Dhirendra Kumar Sharma

University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya · Department of Zoology

The book entitled “The freshwater roofed turtles of Genus Pangshura” has been prepared as a part of Turtle Conservation genetics Research efforts in India. The genus Pangshura belongs to the family Geoemydidae and includes highly endangered South and South-east Asian turtle species. It contains 4 species namely Pangshura tecta, Pangshura sylhetensi...

The current study investigated the various Physico-chemical parameters of Kolong river with reference to its plankton diversity from August, 2019 to March, 2020. The monthly variation of water quality parameters (WT, pH, DO, TA, Chloride, TH and Nitrate) and plankton community were analyzed. The PCA analysis showed importance of various Physico-che...

Plant-based nano pesticides have been proven to be more effective in lowering insect populations and plant infection levels than conventional pesticides because of the factor that, they release the toxicants in a controlled and steady manner. For neem-derived products, it becomes cheaper and more effective to use polymer-based nano-formulations tha...

COVID-19 is possibly the greatest and most enormously significant crisis against humans in the planet's modern history. The group of Coronaviridae includes viruses with very long RNA genomes of up to 33,500 nucleotides. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the Sarbecovirus family, with an approximate genome size of 30.000 nucleotides (Wu et al., 2020). SARS-CoV-2...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (2019-nCoV), is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA coronavirus. The virus is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is contagious through human-to-human transmission. The present study reports sequence analysis, complete coordinate tertiary structure prediction...

Bioinformatics all over the world have been quick to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by developing coronavirus-specific tools to further SARS-CoV-2 research and improve COVID-19 detection, comprehension, and treatment. This evaluation does not claim to be comprehensive, and additional tools will be developed considering the rapidly evolving resear...

The Greater Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos dubius), the most endangered stork (IUCN Red List criteria under A2bcd+3bcd+4bcd; C2a) losing its number by population has been confined in a small village named Dadra-Pacharia-Singimari in the district of Kamrup, Assam, India. An attempt was made to study the status of genetic variability in Greater Adjutant...

The present investigation includes in silico sequence analysis, tertiary structure prediction and phylogenetic analysis of cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (COI) from seven freshwater eels to identify the molecular differences of Monopterus cuchia (Hamilton) and Monopterus albus (Zuiew). The analyses were performed using the sequence data of COI gene...

Mucormycosis and aspergillosis have been recorded in alarmingly high numbers in India in recent decades. Even though fungal infections contribute significantly to human morbidity and mortality, the effect of these diseases on COVID-19 patients is unknown. Mucormycosis and aspergillosis were identified as two post-acute symptoms in COVID-19 patients...

Skink belonging to the family Scincidae. Mabuya multifasciata exhibits a broad geographical range, throughout Asia with little genetic differentiation, across the range. The poikilotherm reptiles require the sun's energy, to regulate their body temperature, thus affecting their activity pattern. Skinks as poikilotherm do the same. Previous studies...

This study reports sequence data mining and analysis, complete coordinate tertiary structure prediction including Deep Learning inspired validation, and in silico functional characterization of the full SARS-CoV-2 proteome based on the NCBI reference sequence NC_045512 (29903 bp ss-RNA). Out of 25 polypeptides analyzed, 3D structures of 15 of them...

Guwahati, a city of 2 million residents is the largest city in northeastern part of India. Situated by the side of River Brahmaputra, the city is of an undulated topography with some hillocks and wetlands. The considerable area of the city is still forested and seven reserve forests are located within the city. The forested topography of the city o...

https://www.conservationleadershipprogramme.org/media/2014/12/0217910_India_FinalReport_Turtles.pdf

The Greater Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos dubius), locally known as Hargila (the bone swallower) is an endangered bird with an estimated global population of less than 1200. Habitat loss, poisoning, and poaching have caused large declines in populations of this stork in South Asia, with the Brahmaputra valley in Assam in northeastern India now the la...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has a single-stranded RNA genome that encodes 14 open reading frames (ORFs), eight of which encode accessory proteins that allow the virus to infect the host and promote virulence. The genome expresses around 29 structural and nonstructural protein products. The accessory proteins of SARS...

p>This paper has attempted into the structure prediction and functional analysis of two such accessory proteins, 9b and ORF14, in the absence of experimental structures. Sequence analysis, structure prediction, functional characterization, and evolutionary analysis based on the UniProtKB reviewed the amino acid sequences of SARS-CoV-2 9b (P0DTD2) a...

p>This paper has attempted into the structure prediction and functional analysis of two such accessory proteins, 9b and ORF14, in the absence of experimental structures. Sequence analysis, structure prediction, functional characterization, and evolutionary analysis based on the UniProtKB reviewed the amino acid sequences of SARS-CoV-2 9b (P0DTD2) a...

The present investigation has been carried out for DNA isolation, sequencing, sequence analysis, tertiary structure prediction and phylogenetic analysis of Glutathione S-transferase from two freshwater synbranchid eel species of the genus Monopterus in different states of Northeast India (Assam and Manipur). Glutathione S-transferase is potentially...

BACKGROUND Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA coronavirus. The virus is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is contagious through human-to-human transmission. The RNA genome of SARS-CoV-2 encodes 29 proteins, though one may not get expressed. 15 proteins a...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (2019-nCoV), is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA coronavirus. The virus is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is contagious through human-to-human transmission. The present study reports sequence analysis, complete coordinate tertiary structure prediction...

Biological pest control methods are adopted globally in major crops to avoid the negative impact of synthetic pesticides. Several tea pests may be controlled by using natural enemies as biological control agents in an integrated pest management approach.

Biological pest control methods are adopted globally in major crops to avoid the negative impact of synthetic pesticides. Several tea pests may be controlled by using natural enemies as biological control agents in an integrated pest management approach.

The present investigation was undertaken to study the prospects of Eco-tourism in Dhir beel. A well recognized Wetland situated at latitude 26016’54.65’’ North and longitude 90023’21.52’’ East and altitude 34 m ASL covers an area of about 689 hectare of land. It is a floodplain lake of the river Brahmaputra, situated near Chapar town, at a distance...

Beels, wetlands which possess huge fishery resources, if manage properly, it may provide huge benefits to the fishery sector and also for the settlement of unemployment problem. Assam is blessed with around 1,030 beels covering an area of 92,693 hectares (Goswami et. al). The potential of these beel fisheries could not be harnessed so far, as there...

Samples of morphologically identified Monopterus albus (50 nos.) and Monopterus cuchia (180 nos.) were collected from Manipur and Assam, were allocated into four populations based on the geographical proximity of the water bodies. Mitochondrial COI gene sequence was used to sort out genetic diversity and population differentiation of Monopterus spe...

Eleven microsatellite markers were used to sort out genetic diversity and population differentiation of Monopterus species complex of Northeast India. Samples of morphologically identified M. albus (50 nos.) and M. cuchia (180 nos.) were collected from Manipur and Assam, were allocated into four populations based on the geographical proximity of th...

Retinol-binding proteins (RBP) are a family of proteins with diverse functions. They are carrier proteins that bind retinol. An in silico study has been performed for 3D structure prediction and molecular phylogenetic analysis of RBP from two freshwater fishes, Danio rerio and Cyprinus carpio. The analyses were performed using sequence data of rbp...

The turtle family Geoemydidae comprising mostly of freshwater turtles includes several highly endangered Southeast Asian turtle species. The present study has been performed on the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 4 (ND4) gene sequence analysis and phylogeny of the Southeast Asian turtle genus Pangshura (Testudines: Geoemydidae: Pangshura). Acomp...

The present paper reports multivariate morphometric analyses for a total of 178 individuals of the Southeast Asian freshwater turtle genus Pangshura including 80 numbers of live and 98 numbers of museum specimens. Allometric change in the body size was examined in the live collected as well as compared with various reptile museums and private colle...

The non-diapausing silkworm Bombyx mori is exploited both as a powerful biological model system and also as a tool to convert leaf protein into silk. Silkworm often suffers from viral infections causing heavy losses to the economy of the silk industry. One of the main virus pathogens is a nucleopolyhedrovirus, B. mori NPV (BmNPV). The present study...

An in-silico study has been performed for sequence analysis, tertiary structure prediction and evolutionary characterization of four selected proteins from the highly endangered Southeast Asian turtle species under the genera Pangshura and Batagur (Testudines: Geoemydidae: Pangshura and Batagur). The analyses were performed using the sequence data...

An in-silico study has been performed for sequence analysis, tertiary structure prediction and evolutionary characterization of four selected proteins from the highly endangered Southeast Asian turtle species under the genera Pangshura and Batagur (Testudines: Geoemydidae: Pangshura and Batagur). The analyses were performed using the sequence data...

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) responsible for dismutation of ROS produced in cell controls the aging and longevity of animals. An attempt has been made to report on sequence to structure analysis of the genes and proteins of SOD1 and SOD2 of freshwater turtles, Pelodiscus sinensis and Mauremys reevesii. Analysis of gene and protein sequences of these...

Rhodococcus fascians infects a wide range of plants, initiating the formation of leafy galls that consist of shoot amplification and shoot growth inhibition.To provoke symptoms, R. fascians strain D188 requires pathogenicity genes that are located on a linear plasmid, pFiD188. The fas genes are essential for virulence and constitute an operon that...

The present investigation includes in silico sequence analysis, structure prediction and phylogeny of Glutamine Synthetase from freshwater bony fishes. The analyses were performed for the sequence data of three glutamine synthetase genes namely gs01, gso2 and gso3 and their translated Gutamine Synthetase enzymes (GS-I, GS-II and GS-III). The evolut...

Introduction Glutamine Synthetase (GS; L-glutamate-ammonia ligase, EC 6.3.1.2) is a multifunctional enzyme, catalyzes the ATP-dependent conversion of glutamate and ammonium to glutamine. The formation of Glutamine plays an important role in nucleotide biosyn-thesis, neurotransmitter metabolism, amino acid balance and ammonia detoxification. Gene se...

Introduction Glutamine Synthetase (GS; L-glutamate-ammonia ligase, EC 6.3.1.2) is a multifunctional enzyme, catalyzes the ATP-dependent conversion of glutamate and ammonium to glutamine. The formation of Glutamine plays an important role in nucleotide biosyn-thesis, neurotransmitter metabolism, amino acid balance and ammonia detoxification. Gene se...

Introduction: Chloroquine resistance in Plasmodium falciparum is associated with mutations in pfcrt and pfmdr1 genes. The frequency distribution of pfcrt K76T and pfmdr1 N86Y mutations and their association with chloroquine susceptibility was studied in an endemic area along the Indo-Bangladesh border. Methodology: A single-arm prospective study...

New Delhi Metallo-β-lactamase 1 (NDM-1) is a monomeric, plasmid-encoded enzyme that can hydrolyze β-lactam antibiotics over a wide range. Presence of this enzyme renders the host bacteria immune to carbapenems, the so-called last resort drugs, as reported in Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli and Acenetobacter baumanii. Multi-drug resistance of...

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is the most lethal form of Leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania donovani. This disease is the second largest parasitic killer in the world. Trypanothione reductase (TR) is an enzyme commonly present in all members of Trypanosomatidae, including Leishmania. This enzyme, analogous to Glutathione Reductase (GR) of mammals, is...

The present study evaluates the performance of OptiMAL-IT test and nested PCR assay in detection of malaria parasites. A total of 76 randomly selected blood samples collected from two malaria endemic areas were tested for malaria parasites using microscopy and OptiMAL-IT test in the field. PCR assays were performed in the laboratory using DNA extra...

Aim: The objective of the investigation was to predict the three dimensional structure of ageing related proteins of Silurana tropicalis Gray 1864. Methods: The protein sequences were collected from UniProt. Homology modeling of protein structures was generated in SWISS-MODEL workplace. The structures were assessed by ERRAT and RAMPAGE. Results: In...

This study was carried out to determine the human host preference and presence of Plasmodium parasite in field collected Anopheles mosquitoes among four villages around a military cantonment located in malaria endemic Sonitpur district of Assam, India. Encountered malaria vector mosquitoes were identified and tested for host preference and Plasmodi...

India reports the highest number of malaria cases in Southeast Asia, of which Plasmodium falciparum contribute more than half of the cases every year. North eastern states of India contribute only 3.96% of country's population but account for >10% of total reported malaria cases, 11% of Plasmodium falciparum cases and 20% of malaria related deaths...

Present study reports the prevalence and distribution of pfcrt K76T and mdr1 N86Y mutations in malaria endemic areas of Sonitpur district of Assam. Out of 163 individuals tested for malaria, 67 (SPR = 41.1 %) were detected positive for malaria infection using rapid detection kit in the field and PCR assay in the laboratory. Nested PCR–RFLP assay wa...

Assessment of genetic variability among the freshwater turtles is critical to the development of effective conservation strategies. In the present study, analysis of phenetic relationship of the genus Pangshura was studied using inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers to see the concordance of currently available morphological data with genetic...

This study evaluated the hypolipidemic effect of crude polyphenol fraction from Clerodenrdon colebrookianum (CPCC) leaves in cholesterol fed rats. Crude polyphenol fraction was obtained from the ethyl acetate extract of Clerodenrdon colebrookianum (CC). Investigation was conducted by administering graded oral doses (0.25 g, 0.5 g and 1 g/kg b. w. /...

Parvalbumins are the calcium binding low molecular weight proteins of acidic nature with remarkable heat-stability and enzymatic degradation. They are responsible for more than 95% fish-food related allergies. In muscle, they form a major part of muscle sarcoplasmic proteins and thought to be involved in muscle relaxation. Direct contact or ingesti...

The present study was conducted with an objective to determine the concentration of different essential and non essential elements, in blood of Pangshura tentoria, a freshwater turtle. Blood samples from male, female and juveniles of Pangshura tentoria, habitat soil and food (plants and animals) were analysed by Atomic absorption spectrophotometry....

The present investigation includes in Silico sequence analysis, three-dimensional (3D) structure prediction and evolutionary profile of growth hormone (GH) from 14 ornamental freshwater fishes. The analyses were performed using the sequence data of growth hormone gene (gh) and its encoded GH protein. The evolutionary analyses were performed using m...

The aim of the present study is to find out the antiperoxidative and lipid lowering activity of the crude extract (CE) of Clerodendron colebrookianum (CC) leaf. The study was conducted in two experimental animal models i.e.TritonWR-1339 (200mg kg -1b.wt.) as an intrinsic inducer and by feeding cholesterol (25mg kg -1 b.wt.) as an extrinsic inducer....

The Northeastern region in India is one of the most important biodiversity hot spots of the world. The microbial resources of this area have tremendous potentiality for sustainable human development and livelihood management though the conventional microbiological approaches of isolating and identifying microbes of this area have been consolidated...

An in-silico study has been performed for 3D structure prediction and evolutionary profile of Cytochrome-b from the highly endangered Southeast Asian turtle species under the genera Pangshura and Batagur (Testudines: Geoemydidae: Pangshura and Batagur). The analyses were performed using the sequence data of Cytochrome-b, extracted from Protein Know...

The present work is an initiative towards the future conservation action through artificial hatching for conservation.

At the conjunction of the Himalayan and Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspots, the northeast India has been poorly explored scientifically with regard to conservation and monitoring of turtle fauna. This present study was carried out in the river Brahmaputra to sensitize and educate people about the significance of chelonian presence and their conservat...

On February 22, 2008, while surveying the turtles of Assam, we obtained an Indian eyed turtle, Morenia petersi as an accidental victim of a soil digging truck in Deepor Beel, the Ramsar site. The shell was collected and measured for confirmation.

Le Trionyx noirâtre, Nilssonia, Aspideretes ni�gricans, famille des Trionychidae est une tor�tue de grande taille (longueur de carapace jusqu’à 91 cm) exclusivement aquatique. Sa distri�bution géographique dans la nature est limitée au fleuve Brahmapoutre et à ses affluents. L’espèce a été décrite à partir d’individus présents dans un étang d’un li...

This paper reports the present status and ongoing efforts aimed at conservation of the Assam roofed turtle P. sylhetensis along with other freshwater turtles in the floodplain wetlands and rivers of Assam. Efforts have been made to educate people about the significance of chelonian species and its conservation and to start a participatory conservat...