Endophytic bacteria isolated from Solanum nigrum L., alleviate cadmium (Cd) stress response by their antioxidant potentials, including SOD synthesis by sodA gene.

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal and an abiotic stressor to plants; however, inoculation of endophytic bacteria can raise resistance in plants against Cd, as well as improve plant growth. In the present study, two endophytic bacterial strains were isolated from Solanum nigrum, identified as Serratia sp. IU01 and Enterobacter sp. IU02 by 16S DNA sequencing. Both IU01 and IU02 were tolerant up to 9.0 mM of Cd in culture broth and successive increase in Cd concentration from 0 mM to 9.0 mM, led to an increase in the SOD enzyme activity of the isolates. Both strains were capable of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) synthesis and phosphate solubilization, detected through gas spectrometry-mass chromatography (GC-MS) and Pikovskaya agar medium respectively. Brassica juncea plants stressed with 0-25 mg/kg Cd showed retardation in all growth attributes, however, inoculation of strain IU01 and IU02 significantly promoted the plant growth attributes as compared to control. Moreover, antioxidant enzymes and metabolites against reactive oxygen species (ROS) including polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), reduced glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), flavonoid and polyphenolic contents were also significantly relieved by inoculation of IU01 and IU02 in plant exposed to different concentration of Cd stress as compared to control plants. Phytohormone production, phosphate solubilization, and/or antioxidative support of IU01 and IU02 might be responsible for growth promotion and Cd resistance in the plant.

In Vivo Evaluation of the Toxic Effect of Ethyl Acetate Extracts of Marine Antibiotic Resistance Pseudomonas Species Derived from the Red Sea.

Eighty-nine cultured Pseudomonas species isolated from the sediment and water samples collected from five industrial Red Sea regions that have been affected by petroleum and industry. Genotypic (exoT, exoS, exoU, exoY, lasA, lasB, rhlA, rhlB, Pf1, PAGI-1, -2, and -3) and phenotypic (DNase, elastase, lipase, protease, siderophore, antibiotic resistance patterns) characteristics were determined. Out of these isolates, nine Pseudomonas isolates were selected as the hyperactive virulence factors producers along with highly resistant pattern against all antibiotics of different classes included in this study. They were subjected to phenotypic and chemotypic characterization as well as molecular identification through 16S rRNA gene amplification and sequencing. The bioactive metabolites of these nine strains were extracted by ethyl acetate followed by evaluating their cytotoxic activity toward liver tissues, kidney tissues, and other biochemical activities in rat. Both EGY6 and EGY8 caused the highest significant reduction in the levels of packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell count (RBC), and hemoglobin (Hb), which indicate that these Pseudomonas strain metabolites could cause anemia and toxic effects on hematological values in animals that were infected with them. Rats treated with the most toxic extract, EGY8, showed severe histopathological alterations in liver and kidney.

Genome Shuffling of Mangrove Endophytic Aspergillus luchuensis MERV10 for Improving the Cholesterol-Lowering Agent Lovastatin under Solid State Fermentation.

In the screening of marine mangrove derived fungi for lovastatin productivity, endophytic Aspergillus luchuensis MERV10 exhibited the highest lovastatin productivity (9.5 mg/gds) in solid state fermentation (SSF) using rice bran. Aspergillus luchuensis MERV10 was used as the parental strain in which to induce genetic variabilities after application of different mixtures as well as doses of mutagens followed by three successive rounds of genome shuffling. Four potent mutants, UN6, UN28, NE11, and NE23, with lovastatin productivity equal to 2.0-, 2.11-, 1.95-, and 2.11-fold higher than the parental strain, respectively, were applied for three rounds of genome shuffling as the initial mutants. Four hereditarily stable recombinants (F3/3, F3/7, F3/9, and F3/13) were obtained with lovastatin productivity equal to 50.8, 57.0, 49.7, and 51.0 mg/gds, respectively. Recombinant strain F3/7 yielded 57.0 mg/gds of lovastatin, which is 6-fold and 2.85-fold higher, respectively, than the initial parental strain and the highest mutants UN28 and NE23. It was therefore selected for the optimization of lovastatin production through improvement of SSF parameters. Lovastatin productivity was increased 32-fold through strain improvement methods, including mutations and three successive rounds of genome shuffling followed by optimizing SSF factors.

Active enhancement of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp-israelensis toxins and protein-purification.

Bacillus thuringiensis sub sp. ilsraelensis de Barjac, that produce insecticidal protein endotoxins are used for mosquito control. The bacterium produces several Cry and Cytoxins that individually show activity against mosquitoes. A CryllA protein IA848, which corresponds to the first 848 amino acids from N-terminal of CryllA-gene was purified from E. coli by Ni-NTA affinity isolation, Q-Sepharose Fast-Flow chromatography & Super-200 size exclusion chromatography. It was determined using laboratory bioassays that the purified-IA848 protein has good insecticidal competitive binding bioassays show that IA848 does not compete with CryIAb for binding to the brush border membrane vesicles (BBM) of the Aedes aegyptíborer and does not compete with CryIAb at concentrations below 400-fold excess of unlabeled CryIAb for binding to the peritrophic matrix (PM) of the insect. This IA848 proved good competitive in control strategies. CryllA protein purification demonstrate molecular mechanism by which CytIA synergizes or suppresses resistance to toxins by providing a binding site for CryIIAa that resulted in an efficient formation of CryIIAa pre-pore that inserts into membranes and forms ionic pores.