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Escherichia coli is the major causative agent of urinary tract infections worldwide and the emergence of multi-drug resistant determinants among clinical isolates necessitates the development of novel therapeutic agents. Lytic bacteriophages efficiently kill specific bacteria and seems promising approach in controlling infections caused by multi-drug resistant pathogens. This study aimed the isolation and detailed characterization of lytic bacteriophage designated as ES10 capable of lysing multidrug-resistant uropathogenic E. coli. ES10 had icosahedral head and non-contractile tail and genome size was 48,315 base pairs long encoding 74 proteins. Antibiotics resistance, virulence and lysogenic cycle associated genes were not found in ES10 phage genome. Morphological and whole genome analysis of ES10 phage showed that ES10 is the member of Drexlerviridae. Latent time of ES10 was 30 min, burst size was 90, and optimal multiplicity of infection was 1. ES10 was stable in human blood and subsequently caused 99.34% reduction of host bacteria. Calcium chloride shortened the adsorption time and latency period of ES10 and significantly inhibited biofilm formation of host bacteria. ES10 caused 99.84% reduction of host bacteria from contaminated fomites. ES10 phage possesses potential to be utilized in standard phage therapy.

With the growing demand for vegetable oils, alternative non-edible feedstocks like Jatropha curcas seed oil have gained interest for biodiesel production. The study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the physicochemical properties and biodiesel production potential of locally produced J. curcas seeds in Pakistan. Two different approaches were applied: a chemical synthesis approach involving acidic pretreatment and alkaline transesterification, and a biosynthetic approach using a lipase-producing strain of the Bacillus subtilis Q5 strain. The microbial biosynthesized biodiesel was further optimized using the Plackett–Burman design. The physicochemical properties of the J. curcas methyl esters were analyzed to assess their suitability as biodiesel fuel. Initially, the raw oil had a high free fatty acid content of 13.11%, which was significantly reduced to 1.2% using sulfuric acid pretreatment, keeping the oil to methanol molar ratio to be 1:12. Afterward, alkaline transesterification of purified acid-pretreated seed oil resulted in 96% biodiesel yield at an oil to methanol molar ratio of 1:6, agitation of 600 revolutions per minute (RPM), temperature 60°C, and time 2 h. Moreover, alkaline transesterification yielded ∼98% biodiesel at the following optimized conditions: oil to methanol molar ratio 1:6, KOH 1%, time 90 min, and temperature 60°C. Similarly, the Bacillus subtilis Q5 strain yielded ∼98% biodiesel at the following optimized conditions: oil: methanol ratio of 1:9, agitation 150 RPM, inoculum size 10%, temperature 37°C, and n-hexane 10%. The fuel properties of J. curcas seed biodiesel are closely related to standard values specified by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM D6751–20a), indicating its potential as a viable biodiesel fuel source.

To utilize wastes and residues sustainably and excellently, there is a need to fend for efficient methods and resources for biogas production. Use of poultry waste for biogas production represents one of the most important routes toward reaching global renewable energy targets. The current study involves microbial pretreatment of chicken feather waste, followed by its co-digestion with rice husk and green grocery waste in batch and continuous reactors, respectively. Microbial pretreatment of chicken feathers by keratinase secreting Pseudomonas aeruginosa was an effective and eco-friendly approach to make its recalcitrant structure available as a raw substrate for biogas production. The current study also addressed the enhancement and stability of anaerobic digestion by co-digestion. Results demonstrated that biogas production was increased by microbial pretreatment of chicken feathers and that the percentage increase in biogas yield was 1.1% in microbialy pretreated feathers compared to mono-digestion (non-pretreated feathers) in batch fermentation. The highest yield of biogas was obtained in a batch reactor having co-digestion of pretreated rice husk and microbial pretreated chicken feathers. The co-digestion of chicken feathers hydrolysate with green grocery waste in continuous fermentation mode has also enhanced the biogas yield as compared to average of mono-digestion (chicken feather hydrolysate and green grocery waste) and, therefore, improve the efficiency of the overall process.