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M. Sc. Dissertations

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2006 - 200962010 - 20112
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Subject: Zoology × End date: 2011 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Sequencing of Mx gene in an indian major carp
    (CCSHAU, 2006) Sharma, Parvati; Sihag, R.C.
    Mx gene is inducible by type I interferon and is involved in antiviral defenses. Interferons are pleiotropic glycoproteins belonging to a large family of Cytokines. The type I interferon constitute the first line of defence against viral infection in the vertebrate innate immune system. Mx gene inducible by type I interferon, natural and synthetic double stranded RNA (ds RNA) and unmethylated bacterial CpG motif, both in fish and mammalian hosts. Mx expression was observed in fish after viral infection (i.e. IPNV, VHSV, ISAV), although the antiviral role of Mx proteins in fish remains unclear. Mx gene has been cloned and sequenced in many fishes including gold fish and grass carp of family Cyprinidae. The aim of the present study was to standardize the RT-PCR protocol for the expression of Mx gene in an Indian major carp, rohu (Labeo rohita). Mx response was measured in rohu injected with the synthetic double stranded polyribonucleotide Poly I: C (500 μg/fish) and the control fish was injected with PBS alone. Total RNA was extracted from liver of acclimatized fish after 3 days of post-injection. It was transcribed to cDNA and amplification of cDNA was done by RT-PCR. The sequence was obtained from purified gel product. The blasts search was done for confirmation of Mx gene in rohu. It was found 99% matching with grass carp Mx and 98% matching with gold fish Mx3 belonging to family Cyprinidae. These results confirm the presence of Mx gene expression in an Indian major carp, rohu. The obtained partial sequence can be used for taxonomic and phylogenetic purposes.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Floral biology, mellitophily and pollination ecology of tulsi (Ocimum sanctum Linn.)
    (CCSHAU, 2007) Monika; Sihag, R.C
    An abstract of the dissertation submitted to the Chudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Zoology. Medicinal and aromatic plants have become an important part of daily life world over despite significant progress in modern medical and pharmaceutical research (Singh and Somadey, 2005). Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum Linn.) is worshiped for its role in maintaining general peace in the house. This is one of the most important medicinal and aromatic plants of the biosphere. The main chemical ingredients in this plant are eugenol, carvacrol, methyl eugenol and caryophyllene. The study was made on floral structure, floral phenology, mellitophily, pollination ecology and the role of different modes of pollination in seed yield of tulsi. For the study of flower structure freshly opened flowers were taken and studied under dissecting microscope and revealed the protandrous condition of the flower. Fourteen insect species were found to visit the blossoms of tulsi crop. Out of these, six species were the main pollinators i.e. Apis .dorsata, Apis .mellifera, Apis .florea, Mellisodes sp., Halictus sp., Nomia sp. On the basis of foraging rate, A .dorsata was found to be the fastest forager among the pollinators and Mellisodes sp. was the slowest .Abundance of insect visitors was maximum during peak flowering period. Among the hymenopterous insects, A .dorsata was most abundant followed by Nomia sp., Mellisodes sp., A .mellifera, Halictus sp. and then A .florea. Among all insect pollinators, A .dorsata remained active for longest duration followed by Mellisodes sp., Nomia sp., A .mellifera, Halictus sp. and A .florea, respectively. Bee activity followed the same pattern as temperature did; however, humidity followed a reverse trend. Pollinating efficiency of the pollinators derived on the basis of their abundance, foraging rate and activity duration revealed that A. dorsata was the most efficient pollinator of this crop. Differences in different pollination treatments (i.e. insect, open, wind and self-pollination) on different yield parameters (e.g. number of seed set per inflorescence, yield per plant and per plot, test weight of seeds and percent germination) were significant. Seed setting was found to be highest in insect pollination treatment (1045.66 seeds/inflorescence) followed by 565 seeds/inflorescence in open pollination. However, seed set was found to be very low in other two treatments i.e. wind pollination and self-pollination. Similar results were observed in case of yield per plant and yield per plot. Test weight and percent germination was found to be similar for the three pollination treatments i.e. for insect pollination, open pollination and wind pollination respectively but in case of selfpollination it was near about half of the former three due to deformed and under sized seeds in the latter treatment. Pollination experiments clearly revealed that tulsi flowers are highly benefited from insect visits .Its yield parameters showed that it is a cross-pollinated and entomophilous plant .In general, the yield in this plant is pollinator limited i.e. there is scarcity of pollinators to achieve the maximum goal as is evident by yield data in insect pollination treatment. The structure shape and fertility status of the flower clearly revealed that it has bee pollinated flowers and melittophily pollination syndrome existed in tulsi.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Ecology and management of tetranychus urticae koch on okra, abelmoschus esculentus L.
    (CCSHAU, 2007) Geroh, Monika; Gulati, Rachna
    Studies on seasonal incidence of T. urticae revealed two peaks in its population on okra during first fortnight of June (25.69 mites/ sq. cm leaf) and during first fortnight of August (22.50 mites/ sq. cm leaf). Predatory beetle S. punctillum also showed two peaks; in the first fortnight of July (0.56 beetle/leaf) and second peak coincided with peak in T. urticae population, in the first fortnight of August (0.48 beetle/leaf). Strata wise, middle strata harboured significantly more number of mites and beetles followed by top and bottom strata. A significant positive correlation(r =0.88) was observed between mite and beetle population during the present study. With abiotic factors, T. urticae and S. punctillum population showed significant positive correlation with maximum and minimum temperature. Under in vitro conditions, direct spray bioassay showed smaller LC50 and LT50 values as compared to treated food bioassay. Under in vivo, P. pinnata oil (6.24%) was most effective which caused 82.3 percent reduction in T. urticae population followed by E. globulus oil @ 4.60% (76.1%), P. pinnata seed extract @ 9.68% (60.5%) and E. globulus leaf extract @ 3.92% (36.68%). All extracts/ oil were found safe to mite predator, S. punctillum.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Modulatory effects of ascorbic acid in fresh water fish cirrhinus mrigala exposed to heavy metals
    (CCSHAU, 2008) Anand Kumar; Sabhlok, V.P.
    Some heavy metals are useful for animal body which helps in growth and other metabolic function of the body. But some other heavy metals are not useful for body. Zinc is useful for body but to a limit. Whenever this limit increases it can change biochemical composition of body. The aim of present investigation was to study the effects of heavy metals viz., zinc and lead in fresh water fish Cirrhinus mrigala with or without ascorbic acid feeding so as to find out the ameliorating effects of the ascorbic acid. The heavy metal treatment of 45 days resulted in disfunctioning in swimming, feeding, behaviour, body colour and some diseases like hemorrhage, fin erosion, scale erosion, blood oozing etc. in fish body because of biochemical changes in fish body. Liver/serum protein level decreased in both the treatments of zinc and lead. A maximum reduction of protein was at higher dose level of heavy metals. The level of cholesterol increased in both treatments i.e. zinc and lead but cholesterol level increased much more in the lead treatment as compared to zinc treatment. The enzyme activities of SDH, GDH, PDH decreased in both treatment i.e. zinc and lead. The ascorbic acid at the rate of 400 mg/kg (21 days) feeding was given to fish so as to find out the ameliorating effects. There was an improvement in the protein levels, cholesterol levels and the enzymatic activities of SDH, GDH and PDH. The ascorbic acid contents decreased with an increase of the dose level of heavy metals because ascorbic acid reduces the toxicity of heavy metals. This is the reason that the protein, cholesterol and enzymatic activities of SDH, GDH and PDH improved when ascorbic acid feeding was given to fish. After 45 days treatment of zinc and lead, fish was exposed to metal free water for recovery period of 21 days. There was a 5-50% recovery in fish protein, cholesterol and the enzymatic activities of SDH, GDH and PDH. The zinc and lead treatment at different dose levels i.e. 0.01, 0.02, 0.04 ppm, showed the toxic effects in C. mrigala and there was a change in the behaviour, external body symptoms, protein level, cholesterol level and the enzymatic activities of the fish.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Studies on relative attractiveness of different cultivars of ber (Zizyphus mauritiania Lamk.) to the insect pollinators
    (CCSHAU, 2008) Girdher, Ritu; Sihag, R.C.
    The abundance of the insect pollinators was taken as a measure of relative attractiveness of four defferent varieties of ber viz. Gola, Katha Phal, Umran and Illaichi grown in the adjoining fields. On this basis, all the major pollinators of this plant i.e. Apis dorsata, Apis florea, Apis mellifera, Polistes hebraeus and dipterans were found to prefer Gola, followed by Katha Phal, Umran and Illaichi. So order of preference on the basis of abundance was Gola>Katha Phal>Umran>Illaichi and order of preference in case of pollinators was A. florea>dipterans>P. hebraeus>A. mellifera>A. dorsata. On the basis of pollinating efficiency of the pollinators derived from their abundance, foraging rates and duration of activity, A. florea was found to be the most efficient pollinator of all the four varieties of ber. In the present study, significant differences existed in floral sizes of four varieties of ber. But these differences were not significant from the pollinator point of view. So these attributes did not seem to be determinant in deciding the relative attractiveness of four varieties of ber. On a single variety, size of the pollinator and tongue length seemed to be the factors for their preference but for intervarietal attractiveness in ber, these attributes were not determinant one. Floral colour, nectar sugar quality and sugar and protein concentration in anthers were not the determinant factors for deciding the preference of pollinators for four varieties of ber. Nectar sugar concentration and flower density were the determinant factors in deciding the relative attractiveness of four varieties of ber. On the basis of flower density and nectar sugar concentration order of preference among varieties was Gola> Katha Phal> Umran> Illaichi and among pollinators was A. florea>dipterans>P. hebraeus>A. mellifera>A. dorsata. On the basis of pollinator’s preference, growing of Gola, Katha phal, Umran and Illaichi varieties of ber in the adjoining fields is anticipated to promote unidirectional flow of the intervarietal pollen. The flower density should, therefore, be taken into consideration while growing different varieties of ber in the adjoining fields. Horticulture breeders should take nectar sugar concentration as a breeding parameter while making selections of the varieties.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Incidence of varroa destructor anderson and trueman (Acari: Varroidae) and its management in apis mellifera L. colonies
    (CCSHAU, 2009) Asha; Gulati, Rachna
    Studies on seasonal incidence of V. destructor in A. mellifera colonies revealed two peaks in its population, one in second fortnight of May (63.27 mites/hive) and second in first fortnight of July (34.75 mites/hive). Mite fall on sticky paper and hive debris was more in warmer months (May to August) than in colder months (November to January). Between the two methods of sampling, sticky paper method was found significantly better (CD = 0.11; p = 0.05) as more number of mites (17.58 mites/hive) were recorded than in hive debris sampling (11.41 mites/hive). Among abiotic factors, the mite population was significantly positively correlated with the maximum and minimum temperature. Maximum numbers of brood cells (15-17%) and adult bees (8-9%) were infested with V. destructor in second fortnight of May. Mite infestation showed a significant positive correlation with perforation of brood (r = 0.65; 0.83) and bee deformity (r = 0.97; 0.81) in both the sampling methods and negative correlation with colony strength and stores. The decreasing order efficacy of the various treatment against V. destructor is screen floor (98.8%)> powdered sugar(3g/ frame) (97.7%)> oxalic acid (3% top bar method) (88.2%)> powdered sugar(2g/ frame) (87.2%)> sulphur dusting (200g/ hive) (85.7%)> mustard stem powder (5g/ hive) (77.9%)> oxalic acid (3% trickling method) (76.3%)> oxalic acid (3% cotton swab method) (75%)> formic acid 85% (71.7)> mustard stem ash (5g/ hive) (69.8%).
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Feeding potential of Tyrophagus putrescentiae Schrank (Acari: Acaridae) and its management
    (CCSHAU, 2010) Anita; Gulati, Rachna
    The studies on mean population of T. putrescentiae, percent weight loss and damage caused to grains qualitatively revealed that none of the grains was completely immune to pest infestation, however their susceptibility varied significantly (p=0.05).Susceptibility of grains/ flakes increased significantly with increase in initial infestation level and duration of infestation. Among the four foods, oat flakes was found significantly more susceptible (CD = 7.87; p = 0.05) as more number of mites (240.73 mites/5g grain) was recorded than on green gram flakes (207.26 mites/5g grain) and whole grains of oats (186 mites/5g grain). Least number of mites (173.26 mites/5g grain) was recorded from whole grains of green gram. The weight loss in oat flakes was 148.49mg/ 5g followed by loss in green gram flakes (121.40 mg/ 5g), oat grains (99.65mg/ 5g) and green gram grains (92.02 mg/ 5g) at pre count of 60 mites. Highly significant positive correlation (r= 0.93 to 0.99) was recorded at 15, 30 and 45 days between T. putrescentiae population and weight loss in oat grains. Qualitative estimation of oat flakes revealed the losses in protein contents (0.4 to 1.22%), total soluble sugars (0.5 to 1.35%), starch (0.24 to 1.38%) and non reducing sugars (3.49 to 9.97%) after 45 days of infestation. However, the reducing sugars exhibited a marked increase from 1.9 g/100 g (control) to 2.72 g/100 g flakes at 45 days of mite exposure when subjected to initial count of 20 mites/ 5g flakes. Aqueous extracts of Ocimum sanctum leaves and Glycyrrhiza glabra stems showed concentration dependent activity against T. putrescentiae in oat flakes. Among the extracts, G. glabra was effective as it provided 71.53 to 94.75 percent relative protection against T. putrescentiae whereas, O. sanctum extract caused 66 to 92 percent reductions in number at different durations.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Studies on insect pollinators on onion (Allium cepa L.)
    (CCSHAU, 2011) Sunita Devi; Gulati, Rachna
    The studies on insect pollinators of onion (Allium cepa L.) revealed that a total of 25 insect species belonging to fourteen families of four orders were recorded from the umbels of onion at Hisar during March – April, 2010. Hymenopterans were the major floral visitors of onion umbels and were most abundant (60%) followed by Lepidoptera (20%) and Diptera (12%). Coleoptera were recorded as least abundant (8%) amongst the four families. All the four Apis species viz. A. dorsata, A. cerana, A. mellifera, A. florea were recorded as top workers on onion umbels as pollen and nectar gatherers. Data on abundance of bee pollinators revealed that irrespective of different day hours, significantly maximum numbers of Apis dorsata was recorded from onion umbels (5.24 bees/m2/5 min.) followed by A. mellifera (4.05 bees/m2/5 min.) and A. cerana (2.93 bees/m2/5 min.) and A. florea (1.79 bees/m2/5 min.). Irrespective different species, the mean population of bees was significantly more during 0800-1000 hours of the day (bees/m2/5 min.) followed by 1600-1800 h., 1400-1600 h and 0600-800 h (2.97 bees/m2/5 min.). Apis dorsata recorded maximum frequency of occurrence (39%) during blooming period followed by A. mellifera (31%), A. cerana (16%) and A. florea (14%). Among different bee species, A. dorsata initiated foraging on onion umbels little earlier (0630 h) than other bees in morning. Total foraging (activity) time was longest for A. dorsata (1170 h) with maximum abundance (5.24 bees/m2/5 min) suggested it to be an efficient pollinator of A. cepa umbels in the present investigation. Maximum and minimum temperature showed significantly positive correlation (r = 0.609 to 0.739) with bee species whereas evening relative humidity showed significant negative correlation (r = -0.644 to -0.736). The data on foraging speed i.e. time spent by different bee species on A. cepa umbels showed A. dorsata (3.33 seconds/ umbel) differed significantly from A. mellifera (2.96 seconds/ umbel), A. cerana (2.90 seconds/ umbel) and A. florea (2.65 seconds/ umbel).On the basis of abundance, time spent on umbels, umbels visited, loose pollen grains sticking to bee body and pollination index, A. dorsata was considered as the most efficient pollinator of onion seed crops followed by A. mellifera, A. cerana and A. florea under agro-ecological conditions of Hisar. The effect of different modes of pollination showed that seed set per umbel, seed weight, germination and seedling length were statistically comparable with each other in Open-pollination and Beepollination. The trend shows that bee strength of two and three frames was equally effective (statistically comparable) in seed setting and subsequent germination, seedling length, therefore, for 10 m × 10 m area, nucleus hive of two frame strength of A. mellifera population is sufficient for seed setting in onion seed crop.