Bangeppagari Manjunatha

Effect of Azospirillum spp. and Azotobacter spp. on the growth and yield of strawberry (Fragaria vesca) in hydroponic system under different nitrogen levels

1 Department of Life Sciences, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, SangolquiPOBOX: 171-5-231B, Quito, Ecuador, South America. 2 Department of Biotechnology, Universidad de las Americas UDLA, Quito, Ecuador. 3 Department of Zoology, University of Pune, Pune, India. 4 Department of Environmental Engineering, Universidad Estatal Amazonica, Puyo, Ecuador. 5 Loyola ICAM College of Engineering and Technology (LICET), Loyola campus, Chennai, India.

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 en relacion a las plantas control. 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.sphorus and nitrogen relative to those treated with single inoculation and the control.

Pristine graphene induces cardiovascular defects in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryogenesis

The multiple effect of pristine graphene (pG) toxicity on cardiovascular developmental defects was assessed using zebrafish as a model. Recently, the nanotoxicity is emerging as a critical issue, and it is more significant in embryogenesis. Especially, graphene and its derivatives have attracted a lot of interest in biomedical applications. However, very little is known about the toxic effects of pG which has been widely used carbon nanomaterial according to concentration and its effects on biological and cardiovascular development. In the present study, we examined the development of zebrafish embryos by exposing to pG (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 μg/L) under different developmental toxicity end-points such as cardiotoxicity, cardiovascular defect, retardation of cardiac looping, apoptosis and globin expression analysis. For this, the developmental cardiotoxicity of pG at different concentrations and the specific cardiovascular defects thereof were elucidated for the first time. As a result, the exposure to pG was found to be a potential risk factor to cardiovascular system of zebrafish embryos. However, a further study on the variations of physical, molecular properties and mechanisms of nanotoxicity which vary depending on production method and surface functionalization is required. In addition, the potential risks of pG flakes to aquatic organisms and human health should be considered or checked before releasing them to the environment.

Evaluation of microalgae’s (Chlorella sp. and Synechocystis sp.) pollutant removal property: Pig effluent as a live stock discharge -

The ability of microalgae to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater has been used in recent years as an alternative treatment for discharges from livestock slurry, which generate a negative environmental impact on vulnerable ecosystems. With this background and the feasibility of using microalgae, we have evaluated the effect of Chlorella sp. and Synechocystis sp., in removing contaminants from the pig manure collected from El Prado ESPE. Slurry samples were collected, filtered and autoclaved, and the supernatant was further dilluted to three different concentrations of 40%, 60% and 80%. The microalgal growth and pollutants removal property was evaluated up to 15 days in batch culture. The cell density was determined by counting in a Neubauer hemocytometer, and the pollutants removal was analyzed by standard colorimetric methods. The microalgae Chlorella sp. showed a maximum cell growth of 1.70 ± 0.09 x107 cells/mL at 60% effluent concentration on day 6. While Synechocystis sp. showed a maximum growth of 1.04 ± 0.05 x107 cells/mL, at 60% concentration on day 9. On the other hand, there exists a competition when microalgae used as a consortium. The cell growth of Chlorella sp. was higher at all concentrations compared to Synechocystis sp.. Overall, efficiency of pollutant removal were between 40% and 90%, which demonstrate the feasibility of using microalgae in tertiary swine wastewater treatment.

Identification and characterization of Lactobacillus bacterial genera most prevalent used to improve silage digestibility of important forage species for livestock sector

1 Department of Life Sciences, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas-ESPE, SangolquiPOBOX: 171-5-231B, Quito, Ecuador, South America. 2 Faculty of Prometeo Project, SENESCYT, Quito, Ecuador. 3 Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Graduate School, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen – 518055, China. 4 Department of Environmental Engineering, Universidad Estatal Amazonica, Puyo, Ecuador. 5 Loyola ICAM College of Engineering and Technology (LICET), Loyola campus, Chennai-600034, India.