December 2008

Evaluation of Securidaca longipenduculata leaf and root extracts for antimicrobial activities

The aqueous, ethanol and methanol extracts of the roots and leaves of Securidaca longipenduculata were studied for their antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Shigella sp. and Salmonella typhi, using the agar gel diffusion method. The phytochemicals present, as well as the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum bacteriocidal concentration (MBC) of the extracts...

Author(s): Junaid S. A., Abubakar A., Ofodile A. C., Olabode A. O., Echeonwu G. O. N., Okwori A. E. J. and Adetunji J. A.

December 2008

Microbial populations and Bacillus thuringiensis diversity in saline rice field soils of coastal Orissa, India

Different microbial populations and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) diversity in saline soils of three rice fields and two fallow lands of coastal Orissa, India, were assessed. Populations (x105 colony forming units (cfu) g-1 dr. soil) of aerobic heterotrophic (4.5 - 47.6), spore-forming (1.00 - 21.2) and Gram-negative (0.8 - 27.8) bacteria were relatively more abundant in the soils than those of...

Author(s): Jyotirmayee Das, Bandana Das and Tushar Kanti Dangar

December 2008

Microbial loads and incidence of food-borne indicator bacteria in most popular indigenous fermented food condiments from middle-belt and southwestern Nigeria

The food indicator bacteriological quality of 1 501 samples of most-consumed Nigerian fermented food condiments (iru n = 1 125, ogiri n = 148, okpehe n = 113 and ugba n = 115), randomly obtained from various markets in eleven major cities of Nigeria, was determined. A total...

Author(s): Adenike A. O. Ogunshe and Kehinde O. Olasugba

December 2008

Morphological and phylogenetic analysis of colonies of Microcystis morphospecies isolated from the Lebna Dam, Tunisia

The toxic potential, morphological characteristics and sequences of the 16S rRNA gene, and restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of the amplified 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were investigated in threeMicrocystis morphospecies (MCYS-LB01, -LB02 and -LB03) isolated from Lebna dam in Tunisia, and compared to the reference strain Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 and...

Author(s): Soumaya El Herry, Hichem Nasri, and Noureddine Bouaïcha

December 2008

Effect of oils on the production of exopolysaccharides and mycelial biomass in submerged culture of Schizophyllum commune

The effect of oils (olive, castor and peppermint) addition at different concentrations on the cell growth and production of exopolysaccharides (EPS) in a submerged culture of Schizophyllum commune was determined. The highest cell growth (8.2 g.dr.w/l) was observed on the 14th day of incubation in medium containing 1% of the olive oil. EPS production was slightly enhanced by olive oil and castor oil,...

Author(s): Krishna Bolla, Syed Zeenat Shaheen, Kandukuri Vasu and M. A. Singara Charya