Endophytic fungi live inside plants or any part of them without creating any visible pathogenic signs. Endophytic fungi are found within medicinal plants and have shown strong biologic activity, such as anticancer and antioxidant activities, as well as producing extracellular enzymes. In this study, different fungal strains were isolated from the leaves of the medicinal plant Ziziphus spina, including Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Cladosporium sp., Rhizopus sp., and Mucor sp. Extracellular enzymes have been quantified using agar plate-based methods in which fungi were grown in specified growth media to detect the enzymes produced. The results showed that A. niger has the highest ability to produce amylase, Cladosporium sp. has the highest ability to produce protease and pectinase, Rhizopus and Mucor sp. have the highest ability to produce cellulase, and A. niger and Cladosporium sp. have the same ability to produce lipase and laccase. The ability of medicinal plant endophytic fungi to produce extracellular enzymes has great therapeutic potential in clinical microbiology. Some of the isolates showed great activity in secreting particular enzymes, indicating that the enzymes of these fungi could be used in a variety of applications.
The present research was carried out to assess the toxic effect of oral administration of the aqueous extract of Nerium oleander leaves and flowers daily at doses of (25) mg/kg body weight for four weeks in mice. The toxicity of this plant parts was determined after two and four weeks by measuring the parameters of cytogenetic (mitotic index, micronucleus %), and serum levels of the hematological (RBC, Hb, WBC) and biochemical (GOT, GPT, ALT, AST) indexes in comparison with that of the control (normal saline), also clinical signs were determined. The results showed a significant decrease in mitotic index while an obvious raise was seen in micronucleus percentage in comparison with that of the control after the two periods of admini
... Show MoreCurrently, there is a growing interest in medicinal plants extracts as some plants have shown antitumor potential. The goal of this study was to test the anticancer activity of methanol extract of Conocarpous erectus leaves in breast cancer cells. Cytotoxicity was tested in vitro on breast cancer cell lines, MCF7 [Estrogen receptor + (ER+)] and MDA-MB231 [Estrogen receptor - (ER-)], in addition to normal fibroblast cells (REF). MTT assay was utilized to measure the growth inhibitory effects after 48 hours exposure to extracts. Viability results indicated that MDA-MB231 were sensitive (GI50 = 56.1µg/ml).However, no sensitivity was seen in both MCF7 and REF cells (GI50>100 µg/ml). I
... Show MoreVehicle Air Conditioning (AC) systems are used in countries that suffer high temperature degrees during the summer season, one of these countries is Iraq. Most passengers suffer manifestations which may lead to Allergic or Respiratory diseases as they inhale polluted air produced by AC systems.
In this study 10 vehicle were selected randomly on the basis of noxious odors emitted from AC systems. Indoor air samples were collected by using impaction method and using Sabouraud's dextrose agar to grow and isolate dominant fungi species accompanied with AC polluted air. Dust particle diameters aggregated in AC filters were measured because the particles work as transporters to carry fungi then get inhaled by the passengers. After isolating
Treated effluent wastewater is considered an alternative water resource which can provide an important contribution for using it in different purposes, so, the wastewater quality is very important for knowing its suitability for different uses before discharging it into fresh water ecosystems. The wastewater quality index (WWQI) may be considered as a useful and effective tool to assess wastewater quality by indicating one value representing the overall characteristic of the wastewater. It could be used to indicate the suitability of wastewater for different uses in water quality management and decision making. The present study was conducted to evaluate the Al-Diwaniyah sewage treatment plant (STP) effluent quality based on wastewa
... Show MoreThe temperature distributions are to be evaluated for the furnace of Al-Mussaib power plant. Monte Carlo simulation procedure is used to evaluate the radiation heat transfer inside the furnace, where the radiative transfer is the most important process occurring there. Weighted sum of gray-gases model is used to evaluate the radiative properties of the non gray gas in the enclosure. The energy balance equations are applied for each gas, and surface zones, and by solving these equations, both the temperature, and the heat flux are found.
Good degree of accuracy has been obtained, when comparing the results obtained by the simulation with the data of the designing company, and the data obtained by the zonal method. In
... Show MoreThe experiment was conducted in the old botanical garden belong to Biology Department/ College of Education for Pure Science - Ibn Al-Haitham/Baghdad University for growing season 2015-2016 to study the effect of irrigation with four concentrations of sodium chloride (0, 50, 100, 150) mM.L-1 and spraying with selenium in three concentrations (0, 10, 20) mgL-1 on growth of broad bean plant using clay pots. The experiment was design according to completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Results indicated that broad bean plant irrigated with saline water and increasing concentrations of sodium chloride in growth medium caused a significant decreased in the plant growth parameters (plant height, no. of compound leaves. Plant-1
... Show MoreA fluorescence microscopy considered as a powerful imaging tool in biology and medicine. In addition to useful signal obtained from fluorescence microscopy, there are some defects in its images such as random variation in brightness, noise that caused by photon detection and some background pixels in the acquired fluorescence microscopic images appear wrongly auto-fluorescence property. All these practical limitations have a negative impact on the correct vision and analysis of the fluorescent microscope users. Our research enters the field of automation of image processing and image analysis using image processing techniques and applying this processing and analysis on one of the very important experiments in biology science. This research
... Show MoreThis study aims to evaluate drinking water quality at the Al Wahda plant (WTP) in Baghdad city. A conventional water treatment plant with an average flow rate of 72.82 MLD. Water samples were taken from the influent and effluent of the treatment plant and analyzed for some physicochemical and biological parameters during the period from June to November 2020. The results of the evaluation indicate that treated water has almost the same characteristics as raw water; in other terms, the plant units do not remove pollutants as efficiently as intended. Based on this, the station appears to be nothing more than a series of water passage units. However, apart from Total dissolved solids, the mean values of all parameters in the study were
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