School Of Environment And Earth Sciences

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    (0) Mittal, Sunil
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    Phytotoxic effects of volatile oil from Artemisia scoparia against weeds and its possible use as a bioherbicide
    (Elsevier, 2010) Kaur, Shalinder; Singh, Harminder Pal; Mittal, Sunil; Batish, Daizy R.; Kohli, R.K.
    A study was conducted to assess the bioherbicidal activity of volatile oil hydrodistilled from Artemisia scoparia Waldst et Kit. (red stem wormwood; Asteraceae) against five weed species, viz. Achyranthes aspera, Cassia occidentalis, Parthenium hysterophorus, Echinochloa crus-galli, and Ageratum conyzoides. Emergence and seedling growth (in terms of root and shoot length) were significantly reduced in a dose–response bioassay conducted in sand impregnated with Artemisia oil (at ≥10, 25, and 50 μg Artemisia oil/g sand). In general, the root length was inhibited more as compared to the shoot length and the inhibitory effect was greatest in P. hysterophorus followed by A. conyzoides and least in C. occidentalis. Post-emergence application of Artemisia oil (2%, 4%, and 6%, v/v) on 6-week-old weed plants caused visible injury (1- and 7-days after spray) ranging from chlorosis to necrosis to complete wilting of plants. Among the sprayed test weeds, the effect was greatest on E. crus-galli and P. hysterophorus. Artemisia oil treatment resulted in a loss of chlorophyll content and cellular respiration in test weeds thereby implying interference/impairment with photosynthetic and respiratory metabolism. Artemisia oil caused a severe electrolyte leakage from E. crus-galli (a monocot) and C. occidentalis (a dicot) indicating membrane disruption and loss of integrity. The study concludes that Artemisia oil has bioherbicidal properties as it causes severe phytotoxicity and interferes with the growth and physiological processes of some weed species.
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    Ambient noise levels due to dawn chorus at different habitats in Delhi. Environment and We: An
    (2011) Singh, Manoj; Kumar, Dinesh; Pandey, Puneeta; Kumar, Krishan; Jain, Vinod Kumar
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    Biofuels
    (2012) Prasad, S.; Dhanya, M.S.
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    Influence of Fertilizer industry wastewater on the germination behavior of barley (Hordeum vulgare) grains
    (Central University of Punjab, 2012) Kaur, Jaskiran; K.N., Yogalaskshmi
    Industries generate enormous amount of wastewater. Increased water crisis problems, coupled with stringent regulatory standards for wastewater disposal has necessitated the need for better wastewater treatment options. Most developing countries do not have sufficient funds to invest on technologies for treating wastewater. As agriculture demands more water, use of wastewater for irrigation would be the best option for treatment of wastewater. Using wastewater for irrigation purposes would solve the problem of water scarcity as well. In the present study, the effect of fertilizer industry wastewater on germination behaviour of Hordeum vulgare (PL-426) grains was examined. The wastewater was collected from National Fertilizer Limited, Bathinda, Punjab. The wastewater was acidic in nature and contained around 37.5% of total dissolved solids and 9.2% of total suspended solids. BOD and COD were more than that of permissible limits. The germination study was carried for a period of 6 days. For the germination study, the wastewater composition used were 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% wastewater concentrations diluted proportionately with distilled and designated as E0-E4, respectively. The growth of the grain was evaluated based on morphological and biochemical parameters. The effects were studied by comparing the growth at different wastewater concentration with that of control. Germination percentage, germination index, germination vigor index, root and shoot length, relative elongation ratio of shoot and root, fresh and dry weight, vi chlorophyll a and b, proteins and antioxidant enzymes such as peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activity of grains showed significant decrease with increase in wastewater concentration beyond 50% indicating the inhibition of germination with increase in wastewater concentration. Parameters such as dry weight, chlorophyll a and b, superoxide dismutase and proteins showed higher value at 100% wastewater than control. The results concluded that the fertilizer industry wastewater can be used effectively for the cultivation of Hordeum vulgare and the maximum growth could be achieved only at 50% dilution.
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    To study the effect of BT (Bacillus thruingiensis) cotton cultivation on soil health
    (Central University of Punjab, 2012) Kumari, Manohari; Mittal, Sunil
    The impact of transgenic Bacillus thruingiensis (Bt) cotton cultivation on soil enzymes and physico-chemical parameters of soil were investigated. Soil samples were collected from surface (0-20 cm depth) of agricultural fields near Bathinda, District. Where Bt cotton (RHC134) and non Bt cotton variety had been continuously cultivated for last two years. Soil samples were collected after harvesting of cotton crop. A control sample was collected from the adjoining waste land where no crop was grown from last many years. To observe effect of Bt cotton on soil biochemical properties, activities of soil enzymes such as amylase, cellulase, urease, dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase and acid phosphatase were assayed. Statistically significant enhancement in activities of the above enzyme was observed in Bt cotton soil samples as compared to non Bt cotton soil samples. No difference was observed in cellulase activity between Bt and non Bt cotton soil samples. Further, to study the effect of Bt cotton on physico-chemical properties, pH, conductivity, texture, total organic carbon (%) and organic matter (%), available nitrogen and available phosphorous content were estimated. In conclusion, significant changes were observed in Bt cotton grown soil samples.
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    Exploration of antioxidant and anticancer potential of essential oil of salvia plebeia RBR
    (Central University of Punjab, 2012) Gautam, Nandani; Mittal, Sunil
    Cancer is one of the major problems that accounts for millions of death worldwide per year. Breast cancer is the most commonly encountered cancer in the females. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the standard methods used in the treatment of cancer but these have various side effects also. Other complementary treatments based on plants and its products are used to lessen the side effects. Some essential oils are the potent source of the novel molecules and have been reported to have anticancer effect. In the present study, essential oil from Salvia plebeia has been screened for cytotoxic activity in vitro using MTT assay and has been observed to show inhibitory effect on the cancer cells with the increase in concentration against breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDAMB-231. The essential oil was observed to show IC50 at concentration 30?g/ml for MCF-7 cells and in MDAMB-231, IC50 was calculated to be 65?g/ml for 24 hours treatment. Essential oil was found to be effective against highly metatstatic MDAMB-231cells Exposure time effect was studied to know whether it has sustained effect or not and it was observed that essential oil had sustained effect at higher concentrations and longer exposure time was required to show sustained effect. Single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet assay) was used to find out its mode of action and it was observed to induce DNA damage in the cancer cells that might have resulted in cell death at various concentrations. Essential oil was observed to have antioxidant activity, which was studied using DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging assay. Various compounds like cayophyllene, alpha-humulene and cayophllene oxide were determined by GC-MS analysis. Cayophyllene was the major compound (46%). Some of the constituents might be responsible for anticancer activity of the oil. It has been concluded from the study that novel essential oil is very effective against breast cancer cells. This oil can be screened further against other cell lines and can be used as nutritional supplement.
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    Inhibitory effect of essential oil of ocimum sanctum l. against pesticide induced genotoxicity
    (Central University of Punjab, 2012) Kaur, Gurpreet; Mittal, Sunil
    The increase in pesticide contamination in the environment is of great concern due to its strong association with genetic material. The plants are considered as natural drugs to decline such toxic effects. In present study, the genotoxicity of Monocrotophos has been evaluated in lung cancer cell line i.e. A549 and H1299. The further step is to evaluate the prevention Monocrotophos induced genotoxic effect by pretreatment and post-treatment of O. sanctum essential oil. The results of present study suggest that eugenol (46%) and caryophyllene (28%) are the major components of essential oil of O. sanctum apart from other minor components. The essential oil cause increase in cell proliferation rate at lower concentration (20 ?g/ml for 6hrs.) in A549 cells while decrease in cell proliferation rate with increase in essential oil treatment after 20 ?g/ml concentration. Also, the cell viability has not been affected at 10 ?g/ml concentration in both the cell lines. On the other hand, Monocrotophos also cause increase cell proliferation rate at lower concentration (6.25 ?M - 200 ?M) for 6 hrs. in A549 cells and significant decrease in cell proliferation rate at higher concentration (1 mM -50 mM) in both the cell line. The results suggest that the H1299 cells, lacking p53 expression, are more sensitive to essential oil and Monocrotophos concentrations. The genotoxic study revealed that the Monocrotophos caused increase in comet length, % DNA in tail, tail length, tail intensity and decrease in Head intensity but pre-treat and post-treatment show protective action with respect to various Monocrotophos concentrations. It has been observed that post-treatment is better in comparison to pretreatment of Ocimum sanctum essential oil in all studied parameters. It can be concluded that the essential oils help the cells to compensate the oxidative stress generated inside the cell and hence can protect them from pesticide induced genotoxic effect.
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    Effect of arsenic on the growth and physiology of triticum aestivum L. seedings
    (Central University of Punjab, 2012) Nag, Shilpa; Mittal, Sunil
    The effects of Arsenic (As) were investigated on four varieties of T. aestivum viz. PBW 343, PBW 550, PBW 621 and HD 2967 to elucidate the toxicity of As on morphological, physiological, biochemical and antioxidant processes of plant in early stage. The results showed that seed germination, root length, shoot length and biomass decreased gradually with increase in concentrations of As (125-750'M) and this decrease was biologically significant. The photosynthetic and respiratory activity of the test plants was also investigated. The decrease in chlorophyll and carotenoids content with increase in As content indicates negative effect of As on the photosynthetic pigments. However, the total cellular respiration increased with increase in As concentration and this probably may be due to the enhancement in respiratory enzymes which leads to high production of energy by the respective cells. The contents of water soluble carbohydrates and proteins increased with increasing As concentrations while their hydrolyzing enzymes i.e. ? amylase and protease were decreasing with increase in As concentration. The activity of antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase and peroxidase followed the increasing trend indicating the induction of oxidative stress under high concentration of As. Further, among the various varieties HD 2967 was the most tolerant variety and PBW 550 was most affected variety
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    Studies in the hydrolysis of cellulose using cellulase in imidazolium based ionic liquid
    (Central University of Punjab, 2012) Kumar, Rabindra; Babu, J.N.
    Ionic liquids are the modern day revelations as a green solvent. These solvents have found many applications in biofuel strategy. The cellulose pretreatment using ionic liquid is currently being studied for future biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass. The strategy involves the dissolution of cellulose in these solvents, followed by precipitation by an anti-solvent like water or acetone, leading to the formation of amorphous cellulose which is easy to hydrolyze by biocatalytic methods. Further studies had been conducted in the inhibitory effect of ionic liquid traces present in pretreated cellulose, on the biocatalytic hydrolysis by cellulase. Apart from this, biocatalytic hydrolysis had been studied in binary aqueous-ionic liquid solution for a one-pot process for simultaneous pretreatment & hydrolysis. These process involved the study of biocatalytic hydrolysis in imidazolium based ionic liquids namely, [EMIM]OAc & [BMIM]Cl, as hydrophilic solvents. These solvents have anions with predominantly strong hydrogen bond acceptor capacity. The study reveals the deactivation of the enzyme in presence of these ionic liquids. Thus in an effort to increase the hydrolysis efficiency of the enzyme without loosing the hydrogen bond acceptor capacity of the IL, was essentially required. Thus in the present study, we have investigated one-pot biocatalytic hydrolysis of cellulose in IL with variable alkyl chain length of the cation leading to hydrophobic environment around the biocatalyst. The ILs used in the present study are [BMIM]Cl, [HMIM]Cl & [OMIM]Cl. The biocatalysis was studied in both homogenous as well as heterogeneous conditions. In homogenous conditions dissolution of cellulose was maintained throughout the reaction period. The homogenous biocatalysis was studied with or without the presence of surfactants. The results indicate that [HMIM]Cl is a promising solvent for cellulase catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose in both homogenous & heterogeneous condition, resulting in more than 70% hydrolysis in presence of non-ionic surfactant PEG-1500 and in the binary mixture of 40% w/w [HMIM]Cl in citrate buffer, respectively.
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    Impact of treated industrial wastewater on crop productivity: A Mini Review
    (2013) Kaur|, Jaskiran |Yogalakshmi, K.N.
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    Removal of hexavalent chromium from aqueous solution using biomass derived fly ash from Waste-to- Energy power plant
    (Taylor & Francis, 2013) Vaid, Upma; Mittal, Sunil; Babu, J. Nagendra
    Fly ash from the agricultural waste-based Energy Power Plant has been studied for the adsorption of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)]. In order to maximize the Cr(VI) removal from simulated aqueous solutions, effects of various parameters i.e. adsorbent dose (10–40 g/L), contact time (5–90 min), variation in pH (1–5), and initial metal ion concentration (10–80 mg/L) on Cr(VI) adsorption were investigated by batch adsorption experiments. It was observed that adsorption of Cr(VI) on the selected adsorbent was dependent on pH. Before optimization of experimental conditions, the percent removal of Cr(VI) from the aqueous solution (10 mg Cr/L) was approximately 4%, which increased to approximately 99% after optimization of experimental conditions. Maximum adsorption was observed upon adding 10 g/L of adsorbent to a 60 mg Cr/L aqueous solution at pH 1.0 and contact time of 90 min at 200 rpm. Equilibrium adsorption data were well fitted in Langmuir isotherm model which substantiate monolayer adsorption of Cr(VI) on fly ash. Kinetics of Cr(VI) adsorption on fly ash follows pseudo-second-order reaction.
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    Mutagenic Effect in Vegetables by Pesticides
    (Krishi Sanskriti Publications, 2013) Nag, Shilpa; Jain, A.K.; M.S., Dhanya
    The advent of pesticides in vegetable crops is to control insects, pathogens and weeds aimed at increasing the crop yield, but the applied pesticides are not fully reaching the target pests. It escapes to environment or accumulates in crops resulting in some deleterious changes. The disturbances were observed in physiological and cytological levels of the affected plants by blocking mitosis and producing mitotic and meiotic chromosome abnormalities. Some pesticides like acetamiprid, carbendazim, chlorpyriphos, cypermethrin, dichlorvos, dicofol, dimethoate, fenvalarate, indoxcarb, mancozeb, monocrotophos, profenophos, quinalphos, zineb etc. proved to be mutagens. Researchers reported abnormalities like chromosomes with inactivated centromeres, isochromosome, picnosis, vagrant, stickiness, bridges, precocious separation and lagging chromosomes, reduction in mitotic index, micronuclei, multipolar cells, sister chromatid exchanges, c- mitosis are common in vegetables. Such abnormalities were observed in kharif vegetables like Lycopersicon esculentum, Capsicum annum, Solanum melongena, Abelmoschus esculentus, Cucumis sativus, Vicia faba, Phaseolus vulgaris and rabi vegetables like Allium cepa, Coriandrum sativum, Raphanus sativus, Solanum tuberosum, Pisum sativum etc. The pesticides act as potent environmental mutagens that possess a threat to cause alterations in genetic makeup in vegetables.
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    Effect of pesticide residues in solanaceous vegetables to human health
    (2013) Nag, S; Jain, A.K.; Dhanya, M.S.
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