Biosorption of chromium by mangrove-derived Aplanochytrium sp.

The microbial dried biomass of Thraustochytrids is used as bioadsorbent for the removal of the chromium in aqueous solution. In this investigation, three species of Thraustochydrids namely Aplanochytrium sp., Thraustochytrium sp. and Schizochytrium sp. were tested for the efficiency of chromium accumulation by culturing in chromium-incorporated medium at 30°C for one week incubation. The biomass was harvested by filtration through Whatman no.1 filter paper. The level of metal accumulation in the biomass was determined by using an inductively coupled plasma system (ICP- Optical Emission Spectrophotometer; Optima 2100DV). Finally, among the three strains, Aplanochytrium spp. was selected for the adsorption kinetics and optimization using response surface methodology. Optimization of chromium removal by dried microbial biomass was analyzed with important factors of different pH, adsorbent dosage (Aplanochytrium dried biomass), temperature and processing time with 30 batch experimental plan derived from the centre composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology. Aplanochytrium sp. dried biomass removed chromium of 69.4% in aqueous solution. Therefore, Aplanochytrium sp. dried biomass is potent for the removal of chromium in waste water treatment.Key words: Mangroves, chromium removal, Aplanochytrium sp., biosorption, waste water treatment

In-vitro antioxidant potential and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory effect of Ficus benghalensis aerial root extract

Aim and objective: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the antioxidant effect, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory effect and phytochemical screening of different extracts of aerial root extract of Ficus benghalensis using in-vitro methods. Methods: The aerial root extract was prepared by successive extraction method using different organic solvents having increasing order of polarity. FB aerial root extract was screened for preliminary phytochemical analysis. FB aerial root extracts were evaluated for in-vitro acetylcholinesterase inhibitory effect by the Ellman’s method and anti-oxidant potential by DPPH assay and hydroxyl radical neutralizing assay. Results: Preliminary phytochemical screening of FB extracts indicate the existence of the phytochemicals such as phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, anthraquinones, tannins and steroids. The results of the DPPH assay, hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and AChE inhibitory assay show that chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts are having significant antioxidant activity and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory effect as compared to the other extracts, respectively. Conclusion: The results of the current study suggest that the aerial root extract of FB might be a potential drug source for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer disease. Keywords: Ficus benghalensis; antioxidant; DPPH; acetylcholinesterase; neurodegenerative disorder

Influence of nitrogen salts on growth and physiological responses of Rhizophora apiculata Blume in non-aerated water culture

Influence of two different forms of nitrogen on growth and physiological aspects of water-cultured seedlings of Rhizophora apiculata was studied. Of the two forms of nitrogen supplied to the growth medium, ammonium nitrogen was better than nitrate nitrogen by exhibiting increased dry matter production, shoot length, leaf area and also enhanced the contents of carotenoids, chlorophylls and their presence in photosystems and light harvesting protein complex

-Amylase production by Penicillium fellutanum isolated from mangrove rhizosphere soil

The effects of pH, temperature, incubation time, salinity, sources of carbon and nitrogen were tested in submerged fermentation process in production of -amylase by Penicillium fellutanum isolated from coastal mangrove soil. The production medium without addition of seawater and with provision ofmaltose as carbon source, peptone as nitrogen source, incubated for 96 h, maintained with pH of 6.5 at 30oC, was found optimal for production of -amylase by P. fellutanu

Bio-ethanol production by marine yeasts isolated from coastal mangrove sediment

This study analyzed ethanol production by 10 marine strains of yeasts, isolated from mangrove sediments. Of the species tested, Pichia salcaria exhibited the maximum ethanol production of 12.3±3.1 g/l. This was further studied in the culture filtrate supplemented with different concentrations (0.01, 0.1, 1, 2 and 4% w/v) of sawdust as substrate that was pre-processed with phosphoric acid, and then incubated for different durations (24,48,72, 96 and 120 h). The ethanol production by P. salcaria was found maximum (26.2±8.9 g/l) in 72 hours of fermentation in the culture broth supplemented with 2% sawdust that was preprocessed with dilute phosphoric acid. This condition of fermentation was found coincided with high activity cell ase in the cul ure broth, which also revealed a single prominent protein band of 68 kDa molecular weight, similar to cellulase. The study proved the efficiency of marine P. salcaria in bioethanol production

Anticancer Drugs from Marine Flora: An Overview

Marine floras, such as bacteria, actinobacteria, cyanobacteria, fungi, microalgae, seaweeds, mangroves, and other halophytes are extremely important oceanic resources, constituting over 90% of the oceanic biomass. They are taxonomically diverse, largely productive, biologically active, and chemically unique offering a great scope for discovery of new anticancer drugs. The marine floras are rich in medicinally potent chemicals predominantly belonging to polyphenols and sulphated polysaccharides. The chemicals have displayed an array of pharmacological properties especially antioxidant, immunostimulatory, and antitumour activities. The phytochemicals possibly activate macrophages, induce apoptosis, and prevent oxidative damage of DNA, thereby controlling carcinogenesis. In spite of vast resources enriched with chemicals, the marine floras are largely unexplored for anticancer lead compounds. Hence, this paper reviews the works so far conducted on this aspect with a view to provide a baseline information for promoting the marine flora-based anticancer research in the present context of increasing cancer incidence, deprived of the cheaper, safer, and potent medicines to challenge the dreadful human disease

A review on marine based nanoparticles and their potential applications

The increasing demands on nanoparticles have wide pertinent in almost all the fields. Marine ecosystem has variety of living resources, which includes prokaryotes like microorganism to eukaryotic organism like higher plants and animals. The present review dealt with the application of marine organisms in nanotechnology. Our discussion mainly focused on what the marine organisms are involved in and what type of nanoparticles is synthesized, including size and, medical and medicinal applications. Based on our observation through this review, it will be a good reference document for the further research on marine ecosystem to develop drug from sea. Keywords: Nanomaterial, marine animals, mangroves, marine microbe

Development of an orthotropic hole element

A finite element was developed which adequately represents the state of stress in the region around a circular hole in orthotropic material experiencing reasonably general loading. This was achieved with a complementary virtual work formulation of the stiffness and stress matrices for a square element with center circular hole. The assumed stress state provides zero shearing stress on the hole boundary, so the element is suitable for problems involving load transfer without friction. The element has been implemented in the NASTRAN computer program, and sample problem results are presented

Insilico docking analysis of mangrove-derived compounds against breast cancer protein (BRCA1)

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women only next to lung cancer. In normal cells, BRCA1 and BRCA2 (breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 and breast cancer susceptibility gene 2) ensure the stability of DNA and also prevent uncontrolled cell growth. Mutation of these genes is linked to the development of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Considering the lacunae of reliable and potential drugs to cure the life threatening breast cancer, the present study has focused on molecular computational analysis to identify the potential compounds, derived from mangrove ecosystem, which can block the mutated gene (BRCA1) responsible for the breast cancer. Six compounds were tested against the carcinogenic protein. The 3D crystal structure of the protein was retrieved from protein data bank (PDB) and the protein binding sites of the test compounds were identified. The results revealed that among six compounds, triterpenoid, stigmasterol and pyrethrin were found efficient in destroying the protein (BRCA1) responsible for breast cancer

Biosorption of Cadmium by Mangrove-Derived Cyanobacteria (Gloeocapsa sp ARKK3)

Dried microbial biomass of Gloeocapsa sp. Trichoderma, and Thrustochytrids used as bioadsorbent for the removal of cadmium in the artificial sewage. Among the three species the maximum adsorption recorded in Gloeocapsa sp. biomass. For the augmentation of cadmium removal in sewage, adsorption process conditions was statistically optimized by the method of response surface methodology (RSM) and adsorption kinetics also studied. The important factors of temperature, pH, adsorbent dosage and processing time were selected for optimization, and it was done with 30 experimental cycles derived from centre composite design (CCD). The statistical optimization reveled that optimized condition for cadmium removal was pH 9, temperature 40ºC, adsorbent dosage 0.6 mg.l-1 and 60 minutes. Finally in this condition was experimentally proved with yield of cadmium removal of 92.9 % under statistically optimized condition. In the case of the adsorption kinetic Gloeocapsa sp. biomass showed a significant adsorption capacity of qmax-56.96 (mg.g-1). The present study concluded that the microbial dried biomass derived from marine Gloeocapsa sp. was a potent source for the removal of the cadmium in the sewage waste water