Arsenate Resistant Penicillium Coffeae: A Potential Fungus for Soil Bioremediation

Bioremediation is an effective method for the treatment of major metal contaminated sites. Fungi were isolated from soil samples collected from different arsenate contaminated areas across India. An isolate, Penicillium coffeae, exhibited resistance to arsenate up to 500 mM. Results indicated that pretreatment of biomass with alkali (NaOH) enhanced the percentage of adsorption to 66.8 % as compared to that of live and untreated dead biomass whose adsorption was 22.9 % and 60.2 % respectively. The physiological parameters evaluated in this study may help pilot studies aimed at bioremediation of arsenate contaminated effluents using arsenate resistant fungus P. coffeae

Solid State Fermentation: An Effective Method for Lovastatin Production by Fungi over Submerged Fermentation

The Enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMG CoA reductase) catalyses conversion of HMG CoA to mevalonate during cholesterol biosynthesis. Lovastatin is used as an anti-cholesterol drug which blocks HMG CoA reductase activity. Lovastatin has been reported to be produced by Submerged Fermentation (SmF) and Solid State Fermentation (SSF) by fungi. Of-late it is used not only as anti-cholesterol drug but as anti-inflammatory agent, cancer cell apoptosis, restoration of renal function, bone disorders treatment; immune-modulatory role is also being investigated. This review provides insight into the different lovastatin production strategies employed by SSF, its advantages over SmF, optimisation parameters, lovastatin genetics etc

Heat Stable Bacteriocin from Lactobacillus Paracasei subsp. Tolerans Isolated from Locally Available Cheese: An in Vitro Study

Lactic acid bacteria (135) were isolated and screened for bacteriocin production by agar overlay method. Among them, Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. tolerans isolated from locally available cheese showed maximum zone of inhibition (24-26 mm) against food borne (Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus) and human pathogens (Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi). Bacteriocin was found to be proteinaceous in nature, heat stable (1210 C for 15 min) and active over a wide pH range of 4.0-8.0. It showed stability (60 %) for 30 days at room temperature (30- 320C). Addition of surfactants (EDTA, SDS, hexadecyl trimethylamonium bromide) up to 1% to crude bacteriocin showed increase in antibacterial activity where as metal ions (calcium chloride, zinc sulphate and mercuric chloride) in low concentration (0.5-1 mgl-1) decreased the activity. The bacteriocin was purified to its homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration chromatography and HPLC. Molecular weight of bacteriocin was found to be 8.6 and 8.3 KDa by SDS PAGE and LC/MS respectively. Maximum Bacteriocin production was obtained at 35ºC, pH 7.0, NaCl (0.2%) after 28h of incubation. Addition of L-Ascorbic acid increased bactreiocin production. Our present study demonstrates the possibility of using L. paracasei subsp. tolerans as a biopreservative in dairy industry

Wheat flour, an inexpensive medium for in vitro cultivation of coprophilous fungus Coprinopsis cinerea

Coprinopsis cinerea, a coprophilous basidiomycetous fungus generally called as inky cap mushroom is used as a model organism to study the evolution of fruiting bodies in higher fungi. Herbivorous animal dung is a major source of Coprinopsis cinerea, as it contains high carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus elements. Due to the extensive application of Coprinopsis cinerea in Genetics, Molecular Biology and Microbial Biotechnology it is necessary to explore a suitable inexpensive medium for its in vitro cultivation. In our present study, we found that 2 wheat flour medium supported the vegetative growth and induced the fruiting body formation within 10 days at 30°C, pH 6 under dark compared to malt extract amended media. The number of fruiting bodies and biomass of fruiting bodies were also found higher in wheat flour medium compared to other media tested with similar cultural conditions. © Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences

The Role of Discrete Negative Emotions in Predicting the Behavior of Misusing Time and Resources in Business Organisations in India

Counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) are the deviant behaviors ofemployees that violate the organisational norms, and in turn harm theorganisation or its members. Misuse of time and resources (MTR), a form ofCWB is of increasing concern to business organisations world-wide. Suchbehaviors are mainly aimed at the organisations than the individuals,restricting productive time on the job and inappropriate or unauthorized use oforganisational resources. Extant literature informs that these behaviors arecaused by stressful work conditions mediated by negative emotions. However,the extant literature does not adequately consider multiple discrete emotions tostudy CWB. This study examines the influence of discrete negative emotions onmisuse of time and resources in the context of manufacturing and IT firms inIndia. It contributes to theory by linking individual emotions to the deviantbehaviors relevant to misuse of time and resources. Finally, the managerialimplications derived from the study helps to understand employees’ emotionalstates and their possible consequences.KeywordsMisuse of time and resources; Counterproductive work behavior; Time theft;Time banditry; Withdrawa

Endophytic Fungi: A Poor Candidate for the Production of Lovastatin

Aim: The aim of the present study was to screen soil and endophytic fungi for production oflovastatin.Methodology: Soil fungi were isolated by dilution plating technique and endophytic fungi from selected medicinal plants by using standard procedures. All isolates were tested for lovastatin production by Solid State Fermentation (SSF) using wheat bran as substrate.Results: The soil isolate, Aspergillus terreus NCBI (KM017963) showed positive for lovastatin (1.0 mg/G DWS) whereas none of the endophytic fungi tested showedpositivefor lovastatin production

Complete Genome Sequence of the Endophytic Fungus Diaporthe (Phomopsis) ampelina

Diaporthe ampelina was isolated as an endophytic fungus from the root of Commiphora wightii, a medicinal plant collected from Dhanvantri Vana, Bangalore University, Bangalore, India. The whole genome is 59 Mb, contains a total of 905 scaffolds, and has a G+C content of 51.74%. The genome sequence of D. ampelina shows a complete absence of lovastatin (an anticholesterol drug) gene cluster

Lovastatin Production by Aspergillus terreus (KM017963) in Submerged and Solid State Fermentation: A Comparative Study

Lovastatin (C24H36O5) is a fungal secondary metabolite that inhibits conversion of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) to mevalonate in cholesterol biosynthesis. Lovastatin producing fungus Aspergillus terreus was grown in Solid State Fermentation (SSF) with various agro based wastes and in Submerged Fermentation (SmF) to evaluate the suitable growth medium for maximum production of lovastatin. Eighty three agro based substrates and six different types of SmF media were used for the production. Wheat bran and sprouted wheat were suitable substrates for lovastatin production yielding1.00 mg/G DWS and 1.311 mg/DWS of lovastatin, respectively. None of the SmF medium was found to be suitable for lovastatin production, although all media supported growth of the fungus

Malic enzyme : Its purification and characterization from Mucor circinelloides and occurrence in other oleaginous fungi

Malic enzyme was purified 43-fold from Mucor circinelloides. The enzyme was dependent on Mg2+ or Mn2+ for activity, was not active with Dmalate and had a pH optimum at 7.8. The apparent Km values for malate and NADP+ were 488 ΜM and 41 Μm respectively. The Mr of the native enzyme was 160 kDa. Five metabolic analogues of malate: oxaloacetate, tartronic acid, 1-methylenecyclopropane trans-2,3-dicarboxyIic acid, malonic acid and glutaric acid, were found to inhibit malic enzyme activity at 10 mM. Four oleaginous fungi, Mucor circinelloides, Mortierella alpina, Mortierella elongata and Pythium ultimum, were also examined, all possessed a soluble malic enzyme, two also possessed a microsomal malic enzyme

A new anisotropic bending model for nonlinear shells: Comparison with existing models and isogeometric finite element implementation

A new nonlinear hyperelastic bending model for shells formulated directly in surface form is presented, and compared to four prominently used bending models. Through an essential set of elementary nonlinear bending test cases, the stresses and moments of each model are examined analytically. Only the proposed bending model passes all the test cases while the other bending models either fail or only pass the test cases for small deformations. The proposed new bending model can handle large deformations and initially curved surfaces. It is based on the principal curvatures and their directions in the initial configuration, and it thus can have different bending moduli along those directions. These characteristics make it flexible in modeling a given material, while it does not suffer from the pathologies of existing bending models. Further, the bending models are compared computationally through four classical benchmark examples and one contact example. As the underlying shell theory is based on Kirchhoff-Love kinematics, isogeometric NURBS shape functions are used to discretize the shell surface. The linearization and efficient finite element implementation of the proposed new model are also provided