This paper reports the purification and characterization of kinetic parameters of cellulase produced from Trichoderma viride under still culture solid state fermentation technique using cheap and an easily available agricultural waste material, wheat straw as growth supported substrate. Trichoderma viride was cultured in fermentation medium of wheat straw under some previously optimized growth conditions and maximum activity of 398 ± 2.43 U/mL obtained after stipulated fermentation time period. Cellulase was purified 2.33 fold with specific activity of 105 U/mg in comparison to crude enzyme extract using ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis and Sephadex-G-100 column chromatography. The enzyme was shown to have a relative low molecular weight of 58 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulphate poly-acrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme displayed 6.5 and 55˚C as an optimum pH and temperature respectively. Using carboxymethyl cellulose as substrate, the enzyme showed maximum activity (V max ) of 148 U/mL with its corresponding K M value of 68 µM. Among activators/inhibitors SDS, EDTA, and Hg 2+ showed inhibitory effect on purified cellulase whereas, the enzyme activated by Co 2+ and Mn 2+ at a concentration of 1 mM. The purified cellulase was compatible with four local detergent brands with up to 20 days of shelf life at room temperature suggesting its potential as a detergent additive for improved washing therefore, it is concluded that it may be potentially useful for industrial purposes especially for detergent and laundry industry.

Streptomyces strain KX852460 having antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani AG-3 KX852461 that is the causal agent of target spot disease in tobacco leaf. The aim of the study was to determine the antifungal activity of Streptomyces strain KX852460 extract against R. solani AG-3 and to identify bioactive antifungal compounds produced by strain KX852460. Crude substance was produced by submerged fermentation process from Streptomyces strain KX852460. Various solvent was used to extract the culture filtrate. Among all, ethyl acetate extracted supernatant showed great potency against R. solani AG-3 KX852461. The active fractions were purified by silica gel column chromatography having 52 mm zone of inhibition against R. solani AG-3 KX852461. The purified fractions were identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry technique. Twenty-seven compounds were identified and most of the compounds were the derivatives of aromatic compounds. Eicosane (C20H42) and dibutyl phthalate (C16H22O4) were found antifungal compounds in this study. While morphinan, 7,8-didehydro-4,5-epoxy-17-methyl-3,6-bis[(trimethylsilyl)oxy]-, (5.Alpha. 6.Alpha)—(C23H35NO3Si2), cyclononasiloxane, octadecamethyl—(C18H54O9Si9) and benzoic acid, 2,5-bis(trimethylsiloxy) (C16H30O4Si3) were the major compounds with highest peak number. These results suggested that Streptomyces strain KX852460 had good general antifungal activity and might have potential biocontrol antagonist against R. solani AG-3 KX852461 to cure the target spot in tobacco leaf.

In this study an attempt was made to optimize the cultural and nutritional conditions for xylanase production by Bacillus species in submerge fermentation process. Whole fermentation process was carried out in 250 ml Erlenmeyer flask with agitation speed of 140 rpm. Bacillus subtilis exhibit maximum xylanase production at initial medium pH of 8, substrate concentration of 2% with inoculum size of 2% at 35 C for 48 h of fermentation period. Further supplementation of sucrose, (NH 4) 2 SO 4 and peptone as a carbon and nitrogen sources favored enzyme production. The other strain Bacillus megaterium showed its peak xylanase production at initial medium pH of 8, inoculum size of 1.5% with substrate concentration of 1.5% at incubation temperature of 40 C for 72 h of fermentation period. The best carbon and nitrogen sources are xylose, KNO 3 and malt extract. Both strains can also utilize molasses at 0.5% concentration for xylanase production can grow in medium containing 0.2% NaCl (B. subtilis BS04) and 0.8% NaCl (B. megaterium BM07) respectively. The optimum temperature of xylanase was 50 C and pH was 5 and 5.5 by B. subtilis BS04 and B. megaterium BM07 respectively.

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For SLN lymph node biopsy (SLNB), SLN mapping has become a standard of care procedure that can accurately locate the micrometastases disseminated from primary tumor sites to the regional lymph nodes. The broad array of SLN mapping has prompted the development of a wide range of SLN tracers, rationally designed for noninvasive and high-resolution imaging of SLNs. At present, conventional SLN imaging probes (blue dyes, radiocolloids, and few other small-molecular dyes), although serving the clinical needs, are often associated with major issues such as insufficient accumulation in SLN, short retention time, staining of the surgical field, and other adverse side effects. In a recent advancement, newly designed fluorescent nanoprobes are equipped with novel features that could be of high interest in SLN mapping such as (i) a unique niche that is not met by any other conventional SLN probes, (ii) their adoptable synthesis method, and (ii) excellent sensitivity facilitating high resolution SLN mapping. Most importantly, lots of effort has been devoted for translating the fluorescent nanoprobes into a clinical setup and also imparting the multimodal imaging abilities of nanoprobes for the excellent diagnosis of life-threatening diseases such as cancer. In this review, we will provide a detailed roadmap of the progress of a wide variety of current fluorescent molecular probes and emphasize the future of nanomaterial-based single/multimodal imaging probes that have true potential translation abilities for SLN mapping.

Heat-shock proteins (HSP) are molecular chaperones for protein molecules. These proteins play an important role in protein-protein interactions such as, folding and assisting in the establishment of proper protein conformation and prevention of unwanted protein aggregation. A small HSP gene GHSP26 present in Gossypium arboreum responds to dehydration. In the present study, an attempt was made to overcome the problem of drought stress in cotton. A cDNA of GHSP26 was isolated from G. arboreum, cloned in plant expression vector, pCAMBIA-1301 driven by the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter and introduced into Gossypium hirsutum. The integration and expression studies of putative transgenic plants were performed through GUS assay; PCR from genomic DNA, and quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Transgenic cotton plants showed an enhanced drought tolerance, suggesting that GHSP26 may play a role in plant responsiveness to drought.