Vingnanam 2012

Parasites of two co-occurring house gecko species, Hemidactylus frenatus and Gehyra mutilata from Central Sri Lanka

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Parasites of two co-occurring house gecko species, Hemidactylus frenatus and Gehyra mutilata from Central Sri Lanka Mahagedara, P. D.; Rajakaruna, R. S. Two house gecko species, the Asian house gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus (Schlegel, 1836) and the four-clawed gecko, Gehyra mutilate (Wiegmann, 1834) inhabiting urban areas in Kandy and Kegalle districts were examined to determine the types of ecto and endo parasites, their prevalence and intensity of infections. A total of 45 geckos from the two species were dissected after anesthetizing of which 21 individuals (47%) were infected with one or more parasites. Both host species were infected by helminthes such as the nematodes and a fluke species. In addition mites (Geckobia sp.) and an acanthocephalan (Acanthocephalus serendibensis), and ciliates were found only in H. frenatus. Although the two gecko species co-occur, some parasites show host specificity. Nematode infections (possibly Oxyuris infection) were the most common type with 29% prevalence. Although A. serendibensis has been previously described from an agamid, Ceratophora stoddarti, and two geckonids Cnemaspis kandiana and Cnemaspis tropidogaster from Sri Lanka, H. frenatus presents a new host record for A. serendibensis and occurred at high intensity of 5-10 worms per host. There were no parasites in the blood or body cavity of the geckos examined. More female geckos were infected with parasites than males (χ2=5.20, p<0.05). Although H. frenatus harboured parasites of all five groups while G. mutilate had only two groups, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of infections between the two species (χ2=1.16, p>0.05). None of the identified parasite species have a zoonotic potential.

Evaluation of semen quality brought from Kundasale as replacement of locally produced semen for artificial insemination in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Evaluation of semen quality brought from Kundasale as replacement of locally produced semen for artificial insemination in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka Nilani, K.; Eswaramohan, T.; Mahadhevan, P. Artificial Insemination (AI) with frozen semen has been proved as the most potent method for rapid genetic improvement in domestic animals. While the use of AI with fresh semen is limited by the restricted period of sperm viability, this limitation may be overcome by the storage of frozen semen. Recently AI center of Thirunelvely is being advised to use the deep-frozen semen processed from Kundasale of Central Province (CP) for AI purposes. Thus the present study was undertaken to compare the quality of locally produced stored semen (LPS) and semen brought from Kundasale in deep-frozen condition (KDFS) by assessing the viability of them as the prominent factor that determine the successful of AI service . A batch of LPS and KDFS was obtained from the AI center at Thirunelvely. LPS was diluted with 2.9% sodium citrate buffer solution to evaluate the individual progressive motility and sperm velocity, sperm morphology, and acrosome integrity. Sperm smear was prepared by using 1% eosin and 0.75% Giemsa stain to identify intact and reacted acrosome and sperm abnormalities respectively. Thawed semen was also assessed for motility examination, percentage of intact acrosome, viability and morphology. Paired‘t’ test was performed to compare the means of the viability of LPS and KDFS (P<0.05). Even though the viability and sperm velocity of KDFS (84.57 ± 0.9957%, 24.75 ± 1.887 μm/s) was lower than LPS (96.62 ± 0.7837%, 26.00 ± 1.581 μm/s), its viability is enough for successful conception rate. Therefore usage of KDFS instead of LPS won’t affect the successful rate of AI service in Jaffna Peninsula.

Effect of Xylan on XylanaseProduction by Bacillus pumilus Under Submerged Fermentation

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Effect of Xylan on XylanaseProduction by Bacillus pumilus Under Submerged Fermentation Mahilrajan, S.; Balakumar, S.; Arasaratnam, V. Xylanase production by the alkalophilic Bacillus pumilus was improved under submerged fermentation when commercial Birchwood xylan was used as the substrate. Initially the medium containing commercial Birchwood xylan 20gL-1 at pH 8.5 was used. When the commercial Birchwood xylan concentration was 5gL-1 highestxylanase activity [61.3(±0.96) UmL-1] was obtained at 24 h. The media substituted with raw materials of local carbon sources and considerable amount of xylanase was produced in the media containing corn cob[24.9(±0.99) UmL-1], corn hull [18.2(±0.92) UmL-1] and rice straw [21.5(±0.86) UmL-1] and lowest amount of activity was obtained with rice bran [4.7(±0.98) UmL-1]. Xylan was extracted from local carbon source such as corncob, corn hull and rice straw and these were used as the carbon source in the media and Birchwood xylan was used as the control. The highest xylanase activity was obtained in the medium with Birchwood xylan [(62.6(±0.89) UmL-1)] than in the media which contained the xylan (5gL-1) extracted from corncob [29.8(±0.97) UmL-1] corn hull [20.2(±0.99) UmL-1] and rice straw [17.6(±0.98) UmL-1]. Due to the amount of xylose present in the xylan, the highest activity was obtained with Birch wood xylan. Based on this study the xylanase production from B.pumilus was better with commercial Birchwood xylan than that extracted from different local sources.

Changes in carbohydrates and amylolytic activity during malting of a local variety of rice

2012-01-01T00:00:00Z

Changes in carbohydrates and amylolytic activity during malting of a local variety of rice Chandrasekar, K.; Arasaratnam, V. A local variety of paddy, “Mottaikaruppan” variety was selected for this study. Both paddy and its dehusked unpolished rice grains were steeped and allowed to germinate. Steep liquor analysis revealed that there was an increase in the release of the soluble materials with steeping time. Germination of dehusked unpolished rice (77.7%) was better than paddy (59.6%) on the fifth day. A change in moisture content during germination was almost the same for both paddy and dehusked unpolished rice after 2½ days. Appreciable drop in starch content (from 89.1 to 84.5g/100g dry matter) was observed from the third day. Increase in reducing sugar and total sugar contents were observed during germination. Increase in malt amylase (40.0 to 367.8Ug-1 dry matter) activity was observed from the second to fifth day of germination. Addition of 0.1gL-1 gibberellic acid improved the germination of dehusked unpolished rice by 11.7% at 4th day, while addition of Tween-80 (1.0mL/L) with gibberellic acid decreased the germination.