Search

Massive utilizations of chemical fertilizer in agriculture sector to improve the farming productivity have created increasing possibility of environmental damages. Severe human health issues, global warming, poor fertility and high cost of soil maintenance are the major side effects of the utilizations of inorganic fertilizers and needs immediate attention. To overcome these issues, agriculture farming has been shifted towards the development of organic fertilizers using natural bio-resources. Organic fertilizers have several advantages like low-cost, being produced from the renewable resources and are highly efficient to improve the productivity of soil and agriculture product, rapidly. Additionally, bio-fertilizers not only increase the production, nutrients and organic matter but also neutralize the harmful impacts caused by the chemical fertilizers due to the potential combination of the microorganisms with organic wastes. Food wastes have tremendous potential to enhance the production of bio-fertilizers because these wastes are present in bio-degradable forms and may efficiently accelerate the activity of the microbial metabolic. Thus, the present review summarizes an overview of the production strategy of bio-fertilizers using the combination of food wastes and microorganisms. Further, in depth discussion have been done about the microbial digestion of food wastes to produce biofertilizer along with discussions about the possible mechanisms involved therein. Plant growth promoting microorganisms and their mechanisms have been also analyzed in the present review along with the existing limitations and sustainable future prospective.

Petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals are the two major soil contaminants that are released into the environment in the forms of industrial effluents. These contaminants exert serious impacts on human health and the sustainability of the environment. In this context, remediation of these pollutants via a biological approach can be effective, low-cost, and eco-friendly approach. The implementation of microorganisms and metagenomics are regarded as the advanced solution for remediating such pollutants. Further, microbiomes can overcome this issue via adopting specific structural, functional and metabolic pathways involved in the microbial community to degrade these pollutants. Genomic sequencing and library can effectively channelize the degradation of these pollutants via microbiomes. Nevertheless, more advanced technology and reliable strategies are required to develop. The present review provides insights into the role of microbiomes to effectively remediate/degrade petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals in contaminated soil. The possible degradation mechanisms of these pollutants have also been discussed in detail along with their existing limitations. Finally, prospects of the bioremediation strategies using microbiomes are discussed.

The present review explores fruit wastes as potential and low-cost substrates for economical production of cellulase enzymes. Being renewable, vast availability and having rich organic nutrient, these fruit wastes can be exploited to produce cellulase enzyme for various industrial applications. This review aimed to explore recent insight in sustainable production of microbial cellulolytic enzymes following solid state fermentation (SSF) wherein different types of fruit wastes as a potentially viable and alternative form of substrates have been utilized. In addition, detailed about the characteristics, mechanisms and market scenario of cellulase enzymes produced through a range of microbial species have been discussed. Further, impacts of different physicochemical parameters on solid-state fermentation based enzyme production and scale up issues have also analyzed. Moreover, applications of cellulases to produce different types of biofuels have been evaluated while emphases are made on existing hindrances and the possible strategies to improve the enzyme production process using fruit wastes.

Applications of thermostable enzymes in various industries are highly demanding, and considered as one of the most feasible solutions to gain the high productivity of the related bio-processing. Nevertheless, cost-intensive production of enzymes with low reactivity and stability make them non-suitable for different sustainable industrial applications. Focusing on this aspect, the present study deals with the sustainable and low-cost green synthesis of Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) using rice straw extract as the food waste which function as the natural reducing reagent and investigates the utility of IONPs to improve the thermo-stability of enzyme. Herein, physiochemical properties of newly synthesized IONPs have been analyzed through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Moreover, impact of green route synthesized IONPs is studied to improve the thermal stability of commercially available endo-glucanase (EG) enzyme as a model system. It is noticed that IONPs significantly supported to enhance the thermal stability of EG enzyme, wherein enzyme exhibited thermal stability at 70 °C up to 15 h, and suggesting high potential of thermally stable enzyme for numerous industrial applications.

Microbes recycling nutrient and detoxifying ecosystems are capable to fulfil the future energy need by producing biohydrogen by due to the coupling of autotrophic and heterotrophic microbes. In granules microbes mutualy exchanging nutrients and electrons for hydrogen production. The consortial biohydrogen production depend upon constituent microbes, their interdependence, competition for resources, and other operating parameters while remediating a waste material in nature or bioreactor. The present review deals with development of granular algae-bacteria consortia, hydrogen yield in coculture, important enzymes and possible engineering for improved hydrogen production.

Background Human Cytomegalovirus (CMV), because of its ability to extensively manipulate host immunity during active infection, has been suggested to be involved in autoimmunity. However, its influence on T-cells and cytokines in systemic autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and systemic sclerosis (SSc) is indistinct. Methods We investigated the in-vitro response of T lymphocytes from SLE and SSc patients to CMV antigen. Functional activity of T lymphocytes was determined by estimating Th1 (IL-2 and IFN-γ) and Th2 (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines. Results We observed that CMV antigen stimulation in-vitro resulted in significant increase in CD4:CD8 T-cell ratio in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SLE and SSc patients; response dominated by CD4+ than CD8+ memory T-cells. SSc T-cell response was differentiated by aberrant increase in CD4+CD25+ T-cells. CMV antigen caused elevation in IL-4 and IFN-γ production in both patient PBMCs, whereas IL-2 was also raised in SLE PBMCs. The development of large pool of memory T-cells and overproduction of IFN-γ may result in flare-up of autoimmunity in these patients. Conclusion Our study provides an insight into the immunopathological potential of CMV-reactive immune cells to develop new potential strategies for targeted therapeutic intervention.

Powassan virus (POWV) is responsible for encephalitis and severe neurological sequelae globally. Peptide target based designing offers a promising therapeutic invention for the eradication of viral infection. Immunoinformatics serves as a powerful tool to screen and select antigenic peptide sequences as potential epitopes for binding affinity with HLA alleles. In the present study, a computational pipeline was developed for the identification of B-cell and T-cell epitopes for suitable vaccine candidates. Further, immunogenicity and physico-chemical prediction studies enable the discrimination between antigens and non-antigens. Considering the population setting globally, population coverage analysis was also performed for the identification of possible binding alleles (MHC class-I and MHC class-II) of T-cell epitopes.This computational prediction analysis will enhance our understanding of B-cell/T-cell immune response and assist in selecting the antigenic peptide(s) for the formulation of antigen based diagnostic kit or peptide based subunit vaccine design against POWV.

The emergence of multi-drug resistant strains and co-occurrence of tuberculosis with HIV creates a major burden to the human health globally. Failure of primary antibacterial therapy necessitates the identification of new mycobacterial drugs. In this study, a comprehensive analysis involving bottom-up systems biology approach was applied wherein we have identified potential therapeutic targets of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections. Our study prioritized M. tuberculosis therapeutic targets [aspartate-β-semialdeyhde dehydrogenase (ASD), dihydrodipicolinate reductase and diaminopimelate decarboxylase] based on flux and elementary mode analysis using direct mathematical modeling of the relevant metabolic pathways. Molecular docking and simulation studies of the priority target (i.e., ASD) revealed the therapeutic potential of the selected natural products (Huperzine A, Rosmarinic acid and Curcumin) based ASD inhibitors. The study highlights the crucial role of systems biology in conjunction with molecular interaction (docking) for probing novel leads against an increasingly resistant pathogen, M. tuberculousis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

The incidences of melanomas are increasing by leaps and bounds across the globe despite early detection and intervention. The numbers of patients dying from metastatic melanoma have been continually increased over the past thirty years. It has been considered as one of the most therapy-resistant malignancies due to the cross-resistant mechanism developed by the metastatic cells. With time, many new therapies came and they failed miserably. Ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody that works to activate the immune system by targeting CTLA-4 proved to be a boon for advance melanoma very recently. But it could not stand firmly against the resistant metastatic skin cancer cells. Now, the new skin cancer drug named pembrolizumab proved as a new miraculous molecule. It's a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks a biological pathway called programmed cell death-1 (PD-1), which melanoma cells activate to suppress the immune system. This antibody has surpassed ipilimumab at all the stages of clinical trials because of its non-cross resistant mechanism to malignant cells. The present review critically analyses the reasons of efficacy success of pembrolizumab over ipilizumab shown at various stages of clinical trials.

Background: DNA methyltransferase-3B (DNMT3B) plays a key role in establishment and maintenance of genomic methylation patterns. Polymorphism in promoter region -149 C>T (C46359T) of DNMT3B gene may alter DNMT3B activity which leads to increased susceptibility to cancer. Inconsistent results regarding this have been reported in a number of studies. Objective: To carry out a meta-analysis of the studies reported to assess the precise relationship between the DNMT3B -149 C>T polymorphism and the overall cancer risk. Method: PubMed (MEDLINE) web database was searched for the studies concerning DNMT3B -149 C>T polymorphism and its association with cancer risk. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) along with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated for all the genetic models, from the selected case-control studies, by meta-analysis. Results: Overall eighteen studies containing 5583 cancer cases and 7618 controls were analyzed. No significant risk was observed overall for T allele carrier (T vs. C: p=0.303; OR=1.032, 95% CI=0.972-1.097), homozygous (TT vs. CC: p=0.336; OR=1.063, 95% CI=0.939–1.204), heterozygous (CT vs. CC: p=0.802; OR=1.022, 95% CI=0.860-1.216), dominant (TT vs. CC+CT: p=0.298; OR=1.101, 95% CI=0.919-1.319) and recessive (TT+CT vs. CC: p=0.656; OR=1.021, 95% CI=0.931-1.121) genetic models. Subgroup analysis of Asian and Caucasian populations also did not demonstrate any cancer risk in all the genetic models studied. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis proposes that the DNMT3B -149 C>T polymorphism may not be an independent predisposing factor for the risk of cancer. However, larger sample size and expression studies are required to confirm the observation.

The association of A1513C (rs3751143) polymorphism of P2X7 gene with the risk of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) has been extensively analyzed, but no consensus has been achieved. In this study, a meta-analysis was done to assess this precise association. Online web databases, like PubMed (MEDLINE) and EMBASE were searched for pertinent reports showing association of P2X7 A1513C polymorphism with EPTB risk. To assess the strength of this association, we calculated pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). A total of eight reports involving 2237controls and 594 EPTB cases were included in this study. Four genetic models, viz. allele (C vs. A: p=0.011; OR= 1.677, 95% CI = 1.125-2.501), homozygous (CC vs. AA: p = 0.053; OR= 2.362, 95% CI = 0.991-5.632), heterozygous (AC vs. AA: p = 0.003; OR= 1.775, 95% CI = 1.209-2.607) and dominant (CC + AC vs. AA: p = 0.005; OR= 1.890, 95% CI = 1.207-2.962) showed significant associations compared with wild type genotypes. Subgroup analysis stratified by ethnicity was also performed and the results suggested that homozygous and heterozygous genotypes were associated significantly with increased susceptibility of EPTB in Asian population. Similarly, heterozygous and dominant models showed increased EPTB risk in Caucasian population. The present meta-analysis suggests that P2X7 A1513C polymorphism may be an important risk factor for EPTB. Also, our sub-group analysis indicates that P2X7 A1513C polymorphism confers increased EPTB risk among Asians and Caucasians. However, future larger studies are needed to provide more precise conclusion and endorse the present results.

Objectives: The role of caveolin-1 (CAV1)(G>A, rs3807987) polymorphism is still dubious in cancer causation in Taiwanese population. The present study is an effort to assess the above relation for precise conclusion. Methods: EMBASE and PubMed (MEDLINE) databases were explored for the pertinent case–control studies reporting the connection of CAV1 G14713A polymorphism to the vulnerability to cancer. A cumulative analysis using meta-analytic approach was accomplished and pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated for all the polymorphs. Results: Overall, 2549 subjects and 3161 controls were analyzed from six selected studies. Our study showed no confirmation of noteworthy risk between CAV1 G14713A polymorphism and susceptibility to cancer in any of the polymorph, for instance, allele (A vs. G: P = 0.165; OR = 1.252, 95% CI = 0.911–1.721), homozygous (AA vs. GG: P = 0.252; OR = 1.328, 95% CI = 0.817–2.157), heterozygous (AG vs. GG: P = 0.091; OR = 1.356, 95% CI = 0.952–1.930), dominant (AA vs. GG + AG: P = 0.345; OR = 1.191, 95% CI = 0.829–1.709), and recessive (AA + AG vs. GG: P = 0.125; OR = 1.344, 95% CI = 0.921–1.961). Conclusions: We conclude that CAV1 G14713A polymorphism does not contribute as an independent predisposing risk factor for developing cancer in Taiwanese population.

Efficient cell lysis for intracellular protein recovery is a major bottleneck in the economics and commercial feasibility of any biotechnological process. Grinding of cells with abrasive beads, also known as bead milling remains a method of choice, as it can handle a large volume of cells. Bead mills when operated in a continuous mode substantiate to be economical, and more productive as compared to a batch mode process. In this study, the recovery of recombinant cholesterol oxidase (COD) was investigated and optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) based on Central Composite Design (CCD) in a continuous bead milling process. Process parameters, viz. slurry feed rate (A), bead loading (B), cell loading (C) and process time (D) were found to be significant during the continuous bead milling process. A polynomial model was developed to correlate the participating factors for efficient cell disruption. Optimized conditions yielded 3.20 g L−1 (∼90%) of COD with A = 300.6 mL h−1, B = 77.5% (v/v), C = 69.9 (OD600 nm) and D = 29.7 (min), when compared to existing batch mode operations (3.56 g L−1). This is the very first study that attempts to optimize a continuous bead milling process using RSM to maximize the intracellular protein (COD in this case) recovery with minimum inputs to make the process economical and scalable to industrial levels. The developed model in this study can be scaled-up to large-scale for efficient recovery of intracellular proteins in similar expression systems.

Purification of any bioactive compound obtained by biotransformation process is a critical aspect for its quality and recovery leading to its commercial viability. In this study, several solvents and their interactions were studied for the recovery of 3-demethylated colchicine (3-DMC; anti-cancer drug) from the fermentation medium. Due to inherent toxicity of chloroform, we also aimed at its removal from the solvent extraction system. A quadratic mixture model was developed using RSM with interaction terms as shown by contour/3D plots. A set of 15 experiments were performed and validated with different solvent combinations. In this study, the developed polynomial model showed a high F -value (362.36) and R 2 value (0.99) which suggests the suitability of D-optimal design to predict the responses accurately. The results indicated higher recoveries of 5.95 g/l of 3-DMC, without the use of chloroform enabling efficient extraction of 3-DMC for commercial applications.

The involvement of the VDR ApaI gene polymorphism in the development of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) has been reported by numerous published studies and yielded inconsistent results. The present meta-analysis evaluated the association of VDR ApaI polymorphism and risk of PTB occurrence.PubMed (Medline), EMBASE and Google Scholar web-databases were searched and a meta-analysis was performed by calculating the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).This meta-analysis included a total of 14 eligible studies comprising of 1958 confirmed PTB cases and 2938 controls. We observed decreased risk of PTB in allelic (a vs. A:In conclusion, VDR ApaI polymorphism is significantly associated with decreased risk of PTB for in overall and African population, but not in Asians.

Fullerenes have tremendous potential for human biological studies which may further lead to their therapeutic applications. Hence, it has become necessary to explore the possibility of their interference with various important cellular processes. The current study was designed to explore how the presence of fullerenes can affect the binding of DNA with different enzymes and factors involved in transcription and translation process.Various bioinformatics approaches and software programs were used to study the effect of fullerenes on the binding pattern of DNA with different enzymes and factors involved in transcription and translation process.Fullerenes of different molecular weights were interacted with various transcription enzymes and factors and no significant effects were observed on transcription machinery. On the contrary, the factors involved in translation process when docked with their functional partners in the presence/absence of fullerenes display reduced activity of eIF2, eIF4A, eIF4H, eIF4G, eIF4B, eIF5B, and eEF1 with fullerenes of different molecular weights.We conclude that these molecules mostly control the translation of a number of genes. The reduced expression of these factors may cause a number of clinical pathological conditions including neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases.

Introduction: The prevalence of drug resistance in clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates [UAE]) countries was appraised using reports published between January 2002 and March 2013. Methodology: A total of 11,393 tuberculosis (TB) isolates from the GCC were studied through published literature and were analyzed statistically. Results: Most of the isolates were resistant to isoniazid, followed by streptomycin, rifampin, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide. The highest prevalence rate of multidrug-resistant-TB (MDR-TB) was found in UAE (9.2%), followed by Kuwait (5.9%) and Saudi Arabia (4.3%). The overall MDR-TB prevalence rate was recorded as 4.0% in the entire GCC region. Automated linear modeling revealed that isoniazid resistance had a strong relationship with the prevalence of MDR-TB in all the GCC countries and was found to be the strongest predictor for MDR-TB. Interestingly, rifampicin resistance was significantly associated with the prevalence of MDR-TB in Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, while isoniazid was identified for UAE. On the basis of a number of reports and isolates, the principal component analysis showed that, among all GCC member countries, the highest burden of TB was in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and maximum drug resistance was present in UAE. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that the prevalence of MDR-TB in GCC countries is almost equal to other developing and developed countries, and requires immediate attention for surveillance and control.

Celiac disease (CD) remains one of the most significant autoimmune diseases worldwide. The pathogenesis of CD is not clearly understood and is probably attributed to genomic variations and host genetic make-up. Case-control and cohort studies of the association between the TNF-α -308 G > A (rs1800629) polymorphism and CD susceptibility have yielded inconsistent results. In this study, PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar web-databases were searched for pertinent reports showing association of TNF-α -308 G > A gene with CD risk. A total of eleven reports involving 1774 controls and 1147 CD cases were included. Significant associations in four genetic models, viz. variant allele (A vs. G: p = 0.001; OR = 2.051, 95% CI = 1.452–2.895), variant homozygous (AA vs. GG: p = 0.001; OR = 6.626, 95% CI = 3.569–12.300), recessive (AA vs. GG + AG: p = 0.001; OR = 4.766, 95% CI = 3.177–7.152) and dominant (AA + AG vs. GG: p = 0.008; OR = 1.910, 95% CI = 1.181–3.088) were found in comparison with wild type homozygous GG genotype. However, heterozygous genetic model did not show any association. Sensitivity analysis revealed stable and statistically robust results. Our results suggest that TNF-α -308 G > A gene polymorphism significantly contributes to CD susceptibility.

Cryptosporidium is a coccidian protozoan parasite of the intestinal tract that causes severe and sometimes fatal watery diarrhea in immunocompromised patients, and self-limiting but prolonged diarrheal disease in immunocompetent individuals. It exists naturally in animals and can be zoonotic. Although cryptosporidiosis is a significant cause of diarrheal diseases in both developing and developed countries, it is more prevalent in developing countries and in tropical environments. We examined the epidemiology and disease burden of Cryptosporidium in Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries by reviewing 23 published studies of Cryptosporidium and the etiology of diarrhea between 1986 and 2006. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in humans ranged from 1% to 37% with a median of 4%, while in animals it was different for different species of animals and geographic locations of the studies. Most cases of cryptosporidiosis occurred among children less than 7 years of age, and particularly in the first two years of life. The seasonality of Cryptosporidium varied depending on the geographic locations of the studies, but it was generally most prevalent in the rainy season. The most commonly identified species was Cryptosporidium parvum while C. hominis was detected in only one study from Kuwait. The cumulative experience from Saudi Arabia and four neighboring countries (Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and Iraq) suggest that Cryptosporidium is an important cause of diarrhea in humans and cattle. However, the findings of this review also demonstrate the limitations of the available data regarding Cryptosporidium species and strains in circulation in these countries.

Objectives: Vitamin D has been shown to hamper the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in macrophages. The actions of vitamin D are exerted through a vitamin D receptor (VDR). The genetic variant TaqI of VDR has been implicated in tuberculosis (TB) risk in several case-control studies. However, these studies have shown inconsistent results. Hence, a meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the potential relationship between VDR TaqI polymorphism and risk of developing TB. Materials and Methods: We performed a quantitative synthesis for published studies based upon the relationship between TaqI polymorphism and TB risk from PubMed (Medline) and Embase databases. The meta-analysis was performed and pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for all genetic models. Results: A total of 21 studies including 2,960 TB cases and 3,894 controls were included in this study. The pooled analysis demonstrated no evidence of association between VDR TaqI genotypes and risk of TB in any of the genetic models; variant (t vs T: P = 0.618; OR = 1.051, 95% CI = 0.864-1.278), homozygous (tt vs TT: P = 0.120; OR = 1.336, 95% CI = 0.927-1.924), heterozygous (Tt vs TT: P = 0.925; OR = 0.988, 95% CI = 0.774-1.262), dominant model (tt + Tt vs TT: P = 0.805; OR = 1.032, 95% CI = 0.805-1.322), and recessive model (tt vs TT + Tt: P = 0.180; OR = 1.229, 95% CI = 0.909-1.660). No publication bias was detected during the analysis. Conclusions: Overall findings of this meta-analysis suggest that genetic polymorphism TaqI of VDR gene may not contribute to the risk of TB. However, future larger studies with group of populations are warranted to analyze this relationship.