International Letters of Natural Sciences Vol. 15

Abstract: Tomato though a day neutral crop, is predominantly cultivated during the cool dry harmattan partly due to low incidence of diseases and favourable low temperature. The scarcity of fresh tomato outside this season needs to be considered to meet the teeming demand of the populace. Knowledge of the nature of association between yield and its components is of great necessary in any breeding programme. It was against this background that a field experiment was conducted in 2008 and 2009 at Salam Farm of Ngaburari village of Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State (Lat. 12°N and Long. 13°13’E) in the Semi-Arid Region of Nigeria to determine the relationship between yield and other agronomic parameters as affected by mulching and cultivars of tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum L. Karst) during the heat period to provide effective tool for breeders. The treatments consisted of five cultivars of tomato (Tandino, Danbaga, Roma VF, UC82B and Dansyria) and six grass mulch (Pennisetum pedicelatum Trin) levels (0 t/ha, 2.5 t/ha, 5 t/ha, 7.5 t/ha, 10 t/ha and 12.5 t/ha) which were laid out in a strip-plot design and replicated three times. The parameters studied include plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, leaf area index, number of branches per plant, days to first and 50 % flowering, number of fruits, weight of fruits per plant and yield in t/ha. Data collected were subjected to Correlation Analysis using Statistic 8.0 and the results of the combined years for cultivars indicated that total fruits yield was significantly and positively correlated with plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, leaf area index, days to first flowering and weight of fruits but significantly negatively correlated with days to 50 % flowering. Similarly, correlation of parameters as affected by mulch indicated significant and positive correlation of fruit yield with plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, leaf area index days to first flowering, number of fruits and weight of fruits but significantly negatively correlated with number of branches and days to 50 % flowering. Days to first flowering had significant positive correlation with days to 50 % flowering, number of fruits and weight of fruits both as affected by cultivar and mulch. Hence selection for high yield during heat period in the semi arid region of Nigeria should be based on earliness to flowering.

Abstract: The data of individual sector on environmental science is compiled in information technology (IT) through database software known as Environment Information (EI). Environment information is an easy accessible database in individual sector, where people can know both new research scope and impact on environment. The presen t study deals to inform that EI is an area, in which the knowledge of environmental science and IT is combined through database software. In this paper, individual research area, data format and beneficial aspects on environmental science is tabulated for EI. There are several research areas in which the data viz. ecology and ecosystem, biodiversity and conservation of important species, health hazards by diseases, health care facilities, toxicological aspects, wastes types, source generation and management, alternative energy generation facilities, environment education and awareness etc. It is a conceptual approach to gather knowledge of environment related problems and prospects and can easily make a database for the intellectuals, academicians, scientists, regulatory authorities, policy makers, researchers, students etc. These help to know benefits in research area, regulatory process, decision making and proper environment management. People can easily access compiled database in an individual sector of environment science

Abstract: The chemical compounds have been reported to be exuded by plants and their inhibitory effects of other plants. The research work was carried out to study the allelopathic effect of root, bark and leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica L. on the seed germination of Abelmoschus esculentus L. Germination studies were conducted in laboratory, the bhendi seeds treated with the root, bark and leaf extracts of Neem. On the seventh day the morphological parameters, photosynthetic pigment and biochemical contents were analysed. The result showed that the rate of germination of bhendi decreased in all Azadirachta indica L. extracts. The reduction in biochemical contents of bhendi was also noted. The highest rate of germination was observed in control (distilled water) treatment and the highest rate of inhibition was observed in root extract followed by bark and leaf extracts.

Abstract: The objective of the study described the importance of L-asparaginase and its importance in the field of medicine. Different types of enzymes are produced based on the adaptation to the environment where the living organisms live to tune the metabolic pathways according to their adapted changes. The enzymes present in various organs are produced by many cell types in multicellular organisms. Except ribosomes all other known enzymes are proteinaceous in nature. L-asparaginase is a potential therapeutic agent for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and chronic myelogenous leukemia which is approved by FDA & WHO. L-asparaginase catalyzes the deamination of L-asparagine to L-aspartic acid & ammonia. Unlike normal cells, malignant cells require large amount of L-asparagine for protein synthesis and cell division. From this background the present review is an effort to gather the information on the mechanism, sources, molecular details and application of L-asparaginase enzyme.

Abstract: In the present study, the morphological features of 20 taxa of the family Solanaceae were studied. The Solanaceae, or nightshades, are an economically important family of flowering plants. The family ranges from herbs to trees, and includes a number of important agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and ornamentals. Many members of the family contain potent alkaloids, and some are highly toxic, but many cultures eat nightshades, in some cases as staple foods. The present observation shows that majority of Solanaceae members almost the same morphological features that of the family.

Abstract: Solanum genus namely Solanum seaforthianum Andr. belongs to the Solanaceae family, and comprises only dioeciously species. These plants are distributed between 29º and 40º south. All species of this genus are diploid with chromosome numbers of 2n = 24, 28 and 30. According to literature, the basic chromosome number in this genus is x = 12, 14 and 15. Solanum genus with a chromosome complement of 2n = 30 has a symmetric karyotype with a median and sub median centromere position. Because ancestral species have a symmetric karyotype, it seems that x = 12 is the initial basic chromosome number in this genus and the x = 14 and x = 15 derived from x = 12. So it seems that diploid phenomena played an important role in evolution and speciation

Abstract: An attractive possibility of green nanotechnology is to use microorganisms in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Recently, the biosynthesis especially from fungi has emerged as a novel method for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are considered as building blocks of Nanotechnology. In the present work we have screened fungi for the extracellular production of silver nanoparticles. Aspergillus sps, Rhizopus sps, Fusarium sp. and Penicillium sp. were the isolates screened and subjected to silver nanoparticles production. Of the tested isolates, the fungus Aspergillus sp. showed maximum absorbance at 416 nm which is an indication of Silver nanoparticles production. Further characterization was made by TEM which revealed the shape to be spherical and size ranged between 20-55 nm, EDS showed the presence of elemental silver at 3kev, FTIR spectrum showed the different functional groups, XRD spectrum showed the crystalline nature of the particles and AFM revealed three dimensional structures of the nanoparticles. Of all kinds of nanoparticles silver nanoparticles show great promise in terms of biomedical applications as they exhibit different biomedical activities

Abstract: Insects are depends upon autotrophs and they attract by the flowers colour and shape as pollinator. This is a mutual relationship between flowers and insects. The present study aims to determine flower visiting insect diversity as pollinators in two parks as biomonitoring of automobile air pollution exposure, landscape changes and/or human interactions. The study areas were selected as per heavily-populated neighborhoods, nearby office buildings, nearby roads and continuous vehicular movements, human interactions as visitors, where fences and high levels of human disturbance are common. The study was carried out at 2 sampling stations viz (i) Elliot park and (ii) Agri-Horticulture Society. The flower species were selected viz. Helianthus annuus, Petunia sp. and Buganvilia spectabilis planting above mentioned areas because these species are more common among other species. In each flower, diversity of visiting insects were studied by qualitative and quantitative assessment. Indices were Species richness, Index of Dominance, Relative abundance, Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index and Evenness Index for insects for all selected sites were calculated using the statistical formulae. The present results clearly indicate that the flower visiting insects are very less in numbers on three flowering species and index values were decreased. This study is a preliminary assessment of flower visiting insects diversity but further researches are needed in relation to pollination efficiencies of flower visiting insects and biochemical and genetic damage study of flowers as well as air pollution load by using instruments. It was concluded that three flowering species viz. sunflower, petunia and bougainvillea are very common both the parks but insect visitors are common but present less in number, which may be due to the vehicular pollution and/or human interference and/or landscape changes due to nearby neighborhood blocks, office and residential buildings etc.

Abstract: The present study was performed for the period of one year from January 2013 to December 2013 in order to understand the level of toxic heavy metals in the sediments of Mahul Creek near Mumbai. The annual average concentration of heavy metals like Cr, Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, As and Hg was found to be 277.5, 121.7, 100.3, 63.8, 21.5, 14.6, 10.4 and 4.9 ppm respectively. It is feared that this heavy metals accumulated in the creek sediments may enter the water thereby creating threat to the biological life of an aquatic ecosystem. The results of present study indicates that the existing situation if mishandled can cause irreparable ecological harm in the long term well masked by short term economic prosperity due to extensive industrial growth

Abstract: The present study was performed for the period of one year from January 2013 to December 2013 in order to understand the level of toxic heavy metals in the water of Mahul Creek near Mumbai. It was observed that the annual average concentration of heavy metals like Cd, As, Hg, Cr, Pb, Cu, Ni and Zn, was found to be 0.003, 0.004, 0.0009, 0.012, 0.015, 0.019, 0.04 and 0.23 ppm respectively. The results suggest that there is a need to have such scientific monitoring for longer time period in order to understand the trend in level of these toxic heavy metals discharged in to the creek water. It is feared that the existing problem if ignored may increase the level of this heavy metals in creek water thereby creating threat to the biological life of an aquatic ecosystem. From the results of the present investigation it seems that the time has come to move towards ecosystem specific discharge standards to maintain the health and productivity of natural resources on which the majority of Indians are dependent.