Synthesis, Antifungal Ergosterol Inhibition, Antibiofilm Activities, and Molecular Docking on ß-Tubulin and Sterol 14-Alpha Demethylase along with DFT-Based Quantum Mechanical Calculation of Pyrazole Containing Fused Pyridine-Pyrimidine Derivatives.

Multidrug-resistant fungal infections have become much more common in recent years, especially in immune-compromised patients. Therefore, researchers and pharmaceutical professionals have focused on the development of novel antifungal agents that can tackle the problem of resistance. In continuation to this, a novel series of pyrazole-bearing pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione derivatives (4a-4o) have been developed. These compounds have been screened against Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, and Aspergillus clavatus. The synthesized compounds were characterized by well-known spectroscopic techniques, i.e., IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass spectrometry. In vitro antifungal results revealed that compound 4n showed activity against C. albicans having MIC value of 200 µg/mL. To know the plausible mode of action, the active derivatives were screened for anti-biofilm and ergosterol biosynthesis inhibition activities. The compounds 4h, 4j, 4k, and 4n showed greater ergosterol biosynthesis inhibition than the control DMSO. To comprehend how molecules interact with the receptor, studies of molecular docking of 4k and 4n have been performed on the homology-modeled protein of ß-tubulin. The molecular docking revealed that the active compounds 4h, 4j, 4k, 4l, and 4n interacting with the active site amino acid of sterol 14-alpha demethylase (PDB ID: 5v5z) indicate one of the possible modes of action of ergosterol inhibition activity. The synthesized compounds 4c, 4e, 4h, 4i, 4j, 4k, 4l, and 4n inhibited biofilm formation and possessed the potential for anti-biofilm activity. DFT-based quantum mechanical calculations were carried out to optimize, predict, and compare the vibration modes of the molecule 4a.

Assessment of surface water quality during different tides and an anthropogenic impact on coastal water at Gulf of Kachchh, West Coast of India.

The port-based activity is often associated with industrial growth in the hinterland and similar phenomenon reported from the Gulf of Kachchh, India. Industrialization exerts pressure on coastal water through the release of waste water or effluents which influence the entire marine ecosystem. The present paper tries to evaluate the variation in the water quality during the high tide and low tide in relation to the anthropogenic or natural influence in Gulf of Kachchh. The tidal variation is important as it reflects the influence of the land-based activity on the coastal waters. To prove this logic, a series of stations were taken along the coastal water and statistical analysis, viz., Pearson correlation, Box plot, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and factor analysis (PCA/FA) were conducted. Pearson correlation and Box plot represent visual impact of parameter variations in respected tides. The chemometric analysis, i.e., HCA and PCA/FA, clearly indicates an anthropogenic impact on coastal water. The results of HCA revealed that major anthropogenic and domestic impacts were found at various stations during the low tide. The HCA points out that an anthropogenic and the tidal activity in the Gulf of Kachchh influence the physical water quality parameters like pH, salinity, dissolved solid, oxygen, turbidity, sulfate, and nutrients in the coastal ecosystem. The PCA/FA further ascertains the finding of HCA analysis that the state of the art of the water quality of coastal ecosystem has direct relevance with the land-based activities and sewage outfall points. Tide-based control on the water quality parameters was evident that the high tide nutrients like phosphates and nitrogen were high, while during the low tide, temperature, salinity, total solids, and sulfate showed higher concentrations. The findings of the paper will be useful for developing effective management strategies for policy makers or stakeholders operating in the coastal area.

Exploring bacterial communities through metagenomics during bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from contaminated sediments.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the degradation effectiveness of PAHs degrading bacteria at the mesocosm level, including Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (SC), mixed culture (MC), and enriched native microflora (EC) at the mesocosm level. Maximum degradation was found in the mesocosm MC (26.67 %), followed by SC (25.08 %) and EC (18.25 %) after 60 days. Thus, mixed culture and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia could be a game changer in the PAHs bioremediation at the chronically contaminated sites. MiSeq sequencing has revealed dominancy of γ-Proteobacteria, α-Proteobacteria, ß-Proteobacteria at class level and Sphingomonadales, oceanospirillales, Rhodothermales at Order level. Families Alcanivoracaceae, Alteromonadaceae, Nocardiaceae, Rhodospirillaceae and genus Stenotrophomonas, Alcanivorax, Methylophaga, Fluviicola and Rhodoplanes were considerably increased which play key role in the PAHs degradation. Dominant bacterial communities have revealed resilience community to enable potential PAHs degradation process in all the mesocosms. To the best our knowledge this is the first ever attempt in PAHs biodegradation study conducted at the mesocosm level mimicking natural environmental conditions. Consequently, this study could be a benchmark against which future progress studies for the policy makers and stakeholders to design appropriate bioremediation study for the historically PAHs polluted contaminate sites.

Assessment of surface water of Gulf of Kachchh, west coast of India: A chemometric approach.

The present study is aimed at investigation of surface water quality of Gulf of Kachchh (GoK), Gujarat. The main objective of this study was to convert complex dataset of water quality parameters from GoK into comprehensive, simple and interpretable observations. Hence, physico-chemical parameters and nutrients of surface water from GoK were analyzed. Chemometric results indicated that oxygen, salinity, dissolved solids, nutrient and natural conditions were the factors that affected surface water quality. The water quality index was calculated to identify water quality classes to evaluate the spatio-seasonal trend in the study area. The results revealed that water quality was moderate in summer, worst in pre-monsoon and best in post-monsoon. The study also highlighted that Marine National Park (Central GoK) was observed to be comparatively in good condition with abundant marine biodiversity. Thus, the results of chemometric study of water quality parameters can be a valuable tool for government authorities for sustainable development of GoK.

Antibiotic resistance genes allied to the pelagic sediment microbiome in the Gulf of Khambhat and Arabian Sea.

Antibiotics have been widely spread in the environments, imposing profound stress on the resistome of the residing microbes. Marine microbiomes are well established large reservoirs of novel antibiotics and corresponding resistance genes. The Gulf of Khambhat is known for its extreme tides and complex sedimentation process. We performed high throughput sequencing and applied bioinformatics techniques on pelagic sediment microbiome across four coordinates of the Gulf of Khambhat to assess the marine resistome, its corresponding bacterial community and compared with the open Arabian Sea sample. We identified a total of 2354 unique types of resistance genes, with most abundant and diverse gene profile in the area that had anthropogenic activities being carried out on-shore. The genes with >1% abundance in all samples included carA, macB, sav1866, tlrC, srmB, taeA, tetA, oleC and bcrA which belonged to the macrolides, glycopeptides and peptide drug classes. ARG enriched phyla distribution was quite varying between all the sites, with Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes among the dominant phyla. Based on the outcomes, we also propose potential biomarker candidates Desulfovibrio, Thermotaga and Pelobacter for antibiotic monitoring in the two of the Gulf samples probable contamination prone environments, and genera Nitrosocccus, Marinobacter and Streptomyces in the rest of the three studied samples. Outcomes support the concept that ARGs naturally originate in environments and human activities contribute to the dissemination of antibiotic resistance.

Concentrations, input prediction and probabilistic biological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) along Gujarat coastline.

A comprehensive investigation was conducted in order to assess the levels of PAHs, their input prediction and potential risks to bacterial abundance and human health along Gujarat coastline. A total of 40 sediment samples were collected at quarterly intervals within a year from two contaminated sites-Alang-Sosiya Shipbreaking Yard (ASSBRY) and Navlakhi Port (NAV), situated at Gulf of Khambhat and Gulf of Kutch, respectively. The concentration of ΣPAHs ranged from 408.00 to 54240.45 ng g-1 dw, indicating heavy pollution of PAHs at both the contaminated sites. Furthermore, isomeric ratios and principal component analysis have revealed that inputs of PAHs at both contaminated sites were mixed-pyrogenic and petrogenic. Pearson co-relation test and regression analysis have disclosed Nap, Acel and Phe as major predictors for bacterial abundance at both contaminated sites. Significantly, cancer risk assessment of the PAHs has been exercised based on incremental lifetime cancer risks. Overall, index of cancer risk of PAHs for ASSBRY and NAV ranged from 4.11 × 10-6-2.11 × 10-5 and 9.08 × 10-6-4.50 × 10-3 indicating higher cancer risk at NAV compared to ASSBRY. The present findings provide baseline information that may help in developing advanced bioremediation and bioleaching strategies to minimize biological risk.

Characterization of L-asparaginase from marine-derived Aspergillus niger AKV-MKBU, its antiproliferative activity and bench scale production using industrial waste.

L-asparaginase (LA), an enzyme with anticancer activities, produced by marine-derived Aspergillus niger was subjected to purification and characterization. The purified enzyme was observed to have molecular weight ∼90KDa. The enzyme retained activity over a wide range of pH, i.e. pH 4-10. The enzyme was quite stable in temperature range 20-40°C. Tween 80 and Triton X-100 were observed to enhance LA activity while inhibition of LA activity was observed in presence of heavy metals. The values for Km was found to be 0.8141 mM and Vmax was 6.228µM/mg/min. The enzyme exhibited noteworthy antiproliferative activity against various cancer cell lines tested. Successful bench scale production (in 5L bioreacator) of LA using groundnut oil cake as low cost substrate has also been carried out.

Description of Rhodobacter azollae sp. nov. and Rhodobacter lacus sp. nov.

Three strains (JA826T, JA912T and JA913), which were yellowish brown colour, rod to oval shaped, Gram-stain-negative, motile, phototrophic bacteria with a vesicular architecture of intracytoplasmic membranes, were isolated from different pond samples. The DNA G+C content of the three strains was between 64.6 and 65.5 mol%. The highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of all three strains was with the type strains of the genus Rhodobacter sensu stricto in the family Rhodobacteraceae. Strain JA826T had highest sequence similarity with Rhodobacter maris JA276T (98.5 %), Rhodobacter viridis JA737T (97.5 %) and other members of the genus Rhodobacter (<97 %). Strain JA912T had highest sequence similarity with Rhodobacter viridis JA737T (99.6 %), Rhodobacter sediminis N1T (99.3 %), Rhodobacter capsulatus ATCC 11166T (98.8 %) and less than 97 % similarity with other members of the genus Rhodobacter. The 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strains JA826T and JA912T was 96.9 %. DNA-DNA hybridization showed that strains JA826T and JA912T (values among themselves and between the type strains of nearest members <44 %) did not belong to any of the nearest species of the genus Rhodobacter. However, strains JA912T and JA913 were closely related (DNA-DNA hybridization value >90 %). The genomic distinction was also supported by differences in phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics in order to propose strains JA826T (=KCTC 15478T=LMG 28758T) and JA912T (=KCTC 15475T=LMG 28748T) as new species in the genus Rhodobacter sensu stricto with the names Rhodobacter lacus and Rhodobacter azollae, respectively.

Description of a phototrophic bacterium, Thiorhodococcus alkaliphilus sp. nov.

Strain JA878T was purified from a photoheterotrophic enrichment obtained from a sediment sample of a brown pond near Nari Salt Pan, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. Cells of the isolate were coccoid, motile by means of single polar flagellum and Gram-stain-negative. The internal photosynthetic membrane architecture was vesicular. Strain JA878T contained bacteriochlorophyll a and spirilloxanthin series of carotenoids with rhodopin (>85 %) as the major component. Strain JA878T grew optimally at pH 10-11, and had no requirement for NaCl (tolerated up to 6 %, w/v) or vitamins for growth. C16 : 1ω7c/C16 : 1ω6c, C18 : 1ω7c/C18 : 1ω6c and C16 : 0 were identified as the major fatty acids (>10 %). Phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, aminophospholipid and an unknown polar lipid were identified. Q8 was the predominant quinone system in strain JA878T. The DNA G+C content was 62.4 mol%. Highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity through EzTaxon-based blast analysis of strain JA878T was found with the type strains of Thiorhodococcus fuscus (99 %), Thiorhodococcus kakinadensis (98.6 %), Thiohalobacter thiocyanaticus (98.4 %), Thiophaeococcus fuscus (97.3 %) and other members of the class Gammaproteobacteria (<97.3 %), revealing a close affiliation to the genera Thiorhodococcus, Thiohalobacter and Thiophaeococcus. However, the phylogenetic treeing firmly placed the strain in the genus Thiorhodococcus. Phenotypic and chemotaxonomic evidence supported the affiliation of strain JA878T to the genus Thiorhodococcus and not to Thiohalobacter, Thiophaeococcus or other known genera of Chromatiaceae. Distinct physiological, genotypic and chemotaxonomic differences indicate that strain JA878T represents a novel species of the genus Thiorhodococcus, for which the name Thiorhodococcus alkaliphilus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JA878T (=KCTC 15531T=JCM 31245T).

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at the Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat, India: Occurrence, source apportionment, and toxicity of PAHs as an emerging issue.

The present study extrapolates the assessment and characterization of a barely studied region, the Gulf of Kutch, (near Jamnagar), Gujarat, India, in terms of PAH exposure, adverse effects caused by them, and various toxicological indices showing the catastrophic effects of their elevated concentrations. ΣPAH concentration in the site ranged from 118,280 to 1,099,410ngg-1 dw, with a predominance of 2-3-ring PAHs (79.09%) as compared to 4-5- and 6-ring PAHs (20.91%). The concentrations of carcinogenic PAHs were found to be between 8120 and 160,000ngg-1 dw, with a mean of 63,810ngg-1 dw, which is much higher than normal acceptable values. The toxic equivalent quotient for 6CPAHs ranged from 150.47 to 26,330ngg-1 BaPeq, encompassing 50.63% of ΣPAH toxicity. This toxicological profile of the present study site would be of paramount importance as it offers fresh information regarding the load of legacy pollutants such as PAHs and the inputs and methods to cope with their extremely high concentrations in less explored marine habitats.

Distribution, sources and ecological risk assessment of PAHs in historically contaminated surface sediments at Bhavnagar coast, Gujarat, India.

The concentration, distribution and ecological risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been investigated in surface sediments near Bhavnagar coast. The concentration of ∑PAHs ranged from 5.02 to 981.18 µg g(-1) dry weight, indicating heavy pollution compared to other historically polluted study sites. It was found to be introduced via mixed origins such as burning of gas, oil, coal, production of petrochemicals, cement, and rubber tires. Domestic fuel burning and motor vehicles are also culprits for air pollution. Industrial effluents and accidental oil spillage can also be considered. PAHs can be exposed through air, water, soil and food sources including ingestion, inhalation, and dermal content in both occupational and non-occupational levels by single or sometimes multiple exposures routes concomitantly. Furthermore, diagnostic ratios, statistical principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) models have confirmed that the sources of PAHs were both - petrogenic and pyrogenic. For both the sites, assessment of ecological risk of the elevated levels of these pollutants has been exercised based on toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) and risk quotient (RQ) methods. The composite results indicated accurately that both the sites, bears potentially acute and chronic health hazards such as decreased immune functionality, genotoxicity, malignancy and developmental malfunctions in humans. The sites studied here and the workers have been exposed to hazardous pollutants for a longer period of time. Evidences indicate that mixtures of PAHs are carcinogenic to humans, based on occupational studies on workers, exposed to these pollutants. Hence, the present study and statistical approaches applied herein clearly indicate the historic mix routes of PAHs that resulted in magnified concentrations leading to high ecosystem risk. Thus, the scientific communities are urged to develop strategies to minimize the concentrations of PAHs from the historically impacted coastlines, thereby concerning for the future investigations and restoration of these sites.

Enhanced chrysene degradation by a mixed culture Biorem-CGBD using response surface design.

Degradation of chrysene, a four ringed highly carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) has been demonstrated by bacterial mixed culture Biorem-CGBD comprising Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Pseudomonas sp. and Sphingomonas sp., isolated from crude oil polluted saline sites at Bhavnagar coast, Gujarat, India. A full factorial Central Composite Design (CCD) using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to construct response surfaces, predicting 41.93% of maximum chrysene degradation with an experimental validation of 66.45% chrysene degradation on 15th day, using a combination of 0.175, 0.175 and 0.385 mL of OD600 = 1 inoculum of A. xylosoxidans, Pseudomonas sp. and Sphingomonas sp., respectively and a regression coefficient (R2) of 0.9485 indicating reproducibility of the experiment. It was observed that chrysene degradation can be successfully enhanced using RSM, making mixed culture Biorem-CGBD a potential bioremediation target for PAH contaminated saline sites.

Bacillus crescens sp. nov., isolated from soil.

Two bacterial strains (JC247T and JC248) were isolated from soil samples collected from Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, India. Colonies of both strains were creamy white. Cells were Gram-stain-positive, rods-to-curved rods (crescent-shaped), and produced centrally located oval-shaped endospores. Major (>5 %) fatty acids of both strains were iso-C16  :  0, iso-C14  :  0, iso-C15  :  0, C16  :  1ω11c and C16  :  0, with minor ( < 5 but >1 %) amounts of anteiso-C15  :  0, anteiso-C17  :  0, iso-C16  :  1 H, iso-C17  :  0, iso-C18  :  0, C14  :  0, C17  :  0, C18  :  0, C18  :  1ω9c, iso-C17  :  1ω10c and anteiso-C17  :  0B/isoI. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol were the major polar lipids of both strains. Cell-wall amino acids were l-alanine, d-alanine, d-glutamic acid and meso-diaminopimelic acid. The genomic DNA G+C content of strains JC247T and JC248 was 48.2 and 48.1 mol%, respectively. Both strains were closely related with mean DNA-DNA hybridization >90 %. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of both strains indicated that they are members of the genus Bacillus within the family Bacillaceae of the phylum Firmicutes. Both strains had a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 96.93 % with Bacillus firmus NCIMB 9366T and < 96.92 % with other members of the genus Bacillus. Sequence similarity between strain JC247T and JC248 was 100 %. Distinct morphological, physiological and genotypic differences from previously described taxa support the classification of strains JC247T and JC248 as representatives of a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacilluscrescens sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JC247T ( = KCTC 33627T = LMG 28608T).

Polyhydroxyalkanoate from marine Bacillus megaterium using CSMCRI's Dry Sea Mix as a novel growth medium.

Oceans have significant potential to empower mankind and thus marine organisms are believed to be an enormous source for useful biomolecules. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biological macromolecules that can be applied in nearly all fields. In the present study, Bacillus megaterium strain JK4h has been exploited for maximum PHB production using novel Dry Sea Mix (DSM) via Central Composite Design (CCD) of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approach. The isolate was found to be producing 56.77% Cell Dry Weight (CDW) of PHAs within 24h, with optimized combinations of peptone, yeast extract and glucose. The PHB yield had been increased 2.61 fold compared to un-optimized experiments. The obtained PHA/PHB had been chemically characterized through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The results indicate the successful optimization for maximum production of biological macromolecule and it was found to be highly pure polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB). Thus, DSM can be served as a novel and cost effective medium for PHA production offering the use of marine resources as a "green" sustainable alternative.

Application of response surface methodology for rapid chrysene biodegradation by newly isolated marine-derived fungus Cochliobolus lunatus strain CHR4D.

For the first time, Cochliobolus lunatus strain CHR4D, a marine-derived ascomycete fungus isolated from historically contaminated crude oil polluted shoreline of Alang-Sosiya ship-breaking yard, at Bhavnagar coast, Gujarat has been reported showing the rapid and enhanced biodegradation of chrysene, a four ringed high molecular weight (HMW) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). Mineral Salt Broth (MSB) components such as ammonium tartrate and glucose along with chrysene, pH and trace metal solution have been successfully optimized by Response Surface Methodology (RSM) using central composite design (CCD). A validated, two-step optimization protocol has yielded a substantial 93.10% chrysene degradation on the 4(th) day, against unoptimized 56.37% degradation on the 14(th) day. The results depict 1.65 fold increase in chrysene degradation and 1.40 fold increase in biomass with a considerable decrement in time. Based on the successful laboratory experiments, C. lunatus strain CHR4D can thus be predicted as a potential candidate for mycoremediation of HMW PAHs impacted environments.

Enhanced biodegradation of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (TPAHs) by marine halotolerant Achromobacter xylosoxidans using Triton X-100 and ß-cyclodextrin--a microcosm approach.

Ability of Achromobacter xylosoxidans, a chrysene degrading marine halotolerant bacterium to degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using a cost effective laboratory microcosm approach, was investigated. Effect of variables as chrysene, glucose as a co-substrate, Triton X-100 as a non-ionic surfactant and ß-cyclodextrin as a PAHs solubilizer was examined on degradation of low molecular weight (LMW) and high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs. A total of eleven PAHs detected from polluted saline soil were found to be degraded. Glucose, in combination with Triton X-100 and ß-cyclodextrin resulted in 2.8 and 1.4-fold increase in degradation of LMW PAHs and 7.59 and 2.23-fold increase in degradation of HMW PAHs, respectively. Enhanced biodegradation of total PAHs (TPAHs) by amendments with Triton X-100 and ß-cyclodextrin using Achromobacter xylosoxidans can prove to be promising approach for in situ bioremediation of marine sites contaminated with PAHs.

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity of Bauhinia purpurea Leaves Under In Vitro Conditions.

This study was undertaken with an objective of testing the antibacterial and antifungal activities of Bauhinia purpurea leaves and identifying the bioactive compounds. The antimicrobial activity of leaf extract was determined in aqueous and organic extracts and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against six species of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms: Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans using the disk diffusion method. The chemical constituents of organic plant extract were separated by thin layer chromatography and purified by column chromatography and further identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Significant inhibitory activity was observed with methanol extracts of plant against the test microorganisms while less antibacterial activity was observed in hexane, acetone and aqueous extracts. MIC of B. purpurea extract was ≤1,500 µg/ml against S. aureus and B. subtilis while this extract showed no inhibition against Gram-negative S. typhi, E. coli and P. aeruginosa or against fungus C. albicans. Eleven compounds were identified in B. purpurea leaf extract by GC-MS analysis. The composition of B. purpurea revealed the presence of lupeol, stigmasterol, lanosterol, ergosterol, beta-tocopherol, phytol, hexadeconic acids, hexadeconic acids methyl esters, octadecadienoic acids and octadecatrienoic acid. Stigmasterol and lupeol were the most abundant (34.48 and 15.63 %). Other phytosterols like lanosterol (4.15 %) and ergosterol (2.82 %) were also found to be present in this extract.

Enhanced chrysene degradation by halotolerant Achromobacter xylosoxidans using Response Surface Methodology.

Degradation of chrysene, a four ring High Molecular Weight (HMW) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) is of intense environmental interest, being carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic. Multiple PAH degrading halotolerant Achromobacter xylosoxidans was isolated from crude oil polluted saline site. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) using Central Composite Design (CCD) of Bushnell-Haas medium components was successfully employed for optimization resulting 40.79% chrysene degradation on 4th day. The interactions between variables as chrysene and glucose concentrations, pH and inoculum size on degradation were examined by RSM. Under optimum conditions, A. xylosoxidans exhibited 85.96% chrysene degradation on 5th day. The optimum values predicted by RSM were confirmed through confirmatory experiments. It was also noted that pH and glucose as co-substrate play a dynamic role in enhancement of chrysene degradation. Hence, A. xylosoxidans can be further used for subsequent microcosm and in situ experiments for its potential to remediate PAH contaminated saline and non-saline soils.

In Vitro Antimicrobial Activity of Acacia catechu and Its Phytochemical Analysis.

UNLABELLED: Acacia catechu, commonly known as catechu, cachou and black cutch is an important medicinal plant and an economically important forest tree. The methanolic extract of this plant was found to have antimicrobial activities against six species of pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms: Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. The maximum zone of inhibition (20 mm) was found to be exhibited against S. aureus. For this organism the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the crude extract was 1,000 µg/ml. The extract was found to be equally effective against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The antimicrobial activity of the extract was found to be decreased during purification. The chemical constituents of organic plant extracts were separated by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and the plant extracts were purified by column chromatography and were further identified by Gas chromatography-mass selection (GC-MS) analysis. The composition of A. catechu extract had shown major components of terpene i.e. camphor (76.40%) and phytol (27.56%) along with other terpenes in minor amounts which are related with their high antibacterial and antifungal properties. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12088-011-0061-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.