A newly-isolated thermophilic strain of the zygomycete fungus Rhizomucor pusillus 13.36 produced highly active dextrinogenic and saccharogenic enzymes. Cassava pulp was a good alternative substrate for amylase production. Dextrinogenic and saccharogenic amylases exhibited optimum activities at a pH of 4.0-4.5 and 5.0 respectively and at a temperature of 75 degrees C. The enzymes were highly the...

Two crystalline protoxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), Cry1Fa1 and Cry34Ab1/Cry35Ab1 (Cry1F, Cry34/ 35Ab1), were evaluated for efficacy against lepidopteran and coleopteran storage pests. Cry1F was tested against the lepidopterans Sitotroga cerealella (Angoumois grain moth) and colonies of Plodia interpunctella (Indian mealmoth) that are susceptible or resistant to Bt Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac tox...

Many animals respond to predation risk by forming groups. Evolutionary explanations for group formation in previously ungrouped, but loosely associated prey have typically evoked the selfish herd hypothesis. However, despite over 600 studies across a diverse array of taxa, the critical assumptions of this hypothesis have remained collectively untested, owing to several confounding problems in r...

The concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn) and organochlorine contaminants (PCBs, DDT, DDE and DDD) in the blubber of 12 adult male Cape fur seals, Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus, inadvertently caught in trawl nets off the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa during commercial fishing operations between May 1993 and October 1994, was investigated. The median and range of concentra...

The soil contamination with the heavy metals is the growing concern throughout the world as the result of industrial, mining, agricultural and domestic activities. The fungi are the most common and efficient group of the heavy metal resistant microbial family which have potential for metal bioleaching. The present study was aimed on the isolation and phenotypic characterization of the heavy met...

The purpose of the present study was to determine the tropane alkaloid content of four Hyoscyamus species from Iran, i.e. H. pusillus L., H. niger L., H. reticulatus L. and H. kurdicus Bornm. Determination of alkaloids was performed by the HPLC method. Samples were extracted with chloroform-methanol-25% ammonium hydroxide 15:5:1 (V/V/V). HPLC separation was performed on Eurospher C18 reversed p...