Two simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods (A and B) have been described for the determination of ascorbic acid. Method A is based on the oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) by known excess of Se(IV) in hydrochloric acid medium and subsequent determination of unreacted Se(IV) by reacting it with iodide in the same acid medium to liberate iodine, which react with starch to form a stable blue coloured iodine-starch complex, which shows maximum absorbance at 590 nm. Method B is based on the oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA) by known excess of Cr(VI) in sulphuric acid medium and the determination of unreacted Cr(VI) with diphenyl carbazide ( DPC) under the same acidic medium to produce a stable red-violet coloured species, which shows a maximum absorbance at 550 nm. The reacted oxidants (in methods A and B) correspond to the AA content. The apparent molar absorptivity values are found to be 1.627×10 4 and 1.641×10 4 L mol -1 cm -1 for methods A and B, respectively. The proposed methods are simple, sensitive and suitable for the routine analysis of AA in pharmaceutical formulations and in real samples.

A simple, accurate and highly sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of ritodrine hydrochloride (RTH), pentazocine hydrochloride (PZH), isoxsuprine hydrochloride (ISH) and amoxicillin (AMX) is described. The method is based on the oxidation of the studied drugs by a known excess of chloramine – T (CAT) in hydrochloric acid medium and subsequent determination of the unreacted oxidant by reacting it with iodide in the same acid medium liberates iodine, which subsequently react with starch to form a stable starch-iodine complex. The reacted oxidant corresponds to the drug content. The coloured complex exhibits a maximum absorption at 590 nm. The apparent molar absorptivity values and Sandell’s sensitivity values are in the range 6.96x104- 1.43x105L mol–1cm–1and 2.45-4.30 ng cm–2, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the studied drugs in their dosage forms. The results are reproducible within ±1% and compare favorably with those of official methods of British Pharmacopoeia and the United States Pharmacopoeia.

Polygalacturonase-inhibitor proteins (PGIPs) are important plant defense proteins which modulate the activity of microbial polygalacturonases (PGs) leading to elicitor accumulation. Very few studies have been carried out towards understanding the role of PGIPs in monocot host defense. Hence, present study was taken up to characterize a native PGIP from pearl millet and understand its role in resistance against downy mildew. A native glycosylated PGIP (PglPGIP1) of ~43 kDa and pI 5.9 was immunopurified from pearl millet. Comparative inhibition studies involving PglPGIP1 and its non-glycosylated form (rPglPGIP1; recombinant pearl millet PGIP produced in Escherichia coli) against two PGs, PG-II isoform from Aspergillus niger (AnPGII) and PG-III isoform from Fusarium moniliforme, showed both PGIPs to inhibit only AnPGII. The protein glycosylation was found to impact only the pH and temperature stability of PGIP, with the native form showing relatively higher stability to pH and temperature changes. Temporal accumulation of both PglPGIP1 protein (western blot and ELISA) and transcripts (real time PCR) in resistant and susceptible pearl millet cultivars showed significant Sclerospora graminicola-induced accumulation only in the incompatible interaction. Further, confocal PGIP immunolocalization results showed a very intense immuno-decoration with highest fluorescent intensities observed at the outer epidermal layer and vascular bundles in resistant cultivar only. This is the first native PGIP isolated from millets and the results indicate a role for PglPGIP1 in host defense. This could further be exploited in devising pearl millet cultivars with better pathogen resistance.

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Two simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods (M 1 and M 2) for the determination of mosapride in pure and in pharmaceutical preparations are described. These methods are based on the interaction of diazotized mosapride (MSP) couples with chromotropic acid (CTA) [M 1 ] in alkaline medium and diphenylamine (DPA) [M 2 ] in acidic medium. The resulting azo-dyes exhibit maximum absorption at 560 nm and at 540 nm for methods M 1 and M 2 , respectively. All variables were studied in order to optimize the reaction conditions. No interferences were observed from excipients, and the validity of the each method was tested against reference method.

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Plant mitogen-activated protein kinases (MPKs) transduce signals required for the induction of immunity triggered by host recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns. We isolated a full-length cDNA of a group B MPK (PgMPK4) from pearl millet. Autophosphorylation assay of recombinant PgMPK4 produced in Escherichia coli confirmed it as a kinase. Differential accumulation of PgMPK4 mRNA and kinase activity was observed between pearl millet cultivars 852B and IP18292 in response to inoculation with the downy mildew oomycete pathogen Sclerospora graminicola. This increased accumulation of PgMPK4 mRNA, kinase activity as well as nuclear-localization of PgMPK protein(s) was only detected in the S. graminicola resistant cultivar IP18292 with a ~tenfold peak at 9 h post inoculation. In the susceptible cultivar 852B, PgMPK4 mRNA and immuno-detectable nuclear PgMPK could be induced by application of the chemical elicitor β-amino butyric acid, the non-pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens, or by the phytohormones jasmonic acid (JA) or salicylic acid (SA). Furthermore, kinase inhibitor treatments indicated that PgMPK4 is involved in the JA- and SA-mediated expression of three defense genes, lipoxygenase, catalase 3 and polygalacturonase-inhibitor protein. These findings indicate that PgMPK/s contribute to pearl millet defense against the downy mildew pathogen by activating the expression of defense proteins.

Highly sensitive and selective spectrophotometric methods (A and B) were developed for the determination of micro amounts of olanzapine (OLZ). Method A (direct method) is based on the oxidation of olanzapine with a known excess of iodine monochloride (ICl) in an acidic medium. Under the same condition, thymol blue was iodinated by unreacted ICl, and the absorbance of uniodinated thymol blue was measured at 536 nm. The decrease in ICl concentration is a measure of drug concentration. In method B (indirect method), oxidation of OLZ by a known excess of Ce(IV) in sulfuric acid medium followed by the reaction of unreacted Ce(IV) with leuco crystal violet (LCV) to crystal violet (CV), which is measured in an acetate buffer medium (pH 4.9) at 580 nm. These methods obey the Beer's law in the concentration range of 0.2-1.6 µg mL-1 (method A) and 0.1-1.4 µg mL-1 (method B). The developed procedures have been successfully applied to the determination of OLZ in pure and in dosage forms. The results exhibit no interference from the presence of excipients. The reliability of the methods was established by parallel determination of OLZ against the reference method.