Integrated biorefinery development for pomegranate peel: Prospects for the production of fuel, chemicals and bioactive molecules.

Current experimental evidence has revealed that pomegranate peel is a significant source of essential bio compounds, and many of them can be transformed into valorized products. Pomegranate peel can also be used as feedstock to produce fuels and biochemicals. We herein review this pomegranate peel conversion technology and the prospective valorized product that can be synthesized from this frequently disposed fruit waste. The review also discusses its usage as a carbon substrate to synthesize bioactive compounds like phenolics, flavonoids and its use in enzyme biosynthesis. Based on reported experimental evidence, it is apparent that pomegranate peel has a large number of applications, and therefore, the development of an integrated biorefinery concept to use pomegranate peel will aid in effectively utilizing its significant advantages. The biorefinery method displays a promising approach for efficiently using pomegranate peel; nevertheless, further studies should be needed in this area.

Bioprospecting of gut microflora for plastic biodegradation.

The problem of plastic prevalence and associated pollution has grasped the entire planet drastically, putting all fields of science on the stake seeking remedies to this global havoc. To address this crisis, with a single remediation strategy is often found to be baseless, thereby much interest has been evoked in the development of multidisciplinary approaches - involving physico-chemical and biological strategies to nullify the aftermath of plastic pollution in all possible means. Even amidst, the availability of different approaches, the use of biological methods to combat plastic degradation has gained momentum. The most frequently used plastics appear in wide forms such as polyethylene plastic bags, polypropylene-based bottles, polyvinyl chloride pipes and polystyrene styrene cups. Plastic nicknamed as one of the toughest polymers viz. polycarbonate, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and Polydicyclopentadiene; quite often are called so as they resist degradation in normal environmental strategies. They are often degraded in non-hostile and harsh environments of pH, temperature, radiation etc. However, not always it is possible to create such harsh environments for plastic degradation. In such a scenario, the use of gut microbes that can withstand the harsh atmosphere of gut environment could serve as promising candidates for plastic biodegradation. The current article envisages the various gut microbes of various biological agents and their role in plastic remediation. The current review compiles the techniques available for plastic remediation, the microbial prospects of plastic remediation, its challenges, and possible breakthroughs to effective plastic remediation.

MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism in male recidivist violent offenders in the Indian population.

INTRODUCTION: An association of MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism with aggression and violence has been demonstrated in many studies; however, this association is inconclusive due to the allelic variation in different populations. Allelic variants and the frequency of this polymorphism among recidivist violent offenders could provide more information about this complex behaviour. Hence, the association between violence and the polymorphism of variable numbers of tandem repeats located upstream of the MAOA gene needs to be ruled out. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Identified recidivist violent offenders by various laws of 'Offences against Human Body and Property' of the Indian Penal Code and natives of the southern state of India, Kerala, were the cases. Individuals without a history of any offences, from the same locality, were taken as controls. DNA extracted from the buccal epithelial cells from the subjects was genotyped using PCR methods for identifying MAOA-uVNTR polymorphism. RESULTS: In the subjects (n = 67), polymorphism in the promoter region of the MAOA gene, which comprises of 30bp repeats, 3.5 and 4.5 repeat alleles were observed statistically significantly (p = 0.015). Both 3.5 and 4.5 repeat alleles were present in the participants belonging to the control group. All the participants belonging to experiment group had 3.5 repeats only. CONCLUSIONS: This candidate gene-environment interaction (cGxE) may be one of the reasons for the development of psychopathology in violent offenders. This is the first study among offenders in this regard in India, and data generated will be a significant contribution to the aetiology of various psychiatric disorders and population-specific genome database.