Plant Growth-Promoting Endophyte Serratia marcescens AL2-16 Enhances the Growth of Achyranthes aspera L., a Medicinal Plant

An endophytic bacterium, AL2-16, was isolated from Achyranthes aspera L. It was characterized and identified as Serratia sp. AL2-16 and was experimented for the presence of plant growth-promoting properties. AL2-16 produced siderophore in iron-deficient conditions. The quantitative estimation of siderophore production unit of AL2-16 was maximum after 48 hours of incubation (83.488%) in the presence of 1 μM of ferric chloride. The fructose followed by glucose and sucrose were proved to be the best carbon sources resulting in appreciable amount of siderophore production, i.e. 77.223%, 73.584%, and 65.363% respectively. AL2-16 also has the ability to produce indole acetic acid in medium supplemented with l-tryptophan. The highest amount of indole acetic acid, in the presence of 1.0% l-tryptophan, was 123.2 μg/mL after 144 hours. This isolate solubilized inorganic phosphate and also gave positive result for ammonia production. Colonization and pot trial experiments were conducted on A. aspera L. plant. The population of AL2-16 increased from 16.2 × 106 to 11.2 × 108 colony forming unit/g between 3rd and 5th days after inoculation. It significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased shoot length by 95.52%, fresh shoot weight by 602.38%, fresh root weight by 438%, and area of leaves by 127.2% when inoculated with AL2-16, as compared with uninoculated control

ETHNOMEDICINAL, PHYTOCHEMICAL, AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF GENUS ACANTHUS

Acanthus (family Acanthaceae) is a genus of the major group angiosperms (flowering plants) comprising more than 29 species widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical region. The aim of this review is to offer thorough scientific information on ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemical, and pharmacological activities of the plant species belonging to the genus Acanthus. Numerous traditional uses of the genus have been supported in this article from the results, and executed by the extracts and/or pure compounds obtained from pharmacological studies will provide a single platform to help future researches on the genus Acanthus. Furthermore, ethnomedicinal evaluation using fractions or isolation of medicinal principles was extensively explored by databases like Google, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect at the same time.Â

Solubilization of Inorganic Rock Phosphate by Rhizobacteria of Allium hookeri Thwaites and Influence of Carbon and Nitrogen Sources Amendments

Phosphate solubilizing bacterial strains (Arthrobacter luteolus S4C7, Klebsiella pneumoniae S4C9, K. pneumoniae S4C10, Enterobacter asburiae S5C7, K. pneumoniae S6C1 and K. quasipneumoniae S6C2) were isolated from the rhizospheric soil of Allium hookeri Thwaites. All the isolates were proved to be positive for rock phosphate (RP) solubilization at different concentration (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%). K. pneumoniae S4C10 was found to be most efficient as 81.6 µg/ml of soluble phosphate when amended with 1% of RP, followed by K. quasipneumoniae S6C2 where soluble phosphate release was 76.8 µg/ml in 0.5% RP amended medium. Also, maximum solubilization was noted to correlate with decrease in pH of the medium. Strain A. luteolus S4C7 liberated small amount of P as compared to other strains. The process of phosphate solubilization was optimized for different carbon sources. Fructose was preferred as best carbon source by K. pneumoniae S4C10 with 85.6 µg/ml of solubilized P in NBRIP broth medium. However, after fructose, glucose also proved to be best carbon source by K. quasipneumoniae S6C2 (83.2 µg/ml) and K. pneumoniae S6C1 (78.4 µg/ml) in the NBRIP medium. Among different nitrogen sources, di-ammonium sulphate was found to be best for phosphate solubilization by the strain K. pneumoniae S6C1 (151.2 µg/ml)

Plant Growth-Promoting Endophyte Serratia marcescens AL2-16 Enhances the Growth of Achyranthes aspera L., a Medicinal Plant

An endophytic bacterium, AL2-16, was isolated from Achyranthes aspera L. It was characterized and identified as Serratia sp. AL2-16 and was experimented for the presence of plant growth-promoting properties. AL2-16 produced siderophore in iron-deficient conditions. The quantitative estimation of siderophore production unit of AL2-16 was maximum after 48 hours of incubation (83.488%) in the presence of 1 μM of ferric chloride. The fructose followed by glucose and sucrose were proved to be the best carbon sources resulting in appreciable amount of siderophore production, i.e. 77.223%, 73.584%, and 65.363% respectively. AL2-16 also has the ability to produce indole acetic acid in medium supplemented with l-tryptophan. The highest amount of indole acetic acid, in the presence of 1.0% l-tryptophan, was 123.2 μg/mL after 144 hours. This isolate solubilized inorganic phosphate and also gave positive result for ammonia production. Colonization and pot trial experiments were conducted on A. aspera L. plant. The population of AL2-16 increased from 16.2 × 106 to 11.2 × 108 colony forming unit/g between 3rd and 5th days after inoculation. It significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased shoot length by 95.52%, fresh shoot weight by 602.38%, fresh root weight by 438%, and area of leaves by 127.2% when inoculated with AL2-16, as compared with uninoculated control

Evaluation of bioavailability of three extracts of a less known ethno-medicinal plant, Thottea tomentosa from Assam

Plants of the genus Thottea have been established as wild ethno-medicinal plants. The plant, Thottea tomentosa also has the illness recuperative property. However there are no such reports so far on the solvent polarity base performances of the plant.  Hence, the current work deals with the assessment of bioavailabilities like qualitative phyto-chemical screening, antioxidant efficiency, total phenol contents, total flavonoid contents and antimicrobial activity using various solvents of diverse polarities like hexane, chloroform, and methanol. Qualitative phyto-chemical screening exposes the stem part contains more phyto-chemicals than that of the leaf. In addition, phenolic compositions of methanol extract of stem and leaf; 374.99 ± 3.84 and 260.55 ± 4.00 mg GAE /g extract respectively comprises with a correlation between antioxidant activities of methanol extract of the stem and leaf (DPPH; IC50 202.39 ± 0.92 and 254.37 ± 1.47 µg/ml respectively). Thus, probable antimicrobial activities of methanol extract of stem and leaf were also study, than that of other extracts. Methanol stem extract against the microbes; Bacillus subtilis (MTCC 1427), Escherichia coli (MTCC 1195), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 1688), Staphylococcus aureus susp.aureus (MTCC 1430), Streptococcus pneumonie (MTCC 2672),  Aspergillus niger (Lab isolates) and Candida albicans (MTCC 4748) exhibited highest zone of inhabitation (ZOI); 17.66 ± 1.45, 15.66 ± 0.88, 18.66 ± 0.66, 17.66 ± 1.45  19.33 ± 0.66 mm, 15.00 ± 1.15 and 14.66 ± 1.20 mm, respectively at concentration 20 mg/ml. Therefore, these results indicate that T. tomentosa can be satisfying the dietetic demand for the food and drug production

Co-Carriage of blaKPC-2 and blaNDM-1 in Clinical Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Associated with Hospital Infections from India.

Global spread of KPC poses to be a serious threat complicating treatment options in hospital settings. The present study investigates the genetic environment of blaKPC-2 among clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from a tertiary referral hospital of India. The study isolates were collected from different wards and clinics of Silchar Medical College and Hospital, India, from 2012-2013. The presence of blaKPC was confirmed by genotypic characterization followed by sequencing. Cloning of the blaKPC-2 gene was performed and the genetic environment of this gene was characterized as well. Transferability of the resistance gene was determined by transformation assay and Southern hybridization. Additionally, restriction mapping was also carried out. Two isolates of P. aeruginosa were found to harbor blaKPC-2, were resistant towards aminoglycosides, quinolone and β-lactam-β-lactamase inhibitor combination. In both the isolates, the resistance determinant was associated with class 1 integron and horizontally transferable. Both the isolates were co-harboring blaNDM-1. The first detection of this integron mediated blaKPC-2 coexisting with blaNDM-1 in P. aeruginosa from India is worrisome, and further investigation is required to track the gene cassette mediated blaKPC-2 in terms of infection control and to prevent the spread of this gene in hospitals as well as in the community

Minimizing hazardous impact of food waste in a circular economy-advances in resource recovery through green strategies

Recent trends in food waste and its management have increasingly started to focus on treating it as a reusable resource. The hazardous impact of food waste such as the release of greenhouse gases, deterioration of water quality and contamination of land areas are a major threat posed by food waste. Under the circular economy principles, food waste can be used as a sustainable supply of high-value energy, fuel, and nutrients through green techniques such as anaerobic digestion, co-digestion, composting, enzymatic treatment, ultrasonic, hydrothermal carbonization. Recent advances made in anaerobic co-digestion are helping in tackling dual or even multiple waste streams at once with better product yields. Integrated approaches that employ pre-processing the food waste to remove obstacles such as volatile fractions, oils and other inhibitory components from the feedstock to enhance their bioconversion to reduce sugars. Research efforts are also progressing in optimizing the operational parameters such as temperature, pressure, pH and residence time to enhance further the output of products such as methane, hydrogen and other platform chemicals such as lactic acid, succinic acid and formic acid. This review brings together some of the recent progress made in the green strategies towards food waste valorization

Minimizing hazardous impact of food waste in a circular economy – Advances in resource recovery through green strategies

Recent trends in food waste and its management have increasingly started to focus on treating it as a reusable resource. The hazardous impact of food waste such as the release of greenhouse gases, deterioration of water quality and contamination of land areas are a major threat posed by food waste. Under the circular economy principles, food waste can be used as a sustainable supply of high-value energy, fuel, and nutrients through green techniques such as anaerobic digestion, co-digestion, composting, enzymatic treatment, ultrasonic, hydrothermal carbonization. Recent advances made in anaerobic co-digestion are helping in tackling dual or even multiple waste streams at once with better product yields. Integrated approaches that employ pre-processing the food waste to remove obstacles such as volatile fractions, oils and other inhibitory components from the feedstock to enhance their bioconversion to reduce sugars. Research efforts are also progressing in optimizing the operational parameters such as temperature, pressure, pH and residence time to enhance further the output of products such as methane, hydrogen and other platform chemicals such as lactic acid, succinic acid and formic acid. This review brings together some of the recent progress made in the green strategies towards food waste valorization