RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To assess the sanitary condition and water quality of household wells and to depict it spatially using Geographic Information System (GIS) in an urban area of Trivandrum, Kerala state, India. STUDY DESIGN: A community-based cross-sectional census-type study. METHODS: Study was conducted in an urban area of Trivandrum. All households (n = 449) residing in a 1.05 km2 area were enrolled in the study. Structured questionnaire and Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) device were used for data collection. Water samples taken were analyzed in an accredited laboratory. RESULTS: Most of the wells were in an intermediate-high contamination risk state, with more than 77% of wells having a septic tank within 7.5 m radius. Coliform contamination was prevalent in 73% of wells, and the groundwater was predominantly acidic with a mean of 5.4, rendering it unfit for drinking. The well chlorination and cleaning practices were inadequate, which were significantly associated with coliform contamination apart from a closely located septic tank. However, water purification practices like boiling were practiced widely in the area. CONCLUSION: Despite the presence of wells with high risk of contamination and inadequate chlorination practices, the apparent rarity of Water-borne diseases in the area may be attributed to the widespread boiling and water purification practices at the consumption level by the households. GIS technology proves useful in picking environmental determinants like polluting sources near the well and to plan control activities.
RESUMEN
Type III polyketide synthase family of enzymes play an important role in the biosynthesis of flavonoids and a variety of plant polyphenols by condensing multiple acetyl units derived from malonyl Co-A to thioester linked starter molecules covalently bound in the PKS active site. Turmeric (Curucma longa L.) through diverse metabolic pathways produces a large number of metabolites, of which curcuminoids had gained much attention due to its immense pharmaceutical value. Recent identification of multiple curcuminoid synthases from turmeric lead us to look for additional Type III PKS from this plant. The current study describes the occurrence of a multigene family of Type III PKS enzymes in C. longa by RT-PCR based genomic screening. We have also isolated two new Type III PKS, ClPKS9 and ClPKS10 using homology based RT-PCR and data mining. The comparative sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the two PKSs belong to different groups with only 56% sequence similarity at their amino acid level. ClPKS9 shows all possible sequence requirements for a typical chalcone synthase whereas ClPKS10 shows promising variation at amino acid level and high similarity to reported curcuminoid synthases. ClPKS9 and ClPKS10 exhibited distinct tissue specific expression pattern in C. longa with the ClPKS9 transcript abundant in shoot and rhizome than leaves whereas ClPKS10 transcript was found to be high in leaf and very low in rhizome and root. Therefore it was concluded that ClPKS9 and ClPKS10 may have divergent function in planta, with possible role in typical chalcone forming reaction and curcuminoid scaffold biosynthetic pathway respectively.