Antibacterial Activities of Bacteriagenic Silver Nanoparticles Against Nosocomial Acinetobacter baumannii.

Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as one of the major nosocomial pathogens implicated in variety of severe infections and mortality. It is rapidly developing multi-drug resistance and also possesses surface colonization ability, which make it most difficult to treat through traditional antibiotics. This is an extensive study to describe the antibacterial activity of bacteriagenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) against A. baumannii AIIMS 7 in planktonic and biofilm mode. Minimum inhibitory concentration of antibiotics were in the range of 1 to 4096 µg/ml whereas AgNPs inhibited planktonic bacteria at concentration of 16 µg/ml. Fractional inhibitory concentration index revealed the synergistic interaction of AgNPs with doxycycline, tetracycline and erythromycin. Nanoparticles exhibited significant biofilm disruption activity with minimum biofilm eradication concentration of 2 mg/ml. Eradication of mature biofilm was enhanced on exposure to combination of AgNPs and antibiotics. These nanoparticles affected bacterial growth and distorted cellular morphology. Intracellular oxidative stress, induced in presence of AgNPs, also rendered bacteria susceptible to killing by nanoparticles. Besides this, AgNPs were found to interact with thiol-groups, which indicate their potential to interact with cellular proteins to exhibit antimicrobial activity.

Biogenic selenium nanoparticles: current status and future prospects.

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) are gaining importance in the field of medicine owing to their antibacterial and anticancer properties. SeNPs are biocompatible and non-toxic compared to the counterparts, selenite (SeO3 (-2)) and selenate (SeO4 (-2)). They can be synthesized by physical, chemical, and biological methods and have distinct bright orange-red color. Biogenic SeNPs are stable and do not aggregate owing to natural coating of the biomolecules. Various hypotheses have been proposed to describe the mechanism of microbial synthesis of SeNPs. It is primarily a two-step reduction process from SeO4 (-2) to SeO3 (-2) to insoluble elemental selenium (Se(0)) catalyzed by selenate and selenite reductases. Phenazine-1-carboxylic acid and glutathione are involved in selenite reduction. Se factor A (SefA) and metalloid reductase Rar A present on the surface of SeNPs confer stability to the nanoparticles. SeNPs act as potent chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents. Conjugation with antibiotics enhances their anticancer efficacy. These also have applications in nanobiosensors and environmental remediation.

Kinetics of Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles by Acinetobacter sp. SW30 Isolated from Environment.

Cell biomass and metal salt concentration have great influence on morphology of biosynthesized nanoparticle. The aim of present study was to evaluate the effect of varying cell density and gold salt concentrations on synthesis of nanoparticles and its morphology, which has not been studied in bacteria till now. When cells of Acinetobacter sp. SW30 were incubated with different cell density and gold chloride concentrations, tremendous variation in color of colloidal solution containing gold nanoparticles (AuNP) was observed indicating variation in their size and shapes. Surprisingly, monodispersed spherical AuNP of size ~19 nm were observed at lowest cell density and HAuCl4 salt concentration while increase in cell number resulted in formation of polyhedral AuNP (~39 nm). Significance of this study lays in the fact that the shape and dispersity of AuNP can be customized depending up on the requirement. FTIR spectrum revealed shift from 3221 to 3196 cm-1 indicating the presence and role of amino acids in Au3+ reduction while possible involvement of amide I and II groups in stabilization of AuNP. The rate constant was calculated for cell suspension of 2.1 × 109 cfu/ml challenged with 1.0 mM HAuCl4, incubated at 30 °C and pH 7 using the slopes of initial part of the plot log (Aα - At) versus time as 1.99 × 10-8 M. Also, this is the first study to report the kinetics of gold nanoparticle synthesis by Acinetobacter sp. SW30.

Bacteriagenic silver nanoparticles: synthesis, mechanism, and applications.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have received tremendous attention due to their significant antimicrobial properties. Large numbers of reports are available on the physical, chemical, and biological syntheses of colloidal AgNPs. Since there is a great need to develop ecofriendly and sustainable methods, biological systems like bacteria, fungi, and plants are being employed to synthesize these nanoparticles. The present review focuses specifically on bacteria-mediated synthesis of AgNPs, its mechanism, and applications. Bacterial synthesis of extra- and intracellular AgNPs has been reported using biomass, supernatant, cell-free extract, and derived components. The extracellular mode of synthesis is preferred over the intracellular mode owing to easy recovery of nanoparticles. Silver-resistant genes, c-type cytochromes, peptides, cellular enzymes like nitrate reductase, and reducing cofactors play significant roles in AgNP synthesis in bacteria. Organic materials released by bacteria act as natural capping and stabilizing agents for AgNPs, thereby preventing their aggregation and providing stability for a longer time. Regulation over reaction conditions has been suggested to control the morphology, dispersion, and yield of nanoparticles. Bacterial AgNPs have anticancer and antioxidant properties. Moreover, the antimicrobial activity of AgNPs in combination with antibiotics signifies their importance in combating the multidrug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms. Multiple microbicidal mechanisms exhibited by AgNPs, depending upon their size and shape, make them very promising as novel nanoantibiotics.

Curcumin-Loaded, Self-Assembled Aloevera Template for Superior Antioxidant Activity and Trans-Membrane Drug Release.

Fine combination of natural botanical extracts to evaluate and maximize their medicinal efficacy has been studied for long. However, their limited shelf-life, complicated extraction protocols, and difficult compositional analysis have always been a problem. It is due to this that such materials take time to convert them into a proper pharmaceutical technology or product. In this context, we report on synthesis of self-assembled template of one of the most popular natural product, aloevera. This forms a fine porous membrane like structure, in which a natural drug, curcumin has been immobilized/trapped. The so-made curcumin-loaded-aloevera (CLA) structures have been carefully evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-vis spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy. While FTIR shows that there is no chemical interaction between aloevera and curcumin, the pores are finely occupied by curcumin molecules. Fine microscopy structures reveal their distribution and fluorescence microscopy confirm the presence of curcumin within the pores. TGA shows 15% loading of the curcumin in the template and UV-visible spectroscopy data shows independent peaks of both, aloevera (196 nm and 256 nm) and curcumin (423 nm), respectively. When subjected to antioxidant studies, using DPPH assays, CLAs show a synergistically superior DPPH radical scavenging activity as compared to only curcumin and only aloevera extract. Same is true for hydroxyl and NO2 radicals. Trans-membrane release study reveals that there is no significant difference in the amount of curcumin release from CLAs till initial 30 min, however, it increases steadily thereafter. CLA is found to facilitate efficient release of curcumin in 5 h, which is higher as compared to the curcumin alone.

ZnO Nanoparticles-Red Sandalwood Conjugate: A Promising Anti-Diabetic Agent.

With the advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology the interest of researchers has expanded to interdisciplinary domain like bio-medical applications. Among such domains, one of the most important areas explored meticulously is the development of promising solutions in diabetes therapeutics. The disease associated with metabolic disorder, is one of the major challenges, due to its ever-increasing number of patients. The adverse effects of the synthetic enzymes like α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitors have invited many scientists to develop promising contender with minimal side-effects. On the other hand, Zinc has strong role in insulin synthesis, storage and secretion and thus its deficiency can be related to diabetes. In this context we have explored natural extract of Red Sandalwood (RSW) as a potent anti-diabetic agent, in conjugation with ZnO nanoparticles. ZnO nanoparticles have been synthesized via soft chemistry routes and duly characterized for their phase formation with the help of X-ray diffraction technique and Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy. These monodispersed nanoparticles, -20 nm in size, were further conjugated to RSW extract. The conjugation chemistry was studied via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy. Extract loading percentage was found from thermo-gravimetric analysis. 65% of the RSW extract was found conjugated to the ZnO nanoparticles. The anti-diabetic activity was assessed with the help of like α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition assay with murine pancreatic and small intestinal extracts. It was observed that the conjugated ZnO-RSW nanoparticles showed excellent activity against the crude murine pancreatic glucosidase as compared to the individual ZnO nanoparticles and the RSW extract. The ZnO-RSW conjugate showed 61.93% of inhibition while the bare ZnO nanoparticles and RSW showed 21.48% and 5.90% respectively.

Diosgenin Functionalized Iron Oxide Nanoparticles as Novel Nanomaterial Against Breast Cancer.

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have gained immense importance recently as drug nanocarriers due to easy multifunctionalization, simultaneous targeting, imaging and cancer hyperthermia. Herein, we report a novel nanomedicine comprising of IONPs core functionalized with a potent anticancer bioactive principle, diosgenin from medicinal plant Dioscorea bulbifera via citric acid linker molecule. IONPs were synthesized by reverse co-precipitation and characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Diosgenin functionalization was confirmed using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and biochemical methods. Synthesized IONPs, citrate linked IONPs (IONPs-CA), diosgenin functionalized IONPs (IONPs-D) along with free citric acid and diosgenin were checked for anticancer activity against MCF7 breast cancer cells by MTT assay, wound migration assay, confocal microscopy and protein expression by western blotting. Size of IONPs, IONPs-CA and IONPs-D gradually increased ranging from 12 to 21 nm as confirmed by FESEM and HRTEM. Signature peaks of diosgenin at 2914, 1166 and 1444 cm-1 IONPs-D, revealed in FTIR indicated the presence of functionalized diosgenin. IONPs-D exhibited 51.08 ± 0.37% antiproliferative activity against MCF7 cells, which was found to be superior to free citric acid (17.71 ± 0.58%) and diosgenin (33.31 ± 0.37%). Treatment with IONPs-D exhibited reduced wound migration upto 40.83 ± 2.91% compared to bare IONPs (89.03 ± 2.58%) and IONPs-CA (50.35 ± 0.48%). IONPs-D and diosgenin exhibited apoptosis induction, confirmed by Alexa Fluor 488 annexin V/PI double-stained cells indicating extensive cell membrane damage coupled with PI influx leading to nuclear staining in treated cells. IONPs-D mediated selective PARP cleavage strongly rationalized it as superior apoptotic inducers. Based on these findings, IONPs-D can be considered as first diosgenin functionalized novel magnetic nanomedicine with antiproliferative, migration inhibiting and apoptosis inducing properties against breast cancer.

Synthesis of 1,5-dideoxy-1,5-iminoribitol C-glycosides through a nitrone-olefin cycloaddition domino strategy: identification of pharmacological chaperones of mutant human lysosomal ß-galactosidase.

We report herein a newly developed domino reaction that facilitates the synthesis of new 1,5-dideoxy-1,5-iminoribitol iminosugar C-glycosides 7a-e and 8. The key intermediate in this approach is a six-membered cyclic sugar nitrone that is generated in situ and trapped by an alkene dipolarophile via a [2 + 3] cycloaddition reaction to give the corresponding isooxazolidines 10a-e in a "one-pot" protocol. The iminoribitol C-glycosides 7a-e and 8 were found to be modest ß-galactosidase (bGal) inhibitors. However, compounds 7c and 7e showed "pharmacological chaperone" activity for mutant lysosomal bGal activity and facilitated its recovery in GM1 gangliosidosis patient fibroblasts by 2-6-fold.

γ-Hydroxyethyl piperidine iminosugar and N-alkylated derivatives: a study of their activity as glycosidase inhibitors and as immunosuppressive agents.

An efficient and practical strategy for the synthesis of (3R,4s,5S)-4-(2-hydroxyethyl) piperidine-3,4,5-triol and its N-alkyl derivatives 8a-f, starting from the D-glucose, is reported. The chiral pool methodology involves preparation of the C-3-allyl-α-D-ribofuranodialdose 10, which was converted to the C-5-amino derivative 11 by reductive amination. The presence of C-3-allyl group gives an easy access to the requisite hydroxyethyl substituted compound 13. Intramolecular reductive aminocyclization of C-5 amino group with C-1 aldehyde provided the γ-hydroxyethyl substituted piperidine iminosugar 8a that was N-alkylated to get N-alkyl derivatives 8b-f. Iminosugars 8a-f were screened against glycosidase enzymes. Amongst synthetic N-alkylated iminosugars, 8b and 8c were found to be α-galactosidase inhibitors while 8d and 8e were selective and moderate α-mannosidase inhibitors. In addition, immunomodulatory activity of compounds 8a-f was examined. These results were substantiated by molecular docking studies using AUTODOCK 4.2 programme.

Characterization of the algC gene expression pattern in the multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii AIIMS 7 and correlation with biofilm development on abiotic surface.

Relative quantification of algC gene expression was evaluated in the multidrug resistant strain Acinetobacter baumannii AIIMS 7 biofilm (3 to 96 h, on polystyrene surface) compared to the planktonic counterparts. Comparison revealed differential algC expression pattern with maximum 81.59-fold increase in biofilm cells versus 3.24-fold in planktonic cells (P < 0.05). Expression levels strongly correlated with specific biofilm stages (scale of 3 to 96 h), coinciding maximum at initial surface attachment stage (9 h) and biofilm maturation stage (48 h). Cloning, heterologous expression, and bioinformatics analyses indicated algC gene product as the bifunctional enzyme phosphomannomutase/phosphoglucomutase (PMM/PGM) of ∼ 53 kDa size, which augmented biofilms significantly in algC clones compared to controls (lacking algC gene), further localized by scanning electron microscopy. Moreover, molecular dynamics analysis on the three-dimensional structure of PMM/PGM (simulated up to 10 ns) revealed enzyme structure as stable and similar to that in P. aeruginosa (synthesis of alginate and lipopolysaccharide core) and involved in constitution of biofilm EPS (extracellular polymeric substances). Our observation on differential expression pattern of algC having strong correlation with important biofilm stages, scanning electron-microscopic evidence of biofilm augmentation taken together with predictive enzyme functions via molecular dynamic (MD) simulation, proposes a new basis of A. baumannii AIIMS 7 biofilm development on inanimate surfaces.

Plasmid pUPI126-encoded pyrrolnitrin production by Acinetobacter haemolyticus A19 isolated from the rhizosphere of wheat.

An Acinetobacter species identified as A. haemolyticus A19 produces an antibiotic and the enzyme chitinase. The antibiotic produced by A. haemolyticus A19 was extracellular and inducible by co-cultivation with Klebsiella pneumoniae in the optimum ratio 2:1, respectively. pH 7, temperature 28 °C, and addition of 2% (w/v) NaCl are the most suitable environmental conditions for production and activity of the antibiotic. The antibiotic was produced in the early stationary growth phase (48 h) of A. haemolyticus A19. It has a very broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against plant and human pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The antibiotic was extracted with ethyl acetate and purified by column chromatography with further purification by preparative thin-layer chromatography. Yield of the antibiotic was 15 mg/l. The antibiotic was active at very low concentrations, for example 50 µg/ml, and was water-soluble. It was stable at room temperature for up to 7 days. (1)H NMR analysis revealed the antibiotic was a pyrrolnitrin. It was found that pyrrolnitrin production by A. haemolyticus A19 was encoded by plasmid pUPI126 of molecular weight 25.7 kb. Plasmid pUPI126 was transferred to E. coli HB101 at a frequency of 5 × 10(-5) per µg DNA. It was also conjugally transformed to E. coli HB101 rif (r) mutants at a frequency of 5.9 × 10(-8) per recipient cell. Plasmid pUPI126 was 100% stable in Acinetobacter and 95% stable in E. coli HB101. Transconjugants and transformants both produced the antibiotic. This is the first report of plasmid-mediated pyrrolnitrin production by A. haemolyticus A19 isolated from wheat rhizosphere.

Novel polyhedral gold nanoparticles: green synthesis, optimization and characterization by environmental isolate of Acinetobacter sp. SW30.

Gold nanoparticles have enormous applications in cancer treatment, drug delivery and nanobiosensor due to their biocompatibility. Biological route of synthesis of metal nanoparticles are cost effective and eco-friendly. Acinetobacter sp. SW 30 isolated from activated sewage sludge produced cell bound as well as intracellular gold nanoparticles when challenged with HAuCl4 salt solution. We first time report the optimization of various physiological parameters such as age of culture, cell density and physicochemical parameters viz HAuCl4 concentration, temperature and pH which influence the synthesis of gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles thus produced were characterized by various analytical techniques viz. UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, environmental scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Polyhedral gold nanoparticles of size 20 ± 10 nm were synthesized by 24 h grown culture of cell density 2.4 × 10(9) cfu/ml at 50 °C and pH 9 in 0.5 mM HAuCl4. It was found that most of the gold nanoparticles were released into solution from bacterial cell surface of Acinetobacter sp. at pH 9 and 50 °C.

Air pollution, dysbiosis and diseases: pneumonia, asthma, COPD, lung cancer and irritable bowel syndrome.

With substantial effects on human health, air pollution has become a major global concern. Air pollution has been linked to numerous gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases with increasing mortalities. The gut and respiratory dysbiosis brought about by air pollution has recently received much attention. This review attempts to provide an overview of the types of air pollutants, their sources, their impact on the respiratory and gut dysbiotic patterns and their correlation with five major diseases including pneumonia, asthma, COPD, lung cancer and irritable bowel syndrome. Deeper insights into the links between pollutants, dysbiosis and disease may pave the way for novel diagnostic biomarkers for prognosis and early detection of these diseases, as well as ways to ease the disease burden.

Air pollution has become a major environmental concern because it can harm human health. Generally, air pollution is either classified as indoor or outdoor. Air pollutants are released from factories, automobiles, preparation of construction materials, agricultural practices, poultry and animal farming and even domestic tasks such as cooking. Air pollution can cause various illnesses of the gastrointestinal tract and lungs. These include cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, asthma, lung cancer, COPD and irritable bowel syndrome. These diseases are linked to disruptions of the community of bacteria in the lungs and gastrointestinal tract. This review looks at the impact of air pollution on microbial communities and associated diseases.

Synthesis and glycosidase inhibitory activity of novel (2-phenyl-4H-benzopyrimedo[2,1-b]-thiazol-4-yliden)acetonitrile derivatives.

A series of (2-phenyl-4H-benzopyrimodo[2,1-b][1,3]thiazol-4-yliden-4-yliden)acetonitrile derivatives have been prepared by ring transformation reaction of 4-(methylthio)-2-oxo-6-aryl-2H-pyrane-3-carbonitriles. The yield of ring transformation product is moderate to good. Furthermore the glycosidase inhibitory activities were tested by using α-amylase and α-glucosidase pancreatic, intestinal and liver enzymes, responsible for hyperglycemia in type II diabetes. The results revealed that all compounds exhibit significant glycosidase inhibitory activity.

Novel lytic bacteriophage AB7-IBB1 of Acinetobacter baumannii: isolation, characterization and its effect on biofilm.

Acinetobacter baumannii infections are difficult to treat due to biofilm formation. The literature shows paucity of data on A. baumannii bacteriophages and their application in biofilm control. In this report, we have isolated a new lytic bacteriophage, AB7-IBB1, infecting A. baumannii. Transmission electron microscopy revealed its resemblance to members of the family Siphoviridae, with a tail size of 240 × 10 nm and an icosahedral head 50 nm in diameter. Plaques were 3-5 mm in diameter after 24 h, increasing to 7-9 mm in three days. The phage genome size was determined to be ~75 kb. AB7-IBB1 could lyse 23 of 39 (59 %) clinical isolates of A. baumannii. It exhibited rapid adsorption (>99 % adsorbed in 5 min), a latency period of 30 min and a burst size of 125 PFU/infected cell. The phage affected A. baumannii biofilm formation on an abiotic surface (polystyrene) and a biotic surface (human embryonic kidney 293 cell line). It also showed biofilm control ability on an abiotic surface (polystyrene). FESEM visualization studies confirmed the detrimental effect of phage AB7-IBB1 on host biofilm. In conclusion, this study reports a novel lytic bacteriophage, AB7-IBB1, belonging to family Siphoviridae, with promising anti-biofilm properties.

Gnidia glauca flower extract mediated synthesis of gold nanoparticles and evaluation of its chemocatalytic potential.

BACKGROUND: Novel approaches for synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are of utmost importance owing to its immense applications in diverse fields including catalysis, optics, medical diagnostics and therapeutics. We report on synthesis of AuNPs using Gnidia glauca flower extract (GGFE), its detailed characterization and evaluation of its chemocatalytic potential. RESULTS: Synthesis of AuNPs using GGFE was monitored by UV-Vis spectroscopy and was found to be rapid that completed within 20 min. The concentration of chloroauric acid and temperature was optimized to be 0.7 mM and 50°C respectively. Bioreduced nanoparticles varied in morphology from nanotriangles to nanohexagons majority being spherical. AuNPs were characterized employing transmission electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Confirmation of elemental gold was carried out by elemental mapping in scanning transmission electron microscopic mode, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies. Spherical particles of size ~10 nm were found in majority. However, particles of larger dimensions were in range between 50-150 nm. The bioreduced AuNPs exhibited remarkable catalytic properties in a reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol by NaBH4 in aqueous phase. CONCLUSION: The elaborate experimental evidences support that GGFE can provide an environmentally benign rapid route for synthesis of AuNPs that can be applied for various purposes. Biogenic AuNPs synthesized using GGFE exhibited excellent chemocatalytic potential.

Effect of a novel podophage AB7-IBB2 on Acinetobacter baumannii biofilm.

Biofilm formation in Acinetobacter baumannii is a common cause of nosocomial infections in humans. Clinical devices and abiotic surfaces are important sites of colonization leading to formation of biofilms. Such infections are often resistant to multiple antibiotic therapies, and hence there is need for an effective mode of control. Herein, we describe the isolation, characterization of a new lytic bacteriophage of A. baumannii and its effect on biofilm. The phage AB7-IBB2, with a genome size of about 170 kb was identified to be of family Podoviridae as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. It had an isometric head (35 nm) and a short tail (7 nm). It lysed 19/39 (49 %) clinical isolates of A. baumannii. Rapid adsorption (>99 % adsorbed in 4 min), a latency period of 25 min and a burst size 22 PFU/infected cell was observed. The phage could inhibit A. baumannii biofilm formation and disrupt preformed biofilm as well. The phage has promising potential to be considered as a candidate biocontrol agent for A. baumannii infections.

Antidiabetic Activity of Gnidia glauca and Dioscorea bulbifera: Potent Amylase and Glucosidase Inhibitors.

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder affecting about 220 million people worldwide. One of the most critical complications of diabetes is post-prandial hyper-glycemia (PPHG). Glucosidase inhibitor and α-amylase inhibitors are class of compounds that help in managing PPHG. Low-cost herbal treatment is recommended due to their lesser side effect for treatment of diabetes. Two plants with significant traditional therapeutic potential, namely, Gnidia glauca and Dioscorea bulbifera, were tested for their efficiency to inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Stem, leaf, and flower of G. glauca and bulb of D. bulbifera were sequentially extracted with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, and methanol as well as separately with 70% ethanol. Petroleum ether extract of flower of G. glauca was found to inhibit α-amylase significantly (78.56%). Extracts were further tested against crude murine pancreatic, small intestinal, and liver glucosidase enzyme which revealed excellent inhibitory properties. α-glucosidase inhibition provided a strong in vitro evidence for confirmation of both G. glauca and D. bulbifera as excellent antidiabetic remedy. This is the first report of its kind that provides a strong biochemical basis for management of type II diabetes using G. glauca and D. bulbifera. These results provide intense rationale for further in vivo and clinical study.

Characterization of eDNA from the clinical strain Acinetobacter baumannii AIIMS 7 and its role in biofilm formation.

Release of extracellular DNA (eDNA) was observed during in vitro growth of a clinical strain of Acinetobacter baumannii. Membrane vesicles (MV) of varying diameter (20-200 nm) containing DNA were found to be released by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). An assessment of the characteristics of the eDNA with respect to size, digestion pattern by DNase I/restriction enzymes, and PCR-sequencing, indicates a high similarity with genomic DNA. Role of eDNA in static biofilm formed on polystyrene surface was evaluated by biofilm augmentation assay using eDNA available in different preparations, for example, whole cell lysate, cell-free supernatant, MV suspension, and purified eDNA. Biofilm augmentation was seen up to 224.64%, whereas biofilm inhibition was 59.41% after DNase I treatment: confirming that eDNA facilitates biofilm formation in A. baumannii. This is the first paper elucidating the characteristics and role of eDNA in A. baumannii biofilm, which may provide new insights into its pathogenesis.

Synthesis of an adenine nucleoside containing the (8'R) epimeric carbohydrate core of amipurimycin and its biological study.

The (8'R) epimeric carbohydrate core 2 of amipurimycin was synthesized from D-glucose derived allylic alcohol 3 in 11 steps and 13% overall yield. The key steps involve an acid-catalyzed acetonide ring opening of 9 with concomitant formation of an unprecedented pyranose ring skeleton to give 2,7-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane 10. The α-orientation of the furan ring in 10 readily allows the stereoselective ß-glycosylation and opening of the furanose ring that on removal of protecting groups affords the pyranosyl adenine nucleoside 2. The antifungal and anticancer activities of 2 were studied.