The aim of this work is to study the IR spectra of the different lignins precipitated from the produced liquor of different pulping conditions of bagasse and cotton stalks, also to study their antimicrobial activities towards some bacteria and fungi. ,Materials and Nethods Organisms and iMediaBacillus subtilis NRRL 543, Bacillus mywids NRRL 614: Escherichia mli NRRL 210 and Aspergillus niger NRRL 599 were obtained from Northern Regional Research Lab. Peoria, IU 61604 USA. These strains were used as test organisms for the study of antimicrobial activity of the isolated lignins using cup plate method technique [l]. These organisms were maintained on media containing [g/l]: Dextrose, 1.0; Peptone 6.0; yeast extract, 3.0; meat extract, 1.5 and agar agar, 20.0. Lignin PrecipitationBlack liquor was produced after cooking bagasse with 12% and 15% sodium hydroxide at 130°C and 160°C for one hour in presence and absence of 0.1% (based on bagasse) anthraquinone (A&). Another cooking process of bagasse was carried out by 15% NaOH in presence of 25% Na2S for one hour at 130°C. Cotton stalks was carried out with 18% NaOH a t 160°C for 2 hours in absence and presence of 0.1% anthraquinone. Lignins were separated from black liquors by acidifying with E2S0,. Infrared SpectrumIR spectra of lignin samples were carried out using BECEMAN 4250 spectrophotorneter.IR spectra of the samples were obtained as a solid usinn Kbr disc technique.

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This study aimed to explore the antioxidant potential and antiviral activity of endophytic fungi which were isolated from healthy living tissues of medicinal plants. Endophytic strains (29 different taxa) were isolated from 18 Egyptian medicinal plants collected from Saint Katherine Protectorate, Egypt. The fungal endophytes were identified based on morphological characters. All isolates were identified as ascomycetes, except two Zygomycetes strains (Absidia corymbifera and Mucor fuscus). Isolated endophytes were cultivated on potato dextrose media. The fungal metabolites were extracted by ethyl acetate and examined for their biological activities. Among 99 total extracts, only Chaetomium globosum, which was isolated from Adiantum capillus, showed a promising DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging activity (99% at 100 µg/mL). Fifteen extracts prohibited the reproduction of HSV-2 virus. On the other hand, the reproduction of VSV-virus was inhibited by sixteen endophytic extracts. The promising anti-(HSV-2 and VSV) extract of endophytic Pleospora tarda strain; that was originally isolated from the medicinal plant Ephedra aphylla, showed viral inhibitory activity of 40.7% and 15.2%, respectively. Two compounds, for which antiviral activates could be attributed, were isolated and identified as alternariol and alternariol-(9)-methyl ether using different NMR techniques from P. tarda extract. For the first time, we report here the ability of the endophytic fungus P. tarda to produce alternariol and alternariol-(9)-methyl ether. The results indicate that the endophytic fungi from medicinal plants are promising sources of bioactive compounds.

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The main objective of this research work focused on investigating the biological and chemical aspects of endophytic fungus Chaetomium globosum, for pharmaceutical purposes to improve the drug discovery process. The endophytic C. globosum was isolated from healthy leaves of Egyptian medicinal plant Adiantum capillus-veneris collected from Saint Katherine Protectorate, Sinai, Egypt. The identification of C. globosum was on the basis of classical and molecular taxonomy. Gene encoding for 18S rRNA was partially sequenced, submitted to the GenBank and got the accession number JN711454, to resolve the phylogenetic relations with fungal ancestor using phylogenetic tree. To explore the biosynthetic power of endophytic C. globosum JN711454, the fungus was cultivated over five different media, oatmeal, rice, yeast malt glucose, potato dextrose agar (PDA) and Czapek's dox media, for 3 weeks at 30 °C, followed by extraction with different solvents, ethyl acetate (EA), and methanol. The ethyl acetate extract of C. globosum cultivated on PDA medium was the most potent extract. It showed strong antioxidant activity with EC50 11.5 μg/ml, potent anticancer activity with 55 % toxicity toward HepG-2 cells at 100 μg/ml and 66 % cytotoxicity to FGC4 cells at 250 μg/ml, promising butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activities (>85 %), and moderate antimicrobial and stopped the attachment of HSV-2 virus to VERO cells. The metabolomic profiling of PDA-EA extract using LC-MS revealed the presence of several metabolites to which the observed bioactivities could be attributed. Here we report for the first time inhibitory activity of endophytic C. globosum JN711454 secondary metabolites to butyrylcholinesterase, one of neuro hydrolase enzymes that play a major role in development of Alzheimer's disease.

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Probiotics, defined as living bacteria that are beneficial for human health, mainly function through their immunomodulatory abilities. Hence, these microorganisms have proven successful for treating diseases resulting from immune deregulation. The aim of this study was to findnovel candidates to improve on and complement current probiotic treatment strategies. Of 60 lactic acid bacterial strains that were isolated from fecal samples of healthy, full-term, breast-fed infants, three were chosen because of their ability to activate human immune cells. These candidates were then tested with regard to immunomodulatory properties, antimicrobial effects on pathogens, required pharmacological properties and their safety profiles. To identify the immunomodulatory structures of the selected isolates, activation of specific innate immune receptors was studied. The three candidates for probiotic treatment were assigned Enterococcus faecium NM113, Enterococcus faecium NM213 and Lactobacillus casei NM512. Compared with the established allergy-protective strain Lactococcus lactis G121, these isolates induced release of similar amounts of IL-12, a potent inducer of T helper 1 cells. In addition, all three neonatal isolates had antimicrobial activity against pathogens. Analysis of pharmacological suitability showed high tolerance of low pH, bile salts and pancreatic enzymes. In terms of safe application in humans, the isolates were sensitive to three antibiotics (chloramphenicol, tetracycline and erythromycin). In addition, the Enterococcus isolates were free from the four major virulence genes (cylA, agg, efaAfs and ccf). Moreover, the isolates strongly activated Toll-like receptor 2, which suggests lipopeptides as their active immunomodulatory structure. Thus, three novel bacterial strains with great potential as probiotic candidates and promising immunomodulatory properties have here been identified and characterized.

Grafted alginate-carrageenan beads were used to immobilize the industrial enzyme penicillin G acylase (PGA). Sixteen factors were screened with the Plackett-Burman design (PBD) to test their significance on the gel beads formation and enzyme immobilization process. The results of PBD showed a wide variation of 30-fold in the amount of immobilized penicillin G acylase (iPGA) from 11.9 to 354.16 U/g of beads; this reflected the importance of the optimizing process. Among the 16 tested factors, only 3 were proven to be significant. These factors were the enzyme buffer pH (N), enzyme soaking time (Q) with the gel beads, and enzyme concentration (P). The Pareto chart revealed that both Q and P exerted significant positive effects on the amount of iPGA, whereas N had a negative effect. We recommend further study to optimize only these three significant, distinctive enzyme factors. The PGA covalent attachment to the gel beads were proven by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and NaCl and reusability tests. The best gel bead formula succeeded in the immobilization of 354.16 U/g of beads and proved to be reusable 14 times, retaining 84% of the initial enzyme activity.