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The bacteria producing proteases are important for the industries. The proteases are utilized commercially in leather, detergent, pharmaceutical and food industry. The proteases are hydrolytic enzymes which can degrade protein into peptides and amino acids. In leather industry proteases are employed to remove the redundant parts from the animal hide especially hairs to make fine quality of the products. The proteases also prove as green environmental approach. In present study a total of 40 bacterial isolates were recovered from the soil samples of the tannery and screened for proteolytic activity on casein ager plates, among them three isolates were selected with good activity. The morphological and biochemical characteristic features were used to identify the strains; the different conditions of the culture and medium were optimized to check the protease activity. The best proteolytic activity was observed at temperature of 37 °C, pH 8.5, 6% casein concentration as substrate and casein as nitrogen sources as well at 12 h of incubation. The maximum activities by SZ2, SZ1 and SZ3 observed 16.53U/mL, 8U/mL and 7.16U/mL, respectively. The goat skin was treated with proteases from these isolates, complete dehairing observed after 12 h of incubations. Present study was conducted to identify microbes from local tannery, to find out most efficient strain for protease production and to use these enzymes in leather industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand systematic characters of Aconogonon (Polygonaceae), we studied pollen morphology in three (A. alpinum, A. rumicifolium and A. tortuosum) of five species distributed in Pakistan using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that Aconogonon is characterized by tricolpate pollen with microspinulose type of exine ornamentation. One distinctive pollen type was recognized on the basis of aperture number and sculpturing of exine under SEM. Based on analyses in the present study, diagnostic keys to the three species were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to record the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in buthchers and buffaloes at Lahore, Pakistan. Blood samples of 50 butchers and 50 buffaloes were taken from main abattoir and local buffalo farms around Lahore, and assessed for seroprevalence of T. gondii by using a latex agglutination test (LAT). In the present study, 10% o f butchers and 14% buffaloes were found seropositive for T. gondii infection. Butchers ranging in age from 51-60 (n=12) years and above exhibited the highest seropositivity 25% followed by those aging 41-50 years (n=10) 20%. Similarly in buffaloes 14% was also related to age by using LAT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fresh vegetables are an important part of human diet. Eating raw vegetables is customary in many parts of the world including Pakistan, but these raw vegetables can be a major source of parasitic infection. A parasitic survey on vegetables collected from major markets and growing fields in Lahore was conducted for the discovery of human and animal parasites. Ten vegetables viz., beet, cabbage, carrot, chili, coriander, cucumber, lettuce, mint, radish and tomato were evaluated in this study. Fifty sample of each vegetable were taken, comprising a total of 500 samples for the study. The collected samples were processed and microscopic examination was carried out for the presence of parasites on the vegetables. All vegetables were highly contaminated with parasites with an overall prevalence of 31.2%. Lettuce showed the highest contamination (48%), followed by cabbage (44%) and mint (podina) (42%) while chili showed the least contamination (16%). Examination of vegetables revealed twelve genera of parasites. Of parasites studied, Ascaris eggs found to be the highest (37.1%), followed by hookworm (10.8%) and Trichostrongyloides sp. (8.9%), and the least common parasite was Toxoplasma gondii (1.9%). The results would seem to indicates that one of the important routes of parasitic infection to humans is the consumption of raw and unwashed vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]