SARS-CoV-2, a novel Corona virus strain, was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As of December 16, 2021, almost 4,822,472 people had died and over 236,132,082 were infected with this lethal viral infection. It is believed that the human immune system is thought to play a critical role in the initial phase of infection when the viruses invade the host cells. Although some effective vaccines have already been on the market, researchers and many bio-pharmaceuticals are still working hard to develop a fully functional vaccine or more effective therapeutic agent against the COVID-19. Other efforts, in addition to functional vaccines, can help strengthen the immune system to defeat the corona virus infection. Herein, we have reviewed some of those proven measures, following which a more efficient immune system can be better prepared to fight viral infection. Among these, dietary supplements like- fresh vegetables and fruits offer a plentiful of vitamins and antioxidants, enabling to build of a healthy immune system. While the pharmacologically active components of medicinal plants directly aid in fighting against viral infection, supplementary supplements combined with a healthy diet will assist to regulate the immune system and will prevent viral infection. In addition, some personal habits, like- regular physical exercise, intermittent fasting, and adequate sleep, had also been proven to aid the immune system in becoming an efficient one. Maintaining each of these will strengthen the immune system, allowing innate immunity to become a more defensive and active antagonistic mechanism against corona-virus infection. However, because dietary treatments take longer to produce beneficial effects in adaptive maturation, personalized nutrition cannot be expected to have an immediate impact on the global outbreak.

Antimicrobial resistance is a mounting threat to the control of infectious diseases worldwide. Due to the increasing rate of drug resistance, there is continuous requirement for new and safe antimicrobial agents both for therapeutic purposes and food industries. The potential of bacteriocin has attracted much attention in recent years.We characterized bacteriocin like substances produced by Lactobacillus casei. This bacterium produces bacteriocin like substances that have the ability to inhibit multi-drug resistant pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus vulgaris. To investigate the antimicrobial property of the bacteriocin like substances produced by L.casei, cell free supernatant (CFS) was prepared and antagonistic activity of cell free supernatant was determined by agar well diffusion method. Production of bacteriocin like substances was greatly affected by nutrient media, pH, temperature and incubation period. Highest inhibitory activity was observed when L.casei was grown in MRS broth (De Man, Rogosa and Sharpe broth) (pH 4.0) for 72 hoursat 37°C. The active components of CFS responsible for antagonistic activity are proteinaceous in nature since they are susceptible to heat treatment. Partial purification of this CFS was done by organic solvent extraction method. Among the eight isolates tested, only S. auereus, Proteus vulgaris and K. pneumoniae showed more sensitivity to the partially purified crude bacteriocin like substances (CBLS) than CFS. Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 36 Number 1 June 2019, pp 01-06

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Extensive use of organophosphate pesticides particularly malathion can result in pollution of soil, surface water and ground water, and thus disrupts ecosystem byexposing non-target species to its toxicity. Bioremediation with indigenous microorganisms having pesticide utilizing abilities is considered to be a viable solution regarding decontamination of organophosphate residues from pesticide contaminated soil. In this study, we isolated five malathion degrading bacter ial strains designated as S-1, S-2, S-3, S-4 and S-5 from paddy fields of Noakhali, Bangladesh by observing visible growth in malathion supplemented mineral salts medium (MSM) agar following selective enrichment technique. The isolates were provisionally identified based on their morphological and biochemical characteristics as Pseudomonas spp. (S-1), Bacillus subtilis (S-2), Staphylococcus aureus (S-3), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (S-4) and Pseudomonas spp. (S-5) respectively. To determine their malathion utilization potential, the isolates were inoculated in MSM containing 50 mg/l malathion as sole source of carbon. When compared with control, the turbidometric growth study with the isolates revealed that all the isolates showed a significant increase of growth, indicating utilization of malathion (conc. 50 mg/l) in MSM at 37oC. The rate of growth varied for all the isolates when this growth study was done using different temperature schemes (25oC, 35oC and 45oC). Bangladesh J Microbiol, Volume 36 Number 1 June 2019, pp 17-22

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