Characterization of probiotic strains of Bacillus sp. from fermented palm wine (Nypa fructicans sp.) and exploration of cellulolytic potential for use as an addition in animal feed.

The main objective of this study was to assess cellulolytic probiotic strains from traditional fermented beverages such as palm wine in order to supplement the animal feed and strengthen the gut health of the animal for better digestibility and absorption. In the present study, different types of microbes were isolated from traditionally prepared palm wine and analyzed for their probiotic nature. For any microbe to be probiotic in nature, it has to sustain the harsh conditions of the human gastrointestinal tract such as acid tolerance, bile tolerance at the lower range of pH, and other properties like auto aggregation test, cell surface hydrophobicity test with non-polar hydrocarbons for evaluating its capabilities to adhere to the intestinal cells and antimicrobial nature against pathogens. Bacillus mycoides strain PR04 and Bacillus subtilis strain PR21 were found to be resistant to acid and bile in simulated artificial gastrointestinal tract model, found to be than 55% hydrophobic with xylene and n-hexadecane and also showed antimicrobial activity greater towards pathogenic strains like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, and Salmonella typhimurium respectively. The cellulolytic activity of the isolates PR04 and PR21 was evaluated in (0.2-2) % CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose) plate. Bacillus mycoides PR04 and Bacillus subtilis PR21 could degrade carboxymethyl cellulose, filter paper, and sugarcane bagasse. The degradation of sugarcane bagasse was confirmed by Scanning electron microscopy and filter paper degradation after 4 days of incubation at 37 °C. Cellulase gene of the identified Bacillus sp. strains was amplified by primers CF5'-ACAGGATCCGATGAAAACGGTCAATTTCTATTTT-3' and CR5'-ACTCTCGAGATTGGGTTCTGTTCCCAAT-3'. This study proposes potential probiotic Bacillus mycoides PR04 (Accession no. OR625070) and Bacillus subtilis PR21 (Accession no. OR625072) in the application as an animal feed additive to assist in its digestibility and encourage the gut health.

A study on twitching motility dynamics in Ralstonia solanacearum microcolonies by live imaging.

Ralstonia solanacearum is a rod-shaped phytopathogenic bacterium that causes lethal wilt disease in many plants. On solid agar growth medium, in the early hour of the growth of the bacterial colony, the type IV pili-mediated twitching motility, which is important for its virulence and biofilm formation, is prominently observed under the microscope. In this study, we have done a detailed observation of twitching motility in R. solanacearum colony. In the beginning, twitching motility in the microcolonies was observed as a density-dependent phenomenon that influences the shape of the microcolonies. No such phenomenon was observed in Escherichia coli, where twitching motility is absent. In the early phase of colony growth, twitching motility exhibited by the cells at the peripheral region of the colony was more prominent than the cells toward the center of the colony. Using time-lapse photography and merging the obtained photomicrographs into a video, twitching motility was observed as an intermittent phenomenon that progresses in layers in all directions as finger-like projections at the peripheral region of a bacterial colony. Each layer of bacteria twitches on top of the other and produces a multilayered film-like appearance. We found that the duration between the emergence of each layer diminishes progressively as the colony becomes older. This study on twitching motility demonstrates distinctly heterogeneity among the cells within a colony regarding their dynamics and the influence of microcolonies on each other regarding their morphology.

Attenuation of biofilm and quorum sensing regulated virulence factors of an opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa by phytofabricated silver nanoparticles.

Green-synthesized nanoparticles provide an effective strategy for inhibiting microbial pathogenesis by affecting biofilm formation, quorum sensing (QS), and other surface properties of microorganisms. QS is a density-dependent communication signaling cascade that regulates biofilm formation and other pathogenic factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this context, the effect of phytofabricated silver nanoparticles (CC-AgNPs) synthesized using Cuphea carthagenensis extract on biofilm, QS, and QS-dependent virulence factors of P. aeruginosa were evaluated in this study. CC-AgNPs demonstrated significant attenuation of biofilm, QS, and QS-dependent virulence factors at sub-MICs. A significant inhibition of 88.39 ± 4.32 %, 79.64 ± 3.31 %, 73.07 ± 3.0 %, and 61.67 ± 1.5 % of biofilm formation, quorum sensing, pyocyanin, and LasB elastase, respectively was reported in the study at 20 µg/mL. The study also demonstrated a significant reduction of LasA Staphylolytic activity and 91.37 ± 1.05 % exoprotease production in comparison to untreated control. The lower concentrations of CC-AgNPs also demonstrated significant attenuation of biofilm and other virulence factors suggesting the strong potency of NPs against P. aeruginosa. XTT analysis reported the effect of CC-AgNPs on sessile cells of P. aeruginosa without impacting growth of planktonic cells at sub-MICs. Cell-proliferation study in human cell lines (HEK 293 and Caco-2 cells) demonstrated the safe nature of CC-AgNPs at tested concentrations. This study is novel in a way that environmentally friendly CC-AgNPs were used to inhibit QS at sub-MICs without killing the tested strains, therefore, could be developed as an anti-virulent drug to overcome biofilm and antimicrobial resistance problems.

Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Laccase-Producing Bacteria Bhargavaea beijingensis from Paper and Pulp Effluent-Treated Soil Using In Silico Approaches.

Laccases (EC 1.10.3.2) are considered one of the most prominent multicopper enzymes that exhibit the inherent properties of oxidizing a range of phenolic substrates. Mostly, reported laccases have been isolated from the plants and fungi species, whereas bacterial laccases are yet to be explored. Bacterial laccases have numerous distinctive properties over fungal laccases, including stability at high temperatures and high pH. This study includes the isolation of bacteria through the soil sample collected from the paper and pulp industry; the highest laccase-producing bacteria was identified as Bhargavaea bejingensis, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The extracellular and intracellular activities after 24 h incubation were 1.41 U/mL and 4.95 U/mL, respectively. The laccase-encoding gene of the bacteria was sequenced; moreover, the in vitro translated protein was bioinformatically characterized and asserted that the laccase produced by the bacteria Bhargavaea bejingensis was structurally and sequentially homologous to the CotA protein of Bacillus subtilis. The enzyme laccase produced from B. bejingensis was classified as three-domain laccase with several copper-binding residues, where a few crucial copper-binding residues of the laccase enzyme were also predicted.

An affordable, handheld multimodal microscopic system with onboard cell morphology and counting features on a mobile device.

Microscopes, bright-field (BF) and fluorescence microscopes, in particular, are ubiquitous for clinical diagnostics, cellular and microbiological investigations and in research laboratories. However, the size, cost, fragility and need for skilled personnel to operate these tools restrict their use in resource-limited settings. As an alternative platform, herein, we report a flexible multimodal imaging system that operates in BF and fluorescence modes using a smartphone. Our device utilizes the inbuilt primary camera of phones, and with the aid of easily available optical components, the designed platform is transformed into a high-throughput microscopic device that performs on par with that of a laboratory-grade microscope. The designed platform operates at three different optical magnifications and yields a lateral resolution of 1.21 µm over an acceptable field-of-view (FoV) of diameter ∼4530 µm. The versatility of the device has been demonstrated through imaging of standard microbeads and human blood samples both in BF and fluorescence modes of imaging. Furthermore, the designed imaging platform is equipped with an on-board cell recognition feature which has been obtained through developing a smartphone application for automatic cell counting with high precision.

Microbial biofilm: A matter of grave concern for human health and food industry.

Pathogenic microorganisms have adapted different strategies during the course of time to invade host defense mechanisms and overcome the effect of potent antibiotics. The formation of biofilm on both biotic and abiotic surfaces by microorganisms is one such strategy to resist and survive even in presence of antibiotics and other adverse environmental conditions. Biofilm is a safe home of microorganisms embedded within self-produced extracellular polymeric substances comprising of polysaccharides, extracellular proteins, nucleic acid, and water. It is because of this adaptation strategy that pathogenic microorganisms are taking a heavy toll on the health and life of organisms. In this review, we discuss the colonization of pathogenic microorganisms on tissues and medically implanted devices in human beings. We also focus on food spoilage, disease outbreaks, biofilm-associated deaths, burden on economy, and other major concerns of biofilm-forming pathogenic microorganisms in food industries like dairy, poultry, ready-to-eat food, meat, and aquaculture.

Inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm and Virulence by Active Fraction of Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels Leaf Extract: In-Vitro and In Silico Studies.

Syzygium cumini L. Skeels (Myretacae family) is a native plant of the Indian subcontinent which has wide socio-economical importance and is well known for its ant diabetic activity. The present study aimed to investigate the antibiofilm activity of purified fraction (EA) from S. cumini leaf extract against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. The EA did not show any effect on growth of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus at the concentration of 900 µg/ml. At this concentration EA showed biofilm inhibition up to 86 ± 1.19% (***P < 0.0001) and 86.40 ± 1.19% (***P < 0.0001) in P. aeruginosa and S. aureus respectively. SEM examination also confirmed the reduction in biofilm formation. Further EA also disrupted some virulence phenotypes in P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. Bioactive compounds detected by GC-MS showed their possible molecular interaction with RhlG/NADP active-site complex (PDB ID: 2B4Q), LasR-TP4 complex (PDB ID: 3JPU) and Pseudaminidase (PDB ID: 2W38) from P. aeruginosa. The in vitro biofilm inhibition, virulence factor inhibition and the mode of interaction of bioactive components in Syzygium cumini with QS proteins of bacteria reported in this study might be an affordable and effective alternative method of controlling quorum sensing/biofilm-associated infections.

Effect of maleylation on physicochemical and functional properties of rapeseed protein isolate.

Influence of maleylation on the physicochemical and functional properties of rapeseed protein isolate was studied. Acylation increased whiteness value and dissociation of proteins, but reduced free sulfhydryl and disulfide content (p < 0.05). Intrinsic fluorescence emission and FTIR spectra revealed distinct perturbations in maleylated proteins' tertiary and secondary conformations. Increase in surface hydrophobicity, foaming capacity, emulsion stability, protein surface load at oil-water interface and decrease in surface tension at air-water interface, occurred till moderate level of modification. While maleylation impaired foam stability, protein solubility and emulsion capacity were markedly ameliorated (p < 0.05), which are concomitant with decreased droplet size distribution (d 32). In-vitro digestibility and cytotoxicity tests suggested no severe ill-effects of modified proteins, especially up to low degrees of maleylation. The study shows good potential for maleylated rapeseed proteins as functional food ingredient.

Cloning and extracellular expression of a raw starch digesting α-amylase (Blamy-I) and its application in bioethanol production from a non-conventional source of starch.

The aim of this study was to clone and efficiently express a raw starch-digesting α-amylase enzyme in the culture media and also to investigate the potential application of this recombinant enzyme in the digestion of non-conventional raw starch for bioethanol production. A raw starch digesting α-amylase gene isolated from Bacillus licheniformis strain AS08E was cloned and extracellularly expressed in E. coli cells using the native signal peptide. The mature recombinant α-amylase (Blamy-I) consisting of 483 amino acid residues was found to be homogenous with a mass of 55.3 kDa (by SDS-PAGE analysis) and a predicted pI of 6.05. Structural and functional analysis of Blamy-I revealed the presence of an extra Ca(2+) -binding region between the A and C domains responsible for higher thermostability of this enzyme. The statistical optimization of E. coli culture conditions resulted in an approximately eightfold increase in extracellular expression of Blamy-I as compared to its production under non-optimized conditions. Blamy-I demonstrated optimum enzyme activity at 80 °C and pH 10.0, and efficiently hydrolyzed raw starch isolated from a non-conventional, underutilized jack fruit seeds. Further utilization of this starch for bioethanol production using Blamy-I and Saccharomyces cerevisiae also proved to be highly promising.

Nanocomposite of starch, gelatin and itaconic acid-based biodegradable hydrogel and ZnO/cellulose nanofiber: A pH-sensitive sustained drug delivery vehicle.

In recent years, hydrogels as drug carriers have been receiving great interest due to their ability to change their behavior in response to one or more external stimuli. However, their initial burst release profile limits their practical applications. Therefore, we prepared a bio-based hydrogel nanocomposite (HNC) using starch, itaconic acid, acrylic acid and gelatin in the presence of CNF/ZnO-based nanohybrid (ZONH) and used it to evaluate the pH-sensitive drug release properties in different pH solutions. The prepared HNCs were analyzed using various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The BET analysis and swelling test of the HNC indicated improved porosity and swelling capacity due to the addition of ZONH. From the drug release study, sustained drug release rate was observed at pH 4 than those at pH 7.4 and 9, indicating controlled release as well as pH responsive behavior of the HNC. Moreover, the drug released HNC was reused as a photocatalyst for dye degradation and achieved good degradation (%). The antibacterial activity of ZONH and HNC was observed against EC and SA bacterial strains from the antibacterial test. In summary, the prepared HNC can be considered as a potential sustainable DDS for biomedical applications as well as a photocatalyst for dye contaminated water treatment.

pH-responsive polymeric nanomaterials for the treatment of oral biofilm infections.

Bacterial and fungal pathogens forming oral biofilms present significant public health challenges due to the failure of antimicrobial drugs. The ability of biofilms to lower pH levels results in dental plaque, leading to gingivitis and cavities. Nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted considerable interest for drug delivery and, thus, as a solution to biofilm-related microbial infections. A novel strategy in this regard involves using pH-responsive polymeric NPs within the acidic microenvironment of oral biofilms. The acidity of the oral biofilm microenvironment is governed by carbohydrate metabolism, accumulation of lactic acid, and extracellular DNA of extracellular polymeric substances by oral biofilm-forming microbial pathogens. This acidity also provides an opportunity to enhance antibacterial activity against biofilm cells using pH-responsive drug delivery approaches. Thus, various polymeric NPs loaded with poorly soluble drugs and responsive to the acidic pH of oral biofilms have been developed. This review focuses on various forms of such polymeric NPs loaded with drugs. The fundamental mechanisms of action of pH-responsive polymeric NPs, their cytological toxicity, and in vivo efficacy testing are thoroughly discussed.

Swelling induced mechanically tough starch-agar based hydrogel as a control release drug vehicle for wound dressing applications.

In recent years, polysaccharide-based hydrogels have received increased attention due to their inherent biodegradability, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity. The feasibility of using polysaccharides for the synthesis of hydrogels is dependent on their noteworthy mechanical strength and cell compatibility, which are required for practical applications, especially for biomedical uses. In this study, we demonstrate a facile synthetic route for the construction of a mechanically tough, biocompatible, and biodegradable hydrogel using polysaccharides such as starch and agar. A synthetic monomer-free hydrogel was synthesized using epichlorohydrin as a cross-linker, and a mechanical strength of 9.49 ± 1.29-6.16 ± 0.37 MPa was achieved. The introduction of agar into the hydrogel resulted in agar dose-dependent swelling-induced mechanical strength. Moreover, along with incredible mechanical strength, the hydrogel also exhibited prominent cell viability against human embryonic kidney cells. In addition, the hydrogel showed good encapsulation efficiency for antibacterial drugs like ciprofloxacin hydrochloride hydrate, with controlled releasing ability over a sustained period. The antibacterial activity of the encapsulated drug was observed against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis bacterial strains. Thus, the studied hydrogel with loaded drug exhibited all the required qualities to be utilized as a promising candidate in wound dressing applications.

Biodiesel Production from Chlorella homosphaera by Two-Step Catalytic Conversion Using Waste Radish Leaves as a Source for Heterogeneous Catalyst.

The economic viability of algal biodiesel can be improved by enhancing the microalgal lipid accumulation and using agricultural waste as a cheap and sustainable source of catalysts. In the current study, the effect of various nitrogen concentrations on the growth and lipid of Chlorella homosphaera were investigated. Furthermore, two-step catalytic conversion was applied to convert the oil of C. homosphaera with high free fatty acids (FFA) to biodiesel using waste radish leaves as a source of a heterogeneous base catalyst. The result revealed that the maximum lipid productivity of 25.0 mg L-1 day-1 and lipid content of 30.83% were obtained under nitrogen-depleted and limited nitrogen conditions, respectively. The FFA was reduced from 18.79 to 0.76%, and the acid value was decreased from 37.4 to 1.52 mg KOH g-1 using a 15:1 methanol to oil molar ratio (MTOR), 1.5 wt.% H2SO4, at 60 °C for 150 min. Under the optimized conditions, i.e., MTOR of 10:1, 3 wt.% of catalyst ratio for 120 min at 60 °C, the highest oil conversion of 96.61% was obtained. The physicochemical properties of the produced biodiesel were in the range of the standard specification norms for biodiesel. Hence, the proposed two-step catalytic conversion using calcined radish leaves as a heterogeneous catalyst has thus exhibited good potential for biodiesel production using algal oil with high FFA.

Development of mussel mimetic gelatin based adhesive hydrogel for wet surfaces with self-healing and reversible properties.

Gelatin, being a naturally derived biomacromolecule shows good biocompatibility and biodegradability and hence turn out to be a potential biomaterial in synthesizing adhesive hydrogel. However, to achieve significant adhesive strength under wet condition and good mechanical properties, gelatin is functionalised with dopamine and acrylic acid. Here, inspired from nature, we have developed a gelatin based adhesive hydrogel for wet surfaces by incorporating dopamine into gelatin-poly(acrylic acid) chain. The synthesized hydrogel demonstrate good mechanical strength, high stretchability, reversibility, self-healing and dynamic adhesive behaviour along with long term reusability. The adhesive strength of the synthesized hydrogel to tissue surface was found to be 6.5 KPa when applied under submerged condition. Moreover, the swelling behaviour of the hydrogel reveals that hydrogel have limited swellability thereby retaining adhesive property under fully swollen state. Haemolysis results reveals the biocompatible nature of the hydrogel. Thus this hydrogel emerge to be a promising bioadhesive for application in various fields mostly in biomedical devices.

Self-cross-linked starch/chitosan hydrogel as a biocompatible vehicle for controlled release of drug.

A facile one-pot approach was adopted to prepare a polysaccharide-based hydrogel of oxidized starch (OS)-chitosan. The synthetic monomer-free, eco-friendly hydrogel was prepared in an aqueous solution and employed for controlled drug release application. The starch was first oxidized under mild conditions to prepare its bialdehydic derivative. Subsequently, the amino group-containing a modified polysaccharide, "chitosan" was introduced on the backbone of OS via a dynamic Schiff-base reaction. The bio-based hydrogel was obtained via a one-pot in-situ reaction, where functionalized starch acts as a macro-cross-linker that contributes structural stability and integrity to the hydrogel. The introduction of chitosan contributes to stimuli-responsive properties and thus pH-sensitive swelling behavior was obtained. The hydrogel showed its potential as a pH-dependent controlled drug release system and a maximum of 29 h sustained release period was observed for ampicillin sodium salt drug. In vitro studies confirmed that the prepared drug-loaded hydrogels showed excellent antibacterial ability. Most importantly, the hydrogel could find potential use in the biomedical field due to its facile reaction conditions, biocompatibility along with controlled releasing ability of the encapsulated drug.

Phytochemical Analysis and Demonstration of Antioxidant, Antibacterial, and Antibiofilm Activities of Ethnomedicinal Plants of North East India.

Ethnomedicinal plants are a rich reservoir of active compounds with potent pharmacological properties. Therefore, plants could serve as a source for the discovery of active antimicrobial and antioxidant agents and are focused because of their low toxicity, economic viability, easy availability, etc. In this regard, phytochemical analyses, viz. ß-carotene, total sugar, reducing sugar, vitamin C, total carotenoids, protein, total phenolic content (TPC), and total flavonoid content (TFC) of 20 ethnomedicinal plants of North East India (NEI) were evaluated in this study. The antibacterial activity against human pathogens and antioxidant potential of plant extracts was also demonstrated. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC80), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and total antibacterial activity (TAA) of the active extracts were evaluated against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Chromobacterium violaceum. The active extracts were also examined for antibiofilm as well as anti-pyocyanin activities against P. aeruginosa and anti-QS activity against C. violaceum at sub-MICs. The study demonstrated variable concentration of phytochemicals of the extracts, viz. ß-carotene (0.29-8.91 mg g-1), total sugar (2.92-30.6 mM), reducing sugar (0.44-14.5 mM), vitamin C (8.41-31.3 mg g-1), total carotenoids (14.9-267.0 mg g-1), protein (5.65-283 mg g-1), TPC (5.32-31.0 mg GAE/g DW), and TFC (1.74-68.2 mg QE/g DW). The plant extracts also exhibited potent antioxidant and antibacterial activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Some of the extracts also demonstrated significant biofilm inhibition and eradication, anti-pyocyanin, and anti-QS activities at sub-MICs. The selected ethnomedicinal plants are rich in phytochemicals and demonstrated potent antioxidant, antibacterial, and antibiofilm activities, thus could serve as the important source of novel antioxidant and antimicrobial agents.

Towards integrated sustainable biofuel and chemical production: An application of banana pseudostem ash in the production of biodiesel and recovery of lignin from bamboo leaves.

This study investigated an integrated approach to the biowaste transformation and valorization of byproducts. Biochar obtained from the banana pseudostem was calcined to synthesize a heterogeneous catalyst and sustainably prepare a highly alkaline solution. The ash was utilized directly as a heterogeneous catalyst in biodiesel production from waste cooking oil. At the same time, an alkaline solution prepared from the ash was used for delignification and recovery of lignin from bamboo leaves by the hydrothermal reaction. Techniques like Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) were applied to characterized the catalyst. The alkaline solution was analyzed with Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The Response surface methodology (RSM) technique was considered for the optimization of different parameters in the transesterification and hydrothermal reaction. Under the optimized condition, waste cooking oil (WCO) to Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) conversion was 97.56 ± 0.11%, and lignin recovery was 43.20 ± 0.45%. While at the best operating pyrolysis temperature, the liquid fraction yield from the banana pseudostem (500 °C) was 38.10 ± 0.31 wt%. This integrated study approach encourages the inexpensive, sustainable, and environment-friendly pathway for synthesizing catalysts and preparing a highly alkaline solution for the valorization of biowaste into biofuel and biochemicals.

Microliter spotting and micro-colony observation: A rapid and simple approach for counting bacterial colony forming units.

For enumerating viable bacteria, traditional dilution plating to count colony forming units (CFUs) has always been the preferred method in microbiology owing to its simplicity, albeit being laborious and time-consuming. Similar CFU counts can be obtained by quantifying growing micro-colonies in conjunction with the benefits of a microscope. Here, we employed a simple method of five to ten microliter spotting of a diluted bacterial culture multiple times on a single Petri dish followed by determining CFU by counting micro-colonies using a phase-contrast microscope. In this method, the CFU of an Escherichia coli culture can be estimated within a four-hour period after spotting. Further, within a ten-hour period after spotting, CFU in a culture of Ralstonia solanacearum, a bacterium with a generation time of around 2 h, can be estimated. The CFU number determined by micro-colonies observed for 106-fold dilutions or lower is similar to that obtained by the dilution plating method for 107-fold dilutions or lower. Micro-colony numbers observed in the early hours of growth (2 h in case of E. coli and 8 h in case of R. solanacearum) were found to remain consistent at later hours (4 h in case of E. coli and 10 h in case of R. solanacearum), where the visibility of the colonies was better due to a noticeable increase in the size of the colonies. This suggested that micro-colonies observed in the early hours indeed represent the bacterial number in the culture. Practical applications to this counting method were employed in studying the rifampicin-resistant mutation rate as well as performing a fluctuation test in E. coli. The spotting method described here to enumerate bacterial CFU results in reduction of labour, time and resources.

Quorum Quenching: A Drug Discovery Approach Against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a ubiquitous opportunistic and nosocomial biofilm-forming pathogen with complex, interconnected and hierarchical nature of QS systems (Las, Rhl, PQS, and IQS), is posing the biggest challenge to the healthcare sector and have made current chemotherapies incapable. Conventional antibiotics designed to intercept the biochemical or physiological processes precisely of planktonic microorganisms exert extreme selective pressure and develop resistance against them thereby emphasizing the development of alternative therapeutic approaches. Additionally, quorum sensing induced pathogenic microbial biofilms and production of virulence factors have intensified the pathogenicity, drug resistance, recurrence of infections, hospital visits, morbidity, and mortality many-folds. In this regard, QS could be a potential druggable target and the discovery of QS inhibiting agents as an anti-virulent measure could serve as an alternative therapeutic approach to conventional antibiotics. Quorum quenching (QQ) is a preferred strategy to combat microbial infections since it attenuates the pathogenicity of microbes and enhances the microbial biofilm susceptibility to antibiotics, thus qualifying as a suitable target for drug discovery. This review discusses the QS-induced pathogenicity of P. aeruginosa, the hierarchical QS systems, and QS inhibition as a drug discovery approach to complement classical antibiotic strategy.

Integrated pretreatment of banana agrowastes: Structural characterization and enhancement of enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose obtained from banana peduncle.

An integrated treatment coupling alkali, steam explosion and ammonia/chlorine-free bleaching with sequential mild acid pretreatment were performed to isolate and characterize cellulose from banana agrowastes followed by optimized enzymatic hydrolysis to glucose. The cellulose yield, compositional, microstructural, and morphological analysis initially obtained from three post-harvest banana agrowastes (peel, pseudostem, and peduncle) were surveyed. Isolation parameters for banana peduncle agrowastes, the most efficient precursor, were reconfigured for acid hydrolysis by applying an orthogonal L9 array of Taguchi design. Effects of solution-to-pulp ratio, acid concentration, temperature, and reaction time on physicochemical parameters were assessed resulting in ~81% cellulose recovery. Subsequently, cellulase driven enzymatic conversion to glucose was modelled using response surface methodology (RSM), where the mutual influences of incubation time, enzyme concentration, substrate concentration, and surfactant concentration were investigated. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modelling further improved upon RSM optimizations ensuing ~97% optimized glucose yield, verified experimentally.