Search

Bacillus turingiensis (Berliner) is a Gram positive, rod shaped and spore forming bacterium, which produces crystal proteins (proteinaceous inclusions), called δ-endotoxins, that have insecticidal action. The present investigation was carried out to isolate B. thuringiensis from soil, leaf, compost, leaf litter, diseased larvae and rhizosphere samples collected from the various locations in the states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra. A total of 300 samples were collected and isolation of the B. thuringiensis strains was carried out. The presence of crystalline inclusions in Bacilli like colonies was observed in 49 samples collected from the state of Uttarakhand, eight samples from Himachal Pradesh, six samples from Kerala, four samples from Karnataka and three samples from Maharashtra. Totally, 70 isolates showed milky white colonies with circular shape and colonies produced serrated margin similar to that of the reference strain HD1. Gram staining revealed that all the 70 isolates were rod-shaped, gram-positive bacteria, which were appeared to be blue or violet in colour under the Phase contrast microscope. Among the 70 isolates, 67 (97.74%) isolates showed bipyramidal type of crystal and the remaining three isolates such as, Bt-21, Bt-37 and Bt-278 showed square, elliptical and spherical crystal shape, respectively. The present study has established the diversity and richness of B. thuringiensis like isolates in soil and leaf samples collected from five selected states of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on an Acheulian assemblage that has been found at Bori in the state of Maharashtra, India. Acheulian sites were first reported from India over a century ago. Dating of the Acheulian in India is very difficult because most of it occurs in a near surface context or stratified in the quaternary alluvium along the rivers. The first absolute dating of the Acheulian in India furnished minimum ages of about 1000, 000 years for a number of sites. The dated tephra occurs within the alluvium exposed by the river Kukdi near the village of Bori. The tephra sequence is dominated by clays and silts, with gravels at the base and at the top of the sequence and immediately follows the tephra layer. Artefacts are generally found in a gravel which cuts into the tephra at sections 3, 4, 7 and 9. When the raw material used is soft as is basalt then the artefacts incorporated into gravels are abraded. The association of an Acheulian assemblage with dated tephra pushes back the age of the Acheulian in India from the late Middle Pleistocene to the early Middle Pleistocene.