Valorization of Pineapple Peels through Single Cell Protein Production Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCDC 364

Background and objective: Pineapple peels contain significant quantities of carbohydrates, which can be used as cheap raw materials for production of commercially important products through fermentation. The aim of this study was to use this feed stock for the cultivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCDC 364 and its use as single cell protein.Material and methods: The single cell protein was produced using discarded pineapple peels and Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCDC 364. Optimization of bioprocess variables (temperature, pH, incubation period, carbon source and nitrogen source) affecting single cell protein production was carried out using classical "one factor at a time" approach. The harvested cells from optimized media were screened for amino acid content using high-performance thin-layer chromatography.Results and conclusion: The Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCDC 364 produced maximum single cell protein in pineapple peel based media, compared to non-optimized media. The "one factor at a time" approach showed that the maximum biomass production was achieved at optimized levels of temperature of 25ºC, pH of 5, incubation period of 120 h, carbon source of 1% sucrose and nitrogen source of 0.5% beef extract. The amino acid profiling of the harvested biomass using high-performance thin-layer chromatography analysis revealed that tryptophan included a comparatively higher concentration of 6.52%, followed by threonine (3.25%). Results of this study suggest that easily available raw materials such as fruit peels offer cost-effective substrates for production of commercially important microbial proteins for alarming global issues linked to protein malnutrition.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest

A critical assessment of technical advances in pharmaceutical removal from wastewater – A critical review

Use of pharmaceutical products has seen a tremendous increase in the recent decades. It has been observed that more than thirty million tons of pharmaceuticals are consumed worldwide. The used pharmaceutical products are not completely metabolized in human and animal body. Therefore, they are excreted to the environment and remain there as persistent organic chemicals. These compounds emerge as toxic contaminants in water and affect the human metabolism directly or indirectly. This literature review is an endeavour to understand the origin, applications and current advancement in the removal of pharmaceuticals from the environment. It discusses about the pharmaceuticals used in medical applications such diagnosis and disease treatment. In addition, it discusses about the recent approaches applied in pharmaceutical removal including microbial fuel cells, biofiltration, and bio nanotechnology approaches. Moreover, the challenges associated with pharmaceutical removal are presented considering biological and environmental factors. The review suggest the potential recommendations on pharmaceutical removal.The corresponding author Prof. Vinay Kumar is thankful to all the co-authors for their collaborative efforts in writing this paper. This work was supported by Department of Community Medicine, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Chennai, India.Peer reviewe

CyclinPred: A SVM-Based Method for Predicting Cyclin Protein Sequences

Functional annotation of protein sequences with low similarity to well characterized protein sequences is a major challenge of computational biology in the post genomic era. The cyclin protein family is once such important family of proteins which consists of sequences with low sequence similarity making discovery of novel cyclins and establishing orthologous relationships amongst the cyclins, a difficult task. The currently identified cyclin motifs and cyclin associated domains do not represent all of the identified and characterized cyclin sequences. We describe a Support Vector Machine (SVM) based classifier, CyclinPred, which can predict cyclin sequences with high efficiency. The SVM classifier was trained with features of selected cyclin and non cyclin protein sequences. The training features of the protein sequences include amino acid composition, dipeptide composition, secondary structure composition and PSI-BLAST generated Position Specific Scoring Matrix (PSSM) profiles. Results obtained from Leave-One-Out cross validation or jackknife test, self consistency and holdout tests prove that the SVM classifier trained with features of PSSM profile was more accurate than the classifiers based on either of the other features alone or hybrids of these features. A cyclin prediction server- CyclinPred has been setup based on SVM model trained with PSSM profiles. CyclinPred prediction results prove that the method may be used as a cyclin prediction tool, complementing conventional cyclin prediction methods

A Strategic Review on Use of Polyhydroxyalkanoates as an Immunostimulant in Aquaculture

Background and Objective: Increasing concerns over the use of antibiotics in aquaculture have emerged researchers to focus on short chain fatty acids and other biocompatible molecules as alternatives for disease prophylaxis and treatment. Polyhydroxyalkanoates well studied as biopolymeric materials for using in packaging and biomedicine were not focused much for their abilities to act as antimicrobial agents in aquaculture until recent years. Application studies of polyhydroxyalkanoates as aquafeed additives have highlighted their promising roles as eco-friendly alternatives for commercial antibiotics with strong immunomodulatory effects in fish-es and shrimps. The major aim of this review was to explore up-to-date scientific research studies on use of polyhydroxyalkanoates as aquafeed additives and their immunomodulatory effects. Results and Conclusion: Up-to-date, limited scientific literatures have been published on the use of polyhydroxyalkanoates and their copolymers as alternatives to antibiotics in aquaculture. This research field includes a great scope of development due to the promising immu-nomodulatory and antimicrobial activity of polyhydroxyalkanoates against common pathogens in aquaculture, as reported in literatures. Although several hypothesis and research data for explaining the mechanisms behind their immunostimulatory effects were suggested by various researchers, genetic and molecular bases underlying these phenomena are yet to be explored. Further research and development in this area can introduce these biopolymers as the most promising eco-friendly alternatives for antibiotics in aquaculture. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interes

Differential Laccase Production among Diverse Fungal Endophytes in Aquatic Plants of Hulimavu Lake in Bangalore, India

The ability of plants to acclimatise and thrive in stressed environments can be attributed, in part, to the reserve of endophytic fungi that they harbour, that help enhance physiological and immunological defence and tolerance to various biotic and abiotic stressors. The present work has focussed on screening laccase producing endophytic fungi residing in different aquatic plants isolated from Hulimavu Lake, Bengaluru. This lake is well known for its water pollution contributed by anthropogenic factors. Survival of plants in this lake can hence be associated with their rich repertoire of endophytic fungi that enhance host plant defence towards stressors. Upon isolation and culturing of endophytic fungi, qualitative laccase detection using laccase specific growth media and quantitative laccase estimation using ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) substrate were performed. Differential production rates were observed for the laccase enzyme by different endophytic fungi; production rates also varied between fungi isolated from different parts like node, stem, root and leaf of the same plant species too. Phylogenetic analysis of fungal isolates with highest laccase production was performed and the species was found to be Cladosporium tenuissimum. Even the crude extract of this strain displayed laccase production of 42.16U/L, as revealed by ABTS assay. Hence this strain is a promising candidate for optimization studies for utilisation in the domain of bioremediation and industrial applications

Biotechnological advancements in microplastics degradation in drinking water: Current insights and Future perspectives

Microplastics (MPs) have emerged as persistent toxicants in the recent decade. MPs are reported to present in different samples such as soil, water, wastewater, and human samples including placenta, urine etc. Recent studies have reported its presence in drinking water. MPs presence in the drinking water is of concern to the research because MPs are associated with several toxicities in animal models including human. The presented review is focused on understanding MPs abundance, sources, detection, analysis, and biotechnological approaches for its degradation. The paper discusses MPs sources, distribution, and transport in drinking water. In addition, it discusses the MPs identification in drinking water, and advances in biotechnological, metagenomics, system, and synthetic biology approaches for MPs degradation. Moreover, it discusses critically the major challenges associated with the MPs degradation in drinking water. Heterogeneity in the MPs size and shape makes it its identification difficult in the drinking water. Most of the methods available for MPs analysis are based on the dried samples analysis. Development of MPs in liquid samples may bring a breakthrough in the research

Understanding the Role of Antimicrobial Peptides in Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Promoting Autoimmune Disorders

AMPs are small oligopeptides acting as integral elements of the innate immune system and are of tremendous potential in the medical field owing to their antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities. They offer a multitude of immunomodulatory properties such as immune cell differentiation, inflammatory responses, cytokine production, and chemoattraction. Aberrancy in neutrophil or epithelial cell-producing AMPs leads to inflammation culminating in various autoimmune responses. In this review, we have tried to explore the role of prominent mammalian AMPs—defensins and cathelicidins, as immune regulators with special emphasis on their role in neutrophil extracellular traps which promotes autoimmune disorders. When complexed with self-DNA or self-RNA, AMPs act as autoantigens which activate plasmacytoid dendritic cells and myeloid dendritic cells leading to the production of interferons and cytokines. These trigger a series of self-directed inflammatory reactions, leading to the emergence of diverse autoimmune disorders. Since AMPs show both anti- and pro-inflammatory abilities in different ADs, there is a dire need for a complete understanding of their role before developing AMP-based therapy for autoimmune disorders

A Retrospection on Mercury Contamination, Bioaccumulation, and Toxicity in Diverse Environments: Current Insights and Future Prospects

Owing to various industrial applications of mercury (Hg), its release into the environment at high concentration is becoming a great threat to living organisms on a global scale. Human exposure to Hg is greatly correlated with contamination in the food chain through cereal crops and sea foods. Since Hg is a non-essential component and does not possess a biological role and exhibits carcinogenic and genotoxic behaviour, biomonitoring with a focus on biomagnification of higher living animals and plants is the need of the hour. This review traces the plausible relationship between Hg concentration, chemical form, exposure, bioavailability, bioaccumulation, distribution, and ecotoxicology. The toxicity with molecular mechanisms, oxidative stress (OS), protein alteration, genomic change, and enzymatic disruptions are discussed. In addition, this review also elaborates advanced strategies for reducing Hg contamination such as algal and phytoremediation, biochar application, catalytical oxidation, and immobilization. Furthermore, there are challenges to overcome and future perspectives considering Hg concentrations, biomarkers, and identification through the nature of exposures are recommended

Microbial engineering strategies for synthetic microplastics clean up: A review on recent approaches

Microplastics are the small fragments of the plastic molecules which find their applications in various routine products such as beauty products. Later, it was realized that it has several toxic effects on marine and terrestrial organisms. This review is an approach in understanding the microplastics, their origin, dispersal in the aquatic system, their biodegradation and factors affecting biodegradation. In addition, the paper discusses the major engineering approaches applied in microbial biotechnology. Specifically, it reviews microbial genetic engineering, such as PET-ase engineering, MHET-ase engineering, and immobilization approaches. Moreover, the major challenges associated with the plastic removal are presented by evaluating the recent reports available.Author, Dr. Vinay Kumar is thankful to Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Chennai, Thandalam-602105, India for providing support to carry out the research work. In addition, we are thankful to Prof. Sathyanarayana N. Gummadi for providing his valuable inputs for improvement of the manuscript.Peer reviewe