Multiple Forms of Alcohol Dehydrogenase (Adh) Genes in Sago Palm: A Preliminary Study

Flooding is a worldwide phenomenon in wetland and river areas. Excess water in the soil could produce anoxic soil condition. Sago palms in Sarawak can be found on mainly waterlogged areas. These plants are able and possibly have evolved a system for overcoming the anoxic/hypoxic conditions especially in the root section. Here we report the detection and activity of Adh gene in sago palm. The Adh enzyme was isolated, analysed on polyacrylamide and agarose gel, and detected by specific Adh staining. We found that Adh is present in all sago tissues and three variants are present based on migration on gel. We also utilised the polymerase chain reaction method to generate the PCR products by using primers that are designed from other plant species. Genomic DNA was used for this purpose and four PCR fragments were generated and the nucleotide sequence were determined. Preliminary results of nucleotide sequence analysis indicated that at least three types of Adh genes are present in sago

Truncated Boolean Matrices For Dna Computation

Although DNA computing has emerged as a new computing paradigm with its massive parallel computing capabilities, the large number of DNA required for larger size of computational problems still remain as a stumbling block to its development as practical computing. In this paper, we propose a modification to implement a physical experimentation of two Boolean matrices multiplication problem with DNA computing. The Truncated Matrices reduces the number of DNA sequences and lengths utilized to compute the problem with DNA computing

Digital Comics as an Alternative Teaching and Assessment Tool for Biotechnology Courses

Storytelling has been long applied in teaching and learning. Nevertheless, application of storytelling through digital comics for teaching and learning Biotechnology is still limitedly explored. This presentation highlights the initiative of using digital comics as an alternative teaching and assessment tool for Bioprocess Technology and Environmental Biotechnology. The courses were taken by 136 students of Resource Biotechnology programme at Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, UNIMAS in Semester 1 and 2 2021/2022. Engaging digital comics entitled Ahmad’s FYP story, To RIP: Landfills or Composting?, Save Our Souls and From Textile Waste to Biofuel were topics of Environmental Biotechnology. The resulting comics produced by the students were disseminated to selected schools and matriculation centres and also in social media. Upon the created and used in the teaching and learning session of the aforementioned courses. Questions that assess students’ understanding were also integrated in the comics in order to engage the students to think and reflect whilst reading the comics. We have also used comics as a means of a graded assessment whereby the students were required to produce digital comics related to the implementation of the approach, the students’ average scores for both courses have improved by 30 to 36%. This is further supported by the positive feedback from the students indicating good acceptance of the approach. The initiative has also resulted in several added values amongst the students such as enhancement of art skill, digital skill, science communication skill, storytelling skill, community responsibility besides promoting the culture of learning during leisure time. Moreover, the comics also have a potential to be used as life-long learning materials in both formal and informal contexts besides having the commercial potential to be marketed in the form of digital or printed comics. In summary, the positive impacts of this initiative have clearly proved the efficacy of digital comics as an alternative teaching and assessment tool for Biotechnology courses

Enzymatic retting of Piper nigrum L. using commercial Pectinase(Peelzyme)

White peppers produced from Piper nigrum L. retted with different concentration of commercial pectinase (PeelZyme) and blanching treatment in hot water were compared. The effects of these treatments on surface morphology and piperine content of white berries was studied. PeelZyme at the concentration of 500 ppm successfully produced white berries after 5 days. However, white berries retted with PeelZyme at the concentration of 500 ppm without blanching gave the best surface morphology but there was a reduction in the piperine content by 3.04%. Blanching in hot water resulted in reduction of surface quality but an increase of piperine content up to 40% was obtained

Toxicity Assessment of Lactococcus lactis IO-1 Used in Coconut Beverages against Artemia salina using Brine Shrimp Lethality Test.

Background and objective: Plant-based fermented foods containing favorable microorganisms have been used to improve diets. Starter microorganisms may produce toxic compounds that are hazardous to consumers. Brine shrimp lethality test is a convenient and appropriate assay to check toxicity of samples. The aim of this study was to investigate toxicity of pasteurized coconut beverages at 70C, 80C and 90C for 25, 15 and 5 min, respectively, and unpasteurized coconut beverages fermented by Lactococcus lactis against Artemia salina nauplii. Material and methods: After extraction of coconut beverages fermented by Lactococcus lactis using methanol, cytotoxicity was assessed using (lethality concentration). Newly 10 hatched Artemia salina nauplii were transferred into various concentrations (in replicates) of the fermented sample extracts. After 24 h, survived Artemia salina nauplii were counted and lethality concentration was assessed. The brine shrimp lethality test was used to investigate sample toxicity at various doses from 1 to 500 µg ml-1 at various time intervals. Results and conclusion: The fermented extracts included low larvicidal potential against Artemia salina nauplii. Correlations were reported between the extract doses and percentage mortality of nauplli brine shrimp. The pasteurized fermented extracts were less toxic and cheaper. Interestingly, starter culture, fermentation, thermal treatment and time contributed to breaking down of hydrolysable tannins and larger polyphenolic compounds, producing smaller compounds with lower toxicity responses in brine shrimp lethality test. The four probiotics beverage extracts included non-cytotoxic activity as presented by low mortalities in brine shrimp lethality test. In conclusion, these extracts can be used to justify probiotic production of beverages

The degradation of carbazole and the production of ligninolytic enzyme by isolated marine fungi

Biodegradation of carbazole heterocyclic hydrocarbon by isolated marine fungi were tested. Out of the 64 fungal isolates tested, 5 fungi were able to decolorize more than 50% of 0.01% Remazol Brilliant Blue R. Isolate B3 were able to decolorize 99% of RBBR in all concentrations tested. Isolate B3 and B4 showed the highest removal of carbazole at 88% and 53%, respectively as observed with GCMS in the degradation trial. Laccase enzyme was produced in high concentration of 528.00±11.33 U/L and 642.67±11.43 U/L for isolate B3 and B4. It is observed that the presence of carbazole triggered the production of laccase as it was produced only at 106.67±3.33 U/L and 14.00 U/L for isolate B3 and B4 without carbazole. Results suggested that isolate B3 belonged to the Basidiomycota. The prospects of carbazole biodegradation by these isolates are suspected to be contributed through the production of laccase (Lac)

USE OF THE LACTOCOCCUS LACTIS IO-1 FOR DEVELOPING A NOVEL FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGE FROM COCONUT WATER

The goal of this work was to add value to the coconut water (CW) by fermentation with the potential probiotic Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis IO-1 in order to produce fermented CW beverages. Unpasteurized coconut water (UPW) was fermented with Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis IO-1 for 48 h at 30°C, and the viable cell counts, total acidity, pH, degree of polymerization, antioxidant activity, antibacterial bioassay and lethality bioassay were studied at 24 and 48 h. We revealed that the fermentation process of UPW with probiotic L. lactis IO-1 increased the viable cell counts. The total phenolic compound exhibited a higher antioxidative ability in fermented UPW at 48 h (65.79g/mL gallic acid equivalence). The fermented UPW exhibited the highest ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging abilities at 48 h (67.62 and 63.03%), The culture extracted from fermented UPW inhibited all the tested pathogenic foodborne such as Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli, although the degree of antagonistic varied between the pathogens. Furthermore, fermented UPW extract sample at 48 h, exhibited lower potent activity against the brine shrimp with LC50 values (7158.2 µg/mL). Comparatively, pasteurized coconut water (PCW90) fermented by Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis IO-1 produced a fermented beverage PCW90 with similar properties as the fermented UPW. Adding 0.4% (w/v) of coconut flavor and 20% pure honey (v/v) into the fermented CW gave the beverage a better taste. The obtained results showed that the CW product fermented by Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis IO-1 may be used as a novel functional beverage comprising both probiotics and electrolytes, which can serve as a good vehicle for developing a wider range of novel products. Keywords: Antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity, brine shrimp lethality test, coconut water, cytotoxicity

Isolation and Identification of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria from Sago Palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.)

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are strains of naturally occurring soil bacteria that live in close vicinity to the plant’s rhizosphere region which possess the capability to augment host growth. This study was conducted to isolate and identify potential PGPR isolates indigenous to Metroxylon sagu, Rottb. rhizosphere. These potential isolates were characterized based on their beneficial PGP properties and identified by molecular analysis via 16S rDNA sequencing. A total of 18 isolates were successfully isolated, out of which five isolates were tested, and designated as (S1A, S2B, S3A, S3C, and S42). Among the five isolates, two isolates (S2B and S3C) were found to produce high levels of indole-3-acetic acid (2.96 μg ml-1 and 10.31 μg ml-1), able to fix nitrogen and show significant activity in phosphate solubilization. The analysis of their sequences via NCBI suggested their close identity towards Lysinibacillus sphaericus and Bacillus thuringiensis. It can be concluded that the isolated PGPR possesses beneficial PGP attributes. It can be implied that the isolated PGPR are potential to be used as inoculant bio fertilizers, beneficial for Metroxylon sagu, Rottb. growth. Hence, further studies need to be done to evaluate the effectiveness of the beneficial microbes towards sago seedlings growth, under pot experiment

The Status of Tenualosa toli (Valenciennes, 1847) in the Southwest Coast of Sarawak, Malaysias

The tropical shad of genus Tenualosa (family Clupidae) or locally known as Terubok, are important estuarine fishes, both commercially and culturally in many Asian countries including Malaysia. However, Tenualosa species are subject to heavy fishing pressure and have suffered major declines. The decline of Tenualosa toli catch landing since 1980’s had urged the state government of Sarawak to view with serious concern regarding the problem and directed research and development project to be conducted for maintaining and replenish the natural stock of the species in Sarawak. Therefore, this study was designated to examine the current status on the population of Tenualosa toli within Batang Lupar, Batang Lassa and Batang Saribas in the south-west coast of Sarawak which is known as “core Terubok areas”. The informations that generated from this research will be useful for further studies not only on the ecology, distribution of Tenualosa but also on the conservation and sustainable management of this commercial fish