Total salinity stress on physico-chemical characterization of lecithin isolated from soya bean oil seeds grown in the coastal region of south, India.

Phospholipid is very essential in the balanced diet. The vegetarian people in the coastal area are habitant of using edible oil seeds as daily food grains. Salinity of water during cultivation decreases the accumulation of oil content (12-15%) in seeds. Present experiment was focused on total salinity and ionic stress on physiochemical characterization of extracted lecithin from soya bean oil under saline and non-saline cultivations. The experiment proves that the percentage of phospholipids in oil and lecithin is decreased by 1.02% and 8.08%, respectively under saline cultivation. The phospholipids of the lecithin were qualitatively identified by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance of liquid chromatography (HPLC). The Rf values for phosphatidyl-ethanolamine (PE), phosphatidyl-serine (PS), phosphatidyl-inositol (PI) and phosphatidyl-choline (PC) of samples were well related to the standard. HPLC spectrum is well resolved and the retention time (RT) is correlated the standard with high precision. Quantisation of phospholipids shows a variation in the average percentage of PC, PI, PS and PE as 17.925, 9.125, 5.9, 15.1 for saline cultivation and 22.25, 12.025, 8.525, 18.975 for non-saline cultivation. Average decrease in the percentage in saline cultivation is due to the total salinity and ionic (Na+Cl-) stress of water.

Effect of Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Azospirillum on growth and nutrition of banana plantlets during acclimatization phase.

The effect of the co-inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and Azospirillum on micro-propagated banana seedlings development during their adaptation phase was determined. At the time of transplanting, banana seedlings were inoculated with an indigenous mycorrhizal inoculum containing 10 spores/g at four doses: 0, 50, 100 and 200 g. Seventy days after fungal inoculation, 20 ml of Azospirillum in four concentrations (0, 106, 107 and 108 CFU/ml) were applied. Finally, after 98 days from the start of the experiment a second dose (40 ml) of Azospirillum in the concentrations mentioned above was inoculated. Plants were harvested 5 months after transplanting and the growth and nutritional parameters were evaluated. The analysis of the data showed that banana plants co-inoculated with 200 g of AMF and 1.5E8 CFU/ml of Azospirillum presented greater development, an increase of 7 times in height, 4 times in perimeter, 16 times in leaf area, 12 times in aerial biomass, and 8 times in root biomass relative to control plants. The results achieved were due to synergism between fungus-bacteria when inoculated at higher doses, with lower doses stimulating growth is minimal. The co-inoculation in high doses demonstrates adequate support and cooperative effect between HMA and Azospirillum crops. In addition, co-inoculation promotes optimal nutritional status because microorganisms allowed plants achieve greater absorption of phosphorus and nitrogen relative to those treated with single inoculation and the control.

Biodegradation of cypermethrin by immobilized cells of Micrococcus sp. strain CPN 1

Pyrethroid pesticide cypermethrin is a environmental pollutant because of its widespread use, toxicity and persistence. Biodegradation of such chemicals by microorganisms may provide an cost-effective method for their detoxification. We have investigated the degradation of cypermethrin by immobilized cells of Micrococcus sp. strain CPN 1 in various matrices such as, polyurethane foam (PUF), polyacrylamide, sodium alginate and agar. The optimum temperature and pH for the degradation of cypermethrin by immobilized cells of Micrococcus sp. were found to be 30 °C and 7.0, respectively. The rate of degradation of 10 and 20 mM of cypermethrin by freely suspended cells were compared with that of immobilized cells in batches and semi-continuous with shaken cultures. PUF-immobilized cells showed higher degradation of cypermethrin (10 mM and 20 mM) than freely suspended cells and cells immobilized in other matrices. The PUF-immobilized cells of Micrococcus sp. strain CPN 1 were retain their degradation capacity. Thus, they can be reused for more than 32 cycles, without losing their degradation capacity. Hence, the PUF-immobilized cells of Micrococcus sp. could potentially be used in the bioremediation of cypermethrin contaminated water.