The clear cell-free supernatants were used as the source of crude recombinant xylanase.

Peptide antisera were generated in the laboratory against peptides PI, 23-45 aa residues with an extra lysine at the N-terminus (KQPFWLLQGGASRAETSVQPVL VE), P2, 300-322 aa residues (CSFSKSSNSWFPVEGPADICQCC) and P3, 324-347 aa residues (KGDCGTPSHSRRQPHVVSQWSRSA) corresponding to bZP3 precursor protein in rabbits and were used to determine their reactivity with the r-bZP3 protein expressed in E. coli in an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Microtitration plates were coated with 200 ng of r-bZP3 or I J.tg/well of the peptide. HRPO conjugated goat anti-rabbit Ig at I :5000 dilution was used as revealing Ab.

Transformation was performed in chilled 1.5 ml eppendorf tubes, using 200 ul of competent cells and about 50 ng of ligated plasmid DNA. Frozen competent cells were thawed in ice and the DNA was added immediately after thawing. The DNA volume was always kept under 30 ul. The DNA was mixed well with the cells by gentle tapping, and the tube incubated in ice for 3 0 minutes with occasional gentle shaking. The tube was then immersed in a 42°C water bath for 2 minutes, to give a heat shock to the cells. The cells were then incubated in ice for 10 minutes. Next, 1 ml LB was to the cells, and the cells incubated in a 37°C water bath without shaking, for one hour. 50 ul aliquots were plated in triplicate from the transformed cell mixture on suitable antibiotic containing agar plates and incubated 0/N at 37°C to select the transformants. In case of JM105 cells, the transformed cells were plated on antibiotic containing agar plates on which 50 ul of 2 % X-gal ( made in dimethyl formamide ) , and 10 ul of 100 mM IPTG had been spread in advance, to select for the lac-phenotype. The lac-colonies appeared colourless while the lac+ colonies were blue. For each batch of transformations, a negative control was included in which no DNA was added to the cells while keeping the rest of the procedure the same as for the test transformations.

Theexperimentalfishwasacclimatedtoglassrespirometersforabout24hrandtheywerenotgivenanyfoodduringthisperiod.TheeffluentexposedfishesalongwiththecontrolsweresubjectedtoO2consumptionseparately.Theexperimentswereperformedinaninsulatedroombetween8to10AMwithlightson.TherateoftotalO2uptakethroughgillsfromflowingwaters(DO=7.2mg021'1)wasmeasuredinfishesofdifferent body weights.Forthis,acylindricalglassrespirometerof2litrecapacitywasused.Thefishwasintroducedintherespirometerwhichwasconnectedtoalargeconstantlevelwatertanktomaintaintheflowofwaterunderconstanthydrostaticpressure.Thewaterenteredtherespirometeratonesideanditsflowperminutewasmeasuredasitlefttheotherside.Theflowwasadjustedaccordingtothesizeofthefish.Thefishwasacclimatizedtotherespirometeratleast12hrbeforereadingswere taken.ConcentrationofdissolvedoxygeninthesampleswasmeasuredbyWinkler’svolumetricmethod(Welch,1948).ThedifferenceinO?levelsbetweentheambientwaterandthatsuppliedtotherespirometeraswellaswiththerateofwaterflowandtheweightofthefishwasusedtocalculatetherateof O2uptakeintermsoftime(ml02hr'1)withthehelpoftheequation:V02=Vw(Ci02CE02)Where,VO2=02uptake(ml02hr'1)Vw=water(mlm'1)andCi02-CE02respectivelythe02concentrationofinletandoutletwaters.Arespirometercontainingnoanimalsservedasacontrolforadjustingcalculationsfor02uptakeinthewater.Uponremoval,fisheswereblottedwithpapertoweling, andweighed