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A Schiff base bearing two methyl substituents, namely, 6,6'-((1

Plant secondary metabolites and their derivatives play a significant role in anticancer drug therapy since they are effective against specific characteristics while reducing side effects. Dillapiole is a phenylpropanoid that holds several bioactivities like anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-leishmanial, and anti-cancer. This study aims to investigate the possible cytotoxic effect of dillapiole on human breast cancer, MCF-7 cells. Cells were cultured in complete RPMI media and incubated at standard culture conditions. After the cells reached 80% confluency, cells were treated with various concentrations (ranging from 0 µM to 150 µM) of dillapiole and tamoxifen as a positive control. Cells were later incubated at 48 and 72 hours. Using WST-1 assay, the cytotoxic effect was determined for both incubation times. Results show tamoxifen inhibited the MCF-7 cells with the IC50 at 75.9 µM and 39.8 µM for 48 and 72 hours respectively. Parallel with the positive control results, there was a significant cytotoxic effect of dillapiole against MCF-7 cells at 48- and 72-hours incubation with the IC50 at 92.1 µM and 63.1 µM respectively. Based on these results, dillapiole was cytotoxic against MCF-7 cells and its cytotoxic activity was both in a time and dose-dependent manner (

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that has affected around 50-70 million people worldwide. Various animal models have previously been used in epilepsy research. To expand the knowledge of the disease, a new animal model is suggested to be explored considering the genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity that contributes to the complexity of the disease. This study was undertaken to analyze 14 causative genes of epilepsy disease in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), humans, and the established model of this disease which is zebrafish (Danio rerio) by assessing the variation in the genes by using MEGA X and predicting the functional motif and secondary structure of the proteins by using PROSITE and GORIV respectively. Results from the variation analysis showed the lowest percentage of conserved genes in Japanese medaka was 60%.50% of the genes of Japanese medaka were found to be more conserved than zebrafish in comparison to a human. The functional motifs present in all genes in Japanese medaka showed the same motifs present in humans. All the secondary structures of Japanese medaka genes were predicted to contain the alpha helix, extended strand, and random coil. In conclusion, it can be inferred that Japanese medaka could be a reliable animal model for epilepsy disease.

The rapid rise in soybean prices has necessitated a potential replacement protein source for animal feed. Azolla is a Salviniaceae duckweed with valuable properties that have captivated the public. Its abundance reduces feed costs, which account for the majority of overall production costs. The research on Azolla is extensive, but the efficiency as a potential feed for livestock and poultry is limited. Thus, there is an urgent need to study the efficacy of Azolla as feed materials. A systematic literature review was conducted to collect and analyze information on Azolla as feed materials. Following the Report Standards for Systematic Evidence Synthesis (ROSES) protocol, 13 studies (years 2000-2021) were extracted and reviewed from Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. Three aspects were primarily highlighted to review the efficacy of using Azolla as feed: (1) feed conversion rate, (2) growth performance, and (3) biological effects on poultry and livestock. This study revealed that the efficacy and proportion of Azolla in feed vary by animal type. The findings offer greater information on current research directions on this subject.

Research on atrazine has expanded over the past decade. Studies focussing on the adverse effects of atrazine, methods for atrazine removal, and evaluation of water quality have been conducted. Atra...

Polygalacturonase represents an important enzyme of the pectinase consortium in the food and beverage industry. The present study aims to isolate, screen, and enhance physicochemical parameters for enzyme production under submerged fermentation. A total of 34 fungal strains were obtained from rotten fruits and 70.6 % of them are able to produce polygalacturonase by degrading pectin in pectin screening agar. The fungal isolate (SO5) that exhibited the greatest diameter of the hydrolysis zone (45.3 ± 0.04 mm) was selected for further study and later identified as Aspergillus sp. SO5, based on morphological characteristics using light microscopic observation. Several physicochemical parameters improved for pectinase production including incubation temperature, initial pH, agitation speed, inoculum density, and carbon and nitrogen sources. Under improved conditions, the polygalacturonase activity and fungal biomass increased up to 74.63 and 69.44 %, respectively. The finding also revealed that the improved physicochemical conditions enhance enzyme production and shorten the incubation period from 6 days to 5 days. HIGHLIGHTS This research paper highlighted the capability of indigenous fungus (Aspergillus) to produce polygalacturonase. The finding revealed that the improved physicochemical conditions including agitation speed, inoculum size, the concentration of pectin, and incorporation of yeast extract in the culture medium could enhance polygalacturonase production by up to 74.63 % (34.21 ± 0.49 U/mL). The improved physicochemical conditions not only enhance the polygalacturonase production but shorten the incubation period to obtain optimum enzyme production. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

One of the top species in the aquaculture sector, known as striped catfish or Pangasianodon hypophthalmus, is an important and valuable freshwater fish in many countries. Due to the high demand for this species, their number has declined to "threatened" levels. Hence, the purpose of this study is to analyse the genetic variation of wild and cultured striped catfish collected from five producers in Asian countries; Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Philippines, by using mitochondrial DNA partial region data sequence; CO1 and cytochrome b gene. Population analyses using 395 base pairs length for CO1 and 275 base pairs length of cytochrome b partial region nucleotide sequence have shown no significance difference between wild and cultured striped catfish. Vietnam species had shown a wide range of genetic distance of the intrapopulation compared with other countries in the range of 0.000-0.040 for CO1 gene and 0.003-0.008 for cytochrome b gene. The Neighbour-joining method has also been used to construct phylogenetic trees using CO1 gene; the tree formed few subclades with mixed populations, and the tree using cytochrome b showed only Vietnam species divided into a few sub-populations. For the other four countries, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Philippines were in the same group. Hence, this study's findings may provide a reference for inter and intra-relationships of P. hypophthalmus that may help in the aquaculture activity of this striped catfish.

The 16S rRNA gene is a housekeeping genetic marker that is available in almost all bacterial species and it is used in bacterial phylogeny and taxonomy studies. In many studies, the 16S rRNA gene is used in identification of certain bacterial species. Being a less conserved genetic marker, certain studies found it is a useful tool to infer the genome-wide similarity levels among the closely related prokaryotic organisms. Thus, this study aimed to compare the variation in the 16S rRNA partial region of Burkholderia spp. that infect the panicle of rice from eight different geographical areas. 58 sequences with total of 688 base pairs (bp) of 16S rRNA gene in B. glumae and B. gladioli were retrieved from public database based on several countries namely United State, Panama, Ecuador, Thailand, China, India, Korea and Malaysia. Then, the data sequences were analysed and validated using MEGAX and ABGD software respectively. The result of phylogenetic tree confirmed that B. glumae and B. gladioli were species that present in the panicle blight of rice. However, Data Analysis in Molecular Biology and Evolution (DAMBE) and Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) software were not able to detect substitution saturation and divergence between B. glumae and B. gladioli respectively based on the 58 sequences of the 16S rRNA partial region. Hence, it proves that 16S rRNA gene is an ineffective genetic marker to be used to differentiate the closely related species of bacteria from similar genus.

A tetradentate ONNO Schiff base bearing two chloro substituents, namely 6,6′-((1E,1′E)-(cyclohexane-1,2-diylbis(azanylylidene))bis(methanylylidene))bis(2-chlorophenol) (AD2C), was obtained through condensation of 3-chlorosalicyladehyde with 1,2-cyclohexanediamine. Structure elucidation was performed through physicochemical and spectroscopic analyses viz. melting point, elemental analysis, FTIR, 1H and 13C NMR, UV-Visible and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The ν(C=N) was observed at 1626 cm−1 while the azomethine proton and carbon chemical shifts appeared at 8.27 ppm and 157.56 ppm, respectively. The n‒π*(C=N) absorption band was observed at 324 nm. The crystal structure was stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bond O˗H···N and intermolecular hydrogen bonds C˗H···O, C˗H···Cl, C˗H···π as well as π···π interactions. The existence of intermolecular interactions was confirmed through Hirshfeld analysis, showing high contribution of H⋯H contact. The B3LYP method was used to calculate the optimized structure of the molecule through density functional theory (DFT) using the 6–311++G(d, p) basis set and was found to be consistent with the X-ray diffraction value. The frontier molecular orbitals and molecular electrostatic potential of the compound investigated through DFT calculations revealed a significantly large energy gap of 4.615 eV and nucleophilic regions located at the hydroxyl groups. The compound showed no antibacterial activity against five bacterial strains namely Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Proteus vulgaris (ATCC 6380), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus Rosenbach (ATCC 6538) and Streptococcus mutans Clarke (ATCC 700,610).

A new Schiff base derived from cyclohexanediamine and 3-methylsalicylaldehyde was obtained. The Schiff base, 6,6′-((1E,1′E)-(cyclohexane-1,2-diylbis(azanylylidene))bis(methanylylidene))bis(2-methylphenol), (AD2Me) was characterized through elemental analysis, infrared, UV-Vis, 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The structure of the grown crystal was elucidated by using single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. The compound crystallized in the triclinic system, P-1 space group. The cell length and volume for AD2Me are a = 10.4582(11) A, b =10.8141(9) A, c =18.7472(14) A, α = 90.629(7)°, β = 92.444(7)°, γ = 109.561(9)° and V =1995.3(3) A3, respectively. The crystal structure is stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bond O˗H•••N and intermolecular hydrogen bonds C˗H•••O, C˗H•••π and π•••π. The B3LYP method was used to calculate the optimized structure of the molecule through density functional theory (DFT) using the 6-311G++(d, p) basis set and the results of the conformation analysis was in good agreement with the crystal structure determined by x-ray single crystal diffraction. Additionally, the molecular electrostatic potential, frontier molecular orbitals and chemical reactivity descriptors of AD2Me were further investigated using DFT, revealing the electronic properties of the compound. A Hirshfeld surface analysis was performed to analyze intermolecular interactions in the crystal structure. The compound showed no significant activity against Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus Rosenbach (ATCC 6538) and Streptococcus mutans Clarke (ATCC 700610).

The inhibitory effect of the Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 13883 strain caused by the hexane extract of Halimeda discoidea (Nor Afifah et al., 2010) was further evaluated by means of the microscopy view and its growth curves. The morphological changes of the K. pneumoniae ATCC 13883 cells were observed under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) after they were treated at minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC; 0.50 mg/ml) (Nor Afifah et al., 2010) for 12, 24, and 36 h. The results showed the severity of the morphological deteriorations experienced by the treated cells. The killing curve assay was performed for 48 h at three different extract concentrations (1/2 MIC, MIC, and 2 MIC). An increase in the extract concentration of up to 2 MIC value did significantly reduce the number of cells by approximately 1.9 log10, as compared with the control. Identification of the potential compounds of the extract responsible for the antibacterial activity was carried out through the gas chromatography-mass spectrum (GCMS) analysis of the active subfraction, and the compound E-15-heptadecenal was identified and suggested as the most potential antibacterial compound of this extract. The subsequent cellular degenerations showed by the data might well explain the inhibitory mechanisms of the suggested antibacterial compound. All of these inhibitory effects have further proven the presence of an antibacterial compound within H. discoidea that can inhibit the growth of K. pneumoniae ATCC 13883.