Active Sampling Procedure of Indoor Air Quality to Evaluate Airborne Fungi in Dental Building of Higher Education Institution

The study aimed to measure the concentration and composition of airborne fungi in a higher education institution. The temperature and relative humidity were recorded using TSI Q Trak Indoor Air Quality Monitor. The mean concentration of the indoor air fungi was in the range between 17.67–91.28 CFU/m³. The most abundant airborne fungi were Aspergillus (22%), Fusarium (17%), and Penicillium (15%). The highest mean range concentration of airborne fungi was in the evening followed by in the afternoon and in the morning with a value range between 74 to 148 CFU/m³, 18 to 148 CFU/m³, and 5 to 30 CFU/m³, respectively. Keywords: active sampling; airborne fungi; indoor air quality; dental building. eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6iSI4.291

The association of sugar and sugar substitutes to breast, lung, and oral cancer cell lines: a scoping review

Cancer which synonymously known as neoplasia is a genetic disorder of cell growth that is triggered by acquired or less commonly inherited mutations affecting a single cell and its clonal progeny. The aims of this scoping review was to investigate the role of sugar and sugar substitutes in breast, lung, and oral cancers with a hypothesis that sugar promoted carcinogenesis. Three databases (EBSCO, PubMed, and Scopus) were searched from January 2010 to December 2021 to identify the preclinical studies eligible for this scoping review. The review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. A total of 361 articles were reviewed and the qualitative synthesis used 12 of these articles. Based on the qualitative synthesis, four studies reported dietary sugar (glucose- and/or sucrose) induced cancer progression, one study revealed sugar substitute (aspartame) induced cancer proliferation, seven studies reported that sugar substitutes inhibit cancer proliferation, and one study reported that sucrose promotes cancer while xylitol inhibits cancer. In addition., it was reported that D-allose and cisplatin have a synergistic effect in treating cancer. In conclusion, simple sugar intake is associated with an increased risk of carcinogenesis. In contrast, sugar substitutes inhibit cancer cell line progression, subsequently acting as a potential cancer therapy, thus supporting the study's hypothesis

Tumbuhan etnoperubatan sebagai perumah aktinomiset endofit yang bersifat bioaktif(Ethnomedicinal plants as host of bioactive endophytic actinomycetes)

Sembilan Aktinomiset endofit telah berjaya dipencilkan daripada pokok yang mempunyai nilai ubatan dari beberapa tempat di Semenanjung Malaysia. Pencilan tersebut telah dikenalpasti melalui pemerhatian morfologi, amplifikasi gen 16S rRNA dan analisis penjujukan 16S rRNA. Saringan awal terhadap aktiviti antimikrob telah dilakukan dengan menggunakan teknik calitan plat. Pembentukan miselium substrat dan aerial, warna jisim spora, pigmen larut dan morfologi rantai spora pada semua pencilan menyerupai Streptomyces sp. dan Microbispora sp. Analisis filogenetik jujukan separa 16S rRNA mendapati pencilan SUK 08, SUK 10 dan SUK 15 saling berkaitan dengan Streptomyces eurythermus. Walau bagaimanapun pencilan ini telah dipencilkan dari tumbuhan yang berbeza. Pencilan ini didapati mempunyai aktiviti antimikrob terhadap bakteria dan kulat kajian. Empat pencilan aktif iaitu SUK 08, SUK 10, SUK 12 dan SUK 15 berupaya untuk membunuh dan merencat sehingga 100% satu atau lebih organisma patogen seperti Bacillus subtilis, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium solani, Rhizoctonia solani dan Trichoderma viride. Kajian ini mengesahkan bahawa tumbuhan etnoperubatan adalah sumber pencarian Aktinomiset endofit bioaktif yang berupaya menjadi sumber novel dalam pencarian agen antibakteria dan antimikotik

Antifungal activities of Ziziphus mauritiana against Candida albicans: in vitro study

Medicinal plants have been discovered and used in traditional medicine and pharmaceutical industries since centuries. In the current study, Ziziphus mauritiana leaves was used as it is rich with many biological active compounds such as flavonoids, polyphenols, sapronins and tanins. Previous studies reported the antibacterial and antifungal effects of Z. mauritiana towards various microorganisms. However, the antifungal activities of Z. mauritiana methanol extracts on Candida albicans (Clinical and American Type Culture Collection Strains) have not been discovered extensively. Objectives: Therefore, the aim of the current study is to investigate the antifungal activity of Z. mauritiana leaves methanol extracts against C. albicans ATCC strain and clinical isolate (from oral cancer patient). Methods: Antifungal susceptibility test (AST) was performed using disc diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) to determine the antifungal activity of methanol leaves extract of Ziziphus mauritiana against C. albicans ATCC and clinical isolates. Results: The results obtained showed that there is no zone of inhibition seen from disk diffusion test for both strains. However, the minimal inhibitory and minimal fungicidal concentration showed that Ziziphus mauritiana methanol extracts was able to inhibit C. albicans clinical isolate but not ATCC strain at 500mg/mL. Conclusion: The finding of this study suggests that that Ziziphus mauritiana leaves methanol extract showed promising results against Candida albicans. Thus, it can be used as a source for functional ingredients for pharmaceutical drug industries in-order to reduce or inhibit oral fungal infection

Genomic characterization of a new endophytic Streptomyces kebangsaanensis identifies biosynthetic pathway gene clusters for novel phenazine antibiotic production

Background Streptomyces are well known for their capability to produce many bioactive secondary metabolites with medical and industrial importance. Here we report a novel bioactive phenazine compound, 6-((2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenoxy) carbonyl) phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (HCPCA) extracted from Streptomyces kebangsaanensis, an endophyte isolated from the ethnomedicinal Portulaca oleracea. Methods The HCPCA chemical structure was determined using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We conducted whole genome sequencing for the identification of the gene cluster(s) believed to be responsible for phenazine biosynthesis in order to map its corresponding pathway, in addition to bioinformatics analysis to assess the potential of S. kebangsaanensis in producing other useful secondary metabolites. Results The S. kebangsaanensis genome comprises an 8,328,719 bp linear chromosome with high GC content (71.35%) consisting of 12 rRNA operons, 81 tRNA, and 7,558 protein coding genes. We identified 24 gene clusters involved in polyketide, nonribosomal peptide, terpene, bacteriocin, and siderophore biosynthesis, as well as a gene cluster predicted to be responsible for phenazine biosynthesis. Discussion The HCPCA phenazine structure was hypothesized to derive from the combination of two biosynthetic pathways, phenazine-1,6-dicarboxylic acid and 4-methoxybenzene-1,2-diol, originated from the shikimic acid pathway. The identification of a biosynthesis pathway gene cluster for phenazine antibiotics might facilitate future genetic engineering design of new synthetic phenazine antibiotics. Additionally, these findings confirm the potential of S. kebangsaanensis for producing various antibiotics and secondary metabolites

Streptomyces kebangsaanensis sp. nov., an endophytic actinomycete isolated from an ethnomedicinal plant, which produces phenazine-1-carboxylic acid

A spore-forming streptomycete designated strain SUK12T was isolated from a Malaysian ethnomedicinal plant. Its taxonomic position, established using a polyphasic approach, indicates that it is a novel species of the genus Streptomyces. Morphological and chemical characteristics of the strain were consistent with those of members of the genus Streptomyces. Analysis of the almost complete 16S rRNA gene sequence placed strain SUK12T in the genus Streptomyces where it formed a distinct phyletic line with recognized species of this genus. The strain exhibited highest sequence similarity to Streptomyces corchorusii DSM 40340T (98.2 %) followed by Streptomyces chrestomyceticus NRRL B-3310T (98.1 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 74 mol%. Chemotaxonomic data [MK-9(H8) as the major menaquinone; LLdiaminopimelic acid as a component of cell-wall peptidoglycan; C12: 0, C14: 0, C15: 0 and C17: 1 as the major fatty acids; phospholipid type II] supported the affiliation of strain SUK12T to the genus Streptomyces. The results of the phylogenetic analysis and phenotypic data derived from this and previous studies allowed the genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain SUK12T from the related species of the genus Streptomyces. The DNA-DNA relatedness value between strain SUK12T and S. corchorusii DSM 40340T is 18.85±4.55 %. Strain SUK12T produces phenazine-1-carboxylic acid, known as tubermycin B, an antibacterial agent. It is proposed, therefore, that strain SUK12T (=DSM 42048T=NRRL B-24860T) be classified in the genus Streptomyces as the type strain of Streptomyces kebangsaanensis sp. nov