Advancements in Life Sciences (E-Journal, University of the Punjab)
Not a member yet
523 research outputs found
Sort by
Development of herbicide resistant crops through induced mutations
Get PDFHerbicide resistance is an innate characteristic of crop plants. It enables them to survive and propagate even in the presence of lethal doses of herbicides in the surroundings. Genetic tolerance in crops towards herbicides may have several benefits. It may increases safety margins between weed and crop sensitivity and also expands applicability of a particular herbicide. Besides, it can also lower the operating cost for weed control as compared to manual weeding and crop rotation which is normally prohibited by herbicide persistence. Herbicide resistant crops are developed through transformation of a plant with either native or mutant resistant genes, seed mutagenesis, plant cell or tissue culture and through other traditional plant breeding techniques. Seed mutagenesis is a non-transgenic approach, which is found to be most economical and perfect approach. Moreover, all commercial herbicide tolerant crops were derived from single nucleotide substitution of genes and trait can be incorporated into elite varieties because of incomplete dominance and non-pleiotropic effect of the alleles of all commercial herbicide tolerant mutations
Microbial and parasitic contamination on circulating Pakistani Currency
Get PDFBackground: Fomites are nonliving objects that are capable of imbibing, harboring and spreading infectious microorganisms. Currency notes and coins, as exchangeable fomite, are constantly subjected to contamination. The objective of this study was to determine microbial and parasitic contamination of Pakistani currency thus highlighting the potential of money for spreading pathogens in the Pakistani community.Methods: In the present study, a total of 81 Pakistani currency notes and coins in circulation were randomly collected from different shopkeepers, vendors, canteen owners and restaurant cashiers in Lahore and analyzed for parasitological, fungal, aerobic and anaerobic microbial analyses by using various microbiological techniques.Results: The study revealed 92.5% of Pakistani currency to be contaminated with pathological microorganisms. Potential pathogens such as Staphylococcus spp. (48.05%), Streptococuss spp. (3.89%), Micrococcus spp. (5.19%), Bacillus subtilis (11.68%), Corynebacterium spp. (7.79%), Cronobacter sakazakii (2.59%), Burkholderia cepacia (1.29%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (2.59%), Serretia rubideae (1.29%), Bacteriodes spp. (34.46%) and Yeast and Mold (3.89) % respectively were isolated. The parasitological analysis of the currency evinces 13.58% of the samples with parasitic ova and cysts. Predominant ova and cysts of Entamoeba histolytica & Giardia lamblia were identified.Conclusion: This study indicates that currency notes and coins are excellent fomites that can harbor the microorganisms very well. The current analyses points out towards the unhygienic practices of the people spending money in the form of currency notes and coins. Launching effective and frequent awareness campaigns in the society can help to stop the spread of microorganisms to a greater extent
Status of oxidative stress in breast cancer patients in Pakistani population
Get PDFBackground: Breast cancer is a major risk factor to the health of women around the globe and every year more than one million women are diagnosed with it. Pakistan is considered on the highest risk of breast cancer among Asian countries. One of the major reasons associated with higher incidence rate is oxidative stress condition in Pakistani women. The aim of this study was to analyze oxidative stress in patients with breast cancer in local population.Methods: Activity of antioxidant enzymes i.e. superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase, level of reduced glutathione (GSH) were measured in the blood samples of breast cancer patients. To emphasize the results and the extent of lipid peroxidation in terms of malonyl dialdehyde (MDA) level were also evaluated. All the activities from cancer patients were compared with those of healthy people taken as control.Results: The levels of GSH and MDA were found higher in the patients as compared to control group. While, activity of SOD and catalase enzymes was low in the diseased group.Conclusion: Our study shows a significant oxidative stress in breast cancer patients in local population
Pakistan at the verge of potential epidemics by multi-drug resistant pathogenic bacteria
Get PDFAntibiotic resistant pathogens are booming in community and healthcare institutions worldwide. Increasing resistance to modern antimicrobials not only limits the treatment options, but also leads to severity of infections and increases the costs of hospitalization. Recent estimates predict that economic losses incurred due to infections of multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens are incalculable, but mortality and morbidity rates are increasingly becoming more significant rendering MDR pathogens soon to be the leading cause of deaths worldwide [1]. The most devastating situation is the complete disaster of the entire health care system, where antimicrobial drugs will not only stop working against simple infections, but all types of surgeries and transplantation will also face a complete failure because of the attacks of resistant pathogens on vulnerable organs.Pakistan is a developing country with compromised healthcare infrastructure and economic conditions. Lack of access to basic healthcare facilities and unhygienic life style add up to worsen the conditions. There exists deep deficit in understanding and compliance of biosafety issues in community, academic and healthcare institutions in Pakistan. The rampant use of medicine is on the rise. Medicines are sold in grocery stores and by bus hawkers [2]. Lack of education and poor financial conditions incite people to buy such substandard drugs and ultimately misuse them.The malpractice of medicine has challenged the very efficacy of these magic drugs i.e; the antibiotics. Antibiotic abuse is directly linked to the emerging resistance in bacteria. Resistance is booming in bacteria even to the last line antibiotics carbapenems. The sub-continental carbapenem resistant superbug, NDM-1, is rapidly disseminating in clinical [3], and non-clinical environments in Pakistan [4].NDM-1 stands for New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase enzyme. Which belongs to class B, one of the four beta-lactamase enzymes molecular classes that hydrolyse the most important and most widely used group of antimicrobials in clinical practice i.e; the beta-lactam antibiotics. NDM-1 has zinc ions in its active site, unlike other molecular classes of beta-lactamases (A, C, D), that have serine residue at their active site.NDM-1 was first identified in a Swedish tourist to India when he was hospitalized in New Delhi and diagnosed with an untreatable infection, which later was named NDM-1. NDM-1 was identified in 2008 [5], and was reported as predominant carbapenemase in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh [3]. NDM-1 harbouring bacteria have been found resistant to all available antibiotics which are in clinical use. NDM-1 gene being residing on plasmid can readily be shared between bacteria even not closely related. ARG (antibiotic resistance genes) when reside on mobile genetic elements (plasmids, transposons, integrons) can easily disseminate between bacterial population [6]. Even these genes can be taken up by normal flora and can donate them to pathogenic bacteria at times. Since HGT (horizontal gene transfer) and clonal expansion of antibiotic resistant bacteria is facilitated by sub-standard medical practices in Pakistan [7], there is an extremely threatening environment of potential epidemics of drug resistant bacteria.In Pakistan, which is among the lowest spending countries on healthcare in the world, such epidemics will lead to a complete disaster. And since infectious diseases respect no borders this could circumvent other countries too. There is an urgent need of the day to make legislations on proper use of antibiotics so that people should not be deprived of the blessings of these wonder drugs. If prompt actions were not taken these superbugs will bring a complete disaster to the health care system
Phytotoxicity of Hg and its Detoxification through Microorganisms in Soil
Get PDFDue to the advent of industrialization, pollution of terrestrial environment by heavy metals has emerged as a great issue. Therefore, it is an urgent need to realize the Hg-induced toxicity in plants and as well as in animals and the harmful effects by the consumption of contaminated nutrition. Mercury is considered as a hazardous contaminant that can be changed into various oxidation states easily and causes many deleterious effects in several physiological processes in both plants and animals. Microorganisms possess two extensively studied Hg-detoxification processes like Mer operon (merTPCFAD) and Met gene which encode the functional proteins for transportation (merT, merP and/or merC, merF), reduction (merA) and a secondary regulatory protein (merD) and sulfhydrylase enzymes (met gene) respectively to modify toxic Hg+2 to nontoxic elemental state (Hg0). Due to the ever increase in Hg-pollution and very little information about its phytotoxic effects and detoxification mechanisms, the authors expect, the present article will make possibility in the provision of a comprehensive literature study about Hg-induced toxicity in plants and its detoxification processes to provoke for advance research in this field
Sensory and histamine assessment of the freshness of Sardine (Sardine Sindensis) during different storage conditions
Get PDFBackground: Storage of fish under refrigerated conditions from the time it is caught until when it is consumed has been found to be very important in reducing outbreaks of histamine poisoning.Methods: Low temperatures control bacterial histamine formation during fish processing. The shelf life of sardine (sardine sindensis) during storage at ambient temperature (33°C), ice box temperature (0°C) and freezing temperature (-7°C) were studied in terms of sensory and histamine production. The sensory acceptability limit was up to one day at ambient temperature and 11 days at ice storage condition. However, freezing storage had a good preserving effect on sensory acceptability at the end of experiment. The formation of histamine was determined at day 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16 and 18 of experiment using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fluorometeric method.Results: Histamine development had not exceeded the permissible level (200 mg/kg) recommended by the FAO (2012) during storage condition at -7°C throughout the experiment. At 0°C, histamine concentration was lower than safe level for up to 16 days (135 mg/kg). At ambient temperature, the sardine was spoiled on 3rd day and histamine concentration was found 500.48 mg/kg which was above the FAO recommended level for histamine.Conclusion: Freezing storage condition has a good preserving effect on sensory acceptability and histamine production and seems the best means of storage
Comparative in-vitro evaluation of antibacterial activity of levofloxacin brands available in Pakistan
Get PDFBackground: Antimicrobial susceptibility against marketed antibiotic products is dynamic and changes with development of resistance in microbes. Susceptibility status of antibiotics helps health care practitioners in refining their prescribing trends and selection of suitable antibiotic and its commercial brand. Objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial sensitivity and susceptibility patterns of levofloxacin of different national and multinational brands in Pakistan. Levofloxacin is among the commonly mis-prescribed antibiotic in Pakistan and this study will give an insight of microbial resistance/susceptibility status against quinolones and help prescribing practice.Methods: In this study 29 Different brands of levofloxacin from different cities of Pakistan are evaluated for their sensitivity against four microbial strains i.e. Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella Pneumonia. Evaluation was performed via disc diffusion method against standard drug discs.Result: Different brands exhibited different antimicrobial status regardless of their price and national or multinational status. In low price range, Levomerc while Tavanic in high price range showed significant antimicrobial activity. Different brands are evaluated and compared statistically with price and activity as variant.Conclusion: Antimicrobial activity of different brands of Levofloxacin varied regardless of their national/multinational status and price factor. This study refined the suitability of different brands of Levofloxacin against respective pathogens and disease indications
Tolerance of Roselle (Hibiscus Sabdariffa L.) Genotypes to Drought Stress at Vegetative Stage
Get PDFBackground: Hibiscus sabdariffa L. is an important medicinal and fiber plant in Sudan. Among other stresses, drought extremely limits the growth, quality and net yield of the crop. The drought effects the crop plants by imposing certain morphological, physiological and biochemical changes at different periods of growth.Methods: Current study was carried out in greenhouse settings at Center of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB) to investigate the effects of drought stress. Five (5) different genotypes of Hibiscus Sabdariffa L., namely Baladimostadir (H1), Um shiak (H2), Abu shankal (H3), Rahad mix (H4) and Abu Najma (H5) were studied. Thirty (30) days old Roselle seedlings were drought stressed for 10 days and its implications on plant growth, gas exchange, water relation, chlorophyll content and proline accumulation were estimated. Substantial genotypic differences in their adaptive response to drought were observed.Results: Drought stress significantly affected the plant height; lowered the relative gas exchange efficiency and altered the physiological and biochemical responses. In comparison with others, H2 and H4 genotypes tolerated the osmotic stress well with lower osmotic potential and higher osmotic adjustment, better water content, higher stomatal conductance, photosynthetic efficiency and chlorophyll content. Accumulation of osmoprotectant and gas exchange indicators clearly distinguished the responses of different genotypes towards water stress.Conclusion: Our results can be used for evaluation, screening, and manipulations of Hibiscus Sabdariffa L. genotypes for improvement of drought tolerance through conventional breeding or drought responsive gene isolation
Micro Propagation in Advanced Vegetable Production: A Review
Get PDFMicro propagation is a fast method of plant propagation that has a great potential to develop high quality as well as disease-free plants. Advancements in this field have led to the development of several techniques for rapid multiplication and improvement of a wide range of horticultural crops and their production systems. Micro propagation includes three types of vegetative propagation, 1) somatic embryogenesis, 2) adventitious shoot production and 3) axillary shoot production, which provide excellent opportunities for successful vegetable crops production. In Capsicum genera, annuum-chinense-frutescens complex have been made with white flowers and small yellow seeds. A number of experiments have also been done to demonstrate the influence of hypocotyl explant orientation on shoot bud induction in Capsicum spp. Sweet potato cuttings when grown in vitro with Florialite gives greater percentage of survival. Similarly, in vitro layering of gourds; a modification in micro propagation methods become more advantageous as it produces single shoot rather than multiple shoots. Likewise, an immobilized culture system of obtaining torpedo-stage embryos of carrots of uniform size and higher tuber yield with rapid multiplication rate for potato were also introduced by micro propagation techniques.
Morphological and biochemical characterization of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae isolates collected from Punjab during 2013
Get PDFBackground: Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) of rice occupies the most significant position among various potentially important bacterial diseases all over Pakistan. The first important step towards the management of this disease is the characterization of the pathogen.Methods: Survey was conducted and disease samples were collected from 9 different locations of Punjab. Isolation and characterization by biochemical tests was done from the diseased samples under standard conditions in the laboratory. For pathogenicity and virulence characterization, all isolates were inoculated on IR-24, Basmati super and Basmati-2000 varieties. Data was recorded after three weeks of inoculation.Results: 30 isolates of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) were purified from the diseased plants of different geographical origin which had very similar morphological and biochemical characteristics. PXo-20 (causing 51.35% leaf damage) and PXo-16 (causing 50.05% leaf damage) were found most virulent for Basmati Super and Basmati-2000.Conclusion: The presence of highly virulent isolates in Sheikhupura is alarming and there is dire need to incorporate new resistance genes in commercial rice cultivars to cope with BLB