ABSTRACT
The present investigation was undertaken to assess the biodegradation of phenol by native bacteria strains isolated from coke oven processing wastewater. The strains were designated ESDSPB1, ESDSPB2 and ESDSPB3 and examined for colony morphology Gram stain characters and biochemical tests. Phenol degrading performance of all the strains was evaluated initially. One of the strains namely ESDSPB2 was found to be highly effective for the removal of phenol, which was used as sole carbon and energy source. From an initial concentration of 200 mg l-1 it degraded to 79.84 ± 1.23 mg l-1. In turn the effect of temperature (20 to 450C), pH (5 – 10) and glucose concentration (0, 0.25 and 0.5%) on the rate of phenol degradation by that particular strain was investigated. Observations revealed that the rate of phenol biodegradation was significantly affected by pH, temperature of incubation and glucose concentration. The optimal conditions for phenol removal were found to be pH of 7 (84.63% removal), temperature, 300C (76.69% removal) and 0.25% supplemented glucose level (97.88% removal). The main significance of the study is the utilization of native bacterial strains from the waste water itself having potential of bioremediation.
ABSTRACT
Due to widespread industrial use, chromium (Cr) is considered a hazardous environmental pollutant. It is known to inhibit plant growth and development. The present study provides the evidence of the phytotoxicity of this metal on the pea (Pisum sativum L. cv Azad) plants. The plants of pea (Pisum sativum L.) were grown in refined sand under different concentrations i.e. 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 mM of Cr (VI) in order to study the effect on growth and yield, photosynthetic pigments, relative water content, non-reducing sugar and protein with activity of certain enzymes like catalase, peroxidase, starch phosphorylase and ribonuclease. The analysis of the results showed that photosynthetic pigments (68.68%), relative water contents (62.77%), non-reducing sugar (66.66%) and protein (81.57%) were decrease along with reduction in plant height (52.69% ) and leaf area (50.81%) of the pea plants. However, in response to various concentration of Cr exposed plants showed significant induction of reducing and total sugars with enzymes like catalase, starch phosphorylase and ribonuclease. The translocation of Cr in various part of pea plant have been found in order of root> stem> leaves>seeds which ranged between 34.8 to 217.3 mg g-1 d.wt. (dry weight) in roots, 6.5 to 173.13 mg g-1 d.wt. in shoot, 4.2 to 74.43 mg g-1 d.wt. in leaves and 0.94 to 8.64 mg g-1 d.wt. in seeds, that is also reflected by the transfer factor of Cr from refined sand to tested species.
ABSTRACT
Background: Adenosine deaminase has been proposed to be a useful surrogate marker for tuberculosis in pleural, pericardial and peritoneal fluids. Studies have confirmed high sensitivity and specificity of Adenosine deaminase for early diagnosis of extra pulmonary tuberculosis. Aim: To assess the diagnostic level of ADA in tubercular serosal effusion and to determine its sensitivity and specificity. Methods: The study was carried out on 120 patients suffering from serosal effusion (50 pleural, 50 peritoneal, and 20 cases of pericardial effusion) . Detailed clinical history, physical examination and routine and relevant investigation of all patients including ADA estimation by GALANTI AND GIUSTI method was done. Results: ADA Level in tuberculous pleural effusion ranged from 45-160 U/L with a mean level of 100U/L and sensitivity and specificity of 100% (p<0.001, highly significant). ADA level in tuberculous peritoneal effusion ranged from 35-135 U/L with a mean level of 92U/L and sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 95% respectively (p<0.001, highly significant). ADA level in tubercular pericardial effusion ranged from 63-117 U/L with a mean level of 90U/L and sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 83.3% respectively (p<0.005, very significant).In toto serosal fluid ADA level estimation offers high degree of sensitivity and specificity of about 100% and 94.6% respectively, Conclusion: ADA was found positive with a mean value of 100U/L, 92U/L and 90 U/L in tubercular pleural, peritoneal and pericardial effusion respectively with overall 100% sensitivity and 94.6% specificity and cutoff value of 40 U/L.