Context: To investigate the morphological and pathological information on causal organism Botrytis cinerea for better understanding of the infection process and controlling outbreaks of the most damaging disease, Botrytis Gray Mold (BGM),of chickpea.Objectives: To study the cultural and morphological characteristics and growth requirements of Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex. Fr. This study was also aimed to know about the cytological and genetic behavior of B. cinerea in relation to its pathogenicity and the infection process on chickpea.Materials and Methods: A total of 83 isolates of Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex. Fr. collected from the major chickpea growing areas of Bangladesh were studied under 5 and 2 different groups based on their cultural and morphological characteristics, respectively. Four different types of isolates were observed and characterized considering the arrangement of sclerotia by growing them on PDA. Cultural characteristics such as colony color, shape, margin and texture of B. cinerea isolates were observed on the prepared PDA medium. Morphological characteristics in terms of sclerotia color, shape and size, ability of sclerotia production and their arrangement were observed on PDA medium after three days of incubation at 20°C. The prepared samples were placed in a platinum coater providing 10 mA current flow and then placed into the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) for obtaining the image. The conidial observation was taken using aqua suspension under the fluorescence microscope at 19V/100W. SEM observation was made to study the infection process of B. cinerea. Data on quantitative and qualitative cultural characteristics were put into analytical software 'SPSS 11.5 for Windows' and nonhierarchical clustering was performed.Results: The mean sizes of five isolates of B. cinerea were 8.02-12.3x 5.1-9.0 ?m (volume 158.12-445.38 ?m3). The pathogen B. cinerea grew well on malt-extract agar (MEA) and chickpea dextrose agar (CDA) medium. The highest (81.26 mm) average mycelial radial growth was obtained on MEA followed by CDA (81.11 mm). Maximum disease in the shortest incubation period was produced with the inoculum concentration of 2.5×104. More pathogenicity and higher disease score was performed by the isolates containing higher mean number of nucleus per conidia than the isolates containing lower values. Optimum temperature and incubation time for conidial germination was observed at 20°C and 24 h, respectively. More than 90% relative humidity was needed for the germination of B. cinerea conidia. B. cinerea survived in all plant parts up to next cropping season. Sclerotia of B. cinerea were also found to survive in the soil up to 9 months. All the 5 isolates of B. cinerea remained viable after 3 years of storage in sterile water at -80°C and in sand at 4°C with same pathogenicity.Conclusion: The cyto-pathological observations including cultural and morphological information of the causal pathogen B. cinerea might be useful in controlling the outbreaks of the disease BGM and ultimately reducing the yield loss of the valuable crop chickpea.J. bio-sci. 22: 69-76, 2014

Context: Streptomyces are potential sources for secondary metabolites possessing a variety of biological activities with antimicrobial activity, which is used for human and animal treatment. It is estimated these bacteria synthesize more than 7,000 metabolites. About 80% of these are made by members of the genus Streptomyces. Streptomyces spp. is known as producers of several bioactive metabolites which has antibiotic, antiparasitic, antitumor, insecticide, herbicide, etc.Objectives: Determine the antimicrobial activities of Streptomyces isolates and compare the efficacy of the antimicrobial activities of Streptomycetes with selected commercial antimicrobial agents.Materials and methods: Collection of samples and test organisms; physicochemical screening; antimicrobial assay (co-culture method); antibiotics sensitivity test (disc-diffusion assay).Result: Streptomyces griseoflavus, Streptomyces parvus and Streptomyces albidus were isolated from dry soil while Streptomyces vinaceus and Streptomyces globiosporus from moist-fresh soil and fish pond water used for cultivation of cat fish Clarias garienpinus respectively. Out of these five (5) isolates isolated, 3 isolates (60%) exhibited antibacterial activity against the following pathogenic, nosocomial organisms: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida spp, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus saprophyticus, and Trichoderma spp respectively. S. griseoflavus demonstrated antibacterial activity against K. pneumoniae, Trichoderma spp and Candida spp. S. albidus against S. typhi and A. fumigatus while S. parvus was inhibitory to S. aureus and A. fumigatus. The active isolates inhibited bacteria growth (0 to 39.33 mm). Commercial antimicrobials used also demonstrated inhibitory effects against the test pathogens.Conclusion: The garden soil of FUTA farm contains Streptomyces spp. with antibacterial and antifungal activities.J. bio-sci. 22: 21-29, 2014

Context: Datura has been recognized as viable alternate options to ameliorate asthma symptoms. Atropine contained in Datura is believed to be anti-asthmatic agent with its capacity to eliminate the spasms that cause asthma attacks. In Indonesian traditional medicine, the leaves of Datura are generally smoked either in cigarette or a pipe, and most asthma patients get benefit to relieve this disease.Objective: The potentiality of Datura metel was tested to control immune response and ameliorate the disease in mouse models of asthma.Materials and Methods: Mice were sensitized by twice intraperitoneal (i.p) injection with 10?g ovalbumin (OVA), then exposed to 1% aerosolized OVA with nebulizer system. Mice then were orally treated by aqueous extract of D. metel L for 5 days with a dose of 0.56 mg/kg body weight (BW) or 1.12 mg/kg BW.Results: The number of naïve CD4+ T cells (CD4+CD62L+) increased in mouse model of asthma treated with D. Metel L. In contrast, the number of CD4+CD25+ T cells decreased in mouse model of asthma after treatment. Dose variations in this experiment had no significant effect (p < 0.05), and the optimum dose to reduce bronchioles thickness was 0.56 mg/kg BW.Conclusion: D. metel L. has a potential to ameliorate asthma symptom by promoting naïve T cell development and reducing activated T cells.J. bio-sci. 22: 01-8, 2014

Context: Research work was conducted on Impact of temperature fluctuations on gut histology of the cricket frog, Fejervary limnocharis (Anura: Dicroglossidae).Objectives: To understand relationship between histological structure and physiological activities as per periodic life styles of the cricket frog.Materials and methods: The specimens were collected from different parts of Bangladesh. The basic structure of gut of this frog species were comprised of four layers, viz., serosa, muscularis mucosa, submucosa and mucosa in general.Results: The study revealed that the temperature has immense effect on gut structure of F. limnocharis. Muscularis mucosa was wanting in esophagus whereas serosa was the thinnest layer in stomach and intestine in low temperature, 0.02 mm ±0.01 and 0.01 mm ±0 respectively. Astonishingly muscularis mucosa was measured as the thickest layer in esophagus in high temperature, 3.2 mm ±0.2, instead of mucosa, 3.1 mm ±0.152753, which was the thickest layer in stomach and intestine, 2.6 mm ±0.2 and 1.9 mm ±0.450925 respectively. All the layers of gut responded positively to the raised temperature. From this study it can be concluded that temperature fluctuation followed by changes in physiological activities, as in hibernation, may influence the histological structure.J. bio-sci. 22: 15-20, 2014

Context: To analyze the effect of sowing dates and weeding treatments on growth attributes such as total dry matter (TDM), leaf area index (LAI), net assimilation rate (NAR), crop growth rate (CGR), leaf area ratio (LAR) of three rapeseed (Brassica campestris L.) Objectives: The objective of the study was to identify the growth in relation to sowing dates and weed competition and identify the weeding number for better growth of rapeseed. Materials and Methods: This investigation was arranged as factorial experiment based on the split-split plot design with three replications. Four sowing dates were including 18 October (S1), 12 November (S2), 17 November (S3) and 3 December (S4) and three weeding treatments were no weeding (W0), one hand weeding (W1) and two hand weeding (W2) and three varieties viz., BINA Sarisha-5, BINA Sarisha-6 and BARI Sarisha-14 were investigated. Results: The results showed that, TDM, LAI, CGR, NAR and LAR were affected by sowing date and weeding treatments. The highest TDM, LAI and CGR were obtained in the first sowing and two weedings treatment. The highest NAR was found in S2 plants and W0 treatment. The highest LAR was found in S2 plants and W1 treatment. Conclusion: The results obtained in this study suggest that the first sowing and two weeding treatments are superior for the production of rapeseed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbs.v21i0.22519 J. bio-sci. 21: 51-59, 2013

Context: Plants have been used in treating human diseases for thousands of years. Medicinal plant drug discovery continues to provide new and important leads against various pharmacological targets including cancer, malaria, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer's, and pain. Objectives: The chemical investigation, antimicrobial activity and toxicity of the active principles isolated from the plant. Materials and Methods: The rectified spirit extract of the fresh stem of the plant Tinospora cordifolia was fractionated using standard chromatographic techniques to afford several fractions. The fraction TC-1 was purified by crystallization and screened. FTIR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR spectral analyses were performed to characterize the compound. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of TC-1 were observed by “Disc diffusion method” against a number of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Standard antibiotics “Kanamycin” (30?g/disc) and “Fluconasol” (500 ?g/disc) were used respectively for comparison. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the compound TC-1 was carried out by the “Serial Dilution Technique”. The compound also showed significant activity against the brine shrimp nauplii. Results: The compound TC-1 showed promising antibacterial and antifungal activities against all tested organisms.The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of TC-1 against Bacillus megaterium and Salmonella typhi-A was found to be 128?g/ml in nutrient broth medium. The value of medium lethal concentration, LC50 (9.34 ?g/ml) indicated the high toxic effect of the compound TC-1. Conclusion: It may be concluded that the compound TC-1 is an alkaloid having significant activities. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbs.v20i0.17737 J. bio-sci. 20: 153-160, 2012

The effects of interspecific competition between parasitoids Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard) and Dinarmus basalis (Rond.) for their host, Callosobruchus chinensis (L.) have been conducted at a constant temperature of 30±1°C and 75±5% r.h. A number of 40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 4th instar larval host containing seeds of C. chinensis were confined to 24,48,72,96 and 120 hours egg laying of both the parasitoids respectively. Total number of progeny produced by the two parasitoids were 16.9 ± 2.76, 20.7 ± 5.69, 31.1± 7.47, 38.6 ± 5.87 and 56.7 ± 9.86 at 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours duration respectively. The parasitoid, D. basalis showed higher parasitism than A. calandrae in competition of host choice in all the egg laying periods observed. The individual highest parasitism of D. basalis was 50.0, 33.75, 36.66, 30.0 and 32.0 and that of A. calandrae was 25.0, 15.0, 18.33, 16.25 and 21.0 % respectively in 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours duration respectively. 
 
 Key words: Interspecific competition, Anisopteromalus calandrae, Dinarmus basalis, Callosobruchus chinensis, progeny production, parasitism.
 
 J. bio-sci. 14: 103-106, 2006

The chloroform extracts of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), ajowain (Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Link.) and fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-grecum L.) were tested against the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Hbst.) adults through residual film assay and their repellent activity were also conducted. The LD50 values for coriander, ajowain and fenugreek were 316.173 and 243.5895, 271.4573 and 232.7095, and 159.0106 and 4.194236 ?g/cm2 for 24- and 48 h of exposure respectively. According to the intensity of activity the toxicity were found in the order of fenugreek> ajowain >coriander, while the repellent activities were in the order of fenugreek> coriander> ajowain. 
 
 Key words: Coriandrum sativum, Trachyspermum ammi, Trigonella foenum-grecum biological activity, Tribolium castaneum.
 
 J. bio-sci. 14: 127-130, 2006

Context: In order to control weeds many chemicals are being used. It is well known that the chromosomal constitution of the cells may be changed as a result of herbicide treatment.Objectives: This investigation was made to study the cytological effects of herbicides on somatic and germ cells of hexaploid wheat. Materials and Methods: Two herbicides namely, Fielder and Ronstar were used with three different concentrations along with control. Treatment duration was 12 hours for each of the concentrations. Seeds of hexaploid wheat were treated and the roots emerged from them were studied for mitotic study. A part of the treated seeds were sown in earthen pots and pollen mother cells along with pollen grain were studied from the plants aroused from these treated seeds. Results: Mitotic index were high as well as low in most of the treatments compared to that of control but did not show any clear relationship based on increasing or decreasing of the doses of herbicides. Interphase chromosome volume was found to decrease in case of Fielder however, increased in case of Ronstar with increasing the concentration of herbicides. Percentage of pollen sterility was found to increase with increasing the concentration of both herbicides. Main chromosomal irregularities were chromosome fragments, bridges, laggards, single and multiple chromatid bridges etc. Conclusion: Generally it is reported that any chemical might have effect on the plant cells. Mainly investigations have evidenced that the chromosomal anomalies caused by radiation and chemical mutagen is very much common matter now. The herbicides used in the present study showed similar type of radiomimetic effect in the plant cells. Therefore it may be suggested that herbicides should be used in agricultural field maintaining their proper concentration. Key words: Herbicides; Cytological effect; Wheat.DOI: 10.3329/jbs.v17i0.7095J. bio-sci. 17: 21-26, 2009

Swamps are one of those types of lentic water bodies, which form links between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Dehadrai and Tripathi (1976) have characterized these water bodies as waterlogged, shallow water areas with a loose peaty bottom, rich in decaying organic matter retaining water either periodically or shrinking or drying summer months. There are numerous water bodies, including swamps, present in Bangladesh. But all of these water bodies are not used for scientific fish culture. To meet the increasing protein demand and to solve the unemployment problem in Bangladesh, swamps should be used for fish culture scientifically. This may also be helpful to destroy the habitat of many biological vectors such as mosquitoes. doi: 10.3329/jbs.v15i0.2158 J. bio-sci. 15: 165-168, 2007