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Prem Kumar Gautam ¹, Deveshwari Singh ², Seema Bhadauria ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Botany, G. T. P College, Nandurbar-421 254, Maharashtra, IN
2 Microbiology and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Botany, R.B.S College, Agra, U. P., IN

Abstract

The very old constructions of the city of Gwalior include historical buildings like Gwalior Fort which is facing the problem of higher plant growth. The objective of this paper is to study the diversity of higher plants on old buildings and their effect on them. Gwalior fort with its various buildings was selected for this study. The qualitative analysis of the monuments showed high diversity of various higher plants. In tropical countries like India the growth of higher plants on old constructions is a serious problem as they damage constructions physically as well as chemically.

Keywords

Historical Buildings, Gwalior Fort, Angiosperms Growth, Biodeterioration.

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Deveshwari Singh ¹, Seema Bhadauria ¹

Affiliations
1 Microbiology and Nanotechnolgy Research Lab., Department of Botany, R. B. S. College, Agra-282 010, U. P., IN

Abstract

Earthworms are an important component of the soil macrofauna and represent 82% of the total biomass in tropical zones with a precipitation above 1000mm. Earthworms are soil vertebrates which play a key role in recycling of organic matter in soils. Anecic, epigeous and endogenous earthworms stimulate or inhibit the growth of bacteria of agriculture importance inside their digestive tracts. Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial count of viable microorganisms in vermicompost produced by exotic earthworm Eisenia fetida has been studied in the present paper. The vermicompost was produced by different types of wastes for example cow dung, kitchen waste, petha waste and agricultural waste. Number of bacteria was higher in earthworm casting than in ingested soil samples. Bacterial count was obtained by standard microbiological procedures on the basis of their morphological and biochemical characteristics. Results reveal that the maximum bacterial count obtained was through mixing cow dung and petha waste (75 × 10⁷ cfu/g). Isolated bacteria were identified as belonging to genus Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Vibrio, Clostridium, Mycobacterium and Azotobacter. These bacteria inhabit the soil and develop considerably when there is easily degradable organic matter.

Keywords

Vermicomposting, Eisenia fetida, Petha Waste, Earthworm Casts.

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Prem Kumar Gautam ¹, Deveshwari Singh ², Seema Bhadauria ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Botany, G.T.P College, Nandurbar-421 254, Maharashtra, IN
2 Microbiology and Nanotechnology Lab, Department of Botany, R.B.S. College, Agra, U.P., IN

Abstract

Bioremediation of pollutants containing heavy metals has been demonstrated by several biotechnologists and environmentalists. Studies have shown that fungal organisms possess the capacity of heavy metal removal. In the present investigation, a study in batch system was conducted using the fungus Agaricus bisporus as biosorbent for evaluating its potential to absorb lead (II) ions from aqueous solution. To improve the bioabsorption capacity, the biosorbent was pretreated with NaOH, Na₂CO₃ and NaHCO₃. Pretreatment with NaOH resulted in a significant improvement in bioabsorption capacity. The experimental equilibrium data were adjusted by adsorption isotherms from Langmuir and Freundlich models and their equilibrium parameters were determined. For the untreated biosorbent, the Langmuir model supplied q_max = 28.8 mg/g and b= 0.02L/mg for the Freundlich model parameters were K_f = 1.7 and n= 1.8. For the sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treated biomass, the parameters were q_max = 34.6 mg/g, b 0.08 L/mg, K_f = 5.3 and n= 2.3. The best adjusted model to the experimental equilibrium data for both untreated and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treated biosorbent was the Langmuir model.

Keywords

Bioabsorption, Lead (II), Agaricus bisporus, Langmuir Isotherm, Freundlich Isotherm.

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