Among nine native bacterial strains isolated from banana fruit surface and rhizosphere and six bacterial strains introduced from the culture collection, three native strains viz., non-fluorescent Pseudomonas (NFP 6 ), Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf3a), and Bacillus subtilis (BS 1 ); and two bacterial strains from culture collection viz., Azospirillum (AS1) and Azotobacter (AZ1) have recorded maximum inhibition of mycelial growth of crown rot pathogens (Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Colletotrichum musae) under in vitro condition. When these effective bacterial strains were treated on banana fruits under in vivo, significant reduction of crown rot disease and increased shelf life of banana was observed. However, bacterial strains applied as three way combinations (NFP 6 ? Pf3a ? BS 1 ) had greater effect compared with individual and two way combination of bacterial antagonist treatments. The effect of crown rot disease reduction was also comparable to that of fungicide Benomyl (0.1%) both under cold and room temperature storage conditions. Besides, the induction of defense-related enzymes such as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), peroxidase (PO), polyphenoloxidase (PPO), and the accumulation of phenolics in banana fruit due to the application of bacterial antagonists were also studied at five different time intervals viz. 0th, 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th days after treatment. When banana fruits treated with bacterial antagonists (individually and also in different combinations) and challengeinoculated with crown rot pathogens, up to fourfold increase in defense-related enzymes and 3.6 fold increase in phenolic content was observed compared with control. The activity of these defense-related enzymes and phenolic content had gradually increased from 1st day after treatment to 3rd after treatment and reached their peak on 5th day after treatment. Among the bacterial antagonists which have been applied individually and in different combinations, the banana fruits treated with three-way antagonist mixture, i.e., NFP 6 ? Pf3a ? BS 1 recorded maximum induction of defense-related enzymes and accumulation of phenolics compared with individual and two-way combination of antagonist mixtures. This study suggest that the increased induction of defense-related enzymes and phenolic content due to the treatment of banana fruits with bacterial antagonists might have involved in the reduction of crown rot severity and in turn increased the shelf life of banana fruits.

The effects of sildenafil citrate with ethanol on the rat testis was studied using scanning electron microscopy. Male Albino rats were divided into 8 groups, each being treated for a maximum of 45 days as follows. In the 4 short-term treatment groups, control rats were administered normal saline orally, whereas experimental animals were fed sildenafil citrate (Viagra) 1 microg/g with 18% ethanol (5 g/kg body weight), which was given orally as a single dose. After 1, 2.5, 4 and 24h the rats were killed. In the 4 long-term treatment groups, daily continuous doses of drug and ethanol with a single dosage were given for 15, 30 and 45 days and the animals killed 4h after the last dosage. Changes in the testis were compared with the normal healthy rat testis. The use of a scanning electron microscope for evaluation of the changes in the testis is more suitable for observation of the surface and morphological shapes of the tissue structures.

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Background: Edegra (Sildenafil citrate), an effective oral therapy for Erectile Dysfunction, being the citrate salt of Sildenafil is a selective inhibitor of cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE 5). Aim: To study the long-term impact of Sildenafil citrate on the histological components of kidney of Albino mice. Materials and Methods: Thirty six healthy male Wistar Albino mice were selected on weight basis and divided into six groups (S 1, S 2 , S 3, S 4, S 5 and S 6), each consisting of six animals in it. Here, Group S 1 and S 5 served as the control while the rest of the four groups (i.e. S 2 , S 3 , S 4 and S 6) served as the experimental ones. Group S 1 animals were treated with a single dosage of conductivity water while the experimental animals, namely, S 2 , S 3 and S 4 were treated with a single dosage of the chosen drug (@ 1µg/g body wt.) and sacrificed after 1 hr., 4 hrs. and 24 hrs. of the last dosage. Group S 5 animals were treated daily with a single dosage of conductivity water while the group S 6 animals were treated daily with a single dosage of the chosen drug (@ 1µg/g body wt.) for all the 15 days and then sacrificed after 4 hrs. of the last dosage. Vertical ventral midline incision was made in the abdominal wall to collect both the kidney samples. The organs were preserved in 10% formalin saline, processed and stained with Eosin and Haematoxylin stains. Results: Histopathological observations have been made on the collected kidney samples of Albino mice treated with Sildenafil citrate (Edegra). Increase in the periglomerular spaces, shrinkage of Glomeruli, increased number of vacuolated cells and reduced number of Glomeruli in cortical area due to destruction of Glomeruli have been strikingly noticed for long-term drug treated samples. Conclusion: Sildenafil citrate (Edegra), if administered for a long-term, will produce drastic impacts on the histoarchitecture and vital functions of kidney of Albino mice.

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