Study on the Bioconversion of Curcumin to Calebin-A Using Spirulina subsalsa and Its Taxonomic Resolution Using 16S rRNA Analysis.

Due to morphological convergence and the application of numerous taxonomic concepts, the systematics of filamentous cyanobacteria is still a significant problem. The incorporation and integration of modern molecular, cyto-morphological and ecological approaches in cyanobacterial taxonomy are essential and must be acknowledged as the valid methods for the development of their modern systematics. In this study, method of using 16S rRNA gene sequences to infer the genetic relationships of twelve freshwater cyanobacterial isolates amongst themselves was evaluated. The taxonomic resolution was inferred from their phylogenetic tree, in silico restriction digestion analysis and secondary structure prediction. These methods allowed cyanobacterial genera to be well distinguished with their genotypic and phenotypic differences. Amongst twelve strains, Spirulina subsalsa with highest protein content was used in this study for evaluating the stability of Curcumin which is a curcuminoid compound reported from Curcuma longa. Though they have wide properties, they still lack stability and bioavailability. It is reported previously that microbes are used for biotransformation and act as a carrier molecule. Therefore, in this study, Spirulina incorporated with curcumin resulted with pH stability of curcumin and were found to have a biotransformation into Calebin-A, curcuminoid compound originally present in smaller amount (0.005%) in C. longa with various biomedical applications.

Molecular perspective and anticancer activity of medicinal plants.

To evaluate phytochemical constituents from the methanolic extracts of medicinal plants Aloe castellorum and Aloe pseudorubroviolacea. The cytotoxic activity of Aloe castellorum and Aloe pseudorubroviolacea leaf extracts against Human colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) was also assessed. The two medicinal plant extracts having significant cytotoxic activity, meanwhile the methanolic extract of Aloe castellorum shows higher cytotoxic activity than Aloe pseudorubroviolacea extract. The Aloe castellorum shows remarkable activity against respective cell line than control. The characteristic chemical constituents of Aloe castellorum and Aloe pseudorubroviolacea leaf extracts were recognized from Gas chromatography and Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. The molecular docking studies also support the cytotoxic activity.

An inhibitory action of chitosan nanoparticles against pathogenic bacteria and fungi and their potential applications as biocompatible antioxidants.

Chitosan is the second most abundant polymer obtained from the byproduct of seafood. Chitosan and its derivatives and chitosan loaded drugs are the recent area of interest against microbial pathogenesis. The cationic chitosan nanoparticles (ChNPs) interact with the anionic surfaces of the microbial cell membrane, which promotes antimicrobial activity. Although, ChNPs are potential against pathogenic microbes, selection of adaptable, suitable and cost effective synthesis method is much important. In the present study, ChNPs were synthesized adopting ionic gelation using sodium tripolyphosphate as a cross linking agent and characterized by FTIR, DLS, SEM and TEM analysis. ChNPs were investigated for antimicrobial activity against bacterial (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) and fungal (Candida albicans) pathogens. ChNPs showed bactericidal activity at the lower minimum inhibitory concentration of about 40-80 µg mL-1. Interestingly, ChNPs exhibits biocompatible antioxidant property by inhibiting DPPH free radicals at 76% and also proven to be a potential candidate against the microbial pathogenesis with an inevitable applications in biomedicine.

Chlorpyrifos-induced changes in the antioxidants and fatty acid compositions of Chroococcus turgidus NTMS12.

UNLABELLED: This study investigated the effect of pesticide chlorpyrifos (CP) on a freshwater cyanobacterium Chroococcus turgidus NTMS12. The changes in chlorophyll-a, proline, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activities and fatty acid composition of the test organism were analysed. Organism was grown at 6, 9 and 12 mg l(-1) of CP, and based on the chlorophyll-a content, 6 mg l(-1) of CP was found to be the tolerable concentration. Hence, 6 mg l(-1) of CP was taken to evaluate the concentration of proline and activities of SOD and CAT at 48-h exposure. The changes in the fatty acid profile were analysed after 7 days of exposure. Upon pesticide exposure, increased concentration of proline and activities of SOD and CAT were found. Significant changes in fatty acid profile have also been observed. However, polyunsaturated fatty acid content was decreased in treated cultures when compared with the untreated control. Changes in biochemical activities indicate that cyanobacteria C. turgidus NTMS12 undergo adaptive changes against CP-induced oxidative stress. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: : Chlorpyrifos induces oxidative stress in Chroococcus turgidus NTMS12. A strong inference was made on increased activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and proline content and lowering the level of unsaturated fatty acids under the pesticide-exposed condition. These significant changes are the defence mechanisms against the oxidative stress. Thus, this organism holds great promise in resisting toxic pesticide.

Degradation of synthetic dye, Rhodamine B to environmentally non-toxic products using microalgae.

In the present study a potential freshwater microalgae Coelastrella sp. was selected for degradation of synthetic dye, Rhodamine B in batch culture system. Effect of several physico-chemical parameters that influence the decolorization followed by degradation ability was investigated (inoculum concentration, initial dye concentration, temperature and pH) and optimal experimental condition was ascertained. The optimum operating conditions were found to be [Dye]=100 mg l(-1); [temperature]=30°C; with 10% of inoculum at a pH of 8. Under these conditions, a maximum of 80% decolorization of the dye was achieved in 20 days. Peroxidase activity of the isolate was also determined and it was found to be 2.1 µmol min mg(-1) of protein. The actual break down of the dye was confirmed by using various analytical techniques such as GC-MS, TLC, FTIR and UV-vis spectral analysis. Small aliphatic chains, small chain alcohols and ketones were obtained after degradation of Rhodamine B. These are the evidences that showed that microalgae play a vital role on dye degradation to non-toxic products effectively.

Biogenic silver nanoparticles for cancer treatment: an experimental report.

A generation of nanoparticles research has discussed recently. It is mandatory to elaborate the applications of biogenic nanoparticles in general and anticancereous property in particular. The present study was aimed to investigate the in vitro cytotoxicity effect of biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) against human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells towards the development of anticancer agent. Biogenic AgNPs were achieved by employing Sesbania grandiflora leaf extract as a novel reducing agent. It was well characterized by FESEM, EDAX and spectral studies showed spherical shaped nanoparticles in the size of 22 nm in slightly agglomerated form. It was surprising that biogenic AgNPs showed cytotoxic effect against MCF-7 cell lines were confirmed by MTT, AO-EB, Hochest and COMET assays. There was an immediate induction of cellular damage in terms of loss of cell membrane integrity, oxidative stress and apoptosis were found in the cell which treated with AgNPs. This may be a first report on anti-MCF-7 property of biogenic AgNPs in the fourth generation of nanoparticles research. It is necessary to study the formulation and clinical trials to establish the nano drug to treat cancer cells.

Gold nanoparticles from pro and eukaryotic photosynthetic microorganisms--comparative studies on synthesis and its application on biolabelling.

Today, a material science focuses on the nanoparticles synthesis in general and synthesizing them by biological entity in particular for their marvel production and its remarkable property. In this present study, synthesis of gold nanoparticles using photosynthetic microorganisms such as Coelastrella sp. (eukaryotes) and Phormidium sp. (prokaryotes) were reacted with Chloroauric acid (HAuCl(4)) and bioaccumulation was assessed. Various techniques were adopted for characterization of nanoparticles and compared. It was found to be 25 nm sized nanotriangles and 30 nm sized spherical shaped nanoparticles were synthesized by prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms respectively by TEM analysis. Biogenic gold nanoparticles have potent antioxidant property and the interaction of gold nanoparticles with DNA was evaluated that biogenic nanoparticles were actively bound to DNA in increased concentration. It was revealed that biogenic nanoparticles have wide range of applications depends on the biological entity used. Selection of suitable biological entity is very much important for the production of nanoparticles with desirable shapes and size for the biomedical applications.

Chemical Constituents and Antimicrobial Activity of Indian Green Leafy Vegetable Cardiospermum halicacabum.

The present study was carried out to analyze chemical constituents and antibacterial activity of ethanolic leaf extract of Cardiospermum halicacabum (ECH). The FT-IR spectrum confirmed the presence of alcohols, phenols, alkanes, alkynes, aliphatic ester and flavonoids in ECH. The GC-MS analysis revealed that ECH contained about twenty four compounds. The major chemical compounds identified were cyclohexane-1, 4, 5-triol-3-one-1-carboxylic acid, benzene acetic acid, caryophyllene, phytol and neophytadiene. The ECH was screened for its antibacterial activity against different bacterial strains and anti fungal activity against Candida albicans by agar well diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay. ECH exhibited antibacterial and antifungal activity. All the tested bacterial strains showed MIC values ranging from 80 to 125 µg of extract/ml and C. albicans showed 190 µg of extract/ml as a MIC. The maximum activity ECH was observed against human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus followed by Escherichia coli and the fish pathogen Aeromonas hydrophila. ECH exhibited moderate activity against some of the tested multidrug resistant strains.

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles from Tribulus terrestris and its antimicrobial activity: a novel biological approach.

In the recent decades, increased development of green synthesis of nanoparticles is inevitable because of its incredible applications in all fields of science. There were numerous work have been produced based on the plant and its extract mediated synthesis of nanoparticles, in this present study to explore that the novel approaches for the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using plant fruit bodies. The plant, Tribulus terrestris L. fruit bodies are used in this study, where the dried fruit body extract was mixed with silver nitrate in order to synthesis of silver nanoparticles. The active phytochemicals present in the plant were responsible for the quick reduction of silver ion (Ag(+)) to metallic silver nanoparticles (Ag(0)). The reduced silver nanoparticles were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), XRD, FTIR, UV-vis spectroscopy. The spherical shaped silver nanoparticles were observed and it was found to be 16-28 nm range of sizes. The diffraction pattern also confirmed that the higher percentage of silver with fine particles size. The antibacterial property of synthesized nanoparticles was observed by Kirby-Bauer method with clinically isolated multi-drug resistant bacteria such as Streptococcus pyogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. The plant materials mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles have comparatively rapid and less expensive and wide application to antibacterial therapy in modern medicine.

Biodiversity of microalgae in Western and Eastern Ghats, India.

The systematic study was conducted on the microalgal flora of Western Ghats and other parts of Eastern Ghats revealed a rich wetland algal resource for biotechnological exploration. The present study reveals with the diversity of microalgal flora in the region of Kodaikanal (10 degrees 14' N, 77 degrees 28' E), Gudalur (9 degrees 19'N 77 degrees 12'E), Agasthiyar falls (9 degrees 58'N, 78 degrees 10'E) and Kolli hills (10 degrees 12'N, 77 degrees 56'E) located in Western and Eastern Ghats of Tamilnadu, India collected in May 2011. In total, 97 species of micro algae belonging to three taxonomic groups were identified, of which 41 species belonging to Cyanophyceae, 38 species from Chlorophyceae and 18 species from Bacillariophyceae. The predominant species in Cyanophyceae were Aphanothece microscopica, Chroococcus minutus, Coelospharium dubium, Hydrococcus rivularism, Oscillatoria princeps, Nostoc muscorum, Nostoc puncteforme, Nostoc commune, Gleotricha gausii, Calothrix braunii, Rivellaria sp., Tolypothrix tenuis, Scytonema schmidtii, whereas in Chlorophyceae, Chlorella sp., Scenedesmus sp., Pediastrum duplex, Cosmarium consperum, Euastrum elagans, Micrasterias americana and in Bacillariophyceae, Navicula hallophyla, Rhophaldia gebrella, Fragellaria intermedia, Pinnularia virdis, Nitzchia palliate. Physicochemical nature of water samples were analyzed and correlated with the total microalgal diversity. Based on the correlation coefficient data, the micro algae showed positive relationship with dissolved oxygen, salinity, nutrients and negative relationship with temperature and turbidity. The species diversity index (H'), Species Richness (SR) and species evenness (J') were calculated and analyzed for microalgal population dynamic variation in the Western and Eastern Ghats.

Biodiversity and molecular evolution of microalgae on different epiphytes and substrates.

An exploration of the microalgal biodiversity from different epiphytes and substrates of pool water in temple at Tiruchirappalli District was studied. Totally ten epiphytic forms were selected for this investigation. In that, totally 44 species of 30 genera belonging to 3 families of the Chlorophyceae, Cyanophyceae (heterocystous and non-heterocystous) and Bacillariophyceae were identified and recorded. The dominant species in this environment were Cyanobacteria (Chroococcus sp. and Oscillatoria sp., Phormidium sp.), Green algae (Tetradron sp. and Scenedesmus sp.) and Diatom (Fragilaria sp. and Navicula sp.) were documented. The molecular taxonomy of cyanobacteria were also analyzed, in this regards, DNA was extracted; 16S rDNA gene was amplified and sequenced. The evolutionary relationship was found in the epiphytic microalgae by Neighbour-Joining method by construction of phylogenetic tree.

Evaluation of efficient extraction methods for recovery of photosynthetic pigments from microalgae.

Microalgal species are known to have pigments in their cellular constitute at the maximum and are valuable bioactive products. In the present study focused was on the evaluation of efficient extraction methods for photosynthetic pigments from microalgal species. They are, Chlorella sp., Acrochaete sp., Phormidium chlorinum, Jaaginema pseudogeminatum and Chroococcus sp. There are four different extraction methods were adopted for active recovery and are economically feasible such as direct extraction, mechanical grinding, heating and preheated solvent method. It was found that mechanical grinding method has extract two fold increased amount than the other methods. Additionally, this methods is inexpensive, less laborious and active extraction. It is suggested that this method could be used for the extraction of photosynthetic pigments from microalgae for pharmaceutical to biotechnological purpose.

Optimization of Antimicrobial Production by a Marine Actinomycete Streptomyces afghaniensis VPTS3-1 Isolated from Palk Strait, East Coast of India.

Totally 25 marine soil samples were collected from the region of Palk Strait of Bay of Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and were subjected to the isolation of actinomycetes. Sixty-eight morphologically distinct isolates were obtained and 37% (25) of them had antimicrobial activity. The potential producer was named as Streptomyces sp. VPTS3-1 and the phylogenetic evaluation on the basis of 16S rDNA sequence further categorized the organism as Streptomyces afghaniensis VPTS3-1. Further, the antimicrobial compound was extracted from the isolate using various solvents and the antimicrobial efficacies were tested against bacterial and fungal pathogens. In addition, in vitro optimization of parameters for the antimicrobial compound production revealed that the suitable pH as 7-8, the period of incubation as 9 days, temperature (30°C), salinity (2%), and starch and KNO3 as the suitable carbon and nitrogen sources respectively in starch-casein medium.

Effect of medicinal plants on Moraxella cattarhalis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the antimoraxella activity of Ethiopian medicinal plants extracts. METHODS: Two clinical isolates of Moraxella cattarhalis (M. cattarhalis) with different antibiotic sensitivity pattern were tested to determine their susceptibility to garlic [Allium sativum (A. sativum)], bark of cinnamon [Cinnamomum zeylanicum (C. zeylanicum)], clove [Syzygium aromaticum (S. aromaticum)], and leaves of avocado [Persea americana (P. americana)], rosemary [Rosmarinus officinalis (R. officinalis)] and prickly poppy [Argemone mexicana (A. mexicana)]. Disk diffusion assay and broth dilution method were used to measure zone of inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of plant extracts against M. cattarhalis. RESULTS: Both the strains of M. cattarhalis exhibited similar sensitivities to the extracts of medicinal plants. Antimoraxella activity was exhibited only by garlic, avocado leaves and cinnamon. Garlic was found to be more antagonistic to M. cattarhalis than cinnamon and avocado. Garlic and avocado leaves have shown similar MIC (30 mg/mL) where as their zone of inhibition (15 and 11 mm, respectively) were different. CONCLUSIONS: Garlic, cinnamon and avocado leaves extracts represents alternative source of natural antimicrobial substances for use in clinical practice for the treatment of cases of M. cattarhalis. Further research on the effects of these extracts on M. cattarhalis can be rewarding to pursue in the search for new broad spectrum antimicrobial agents.

Plant extract mediated synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles and its antibacterial activity against clinically isolated pathogens.

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles is under exploration is due to wide biomedical applications and research interest in nanotechnology. Bioreduction of silver nitrate (AgNO(3)) and chloroauric acid (HAuCl(4)) for the synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles respectively with the plant extract, Mentha piperita (Lamiaceae). The plant extract is mixed with AgNO(3) and HAuCl(2), incubated and studied synthesis of nanoparticles using UV-Vis spectroscopy. The nanoparticles were characterized by FTIR, SEM equipped with EDS. The silver nanoparticles synthesized were generally found to be spherical in shape with 90 nm, whereas the synthesized gold nanoparticles were found to be 150 nm. The results showed that the leaf extract of menthol is very good bioreductant for the synthesis of silver and gold nanoparticles and synthesized nanoparticles active against clinically isolated human pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.

Bioactive potential of seagrass bacteria against human bacterial pathogens.

Study of marine organisms for their bioactive potential, being an important part of marine ecosystem, has picked up the rhythm in recent years with the growing recognition of their importance in human life. Investigation was carried out to isolate 32 strains of endo and epiphytic bacteria in 2 seagrass species viz., Syringodium isoetifolium and Cymodocea serrulata. Morphologically different bacterial strains were tested against 5 antibiotic resistant human bacterial pathogens, of which 10 associated bacteria shown inhibitory activity against one or more bacterial pathogens. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Minimum bacterial concentration (MBC) determination with extracellular bioactive compounds from the associated bacteria reveals that, the strain ENC 5 showed inhibitory activity against all the bacterial pathogens with the maximum sensitivity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa at the MIC value of 500 microg ml(-1).