Many bacterial secondary products are bioactive substances that play an important role in biotechnology and pharmacology (e.g., as antibiotics or antitumor agents). Over the past few years interest in prodigiosin has been increased due to its promising anti-cancer activity. Prodigiosin is also of potential clinical interest because it is reported to have anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-protozoal/anti-malarial, and immunosuppressive activity. Thus there is a need to develop a high-throughput and cost-effective bioprocess for the production of prodigiosin. In the present study, Serratia rubidaea was isolated from colored portion of a spoiled coconut and further it was authenticated by MTCC, India. The various parameters like temperature, pH, salt concentration, and precursors were optimized for the production of prodigiosin. We now report that the pigment production was higher in our isolated strain than S. marcescens. It was observed that prodigiosin binds with plastic, paper, and fibers and thus in near future, it can also be used as a natural dye.

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Chromium-doped zinc oxide thin films (Cr: ZnO) with different Cr concentration were prepared using a homemade nebuliser spray pyrolysis system, and the influence of Cr doping level on the physical properties and the influence of light on the gas-sensing properties of ZnO films were investigated. The XRD results reveal that the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO was not affected by the Cr doping. All the films have average transmittance about 85% in the visible region. The film shows good sensing behaviour against ammonia gas under dark condition than ambient (64 lx) and 150 W (5840 lx) incandescent lights. Of the tested samples, ZnO:Cr film with 2 at.-% of Cr doping shows the best response and recovery time for ammonia gas. The reasons for the enhanced sensing ability of the doped films were explained with the help of FESEM, AFM and optical results.

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