Plastic Biodegradation by Peseudomonas aeruginosa UKMCC1011 Using A Modified Winogradsky Column

The use of plastic as a packaging has been increased in the market. Plastics was polymers that difficult to degrade in nature which to be a source of environmental damage. This study was conducted to see the potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa UKM1011 and natural bacteria to degrade plastics using modified Winogradsky columns. The natural substrate used as soil, sand, and water were taken from Tasik Kejuruteraan UKM Bangi, Selangor. Modified Winogradsky columns using 600ml mineral bottles filled with 300 gr of soil or sand as a substrate and 300 ml of water mixed with medium salt as nutrients. The degradation process carried out for 60 days with parameters were the measurement of optical density (OD) at 600nm, pH conditions, and percent weight loss every 15 days. The results show P. aeruginosa were able to utilize plastics as the carbon source in modified Winogradsky column. The highest plastic degradation was black plastic on the sand substrate by the added P. Aeruginosa was 1.6684% followed by OD600was 0.599 and pH 8.2. While the high test degradation of yellow plastic on the sand substrate was 1.2302% followed by OD600was 0.593 and pH 7.9

Anatomy of symbiotic fungal endophytes in Psilotum nudum (L.) P. Beauv

A study was undertaken to identify the presence of fungal endophyte in fern plant, Psilotum nudum. Being the only living species of a once populated division, P. nudum is the most primitive vascular plant. Cross section of stipe and rhizoid parts was done to observe the presence of endophyte within parenchyma cells. Samples of P. nudum were collected at different sites in Bangi. Anatomical study showed P. nudum has percentage of infected cells highest in rhizoid parenchyma cortex (22.2%) and lowest in the apical area (3.1%). Eleven fungal endophyte isolates were successfully isolated and identified from P. nudum with Aspergillus being the major genus. Is Aspergillus a host-specific endophyte? The present study shows the compatibility of P. nudum parenchyma cells as a host to fungal endophyte

Antibacterial activity of alkaloid extracts from Ochrosia oppositifolia

Ochrosia oppositifolia can be found along the coastline and is locally known as ‘Mempelam pasih’ or ‘Mangga laut’. In this study, the alkaloids from the leaves, stem-bark and roots were extracted and tested for their antibacterial activity. So far, no previous studies have been carried out to determine the antibacterial potential of the extracts. Each extract was tested using disc-diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods. The highest inhibitory diameters shown by 10 mg/mL extracts of the leaves and stem-bark against Staphylococcus aureus and the roots against MRSA were 10.0±2.8 and 10.5±2.1 and 14.0±2.8 mm. On the other hand, the MIC values exhibited by the leaf and stem-bark extracts against Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella thyphimurium and Serratia marcescens and the root extract against Vibrio fluvialis were 3.75 and 0.94 and 0.12 mg/mL. This study broadens the bioactivity potential of the plant and the information obtained can be utilized for pharmacological purposes

Ethylenediammonium-Dicarboxylate Salts and Co-Crystallization for Biological and Pharmaceutical Applications

Several ammonium type salts and co-crystals have been used in drug formulations to increase or decrease solubility, to improve stability, toxicity and also reducing the hygroscopicity of the products. Basically, a wide range of chemically diverse acidsand bases with different pKa, solubilities , molecular weight and other properties have been used for the purpose for a very long timein both drug and food formulations. In the present study, six ethylenediamminium salts containing thiocyanate and the anion derivedfrom diprotic acids namely oxalic (I), adipic (2), fumaric(3), succinic (4), azelaic (5) and sebacic (6) respectively, have been synthesized and characterized including their molecular structures. The difference in the pKa values of the acids unable the salt formation to be generalized. The molar conductivities of the salts are between 218 and 453 ohm-1cm2mol-1 with maximum value of 453 for salt (I). All the salts showed low activity against some selected bacteria and fungi and low toxicity against vero cell. The molecular structure of the salts will be presented and the biological activity will be compared with other ammonium salts

Chlorella sp. (UKM8), a local microalgae isolate with anti-human herpes virus and antioxidant properties

Microalgae are an invaluable source of new and safe therapeutics with potential antiviral and free-radical scavenging compounds. This study aimed to investigate the antiviral and antioxidant properties of local microalgae, Chlorella sp. (UKM8). The UKM8 methanol extract (UKM8-ME) was tested for antiviral activity using plaque reduction assay against Human Herpes Virus type 1 (HHV-1). The antioxidant activity of UKM8-ME was evaluated for the radical scavenging activity (RSA) according to the elimination of 1,1-diphenyl-2-pikrilhydrazil (DPPH) radicals and total phenolic content (TPC) by the Folin-Ciocalteu reactions. UKM8-ME effective concentration that inhibits 50% (EC50) of plaque formation was 222.33 ± 24.54 μg/mL. The calculated selective index is 19 indicating potential antiviral activity. In the DPPH assay, the IC50 value of positive control and UKM8-ME were 122.9 ± 29.1 and 198.78 ± 14.35 μg/mL, respectively. The TPC of positive control and UKM8-ME were 263.414 ± 9.6 and 254.793 ± 3.31 mg GAE/g, respectively. Evaluation in RSA and TPC concludes that UKM8-ME has high antioxidant activity. In conclusion, UKM8-ME has two unique properties in anti-HHV-1 and antioxidant activities that can be further evaluated for potential in pharmaceutics and food ingredients

Phytochemical study of Hedychium malayanum (Zingiberaceae)

A phytochemical study was conducted on the stems and leaves of Hedychium malayanum (Zingiberaceae). Three steroids namely stigmasterol (1), sitostenone (2) and stigmast-4-ene-3,6-dione (3) as well as one triterpene, lupenone (4) and one oxygenated sesquiterpene, caryophyllene oxide (5) were successfully isolated from the respective stems and leaves, utilizing several chromatographic techniques. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic means (IR, MS, NMR), and by comparison with the literature data

SYNTHESIS, STRUCTURAL, ANTIBACTERIAL AND SPECTRAL STUDIES OF Co(II) COMPLEXES WITH SALICYLALDEHYDE AND p-CHLORO- BENZALDEHYDE 4-PHENYLTHIOSEMICARBAZONE (Sintesis, Penstrukturan, Antibakteria dan Analisis Spektrum Sebatian Kompleks Co(II) dengan Salisilald

Abstract The Co(II) complexes derived from salicylaldehyde 4-phenylthiosemicarbazone; SaOHtsc, p-chlorobenzaldehyde 4-phenylthiosemicarbazone; ph-HClbtsc is reported and characterized based on elemental analysis, IR, magnetic susceptibility measurement, 1 H and 13 C NMR spectra. The Co(II) complexes have the molecular formula CoL 2 where the ligand corresponding to SaOHtsc and ph-HClbtsc. The elemental analysis for the ligands and complexes were in a good agreement with the theoretical values. The ligands coordinate to metal ions in different ways which is through mononegative bidentate or dinegative tridentate. The magnetic susceptibility measurements showed that the CoL 2 complexes with ligand SaOHtsc are diamagnetic thus making this complexes suitable for NMR studies. The signals at the 10.04 ppm were assigned to N 2 H in the 1 H-NMR spectra of the free ligands was absent in the spectra of the complexes due to the deprotonation of the N 2 H and coordination to the metal centres. The absence of the band in IR spectrum which is assigned to ν(N 2 -H) in the spectra of CoL 2 complexes is due to the deprotonation of the ligands upon complexation through azomethine nitrogen and thionic sulphur atom to metal ion. The thiosemicarbazones and its Co(II) complexes showed moderate inhibitory against bacteria Bacillus Subtilis, Staphylococcus Epidermis, Escherichia Coli and Proteus Mirabilis in 10 μg/disc. Keywords: Thiosemicarbazone, Co(II), antibacterial Abstrak Sebatian kompleks Co(II) diterbitkan daripada salisilaldehid 4-feniltiosemikarbazon, SaOHtsc, dan pklorobenzaldehid 4-feniltiosemikarbazon, ph-HCltsc telah dilaporkan serta dilakukan pencirian melalui analisis unsur, IR, ukuran kebolehrentangan magnet momen, 1 H dan 13 C RMN. Sebatian kompleks tersebut mempunyai formula molekul CoL 2 di mana ligan mewakili SaOHtsc dan ph-HClbtsc. Analisis unsur bagi sebatian ligan dan kompleks mematuhi nilai teori. Sebatian ligan berkoordinat dengan ion logam melalui pelbagai cara iaitu sama ada mononegatif monodentat atau dinegatif tridentat. Pengukuran kebolehrentangan magnet momen menunjukkan bahawa sebatian kompleks CoL 2 dengan ligan SaOHtsc adalah diamagnet di mana sesuai untuk pencirian RMN

Synthesis, antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity of new fused pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine and pyrazolo[5,1-c][1,2,4]triazine derivatives from new 5-aminopyrazoles

New 5-aminopyrazoles 2a–c were prepared in high yields from the reaction of known α,α-dicyanoketene-N,S-acetals 1a–c with hydrazine hydrate under reflux in ethanol. These compounds were utilized as intermediates to synthesize pyrazolo[1,5-a]-pyrimidines 3a–c, 4a–d, 5a–c, and 6a–c, as well as pyrazolo[5,1-c][1,2,4]triazines 7a–c and 8a–c, by the reaction of 2-[bis(methylthio)methylene]malononitrile, α,α-dicyanoketene-N,S-acetals 1a–b, acetylacetone, acetoacetanilide as well as acetylacetone, and malononitrile, respectively. Furthermore, cyclization of 2a–c with pentan-2,5-dione yielded the corresponding 5-pyrrolylpyrazoles 9a–c. Moreover, fusion of 2a–c with acetic anhydride resulted in the corresponding 1-acetyl-1H-pyrazoles 10a–c. The antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity against Vero cells of several selected compounds are also reported