration. Regenerated shoots were multiplied by subculturing shoots onto 5 mg/l BA medium at 4-week intervals. The regenerated shoots were rooted on 0.1 mg/l naphthaleneacetic-acid-supplemented medium. The rooted plants were transferred to pots containing a commercial potting mix and established in the greenhouse. Plants covered with plastic grew faster and flowered earlier than uncovered plants. All plants set viable seeds.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper.

Transformed Vigna mungo (blackgram) calli were obtained by cocultivating segments of primary leaves with Agrobacterium tumefaciens vir helper strains harbouring the binary vector pGA472 having kanamycin resistance gene as plant transformation marker. Transformed calli were selected on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 50 mg/l kanamycin and 500 mg/l carbenicillin. Transformed calli were found to be resistant to kanamycin up to 900 mg/l concentration. Expression of kanamycin resistance gene in transformed calli was demonstrated by neomycin phosphotransferase assay. Stable integration of transferred DNA into V. mungo genome was confirmed by Southern blot analysis.

Plant regeneration from in vitro cultures of anthers and mature seeds of rice (Oryza sativa L.) cv. Basmati-370.

Pollen plants were obtained from anther-derived calli of the indica rice variety Basmati-370. Anther-response (anthers producing pollen derived calli) and plant regeneration frequency from the pollen derived calli. was very low. Donor plants which flowered at the average max/min. temperature of 34.2°/23.3°C gave a significantly higher anther-response to in vitro techniques, than did those which flowered at 29.1°/16.4°C. Somatic callus induction and subsequent plant regeneration was readily obtained from mature seed embryos. While 2,4-D or 2,4,5-T (1 or 2 mg/l) proved highly efficient for callus induction, tryptophan (50 or 100 mg/l) induced a high frequency of green plants from the calli.