Proteolytic Activity of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Isolated from Epinephilus spp. A Preliminary Report

Vibrio infection is becoming more and more common worldwide. A Protease producing bacterium was isolated and identified from the eye of Epinephillus spp using phenotypic, morphological and 16S rRNA identification methods. Protease screening was carried out by the caseinolytic method. The unknown bacterium was found to have 98% maximum identity with Vibrio  parahaemolyticus in NCBI database after BLAST. The bacterium produces  protease enzyme on a nutrient agar medium containing 10% casein. The aim of this research was to identify the bacterium in question and its ability to produce extracellular proteases, which may be its virulence factor so that its biotechnological application can be explored in future

Bio-succinic acid production: Escherichia coli strains design from genome-scale perspectives

Escherichia coli (E. coli) has been established to be a native producer of succinic acid (a platform chemical with different applications) via mixed acid fermentation reactions. Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) of E. coli have been published with capabilities of predicting strain design strategies for the production of bio-based succinic acid. Proof-of-principle strains are fundamentally constructed as a starting point for systems strategies for industrial strains development. Here, we review for the first time, the use of E. coli GEMs for construction of proof-of-principles strains for increasing succinic acid production. Specific case studies, where E. coli proof-of-principle strains were constructed for increasing bio-based succinic acid production from glucose and glycerol carbon sources have been highlighted. In addition, a propose systems strategies for industrial strain development that could be applicable for future microbial succinic acid production guided by GEMs have been presented

Optimum utilization of Clostridia species towards biofuel production

Abstract Global increasing stipulates for the production of renewable fuels due to massive utilization of readily available fossil fuel, more interests in microbial production of biofuels are generated. This opened great opportunities to the biologists, because anaerobic bacteria particularly Clostridium species are capable of converting carbohydrates into a variety of solvents such as acetone, butanol, ethanol and more the like. The review provided ample sources of information with regards to the potentialities of Clostridium species towards production of biofuels. The classification of Clostridium species into pathogenic and non-pathogenic, and those capable of biofuel production has been summarized. Typical metabolic processes responsible for transforming biomass into various biofuels have been highlighted. Utilization of agricultural wastes as substrates towards biofuel production was equally highlighted. Various carbon sources and some Clostridium species exploited for biofuel production were summarized. The review also provided some of the factors that influenced the biofuel production

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Microbiological Features of Solid State Fermentation and its Applications - An overview

Solid state fermentation [SSF] has been recently considered as the most cheapest and more environmentally friendly relative to submerged liquid fermentation [SLF] in the production of value added industrial based products such as enzymes, bio fuels and the likes. The merit and demerit of SSF and SLF has been summarized. The main microorganisms that occupied a pivotal position in achieving absolute SSF processes have been highlighted. A typical process and production characteristic of a selected  bioreactor has been addressed within the concept of SSF. The applications of the process in various economic sectors such as industrial fermentation, agro food industry and  environmental control have been reported. This review aimed at gathering the disperse literature on the current state of art on SSF, its advantages and disadvantages relative to SLF and their various applications

An overview of pathway prediction tools for synthetic design of microbial chemical factories

The increasing need for the bio-based industrial production of compounds via microbial cell factories leads to a demand for computational pathway prediction tools. A variety of algorithms have been developed that can be used to identify possible metabolic pathways and their corresponding enzymatic parts. These prediction tools play a central role in metabolic pathway design and microbial chassis selection for industrial chemical production. Here, we briefly discuss how the development of some key computational tools, which are currently available for pathway construction, could facilitate the synthetic redesign of microbial chassis. Special emphasis is given to the characteristics and drawback(s) of some of the computational tools used in pathway prediction, and a generalized workflow for the design of microbial chemical factories is provided. Perspectives, challenges and future trends are briefly highlighted

Bio-succinic acid production: Escherichia coli strains design from genome-scale perspectives

Escherichia coli (E. coli) has been established to be a native producer of succinic acid (a platform chemical with different applications) via mixed acid fermentation reactions. Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) of E. coli have been published with capabilities of predicting strain design strategies for the production of bio-based succinic acid. Proof-of-principle strains are fundamentally constructed as a starting point for systems strategies for industrial strains development. Here, we review for the first time, the use of E. coli GEMs for construction of proof-of-principles strains for increasing succinic acid production. Specific case studies, where E. coli proof-of-principle strains were constructed for increasing bio-based succinic acid production from glucose and glycerol carbon sources have been highlighted. In addition, a propose systems strategies for industrial strain development that could be applicable for future microbial succinic acid production guided by GEMs have been presented

Characterization of bacillus cereus BM1 with protease activity

Microbial alkaline proteases dominate the world enzyme market, accounting fornearly two-thirds shares of the detergent industry. To date, Bacillus species have beenknown to produce a substantial amount of extracellular proteases which gain applicationin commercial industry. A protease producing bacterium was isolated from the eye of seabass, for the first time, in an attempt to search for microbial biocatalyst that is detergentcompatible. The isolate was characterized based on 16S rRNA gene sequence homologyand Biolog Gen III microplate system. The results for identification indicate that theisolate has 97% sequence identity to Bacillus cereus with regard to 16S rRNA genesequence homology which ultimately tally with the result of Biolog system, and hencedesignated as Bacillus cereus BM1. Moreover, protease produced by the isolate BM1 wasassayed according to an established method. Subsequently the protease was partiallycharacterized on the basis of temperature and pH requirements. Further characterizationevaluated the effects of different metal ions (5mM), EDTA (5mM), NaCl (Up to 15%w/v)and commercial detergent (up to 10%w/v) on protease activity and/or stability. The resultsindicate that the Bacillus cereus BM1 produced a protease that is stable in alkaline pHrange of 8-12, with optimum at pH 8 when incubated at 60 o C for 1 hr. The protease wasalso stable at temperature ranges from 40-70 o C, with optimum at 60 o C when incubated for1 hr. It shows activity in the presence of EDTA, as metal chelator suggesting that it is nota metalloprotease. Furthermore, none of the metal ions tested enhances protease activityabove 100% from the control. The protease was also found to be stable in the presence ofNaCl and commercial detergent. The results of partial characterization of the enzymeindicate that it is an alkaline, thermostable, halotolerant and detergent compatible nonmetalloprotease. This suggests that it will find application in detergent industry