Cellulolytic enzymes were necessary for the decomposing of forest waste cellulose present in the environment. Based on the molecular characterization, the N6.2 potent cellulolytic fungal isolate was identified as determined Aspergillus calidoustus. The physical parameters of 5 days of incubation at 30 degrees C with seven pH resulted in high yield of cellulase enzymes. The endoglucanase activity was determined 87.36 U/ml, followed by beta-glucosidase activity of 43.11 U/ml and exoglucanase, 21.03 U/ml under optimized conditions. Treatment of cellulosic substrate Pongamia and wood wastes by Aspergillus calidoustus resulted in breakdown of ligocellulosic waste with exoglu-canase activity 234.50 +/- 2.13 & 125.00 +/- 2.50 U/ml, followed by endoglucanase activity 208.55 +/- 4.03 & 112.08 +/- 1.51 U/ml and beta-glucosidase of around 90.57 +/- 0.72 & 54.71 +/- 2.50 U/ml. Further, the fermentation of pre-treated cellulosic polymer broth resulted in the production of bioethanol production of around 4.4 g/l/g of Pongamia leaves waste and 2.2 g/ l/g of wood waste by the action of Saccaharomycetes spp. Hence, the current work outlines the cellulosic substrates utilization for sustainable two-step bioethanol synthesis, and potential implications for extensive research.

In lignocellulosic biomass digestion, the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic polymers is regarded as the rate-limiting step for enzyme synthesis. The present study is focused on hydrolytic microbial communities isolation from degraded leaf litter soil, and optimization efforts that aid in the decomposition of biomass in the environment. Based on morphological characteristics and leads from preliminary testing, four of the isolates were determined to be effective cellulose degraders. Molecular identification of robust microbial genera included Galactomyces sp. Cefu3, Aspergillus flavus N11, Serratia marcescens CH1, and Bacillus sp Cp4 species, respectively. Serratia marcescens CH1 was determined to be the most potent of the four isolates for cellulase enzyme activity. Further, Serratia marcescens CH1 exhibited highest multi-enzyme activity for endo-(1,4)-β-D-glucanase, exo-(1,4)-β-D-glucanase, and β-glucosidase. The assay conditions were optimized and determined by the Response Surface Methodology (RSM).

The search for economically viable and less laborous strategy for bioethanol production has increased globally in this quest bacterial cellulase treated biomass has been promising. Potential bacterium isolated from the forest soil near Bandipur of Karnataka, India exploiting its cellulolytic activity on the CMC agar medium. Molecular identification and characterization of isolate Bp17 revealed as Chryseobacterium junjuense Bp17. An optimization study, enhance the yield of the enzyme through varying parameters such as time, temperature, and pH. Enzymatic assays like 13 1, 4 endoglucanase (148.55 U/ml), 13 1, 4 exoglucanase (37.21 U/ml), and 13 glucosidase (42.21 U/ml) exhibit the enzyme activity. Endo, exo and 13-glucosidase activities of hydrolyzed biomass broth like coconut husk; 212.88 +/- 1.24 U/ml, 151.65 +/- 1.24 U/ml and 176.63 +/- 1.24 U/ml, rice bran; 223.72 +/- 1.42 U/ml, 112.88 +/- 1.42 U/ml and 133.43 +/- 1.42 U/ml, Pongamia leaves; 389.69 +/- 2.54 U/ml, 205.92 +/- 2.54 and 187.99 +/- 2.54 U/ml, and wood waste; 196.86 +/- 0.2 U/ml, 138.90 +/- 0.2 U/ml and 168.84 +/- 0.2 U/ml, respectively. Hydrolyzed and control biomass differences analyzed through Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Zymography reveals the activity and molecular weight of cellulolytic enzymes (40-130 KB). Hydrolyzed broth filtrate produced from biomass used as crude enzyme and further used for bioethanol production through the yeast fermentation process.

Bioconversion of agro-waste biomass into ethanol through cellulase-producing microbes has been a trending research area in recent years. The present work focused on the isolation, characterization, and optimization of potent cellulase enzyme-producing bacterial isolate from Bandipur forest soil. Among the three bacterial isolates, one isolate exhibited the highest cellulase enzyme activity of 147.23 U/ml at pH 7 and a temperature of 30 & DEG;C with an incubation time of 72 h. Based on molecular taxonomical studies, the isolate was identified as Chryseobacterium culicis strain Bp16. Further, under optimal conditions, a minimal medium supplemented with various biomasses like coconut husk, Pongamia leaves, rice bran, and wood waste survived as a source for bacterial cellulase enzymatic activity and produce reducing sugars under submerged fermentation. Further investigation revealed that the fermentation of reducing sugars in a coconut husk and rice bran as substrates resulted in 0.53% ethanol production via the action of baker's yeast and wine starter cultures respectively. The outcome of the present research allowed us to explore a potent and novel cellulolytic bacterium, Chryseobacterium culicis strain Bp16 for ethanol production through bioprocessing of waste biomass.

Rice blast disease caused by Pyricularia oryzae Cavara (Teleomorph: Magnaporthe oryzae B.C. Couch) is one of the main pathological threats to rice crop around the world. Here, 72 monogenic isolates obtained from blast-infected rice samples from the principal rice growing districts of Karnataka, India were screened for virulence. Further, 16 highly virulent isolates were tested on the 24 international differential cultivars targeting 16 resistance genes. Eight differentials were used to determine the races of these fungal isolates. A total of 15 pathotypes were detected among 16 isolates. Differential variety, namely Raminad str 3 showed the maximum resistance followed by Zenith and NP125 with Pia and Pik resistance genes, respectively. This study has revealed the race types and corresponding resistance genes through the infection studies carried on the differentials will help the breeders to incorporate these resistant genes into the local cultivars through MAB to develop blast-resistant cultivars.

TLC-bioautography amalgamated with hyphenated spectroscopy aid in precise in situ detection of secondary metabolites with pharmaceutical significance. TLC bioautography offers efficient and economical strategy in identifying compounds of interest from crude extracts. The present investigation has been focused on detection of antimicrobial metabolite from the culture broth of Nigrospora sphaerica inhabiting Croton bonplandianus Baill. The antimicrobial profiling confirmed the bioactive nigrosporalactone to possess broad-spectrum activity against test human pathogens with minimum inhibitory concentration values in the range 6.25 mu g to 100 mu g. The in silico studies revealed protein targets 1I01 (E. coli beta-ketoacyl reductase), 1IYL (C. albicans N-myristoyl transferase) had the highest binding score of -6.1 Kcal/mol. (C) 2021 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mycoendophytes have been a promising source of bioactive metabolites for new developments in pharmaceuticals and industrial relevance. During the screening of mycoendophytes diversity from C. bonplandianus, bioactive C. verrucosus CBF 22 was isolated from the leaf. The bioactive isolate was subjected to fermentation and the ethyl acetate fraction was evaluated for antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion and microbroth dilution methods, followed by cytotoxicity using MTT assay. The results revealed significant activity against Gram negative bacteria, Gram positive bacteria, and human pathogenic dermatophytic fungi, C. albicans. The TLC Bioautography-Guided approach employed for the detection of antimicrobial metabolite from bioactive fraction was depicted by a zone of inhibition. Antimicrobial screening of mycoendophytes C. bonplandianus could envision a unique potential niche for bioactive compounds of pharmaceutical importance. These findings suggest C. verrucosus as a potent candidate for producing natural bioactives, to combat multidrug-resistant pathogens. This work is the first report on the incidence of C. verrucosus as mycoendophyte and its bioactive potential of inhabiting C. bonplandianus Baill.

Natural product drug discovery plays a crucial role in the development of newer drug leads without minimal side effects from the different biological sources. Communicable diseases from the microbial origin and non-communicable diseases were solely responsible for the major death ratio around the globe. Drug resistance in microorganisms as a survival mechanism poses a greater threat to society. This also led the natural product researchers to develop or find newer pharmaceutical agents to combat drug resistance. Natural product drug discovery gained its importance over synthetic drugs with, minimal side effects. In silico analysis or virtual screening of natural products, shed limelight on understanding the mode of action on their targets in a better possible way. The study discussed here primarily focuses on the glide docking studies to analyze the interaction of a bioactive polyketide secondary metabolite coriloxin isolated from the mycoendophytic Xylaria sp. NBRTSB20. In-silico analysis of coriloxin against various selected biological targets was predicted using Maestro version 11.2 software (Schrodinger). Prime targets selected for the In-silico analysis belonged to antimicrobial (1XFV, 2I80, 1OB2, 1JIJ, 4PRX, 3ZKB, 3FFI, 1AJ0, 1AI9, 3JVV, and 3VOB), anti-inflammatory (1CX2 and 1PGG), and anticancer (3RCD, 5L2W, 3CCN, 4MAN, and 2VCJ) targets. Coriloxin was perfectly docked into all the selected targets and active interaction was observed. The biological activity of coriloxin was predicted based on the docking scores obtained by the Glide docking process. Broad-spectrum antimicrobial polyketide coriloxin from Xylaria sp. NBRTSB20 tends to actively inhibit the nucleic acid synthesis by interacting with the DNA Gyrase. Along with the nucleic acid synthesis inhibition, coriloxin also interacts strongly with some of the cytoplasmic targets. Interaction between coriloxin and cyclooxygenase-2 and tyrosine-protein kinase Met (c-Met) proved its anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties. Virtual screening of selected bioactive metabolites against a panel of biological targets helps in the prediction of bioactivity, which elevates the pharmaceutical significance of the natural product drug leads.

Bionanotechnology has gained wide attention in the research field of modern materials science over the past decade. Biogenic synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NP) has been focused by researchers due to their non-toxicity and a broad range of applications. In the present work, spherical shape nanoparticles (average 21 nm size) were obtained using plant extract of Ocimum americanum. The biosynthesized ZnO NPs showed a strong absorption peak at 316 nm which is a characteristic feature of ZnO NPs. Further, biophysical characterization of synthesized ZnO NPs was carried out using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in comparison with plant extract to determine the possible functional groups involved in ZnO NPs formation, X-ray diffraction and confirmed the crystalline nature which is in accordance with JCPDS ID for ZnO NPs, scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering for shape and size. Evaluation of antimicrobial efficacy of the biosynthesized ZnO NPs was found to be significant against four Gram-positive, four Gram-negative bacteria and two human pathogenic fungi. These results affirm that plant mediated ZnO NPs are potential for effective antioxidant and antimicrobial therapeutics.

The need for new analogues with higher efficacy to combat the multidrug-resistant microbes as well as other health implications is the need of the hour. Medicinal chemistry has been focused highly in this regard by researchers, due to labour and redundancy of new skeletons in the conventional mode of natural product discovery. However, the less toxicity imposed by natural products would definitely provoke an interest in developing new analogues from natural sources. Microbes especially endophytes having high metabolic diversity have been an aid to attending the prerequisite clinical challenges. The insights of biosynthetic gene clusters of endophytes have proven to be more potential in drug lead discovery. The epigenetic changes in microbial biosynthetic gene clusters would envision new possible skeletal structural diversities. This review is focused on the modulation as well as activation strategies of the biosynthetic gene clusters for biosynthesizing products with pharmaceutical importance along with possible regulatory elements involved in the expression.

The need for a new antibiotic pipeline to confront threat imposed by resistant pathogens has become a major global concern for human health. To confront the challenge there is a need for discovery and development of new class of antibiotics. Nature which is considered treasure trove, there is re-emerged interest in exploring untapped microbial to yield novel molecules, due to their wide array of negative effects associated with synthetic drugs. Natural product researchers have developed many new techniques over the past few years for developing diverse compounds of biopotential. Taking edge in the advancement of genomics, genetic engineering, in silico drug design, surface modification, scaffolds, pharmacophores and target-based approach is necessary. These techniques have been economically sustainable and also proven efficient in natural product discovery. This review will focus on recent advances in diverse discipline approach from integrated Bioinformatics predictions, genetic engineering and medicinal chemistry for the synthesis of natural products vital for the discovery of novel antibiotics having potential application.

An ongoing strategy to isolate unique metabolites with antimicrobial activity from myriad natural niches is one of the top research priorities among scientific communities, owing to rapid expansion of multi-drug-resistant microbes. Prospecting of medicinal plants for various biological activities can be traced back to the ancient era. Before scientific knowledge was widespread, plants served as an immortal resource of structurally diverse phytocomponents. A large number of antimicrobial metabolites have been successfully isolated from medicinal plants. But harvesting of endangered plant species may pose a risk and cause an imbalance in plant diversity; hence, finding an alternative feasible source of bioactive compounds has been an area of interest in recent decades. Among which the endophytic plethora has revealed the diverse chemistry of metabolites bearing therapeutic properties, resulting in the rapid expansion of research on endophytes across the globe, with various valuable compounds of pharmaceutical importance constantly being explored. Hence, this chapter envisages the antimicrobial potentials of endophytic origin which can give an insight into the isolation of potent antimicrobial agents to combat life-threatening infections caused by microbes.

Plants, owing to their rich biodiversity, form almost unlimited natural resources on the planet. Exploitation of plants has been happening since ancient times, and has shaped the biosphere and its inhabitants. Plants have been serving mankind in various ways since life arose and man has been continuously using them for various requirements. A closer understanding of the association of humans with their surrounding flora is essential for better utilization of plants. The recent implementation of new technologies and improved scientific knowledge related to plant biology have been the focus of much attention, with the intention of bioprospecting and reformulating plants for diverse applications. One such area gaining importance is the evaluation of nanoparticle synthesis. The process of plant-mediated nanoparticles can be termed phytosynthesis of nanoparticles, wherein metal salts are efficiently reduced to materials at a nanoscale. At this size, the materials often exhibit significant and enhanced properties compared to its bulk material. In recent years there has been a significant interest in scientific communities towards plant mediated nanoparticles, especially noble metallic nanoparticles such as silver, gold, platinum and bimetallic ones. Owing to the fact that nanoparticles have been used in innumerable applications in various fields of sciences such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, electronics, food packaging, biosensors, industrial spares components, textiles and anti-infective agents, nanoparticles have been envisioned as the particles of the century.

Pharmaceutical biology perceives medicinal plants as a rich source of bioactive compounds bearing biological activities which can be traced back to the dawn of life. Plants form one of the most abundant and diverse living systems in nature. Improved scientific knowledge in plant biology has led scientific communities to gain in-depth knowledge of plants and their metabolites by screening and characterization of novel phytochemicals with innumerable valuable roles, which has had a huge impact on all human life. Owing to this, research on plant-based natural products has generated tremendous interest with numerous studies highlighting new secondary metabolites of plant origin. Among these secondary metabolites in plants, triterpenoids form a prominent group of bioactive compounds, widely distributed among diverse plants species. Triterpenoids have myriad biological activities, including antioxidative, antimutagenic, anticancer, antidiabetic, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antimalarial, immunomodulatory and many more. Triterpenoids are highly multifunctional and have great chemical diversity; their potential anti-therapeutic agents could be exploited for various biological activities. This chapter explores the valuable scientific literature pertaining to triterpenoids.

In present investigation extracellular synthesis of silver nanoparticles were synthesized using cell free supernatant of Pseudomonas veronii AS41G isolated from Annona squamosa L. The bacterium significantly reduced silver nitrate to generate silver nanoparticles which was characterized with hyphenated techniques. Synthesis of silver nanoparticles preliminary confirmed by UV-Visible spectrophotometry with the intense peak at 410nm, Further FTIR analysis revealed the possible role of biomolecules in the supernatant responsible for mediating the nanoparticles formation. The XRD spectra exhibited the characteristic Bragg peaks of 100, 111, 200, and 220 facets of the face centred cubic symmetry of nanoparticles suggesting that these nanoparticles were crystalline in nature. TEM microgram showed polydispersity of nanoparticles with size ranging from 5 to 50nm. Synthesized silver nanoparticles showed antibacterial activity against human and environmental pathogens including MRSA. The study enlightens the role of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles as an emerging alternative for drug resistant microorganisms. The obtained results are promising enough to pave the environmentally benign nanoparticle synthesis processes without use of any toxic chemicals and also envision the emerging role of endophytes towards synthesis of nanoparticles. With scanty reports available on P.veronii species, a new role has been reported in this study which will be very valuable for future researchers working on it.

Biological synthesis of nanoparticles has emerged as rapidly developing research area in nanotechnology across the globe with various biological entities being employed in production of nanoparticles constantly forming an impute alternative for conventional methods. Simple prokaryotes to complex eukaryotic organisms including higher plants are used for the fabrication of nanoparticles. One area of untapped potential is marine microorganism as nanofactories to fabricate nanoparticles. Marine microorganisms are known to interact with metal ions as marine ecosystems are constantly exposed to high metal salt concentration. These microorganisms may reduce the metallic ions rapidly for the formation of nanoparticles of desired shape and controlled size. The present review unearths marine microbial flora in synthesis of nanoparticles.

ObjectiveTo investigate antimutagenic and antioxidant potency of the aqueous heat treated Ficus benghalensis stem bark (FBH) extract and Moringa oleifera root (MRH) extract against sodium azide in TA100 tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium and their inhibition of microsomal lipid peroxidation (LPO).MethodsMutagenicity was assayed by the standard Ames test (standard plate incorporation assay) and antioxidant potency was investigated by employing ex vivo inhibition of lipid peroxidation in liver Microsomes.ResultsBoth FBH and MRH showed strong antimutagenic effect on S. typhimurium TA100 strains against sodium azide (NaN3). IC50 values of aqueous extract of FBH and MRH extracts were 70.24 μg/ml and 99.20 μg/ml respectively. FBH extract showed maximum inhibition of microsomal lipid peroxidation responses than MRH. IC50 values of aqueous extract of FBH and MRH extracts were 80.24 μg/ml and 92 μg/ml respectively. FBH and MRH exhibited a dose dependent antioxidant activity.ConclusionThe aqueous heat-treated FBH and MRH have antimutagenic as well as antioxidant activity. Further studies are in progress to evaluate the effect of both extracts by other antioxidant and antimutagenic assays and to identify the factors responsible for these activities.

Bacterial endophytic flora from Coffee arabica L. was screened and evaluated for caffeine degrading expts. Among the endophytes isolated bacterium belonging to Pseudomonas sp., exhibiting 98.61 % caffeine degrdn. The bacterium was capable of growing luxuriantly when caffeine was supplement as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen. Induced cells were capable of degrading caffeine. This is the first report on any endophytes being evaluated for caffeine degrdn. Obtained results are promising enough and can be an alternative method for existing conventional methods employed in caffeine removal. Further study in this area will give an insight on the facile route in biodegrdn. of caffeine and also the possible role for these endophytic bacteria in the biol. of the coffee plant. [on SciFinder(R)]

We have described a facile synthesis of novel 1,3-thiazolidine purine nucleosides. All these analogues are derived from the key intermediate N-tert-butoxycarbonyl-1,3-thiazolidine-2-ol, which was obtained from L-cysteine methylester hydrochloride. The tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF) induced coupling of the 1,3-thiazolidine moiety with suitably protected purines afforded highly regioselective N-9 substituted purine nucleosides. All the newly synthesized products were characterized by 1H NMR, ES-MS and elemental analyses. Their antibacterial activity is reported.