BioTechnologia最新文献

Ganoderma sinense, a well-known medicinal macrofungus of Basidiomycetes, is widely used in traditional medicine for promoting health and longevity in East Asia. The fruiting bodies of G. sinense contain polysaccharides, ergosterol, and coumarin, which have antitumor, antioxidant, and anticytopenia activities. Mushroom cultivation requires suitable conditions for the formation of fruiting bodies and yield. However, little is known about the optimal culture conditions for mycelial growth and cultivation of G. sinense. In this study, the successful cultivation of a G. sinense strain collected from the wild was reported. The optimal culture conditions were identified by examining one factor at a time. The results of this study revealed that the nutritional requirements for the optimal mycelial growth of G. sinense were fructose (15 g/l) as the carbon source and yeast extract (1 g/l) as the nitrogen source. The optimal pH and temperature for G. sinense were 7 and 25-30°C, respectively. The mycelia grew fastest in treatment II (69% rice grains + 30% sawdust + 1% calcium carbonate). G. sinense produced fruiting bodies under all tested conditions and showed the highest biological efficiency (2.95%) in treatment B (96% sawdust, 1% wheat bran, 1% lime). In summary, under optimal culture conditions, G. sinense strain GA21 showed satisfactory yield and a high potential for commercial cultivation.

In folk medicine, Inula viscosa (Asteraceae) has been traditionally utilized for treating various ailments, including diabetes, bronchitis, diarrhea, rheumatism, and injuries. In this study, we aimed to investigate the chemical composition, antioxidant, antiproliferative, and apoptotic properties of I. viscosa leaf extracts. Extraction was performed using solvents of varying polarities. Antioxidant activity was determined using Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays. The results revealed that aqueous ethanol (70%) and aqueous ethyl acetate (70%) extracts contained high levels of phenols (645.58 ± 8.77 mg CE/g) and flavonoids (180.69 ± 1.54 mg QE/g), respectively. Aqueous ethanol (70%) extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity with IC50 of 572.74 μmol TE/g DW (μmol Trolox equivalent in 1g of dry extract) in the ABTS assay and 76862.06 μM TE/g DW in the FRAP test. All extracts showed a considerable dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on cancerous HepG2 cells (P < 0.05). The aqueous ethanol extract demonstrated the highest inhibitory effect (IC50 = 1.67 mg/ml). Treatment with aqueous ethanol (70%) and pure ethyl acetate extracts significantly increased the number of apoptotic cells to 8 and 6%, respectively, in HepG2 cells (P < 0.05). Additionally, the aqueous ethanol extract significantly elevatedreactive oxygen species (ROS) levels (53%) in HepG2 cells. The molecular docking study identified paxanthone and banaxanthone E as the compounds that exhibited the highest binding affinities with BCL-2. This study demonstrated the potent antioxidant, antiproliferation, and intracellular ROS production of I. viscosa leaf extracts. Further studies should be conducted to identify the active compounds involved.

Oxyonium phosphobetaines are recently discovered molecules with a unique ^-O-P-O-N⁺ bond system, which makes them useful and versatile intermediates for the synthesis of phosphates and their derivatives. In this paper, the preliminary data on the application of these compounds in nucleoside phosphorylation were presented.

Erythrina senegalensis (Fabaceae) have been traditionally used in the treatment of microbial ailments, and the specific agent mediating its efficacy has been investigated in several studies. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of purified E. senegalensis lectin (ESL) was analyzed. The phylogenetic relationship of the gene encoding lectin with other legume lectins was also established to investigate their evolutionary relationship via comparative genomics. Antimicrobial activity of ESL against selected pathogenic bacteria and fungi isolates was evaluated by the agar well diffusion method, using fluconazole (1 mg/ml) and streptomycin (1 mg/ml) as positive controls for fungi and bacteria sensitivity, respectively. Potent antimicrobial activity of ESL against Erwinia carotovora, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium camemberti, and Scopulariopsis brevicaulis was observed, with inhibition zones ranging from 18 to 24 mm. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of ESL ranged between 50 and 400 μg/ml. Primer-directed polymerase chain reaction of E. senegalensis genomic DNA detected a 465-bp lectin gene with an open reading frame encoding a 134-amino acid polypeptide. The obtained nucleotide sequence of the ESL gene shared high sequence homology: 100, 100, and 98.18% with Erythrina crista-galli, Erythrina corallodendron, and Erythrina variegata lectin genes, respectively, suggesting that the divergence of Erythrina lectins might follow species evolution. This study concluded that ESL could be used to develop lectin-based antimicrobials, which could find applications in the agricultural and health sectors.

This study investigated the possibility of using phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) with plant-growth-promoting (PGP) capabilities to improve the growth properties of rice plants under ferruginous ultisol (FU) conditions through bio-priming. The following PSB with PGP properties were used in this study: Bacillus cereus strain GGBSU-1, Proteus mirabilis strain TL14-1, and Klebsiella variicola strain AUH-KAM-9, which were previously isolated and characterized based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Biosafety analysis of the PSB isolates was conducted using blood agar. The rice seeds were then bio primed with the PSB for 3, 12, and 24 h and then sown in a composite FU soil sample. Differences in germinat ion bioassay were investigated 15 weeks after bio-priming using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), morphology, physiology, and biomass parameters. The composite FU soil used in this study had high pH, low bioavailable phosphorus, low water-holding capacity, and high iron levels, which resulted in low growth properties of rice seeds without bio-priming in the FU soil. Germination parameters were improved in seeds bio primed with the PSB, especially after 12 h of priming, compared with seeds without priming. SEM showed higher bacterial colonization in bio primed seeds. Bio-priming of rice seeds with the studied PSB under FU soil conditions significantly improved seed microbiome, rhizocolonization, and soil nutrient properties, thereby enhancing the growth properties of rice. This indicated the ability of PSB to solubilize and mineralize soil phosphate and improve phosphorus availability and soil properties for optimum plant usage in phosphate-stressed and iron toxic soils.

In cyanobacteria, carbonic anhydrase (zinc metalloenzyme) is a major enzyme that converts CO₂ to HCO₃- maintaining the carbon concentration around the vicinity of RuBisCo, leading to cyanobacterial biomass generation. Anthropogenic activities, disposal of leached micro nutrients effluents from industries into the aquatic environment results in cyanobacterial blooms. The harmful cyanobacteria release cyanotoxins in open-water system which on ingression through oral route causes major health issues like hepatotoxicity and immunotoxicity. A database was prepared consisting of approximately 3k phytochemicals curated from previous literatures, earlier identified by GC-MS analysis. The phytochemicals were subjected to online servers to identify the novel lead molecules which followed ADMET and drug-like candidates. The identified leads were optimized by density functional theory method using B3YLP/G* level of theory. Carbonic anhydrase chosen as target to observe the binding interaction through molecular docking simulations. From the molecules included in the database the highest binding energy exhibited by alpha-tocopherol succinate and mycophenolic acid were found to be -9.23 kcal/mol and -14.41 kcal/mol and displayed interactions with GLY A102, GLN B30, ASP A41, LYS A105 including Zn²⁺ and their adjacent amino acids CYS 101, HIS 98, CYS 39 in both chain A and chain A-B of carbonic anhydrase. The Identified molecular orbitals decipher computed global electrophilicity values (Energy gap, electrophilicity and Softness) of alpha-tocopherol succinate and mycophenolic acid were found to be (5.262, 1.948, 0.380) eV and (4.710, 2.805, 0.424) eV demonstrates both molecules are effective and stable. The identified leads may serve as a better anti-carbonic anhydrase agent because they accommodate in the binding site and hampers the catalytic activity of Carbonic anhydrase thus inhibiting the generation of cyanobacterial biomass. This identified lead molecules may serve as a substructure to design novel phytochemicals against carbonic anhydrase present in cyanobacteria. Further in vitro study is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of these molecules.

In transgenic plant development, the low transformation efficiency of Agrobacterium with exogenous DNA is the major constraint, and hence, methods to improve its transformation efficiency are needed. Recently, nanoparticlemediated gene transfer has evolved as a key transformational tool in genetic transformation. Since silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) can induce pores on the cell membrane, their efficacy in the improvement of conventional calcium chloride freeze-thaw technique of transformation of Agrobacterium was explored in this study. Agrobacterium cells in the exponential growth phase were exposed to different concentrations of AgNPs (0.01, 1, 5, 10, and 20 mg/l), and the half-maximal effective concentration (EC₅₀) was determined via Probit analysis using the SPSS software. Transformation efficiency of AgNPs alone and in combination with calcium chloride was compared with that of the conventional calcium chloride freeze-thaw technique. AgNPs at a concentration of 0.01 mg/l in combination with calcium chloride (20 mM) showed a ten fold increase in the transformation efficiency (3.33 log CFU (colony-forming unit/microgram of DNA) of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA 105 with plasmid vector pART27 compared with the conventional technique (2.31 log CFU/μg of DNA). This study indicates that AgNPs of size 100 nm can eliminate the freeze-thaw stage in the conventional Agrobacterium transformation technique, with a 44% improvement in efficiency. The use of AgNPs (0.01 mg/l) along with 20 mM calcium chloride was found to be an economically viable method to improve the transformation of Agrobacterium with exogenous plasmid DNA.

Phytate-mineralizing bacteria (PMB) with plant growth-promoting activity can be considered as a potential biofertilizer for plant nutrition. PMB catalyzes the conversion of insoluble sugar phosphates, inositols, nucleic acids, phospholipids, nucleotides, phytate, and phytin into soluble forms that can be assimilated by plants. The present study aimed to isolate potential PMB from rhizospheric soils and to study their plant growth-promoting potential for the possible development of a potential phosphobacterium biofertilizer. For this purpose, 34 PMB isolates were isolated that showed potent phytate-mineralizing potential. These isolates were tested for their potential to solubilize tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and for various other plant growth-promoting activities. Significant differences were found among the isolates with regard to phytate mineralization and other plant growth-promoting characteristics. The bacterial isolates biochemically identified as Bacillus, Paenibacillus, Arthrobacter, and Burkholderia exhibited high/medium P solubilization, medium/high phytohormone production, and medium/low siderophore and ammonia production. Among all these isolates, isolate A14 (Burkholderia cenocepacia strain FDAARGOS_7) was the promising isolate with high TCP solubilization, medium phytate mineralization, high enzyme production, medium/high phytohormone production, and medium ammonia production. This strain also showed nitrogen fixation activity, zinc solubilizing potential, potassium solubilization, ACC deaminase production, and catalase production. Hence, it can be concluded that B. cenocepacia can be the potential candidate for biofertilizer development. Future studies are planned for exploring the role of PMB in biofertilizer formulations.

In recent years, an increase in environmental pollution has been observed due to rapid industrialization, unsafe agricultural practices, and increased human activities on energy reservoirs. The wide use of petroleum hydrocarbon products as energy sources has contaminated the soil and the environment, thereby posing serious threats to all life forms, including humans. This study aimed to investigate the role of poultry droppings and pig dung in enhancing the bioremediation of diesel-contaminated soil. Soil samples were collected, processed by air drying and sieving, weighed in experimental bowls (5000 g), and contaminated with 250 ml of diesel. Then, poultry droppings and pig dung were added to the soil samples in different ratios, namely 1 : 1, 1 : 2, and 2 : 1. The diesel-contaminated soil sample without treatment served as the control. Thirty days after exposure to the experimental treatment regimes, the total bacterial count and the hydrocarbon-utilizing bacterial count of the diesel-contaminated soil ranged from 0.4 × 10⁴ to 2.7×10⁴ CFU/g and from 0.1×10⁴ to 2.1×10⁴ CFU/g, respectively. The total fungal count and the hydrocarbon-utilizing fungi count ranged from 0.6 × 10³ to 2.1×10³ SFU/g and from 0.2×10³ to 1.7×10³ SFU/g, respectively. Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium sp., and Mucor sp were found to be active degraders. A significant reduction in the total aliphatic hydrocarbon (TAH) content of the diesel-contaminated soil was reported, with remediation approaching 95% in 30 days when the poultry droppings - pig dung mixture was added to the soil. The remediation of diesel-contaminated soils is important for the enhancement of the ecosystem. This study has shown that the use of farm waste such as the poultry droppings - pig dung mixture can enhance the remediation of diesel-contaminated soils.

Peganum harmala is a valuable wild plant that grows and survives under adverse conditions and produces pharmaceutical alkaloid metabolites. Using different assemblers to develop a transcriptome improves the quality of assembled transcriptome. In this study, a concrete and accurate method for detecting stress-responsive transcripts by comparing stress-related gene ontology (GO) terms and public domains was designed. An integrated transcriptome for P. harmala including 42 656 coding sequences was created by merging de novo assembled transcriptomes. Around 35 000 transcripts were annotated with more than 90% resemblance to three closely related species of Citrus, which confirmed the robustness of the assembled transcriptome; 4853 stress-responsive transcripts were identified. CYP82 involved in alkaloid biosynthesis showed a higher number of transcripts in P. harmala than in other plants, indicating its diverse alkaloid biosynthesis attributes. Transcription factors (TFs) and regulatory elements with 3887 transcripts comprised 9% of the transcriptome. Among the TFs of the integrated transcriptome, cystein2/histidine2 (C2H2) and WD40 repeat families were the most abundant. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling map and the plant hormone signal transduction map showed the highest assigned genes to these pathways, suggesting their potential stress resistance. The P. harmala whole-transcriptome survey provides important resources and paves the way for functional and comparative genomic studies on this plant to discover stress-tolerance-related markers and response mechanisms in stress physiology, phytochemistry, ecology, biodiversity, and evolution. P. harmala can be a potential model for studying adverse environmental cues and metabolite biosynthesis and a major source for the production of various alkaloids.