The present study has shown that the aquaponics system provides certain environmental benefits when compared to the traditional agriculture systems. Presently, the low-cost small scale aquaponics system was standardised by Nutrient Film Technique. The water quality characteristics of Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) were stable as per the USEPA regulations. The values of the growth and weight gain features of millet and mustard plants at different days were significantly different (p<0.05). Growth rate was gradually increased significantly (p<0.01) during different culture periods. The ANOVA results revealed the recorded biochemical-values of NFT -raised organisms exhibited a less significance (p<0.04). The biochemical contents of millet plant showed significantly decreased values (p<0.03). The mean±SD values represents the NFT system plant growth exhibited an increased (p<0.05) significantly different with control. The NFT technique grown millet and mustard plants showed increased (p<0.05) significantly different with control experiment grown plants. Chlorophyll ‘a’ was high (8.17mg) in NFT and low (2.34mg) in control. Maximum chlorophyll ‘b’ content was 8.45mg in plants experiment with NFT and minimum obtained (0.84mg) in control. Carotenoid content was high 707mg in plants grown through NFT followed by low content (239mg) in control-plant. In addition, NFT system has obtained maximum number of colonies compared with control. Further investigation and implementation of alternative food systems could be a step in increasing local food production, and shifting away from the industrial global food market.
Toxicity potential of the 3-solvent extracts of Sargassum wightii, S. ilicifolium and Gelidiella acerosa – seaweeds against the 4th larval-stage of 3 mosquitos was evaluated. The ethyl acetate extracts of the brown seaweeds (S. wightii & S. ilicifolium) and the red seaweed (G. acerosa) exerted the highest larvicidal effect. The S. wightii-ethyl acetate extract (SW-EA) exerted the huge death-rates of Anopheles stephensi with the lethal concentrations of (μg/mL);3.98 - LC50 and 12.17- LC90 followed by 4.43 & 24.44 on Culex quinquefasciatus and 9.26 & 52.00 on Aedes aegypti, respectively. The S. ilicifolium - ethyl acetate (SI-EA) caused the deaths of Anopheles stephensi with the lethal (LC-50&LC-90) doses (μg/mL) of; 18.934 & 371.753, followed by 34.104 & 423.012 on Aedes aegypti, and 40.728 & 683.813 on Culex quinquefasciatus respectively. Corresponding values for the G. acerosa-ethyl acetate-extract (GA-EA) (that caused maximum death-toll of Anopheles stephensi were); 4.59& 15.91, followed by 14.18& 78.77 on Culex quinquefasciatus and 23.261& 354.903 for Aedes aegypti. The algal-analyses showed the common phytochemical - constituents, aliphatic amines, alkynes and alkenes - groups and predominantly the Phytol acetate, OCTADECANOIC ACID and n-Hexadecanoic acid. The generated data form important basis for further investigation towards antimalarial drug development.
The free amino acid - profiles of the pond-cultured giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii were evaluated. The M. rosenbergii was collected from the natural pond culture sites that showed reasonably good growth and survival of adults of male, female and stunted animals. Totally 15 amino acids were detected in normal male and female adults. Whereas 14 amino acids were detected in the stunted animals and threonine was not detected in the stunted animal. Three non-essential amino acids, four conditional essential amino acids, and eight essential amino acids were recorded in the tissues of M. rosenbergii. The aspartic acid contributed a higher value in all three tissue samples; 185.3, 138.76, and 274.09 µL/mL in male, female and stunted animals respectively. The arginine was found to be the lowest value in the male (2.5 µL/mL) and in the stunted animals (3.78 µL/mL) but in the normal male the glycine was the lowest value (2.38 µL/mL). In the normal male, tyrosine, serine, and glutamic acid were at the highest concentrations but in the normal female, the glutamic acid, Leucine, and tyrosine contributed to the higher-level amino acids. However, in the stunted one, serine, leucine, and histidine (96.98, 81.62, and 63.59 µl/ml, respectively) showed the same values as glutamic and tyrosine. The overall amount of essential amino acids was higher in female prawns than in male and stunted ones. In contrast, the non-essential amino acid content was higher in the stunted shrimp. Therefore, stunted prawns can be used as good nutritional food for human consumption.
During the present research, 11 gut bacteria were isolated from the fresh water fish, Systomus sarana (General name: olive barb) and upon screening, the strains produced extracellular pectinase enzyme. Among them, the SS6 strain was found to produce a high quantity of 208.731 U/mg pectinase. Through molecular characterization the SS6 strain was identified as Aeromonas guangheii. In this study, a group of controlled experimental factors were investigated to optimize through the response surface methodology with a Box-Behnken design. The optimal conditions were found to be; 2.11% of maltose, 2.20% of yeast extract, 6.5 of pH, and a temperature of 27.3 ºC at 32-h incubation. Under the above conditions, the activity of pectinase production was enhanced to 371 U/mg. The purified pectinase’s molecular weight was determined to be ~50 kDa (by 10% 2-D PAGE). The FT-IR analysis of the degraded pectin-products revealed the presence of six functional groups. Totally, nine peptides were identified from the purified pectinase enzyme through the MALDI-TOF-MS analysis and MASCOT tool was used to get the mass spectrum of the peak at 2211 of peptide that indicated the reference pectinase protein. The referenced gene primer (pectate lyases) was PCR amplified and their nucleotide sequence was analyzed. The exo-pelA gene was cloned in pREST vector, that was over expressed in Escherichia coli BL21. The ORF encoded for a protein of 425 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of ~50 kDa. The present findings underline the potential of the fish-gut microbes as a source of biotechnologically important enzymes.
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