Systematic Review on Characterization of Tannase from Agricultural By-Products

Tannin-rich compounds are widely produced as by-products of many agro-industrial processes. Tannase is an attractive hydrolase for the bioconversion of tannin-rich materials into value-added products by accelerating the hydrolysis of ester and depside linkages. It has opened new opportunities in several industrial sectors, such as food, drinks, and medicines. Primary sources of tannase are microorganisms, particularly bacteria. Tannases or tannin acyl hydrolases, are an important group of biotechnologically relevant enzymes in several industrial applications. Microbial tannases are mostly induced extracellular enzymes produced by submerged and solid-state fermentation. Tannins containing low-value agro-industrial wastes are being extensively used in industries. This review provides a more in-depth knowledge of the research related to the biochemical characteristics of the tannase enzyme activity (in terms of molecular weight, the effect of pH, the effect of temperature, the effect of metal ions, inhibitor, and chelator), extraction, and purification methods. Additionally, the potential use of agricultural waste as a substrate for tannase production has also been reviewed, including the utilization of pomegranate peel waste (PmPW), banana peel waste (BPW), or potato peel waste (PtPW)

Real-time PCR for detection of fliC gene of E. coli O157:H7 in beef and chicken meat

The SYBR Green I real-time PCR assay was used to quantify E. coli O157:H7 in various meat samples. Primers were designed to amplify and quantify the structural flagella (fliC) gene of E. coli O157:H7 in a single reaction. The primer specificity was confirmed with DNA from an ATCC culture of E. coli O157:H7 EDL933 as positive control, autoclaved E. coli O157:H7 EDL933 as negative control (NC) and nuclease free water as non template control (NTC). A direct correlation was determined between the fluorescence threshold (Ct) and the starting quantity of E. coli O157:H7 DNA. A detection limit of 4.71 x 10–2 ng/ μl of E. coli O157:H7 DNA equivalent to approximately 1.4 x 10–2 CFU of E. coli O157:H7 ml–1 based on plate counts was determined. Quantification of E. coli O157:H7 in Australian and Malaysian beef, chicken meat, burger and minced beef from the markets was possible when DNA quantity was as low as 1.0 x 10–2 ng/μl. These results indicated that the developed PCR assay was suitable for quantitative determination of E. coli O157:H7 in meat samples

Cloning and characterization of the 5S rRNA genes from Eimeria spp. (Pengklonan dan pencirian gen 5S rRNA daripada Eimeria spp.)

Abstract Poultry coccidiosis is an economically important disease worldwide. It is caused by intracellular protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria (phylum Apicomplexa). Traditional methods of relying on disease pathology or oocyst morphology have limitations particularly in detecting minor contaminating populations of Eimeria in chicken. Therefore, a DNA-based test using ribosomal RNA (rRNA) was chosen to identify a molecular marker to enable faster and more sensitive identification of a particular species. The 5S rRNA gene was chosen because of its high degree of conservation, ubiquity and the relative ease with which it can be cloned. The 5S rRNA genes from Eimeria spp. were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using purified DNAs of the sporozoites. TA Cloning method was used to clone the PCR products (600-900 bp) into plasmid vector pCR 2.1 (3.9 kb) and transformed into Escherichia coli strain TOP10F'. Recombinant plasmids with size of 4.6 -4.8 kb were found. Clones containing the inserts of the appropriate size were sequenced by automated sequencing whereby M13 forward and reverse primers were used. The 5S rRNA genes from the seven Eimeria species were successfully sequenced. The sequences obtained were then sent to the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) program and results showed that all sequences were identical to the 5S rRNA gene from other organism. Sequences of 726, 738, 697, 673, 732 and 931 bp were each shown by E. tenella, E. acervulina, E. praecox, E. maxima, E. brunetti and E. necatrix whilst E. mitis has two sequences of 710 and 592 bp. For each species, at least 2 clones of PCR-generated fragments were sequenced. The results indicated that the presence of unique amplified DNA segments could be exploited as molecular markers to identify Eimeria species of the chicken

The Perception of Employees on Work-From-Home During Movement Control Order in Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic has made Work from Home (WFH), an officially mandated and strictly enforced rule. The WFH concept is already gaining traction across many industries mainly requires in non-essential companies. Most employees are not satisfied with the WFH concept, as COVID-19 has required practically some employees from non-essential industries to work from home for the first time. This paper aims to discuss employees' perception of work from home during the movement control order in Malaysia as employees experience a new environment. However, this paper's research focuses on the effectiveness and challenges employees face when working from home. In this study, the researchers used quantitative methods which employed a set of a survey which included 20 questions. It contained three parts, (i) Respondent’s information, (ii) is working from home effectively for the employees during the MCO, and (iii) are there any challenges the employees face during work-from-home. The survey was distributed among 104 employees in different working sectors in Malaysia who Work-from-Home during movement control order (MCO). Among others, the findings revealed that (i) The effectiveness of WFH affects employees to feel demotivated due to (ii) less interaction with coworkers that cause anxiety and stress levels to rise. This paper brings to light how employees withstand the new norm of working and what the employers could do to embrace the effectiveness and endure the challenges of the new norm of WFH as it may take a long period of time to adapt