A study of bacterial cell immobilization in alginate gel beads for the production of Myo-Inositol Phosphates

A no\'el phyrale-degrnding enzyme namely PhyFAUIA I was purificd from a bacTerium i~lated from Malaysian wastewatcr. It is a pcriplasmaTic cnzymc and highly substrate-specific to phylaTe. The bacTerial cells were immobilized in alginate gel beads and iTS condition for preparaTion of myo-inositol phosphatcs was invcsligaled. The conditions for immobilizcd eclls were opTimized using dilTerem mcdia, residence Time and Temperature. Upon immob,lizalion. beads containing cells were sTored in groWlh medium at 4°C and Thc yicld can be reTained for more than 24 hours. The mechanism of reaction beTween phylaTe and PhyFAUIAI using immobilizcd cells was also invcsTigated and thcre were 2 possible paThways: (II PhyFAUlAl was seereted from the cells and went OUI from the beads to react Wilh phylatc. (2) PhyTate diffused Through lhc pores of alginate beads and reacTed WiTh phytasc locatcd inside the beads as well as aT The pcriplasmic OfThc cells. P, and IP were Then released from the beads

Preliminary study on biohydrogen production by E. coli from sago waste

Sago waste which has not been fully utilised is a potential substrate for biotechnological applications. This study is concerned with hydrogen gas production by Escherichia coli (E. coli) using dark fermentation and sago waste as the substrate. Glucose content after acid pre-treatment process for sago waste at 90°C for 40 minutes was 2.150 g/L. Inoculum size, pH and temperature were the 3 factors investigated during fermentation process. Design of experiment was performed using Central Composite Design (Design Expert v6.0.8). A maximum yield of 2.22 mol H2/ mol glucose was achieved from Run 8 at the pH of 6, temperature of 40°C and 30% inoculum size

Statistical screening of physico-chemical factors for biohydrogen production by Enterobacter aerogenes from sago wastewater

High organic content of sago wastewater (SWW) can be utilized as a substrate for biohydrogen production. After acid pre-treatment of SWW using 1.5% sulfuric acid at 121ºC for 60 minutes, its glucose content increased from 0.146 g/L to 9.36 g/L. In this study, Enterobacter aerogenes (E. aerogenes) was used as the biohydrogen producer. Screening of ten physico-chemical factors that influenced biohydrogen production were performed using Plackett-Burman design tool (Design Expert 9.0). Yeast extract concentration, fermentation temperature, and inoculum concentration were ranked as the three most significant factors. The maximum hydrogen concentration, volume production, and hydrogen yield achieved in this study were 454.30 μmol/L, 88 mL, and 2.42 mmol H2/mol glucose, respectively. The findings from this study can be used for further optimization of process conditions for biohydrogen production by E. aerogenes using SWW as the substrate

Optimization of culture conditions for biohydrogen production from sago wastewater by enterobacter aerogenes using response surface methodology

Sago wastewater (SWW) causes pollution to the environment due to its high organic content. Annually, about 2.5 million tons of SWW is produced in Malaysia. In this study, the potential of SWW as a substrate for biohydrogen production by Enterobacter aerogenes (E. aerogenes) was evaluated. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to find the optimum conditions. From preliminary optimization, it was found that the most significant factors were yeast extract, temperature, and inoculum size. According to Face Centered Central Composite Design (FCCCD), the maximum hydrogen concentration and yield were 630.67 μmol/L and 7.42 mmol H2/mol glucose, respectively, which is obtained from the sample supplemented with 4.8 g/L yeast extract concentration, 5% inoculum, and incubated at the temperature of 31 °C. Cumulative hydrogen production curve fitted by the modified Gompertz equation suggested that Hmax, Rmax, and λ from this study were 15.10 mL, 2.18 mL/h, and 9.84 h, respectively

Effects of cell immobilization to the phytate-degrading enzyme activity

The use of immobilized whole microhial cells and/or organelles eliminates lhc often tedious. lime consuming. and expensi\'e sleps invohed in isolation and purificatioll of imraccllular enzymes. II al>o lends 10 enhance the stability of lhe enzyme by relaining its nall.....l catalytic surroundings during immobilizalion and subsequent cominuous operalion. A baclerium isolated from Malaysian waslewatn pnxlucing a 1l0,-e1 phyrate-degrading enzyme namely PhyFAUIAI was immobilized in alginate gel beads. PhyFAUIA 1 is a periplasmatic enzyme and highly substralespecific 10 phytale. The enzyme aClivity wa~ invesligaled upon cell immobilization. No shift in pH oplima of phytase of immobilized cells was obsen·ed. 110wever. the optimum lcmperaturcbwas shifted 10 50°C, which was 15°C lower lhan free PhyFAUIAI enzyme. Immobilized cells were found 10 be more stable in wider range of pll and tcmpe-ramr.: compared to free cells. The results presenled in this work show lhe potential for using immobilized cells to produce ditrerent "~nJ-inosilOl phosphates intennediale

Rainwater harvesting quality assessment and evaluation: IIUM case study

This study focuses on rainwater harvesting quality at the Faculty of Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). As development is progressing over the years in Malaysia, there is also an increasing number of environmental issues and those issues are getting worse day by day. At present, Malaysia is blessed with plentiful annual rainfall that represents approximately 314 mm of monthly rainfall but there is no evidence that this rainwater is redirected for daily usage. To pursue a more sustainable development, rainwater harvesting has been recognized as one innovative solution. The IIUM Gombak campus is located in a hillside area that is a suitable study area to perform rainwater harvesting, which can be used as an alternative water supply in the future and reduce utility bills for water used on the campus. Firstly, a suitable study area for rain water harvesting around KOE, IIUM was determined before collection of data to determine the storage capacity needed. This study includes the estimation of rainwater quantity that can be harvested in one year. The quality of rainwater in terms of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), pH, total suspended solid (TSS), turbidity, and microbial count were studied. Data analysis showed that the values of BOD, COD, pH, TSS, turbidity, and microbial count were in the range of 2 - 3.2 mg/l, 22.5 – 42.5 mg/l, 5.9 - 6.5, 20 mg/l, 9 -11 NTU, and between 200 - 260 cfu/ml, respectively. This indicates that the harvested rainwater is acceptably clean but not suitable to be used as drinking water

Response of Auxins and Cytokinins on Citrus suhuiensis Adventitious Shoot Culture Initiation and Growth

Bacterial and viral diseases are the common problems hampering vast majority of citrus plant which resulted in the decrease of citrus trees development and production yield. While the usage of chemicals to eliminate internal pathogens is harmful to the ecosystem, plant tissue culture is another alternative to develop disease-free plants based on the defined physical and chemical conditions under aseptic environment. This study aimed to initiate Citrus suhuiensis (C. suhuiensis) adventitious shoot culture specifically in response towards different types of plant growth regulators (PGRs). The effect of explants and PGRs were evaluated on the shoot growth within 35 days. C. suhuiensis shoot cultures were induced from three different explants which are leaf, callus and seeds on the solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing different combinations of PGR which are auxins i.e. 1-naphthylacetic acid (NAA) or indole butyric acid (IBA) at 0.5 mg/L, respectively with cytokinins i.e. 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) or kinetin (KN) at various concentrations (0.5 - 4.0 mg/L). Based on the results, the earliest shoot emergence from the cotyledon can be observed after 8th day of inoculation for PGRs combination of 0.5 mg/L IBA with 2.0 mg/L, 3.0 mg/L KN and 3.0 mg/L BAP, respectively. Meanwhile, based on the ANOVA analysis (p-value < 0.05), the most significant PGRs combination for the establishment of C. suhuiensis shoot culture is IBA and KN followed by the treatment of NAA and KN. The findings of this study can serve as a basis for future investigation of micropropagation of shoot culture and cultivation of C. suhuiensis plant

Production of carrageenan by different strains of Kappaphycus alvarezii cultivated in Serang, Indonesia

Kappaphycus alvarezii is one of the main seaweeds cultivated in Indonesia. Its use as a raw material for the kappa-carrageenan industry has increased its cultivation activities. However, standard cultivation protocol for Kappaphycus alvarezii has yet to be well-documented, particularly on strain selection for kappa-carrageenan production. There are various strains of Kappaphycus alvarezii grown in Indonesia, specifically in Serang, Banten such as green, red, and yellowish green strains. In this study, growth rate, carrageenan yield, and gel strength from different strains of Kappaphycus alvarezii were investigated. It was observed that the specific growth rate of green type (4.14% /day) differed significantly from the other two types (red; 3.41% /day and yellowish green; 3.47% /day). The red type had the highest yield of carrageenan (45.16%) followed by yellowish green (36.66%) and green strain (33.67%). Gel strength was not significantly affected by the strain variations where the observed values for yellowish green, green, and red strain were 344.46, 316.91 and 313.10 g/cm2 , respectively. Green Kappaphycus alvarezii had the highest biomass (0.27 g/cm/d) and carrageenan productivity (0.012 g/cm/d). It can be concluded that the green strain of Kappaphycus alvarezii is the most suitable for cultivation in Serang, particularly for the kappa-carrageenan industry. ***************************************************************************** : Kappaphycus alvarezii adalah sebahagian daripada rumpai air yang dituai di Indonesia. Penggunaannya sebagai bahan dasar kepada industri kappa-carrageenan telah menambah kepada aktiviti penuaian. Walau bagaimanapun, protokol penuaian biasa bagi Kappaphycus alvarezii adalah tertakluk pada dokumentasi penuh terutama dalam pemilihan strain pada penghasilan kappa-carrageenan. Terdapat pelbagai jenis strain Kappaphycus alvarezii yang tumbuh di Indonesia, terutama di Serang, Banten seperti hijau, merah, dan strain hijau kekuningan. Kajian ini, kadar pertumbuhan, hasil karaginan dan kekuatan gel daripada pelbagai strain Kappaphycus alvarezii telah dikaji. Didapati bahawa kadar pertumbuhan tertentu pada jenis hijau (4.14% /hari) berbeza ketara berbanding dari dua jenis lain (merah; 3.41% /hari dan hijau kekuningan; 3.47% /hari). Jenis merah mempunyai hasil karaginan tertinggi (45.16%) diikuti oleh hijau kekuningan (36.66%) dan strain hijau (33.67%). Kekuatan gel adalah tidak ketara mempengaruhi kepelbagaian variasi di mana nilai yang dipantau pada strain hijau kekuningan, hijau dan merah adalah 344.46, 316.91 dan 313.10 g/cm2 , masing-masing. Kappaphycus alvarezii hijau mempunyai biojisim tertinggi (0.27 g/cm/d) dan penghasilan karaginan (0.012 g/cm/d). Kesimpulannya strain hijau Kappaphycus alvarezii adalah lebih sesuai untuk disemai di Serang terutamanya pada industri kappakaragina

CO-PRODUCTION OF LACTIC ACID AND ETHANOL USING RHIZOPUS SP. FROM HYDROLYZED INEDIBLE CASSAVA STARCH AND LEAVES

Production of lactic acid and ethanol from inedible cassava starch and leaves was investigated. Prior to fermentation, hydrolysis of the starch and leaves was conducted. Hydrolysis was optimized by manipulating at three levels each four particular factors, namely acid concentration, starch concentration, temperature, and reaction time. Maximum glucose yield of 0.96 g/g was obtained when 2.5% (w/v) of cassava leaves with 2.5% (w/v) of starch was hydrolyzed using 0.20 M of nitric acid at 160oC of temperature for 10 min. The potential of hydrolyzed cassava starch and leaves was then investigated for lactic acid production using fungal Rhizopus sp. The fermentation process was then conducted in shake flask by varying four factors at three levels each. Maximum lactic acid and ethanol yields of 0.95 g/g and 0.52 g/g, respectively, were achieved at different optimum conditions.  Lactic acid production was found to be linked to a decrease in ethanol production. Design Expert v6.0.8 was used to aid in the design of the experiment using Taguchi’s methodology