COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MONASCUS SANGUINEUS AND MONASCUS PURPUREUS AS POTENTIAL SOURCES FOR RED PIGMENT PRODUCTION

Monascus spp. namely Monascus sanguineus was isolated from pomegranate (Punica granatum). In this study, the isolated M. sanguineus was compared with M. purpureus MTCC410 procured from MTCC Chandigarh, India for optimising the red pigment yield. It was observed that both strains had produced maximum red pigment on the 16 th day of incubation (21.9 CVU/ml for M. sanguineus & 16.9 CVU/ml for M. purpureus). Both strains had shown 30°C as a favourable temperature for microbial growth and pigment production. The maximum pigmentation was observed at pH 6.5 (33.9 CVU/ml) for Monascus sanguineus whereas M. purpureus produced maximum pigment at pH 5.5(16.6 CVU/ml). Oryza spp. (local unpolished rice) was found as the best solid substrate for both the strains (M. sanguineus 6.5CVU/gds and M. purpureus 12.5CVU/gds). When substrates were supplemented with glucose, a multi-fold increase in the pigment yield was observed with M. sanguineus, whereas no positive impact of glucose was observed with M. purpureus. For variable N sources, M. sanguineus showed maximum pigment with 1 % peptone whereas M. purpureus showed similar results with substrate supplemented with 5 % yeast extract and MSG. Both strains had shown anti-bacterial activity against gram positive bacteria. Presence of citrinin was confirmed in both the strains by LC-MS

Model-based Nine-Component Scattering Matrix Power Decomposition

This paper aims to establish physical interpretation of nine-component scattering power decomposition using all coherency matrix elements/parameters for fully polarimetric SAR data analysis. It has been known that complete scattering mechanisms can be characterized by using all nine parameters of coherency matrix. We try to decompose the coherency matrix data in a physical scattering manner, as previously reported in a geometrical way by Huynen. New physical scattering models of real and imaginary part of T12 are introduced, which represent dipole scattering power and quarter wave plate scattering power, respectively. These models are added to the existing scattering models for ideal case of surface scattering, double-bounce scattering, and volume scattering. A quantitative analysis of the oriented urban patch of Mumbai in the L-band dataset result reveals a 9.7% decrease in volume scattering, which avoids misinterpretation between vegetation and the oriented urban area, and the 22.5% and 13.5% contributions come from dipole and quarter wave scattering powers, respectively. It is confirmed that proposed method produces better results and interpretations when compared to those by the existing decomposition methods.journal articl

Ascorbate-mediated enhancement of reactive oxygen species generation from polymorphonuclear leukocytes: modulatory effect of nitric oxide

Recent studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that ascorbate potentiated enzymatic synthesis of nitric oxide (NO) from polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). NO is known to modulate various function of PMNs such as chemotaxis, adherence, aggregation, and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The role of ascorbate in the PMN phagocytosis, ROS generation, and apoptosis was thus evaluated in the present study. Ascorbate and its oxidized and cell-permeable analog, dehydroascorbate (DHA), did not affect the phagocytosis but enhanced ROS generation and apoptosis following treatment with Escherichia coli or arachidonic acid. A detailed investigation on the DHA-mediated response indicated that inhibitors of DHA uptake, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase, NO synthase, or ROS scavengers attenuated ROS generation. In DHA-treated cells, enhanced generation of peroxynitrite was also observed; thus, ascorbate-mediated ROS and reactive nitrogen species generation might mediate cytotoxicity toward the ingested microbes and subsequently, augmented PMN apoptosis. Results of the present study have helped in delineating the role of ascorbate in the modulation of NO-mediated ROS generation from PMNs

Development and screening of mutants from Monascus sanguineus for secondary metabolites production

Present study was carried out to develop a potent mutant for enhancing secondary metabolite production from Monascus sanguineus. Ultraviolet (UV) treatment as physical and Ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) as chemical mutagen was used to cultivate the mutants. All obtained mutants were screened for growth and pigment yield on three different synthetic media namely; potato dextrose agar (PDA), malt glucose peptone agar (MGPA) and Czapek Dox yeast extract Agar (CDYA). MGPA media was found suitable for pigment yield whereas appreciable growth was observed with CDYA. Highest pigment yield was obtained for mutants developed at EMS concentration of 0.6 μg/μL (EMS-3) and UV exposed for seven minutes (UV-4). Exposure to UV for 11 min suppressed the pigment production. However this exposed strain (albino) was found to be an efficient producer of lovastatin with no traces of citrinin alike parental strain. Both EMS-3 and UV-4 mutants had synthesized negligible amount of citrinin, well below regulatory toxic levels. Significant variation was also noticed on the spore morphology of tested strains. Aleuroconidia was observed with albino strain whereas clestothesium along with pigmented ascospores were noticed with UV-4 and EMS-3 mutants. In a nutshell, these strains can be endorsed as nontoxic and safe for human consumption. Keywords: Citrinin, Albino, Pigment, Mutants, Clestothesiu

Partial Purification and Characterization of β-glucosidase fromMonascus sanguineus

The aim of the present work was to study the production and characterization of β-glucosidase from Monascus sanguineus. Agro-waste residues were screened to obtain the maximum yield of enzyme. Jack fruit seed was the best substrate for enzyme production. Studies on the optimization of pH and temperature showed acidic pH favorable for enzymatic activity, whereas the optimum temperature was 60°C. Enzyme kinetics studies with different concentration of pNPG showed the calculated value of Km approximately 0.89 mM with the non-linear regression and 0.98 mM with the linear regression techniques. The enzyme was predominantly inhibited by KCl (69.8%) and moderately inhibited by CaCl2(14.8%). Studies on the sensitivity for glucose showed that after 100 mM concentration of glucose, inhibition in pNPG hydrolysis took place. The molecular weight of the protein was estimated as 116 and 66 kDa with SDS- PAGE and zymography was carried out to verify the specific activity