Role of Microbial Enzymes in the Bioremediation of Pollutants: A Review

A large number of enzymes from bacteria, fungi, and plants have been reported to be involved in the biodegradation of toxic organic pollutants. Bioremediation is a cost effective and nature friendly biotechnology that is powered by microbial enzymes. The research activity in this area would contribute towards developing advanced bioprocess technology to reduce the toxicity of the pollutants and also to obtain novel useful substances. The information on the mechanisms of bioremediation-related enzymes such as oxido-reductases and hydrolases have been extensively studied. This review attempts to provide descriptive information on the enzymes from various microorganisms involved in the biodegradation of wide range of pollutants, applications, and suggestions required to overcome the limitations of their efficient use

Synthesis, characterization and pharmacological evaluation of palmitic acid derivatives of salicylic acid and anthranilic acid

In the present study, salicylic acid and anthranilic acid were modified as lipids palmitoylsalicylic acid (PSA) and N-​palmitoylanthranilic acid (N-​PAA) by a simple esterification​/amidation reaction of the resp. acid with palmitoyl chloride. On screening for the pharmacol. activity, PSA exhibited potent and persistent analgesic and antiinflammatory effects, while N-​PAA, demonstrated novel analgesic and antipyretic effects

Selection of high berberine yielding phellodendron insulare nak. lines and the antimicrobial activity of their extracts

High berberine yielding Phellodendron insulare Nak. lines were selected by aggregate cloning method and the antimicrobial activity of their extracts was assessed. The berberine producing cork tree lines were selected by adopting a colorimetric method. In all 300 high berberine producing lines were selected with a colorimetric reagent containing 5M HCl and H2O2 and established from dissociated cell aggregates. The crude extracts from these lines showed antibacterial activities against tested Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimulium, and Listeria monocytogenes. The cork tree extracts were found to be inhibitory to these test organisms. Further the antimicrobial activity of plant extracts was on par with the berberine isolated from the extracts from native cork trees. These results have potential for developing alternative plant products as antimicrobial substances for application in agriculture and food industry

Rapid Selection of Polyphenol–rich Tea Trees (Camellia sinensis L.) Employing a Colorimetric Method

An efficient and rapid colorimetric method was established for the selection of tea tree lines rich in polyphenol from 160 tea tree lines. The efficient selection method was made possible by the adoption of the Folin–Ciocalteu (FC) colorimetric method for qualitative detection of the polyphenols. The polyphenol composition varied widely among the randomly sampled 160 tea tree lines. The tea tree lines were classified into three groups on the basis of color intensity obtained after treatment of tea extracts with FC reagent. The polyphenol content of the three groups was quantified and validated by UV spectrophotometric analysis. Among various tea lines, H–23 tea line exhibited the highest amounts of polyphenol that was 2.89–fold higher than those found in low polyphenol producing tea tree (H–9). Hence FC colorimetric method can become a reliable selection method for easy and rapid selection of tea population rich in polyphenol in a tea tree breeding programme