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The present work was conducted to isolate, screen and identify polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB)-producing bacteria from municipal wastes. Samples were collected from dumping sites of Maiduguri Borno State and were checked for their bacterial population using nutrient agar and PHB Detection agar (PDA). A total of 20 PHB-producing bacteria were isolated and identified. Of the total, four of the isolates were found to be from Paenibacillus spp. while the remaining 16 were Bacillus spp. Isolates from Ngomari Custin denoted as NC 5, 2; NC 7, and NC 5A were suspected to be Paenibacillus favisporus, Bacillus lentus, and Bacillus firmus respectively while others of NC 7A X, NC 6A and NC 7A Y of the same site were all found to be Bacillus smithii. Isolates from Old Maiduguri Graveyard denoted as OMG 5X, OMG 7, OMG 6 and OMG 5A were all found to be Bacillus smithii. The isolates from Flour Mill Area denoted as FMA 5A, FMA 6A, FMA Y, and FMA7B were found to be Bacillus smithii, Paenibacillus nanensis, Bacillus acidiceler and Paenibacillus septentrionalis respectively. On the other hand, isolates from Ramat Square site denoted as RS 6,2; RS 6A, RS 5, RS 7,2 were registered as Bacillus nealsonii, Paenibacillus cookie, Bacillus firmus and Bacillus megaterium respectively. Those of RS 5B and RS 7A of the same sample site were both Bacillus acidiceler and their granules were stained by Nile Blue A staining and observed under the fluorescence microscope and were classified for the extent of their PHB production based on the intensity of fluorescence emitted under the microscopy. NC 7 produced the highest PHB yield compared to all other isolates. Hence, municipal wastes are a rich reservoir of PHB-producing bacteria and can readily produce (PHB), which has enormous advantages over petroleum-based polymers by means of cost effectiveness and eco-friendliness

Plant secondary metabolites had provided important bioactive principles for developing new lead compounds. Within their confinement, they exhibit unique chemical diversity, which influence their diverse biological properties. The vitaceae family are known for their potent antioxidant and antibacterial phytoconstituents, among other biological properties. Cyphostemma adenocaule is one of the family members explored for its ethnomedicinal properties. This study undertook the evaluation of the phytochemical, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the root extract of Cyphostemma adenocaule, as well as, evaluating their Biological properties; antioxidant activity (DPPH assay) and antibacterial activity (agar well diffusion test). Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, carbohydrates & glycoside, alkaloids, saponins and tannins. The methanol root extract had the highest percentage in the DPPH assay, providing 50% inhibition IC50 of 10.87µg/ml, followed by nHexane (IC50 74.10µg/ml) and chloroform (IC50 74.31µg/ml) extract. In the antibacterial assay, the chloroform extract was active against E. coli (24.00±0.15) and moderate activity against Staph. aureus (12.5±0.18). The nHex extract was completely inactive against the test organism while the methanol extract showed poor activity against the test organism. The present study adds to the existing literature on Cyphostemma adenocaule with scientific evidence into its biological properties. Keywords: Cyphostemma adenocaule, Phytochemical screening, antioxidant and antibacterial activity

The UDP-N-acetylenolpyruvoylglucosamine reductase (MurB) catalyzes the final steps of the UDP-N-acetylmuramic acid (UDPMurNAc) formation in the peptidoglycan biosynthesis pathway. The absence of this pathway in mammals made it an attractive target for drug development in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). In this study, the crystal structure of MurB from MTB (PDB Code: 5JZX and resolution of 2.2 A) bound to FAD and K+ was obtained from Protein Data Bank (PDB). A total of 2157 compounds with the best binding conformations were obtained from the Zinc database through virtual screening. These compounds further screened for drug-likeness, pharmacokinetic properties, physicochemical properties (Lipinski rule of five), and molecular docking analysis to identified ligands with desirable therapeutic properties and good binding energies against MurB. The ligands with the best binding energies were subjected to molecular dynamic (MD) simulation and Molecular Mechanics Generalized-Born Surface Area (MM-GBSA) analyses. The results of the molecular docking and pharmacokinetics analyses revealed that seven compounds (7) had minimum binding energies ranged between – 11.80 and – 10.39 kcal/mol, lower than the binding energy of FAD ( – 10.06 kcal/mol). Four compounds with best binding energies (ZINC19837204 = – 11.80 kcal/mol, ZINC11839554 = – 11.47 kcal/mol, ZINC14976552 = – 10.77 kcal/mol) and ability to interact with the residues (ZINC12242812 = – 10.39 kcal/mol) of the substrate-binding site further selected for the molecular dynamic (MD) simulation analysis. The MD simulation showed that all the four ligands formed stable complexes in the binding site of the MurB after the 50 ns MD simulation. These compounds proposed to be novel inhibitors of MTB after in vivo and in vitro validation.

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an infectious virus that causes mild to severe life-threatening upper respiratory tract infection. The virus emerged in Wuhan, China in 2019, and later spread across the globe. Its genome has been completely sequenced and based on the genomic information, the virus possessed 3C-Like Main Protease (3CLpro), an essential multifunctional enzyme that plays a vital role in the replication and transcription of the virus by cleaving polyprotein at eleven various sites to produce different non-structural proteins. This makes the protein an important target for drug design and discovery. Herein, we analyzed the interaction between the 3CLpro and potential inhibitory compounds identified from the extracts of Zingiber offinale and Anacardium occidentale using in silico docking and Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulation. The crystal structure of SARS-CoV-2 main protease in complex with 02J (5-Methylisoxazole-3-carboxylic acid) and PEJ (composite ligand) (PDB Code: 6LU7,2.16Å) retrieved from Protein Data Bank (PDB) and subject to structure optimization and energy minimization. A total of twenty-nine compounds were obtained from the extracts of Zingiber offinale and the leaves of Anacardium occidentale. These compounds were screened for physicochemical (Lipinski rule of five, Veber rule, and Egan filter), Pan-Assay Interference Structure (PAINS), and pharmacokinetic properties to determine the Pharmaceutical Active Ingredients (PAIs). Of the 29 compounds, only nineteen (19) possessed drug-likeness properties with efficient oral bioavailability and less toxicity. These compounds subjected to molecular docking analysis to determine their binding energies with the 3CLpro. The result of the analysis indicated that the free binding energies of the compounds ranged between ˗5.08 and -10.24kcal/mol, better than the binding energies of 02j (-4.10kcal/mol) and PJE (-5.07kcal.mol). Six compounds (CID_99615 = -10.24kcal/mol, CID_3981360 = 9.75kcal/mol, CID_9910474 = -9.14kcal/mol, CID_11697907 = -9.10kcal/mol, CID_10503282 = -9.09kcal/mol and CID_620012 = -8.53kcal/mol) with good binding energies further selected and subjected to MD Simulation to determine the stability of the protein-ligand complex. The results of the analysis indicated that all the ligands form stable complexes with the protein, although, CID_9910474 and CID_10503282 had a better stability when compared to other selected phytochemicals (CID_99615, CID_3981360, CID_620012, and CID_11697907).