Larval diet quality and rearing conditions have a direct and irreversible effect on adult traits. Therefore, the current study was carried out to optimize the larval diet for mass rearing of Aedes aegypti, for Sterile Insect Technique (SIT)-based applications in Sri Lanka. Five batches of 750 first instar larvae (L1) of Ae. aegypti were exposed to five different concentrations (2-10%) of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recommended the larval diet. Morphological development parameters of larva, pupa, and adult were detected at 24 h intervals along with selected growth parameters. Each experiment was replicated five times. General Linear Modeling along with Pearson's correlation analysis were used for statistical treatments. Significant differences (P < 0.05) among the larvae treated with different concentrations were found using General Linear Modeling in all the stages namely: total body length and the thoracic length of larvae; cephalothoracic length and width of pupae; thoracic length, thoracic width, abdominal length and the wing length of adults; along with pupation rate and success, sex ratio, adult success, fecundity and hatching rate of Ae. aegypti. The best quality adults can be produced at larval diet concentration of 10%. However, the 8% larval diet concentration was most suitable for adult male survival.

Abstract:Polymers based on Lactic acid are of great importance to the healthcare industry because they decompose by hydrolysis in the human body in to nontoxic metabolites. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to produce L-(+)-Lactic acid using a low cost medium in order to synthesize a biodegradable polymer for healthcare industry. Powdered cassava was acid hydrolyzed using different concentration of HCl (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.

No abstract

Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) is most often sold as canned light tuna and is the most common species found in tuna cans. In Sri Lanka differentiation of tuna species prior to processing is achieved through morphological identification, which is not a reliable method. Since the quality and market value of tuna products differ from species to species, a fraudulent replacement of valuable species with less valuable ones may occur. This has become a major limitation in fishery industry in order to reach products to the international market. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to establish a molecular based diagnostic method to differentiate skipjack tuna from other tuna species commonly found in Sri Lanka. Genomic DNA of skipjack tuna (K. pelamis), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) were extracted from the muscle tissues. Amplification of DNA from tuna samples were carried using genus specific primers which flank at 558 bp region of Cytochrome b gene. The amplified DNA products of tuna species were digested with ScaI restriction enzyme. The pattern restriction fragments evidence that products having band sizes of 215 bp and 343 bp were detected only from T. albacares (n= 10) and T. obesus (n= 10) while, K. pelamis (n= 10) was remained as an indigestive product (558 bp). Therefore, this can be used to differentiate K. pelamis from the other tuna species which are commonly found in Sri Lanka.