Search

Anatinella nicobarica is a very rarely reported species of bivalve mollusc in the world. It was discovered in the Nicobar Sea by Gmelin, (1791) for the first time. After so many years, its rave occurrence was observed in India. Reappearance of this rare clam was reported after 72 years from Chennai beach (mainland coast of India). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antheraea assamensis is reared on various species of the Lauraceae family from north-east India for its distinctive cocoon silk. We demonstrate differential expression of digestive trypsin and chymotrypsins in larvae feeding on a primary host, Persea bombycina Kosterm., in comparison to larvae feeding on Litsea monopetala Roxb. using in vitro proteolytic assays, zymogram analyses with proteinase inhibitors, restriction digestion of RNA-PCR amplicons and quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR). Eight novel members of the serine proteinase gene family were identified, including an intron-spliced trypsin (AaPb4) and seven putative chymotrypsins (AaPb2, AaPb4, AaPb12, AaLm4, AaLm6, AaLm19 and AaLm29). Midgut transcript levels of the putative trypsin were higher in larvae fed P. bombycina whereas levels of transcripts encoding putative chymotrypsins were higher in larvae reared on L. monopetala. Complex, differential expression of sequence divergent midgut serine proteinases may reflect the ability of lepidopteran larvae to feed on different species of host plants. Possible implications of host plant choice on the digestive physiology of A. assamensis are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the electronic and mechanical properties of Nitrogen (N) doped (6,1) single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is analysed based on the first principles density functional theory (DFT) and Molecular dynamic (MD) calculation. A systematic N-doping on SWCNT was performed along zigzag (zz) and armchair (ac) direction, where the armchair doping is parallel to tube axis while zigzag is along the cross-section perpendicular to tube axis. The zz and ac doping resulted in variations in the electronic properties of the even and odd number of N-dopant atoms. To evaluate the mechanical properties, ab - initio MD-simulations was carried out. We found a dependence of the tensile response of the tube on the dopant concentration and doping pattern. Single N-doped system show enhanced tensile stress by 55% as compared to the pristine SWCNT with marginal changes in the young's modulus for all N-doped systems., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)