The global scale-up in demand for animal protein is the most notable dietary trend of our time. Antimicrobial consumption in animals is threefold that of humans and has enabled large-scale animal protein production. The consequences for the development of antimicrobial resistance in animals have received comparatively less attention than in humans. We analyzed 901 point prevalence surveys of pathogens in developing countries to map resistance in animals. China and India represented the largest hotspots of resistance, with new hotspots emerging in Brazil and Kenya. From 2000 to 2018, the proportion of antimicrobials showing resistance above 50% increased from 0.15 to 0.41 in chickens and from 0.13 to 0.34 in pigs. Escalating resistance in animals is anticipated to have important consequences for animal health and, eventually, for human health.

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Recently, xylanase has become an essential option for environmental friendly industrial biotechnological applications and the rising demand for its large scale production urge to take the advantage of statistical approach of optimization to investigate the interactive effects of prominent process factors involved to enhance xylanase production. In the present study, xylanase production from Streptomyces sp. strain ER1 isolated from Cochin estuarine soil; was optimised using statistical designs- Plackett-Burman and Central composite design. Plackett-Burman design was used to identify important fermentation condition factors affecting the xylanase production using beechwood xylan as the substrate. The optimum levels of these significant factors were determined employing the Central Composite Design. Out of the thirteen factors screened, concentration of beechwood xylan and olive oil, agitation speed, and inoculum age were recognized as the most significant factors. By analyzing the response surface plots and using numerical optimization method, the optimal levels for concentration of xylan and olive oil, agitation speed and inoculum age were determined as 0.37%, 33.10 mg/L, 42.87 RPM and 21.05 h, respectively. The optimised medium resulted in a 1.56-fold increased level of the xylanase (10,220 U/mL) production compared to the initial level (3986.444 U/mL) after 120 h of fermentation. The purified enzyme could successfully clarify orange, mousambi and pineapple juice to 20.87%, 23.64% and 27.89% respectively. Thus the present study has proved that Streptomyces sp. strain ER1 (KY449279) is a potential and useful organism for xylanase production and its purified enzyme could clarify the selected fruit juices.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, autochthonous to estuarine, marine, and coastal environments throughout the world, is a leading cause of foodborne gastroenteritis in Asia as well as in other countries. Considering their role in disease outbreaks, water and sediment samples from two different environments along the southwest coast of India, such as the Cochin estuary, which is a tourist hot spot and a traditional prawn farm, were examined for the detection of V. parahaemolyticus. A total of 120 presumptive vibrios were further screened using a chromogenic medium. The isolates producing the specific colour for V. parahaemolyticus on the chromogenic medium were confirmed by molecular methods. Using a PCR assay targeting the species-specific tlh gene, 75 isolates were confirmed as V. parahaemolyticus. The incidence of V. parahaemolyticus was found to be 71.6 % in the Cochin estuary and 53.3 % in the shrimp farm. The virulence genes tdh and trh were detected in two isolates from the Cochin estuary by multiplex PCR. Using 16S rRNA sequence analysis, our isolate exhibited 100 % similarity to the V. parahaemolyticus O3:K6 pandemic clone. The isolates were evaluated for their susceptibility towards 16 different antibiotics. All the isolates exhibited multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR). The MAR index of the isolates from the Cochin estuary ranged from 0.312 to 0.75 and that from the shrimp farm ranged from 0.1875 to 0.5. The plasmid profiles of the isolates were also checked. About 50.6 % of the isolates harboured plasmids and ten different profiles were observed. No correlation was observed between the antibiotic resistance patterns and plasmid profiles.

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Low-temperature-tolerant microorganisms and their cold-active enzymes could be an innovative and invaluable tool in various industrial applications. In the present study, bacterial isolates from the sediment samples of Kongsfjord, Norwegian Arctic, were screened for β-galactosidase production. Among the isolates, KS25, KS85, KS60, and KS92 have shown good potential in β-galactosidase production at 20 °C. 16SrRNA gene sequence analysis revealed the relatedness of the isolates to Enterobacter ludwigii. The optimum growth temperature of the isolate was 25 °C. The isolate exhibited good growth and enzyme production at a temperature range of 15-35 °C, pH 5-10. The isolate preferred yeast extract and lactose for the maximum growth and enzyme production at conditions of pH 7.0, temperature of 25 °C, and agitation speed of 100 rpm. The growth and enzyme production was stimulated by Mn and Mg and strongly inhibited by Zn, Ni, and Cu. β-Galactosidases with high specific activity at low temperatures are very beneficial in food industry to compensate the nutritional problem associated with lactose intolerance. The isolate exhibited a remarkable capability to utilize clarified whey, an industrial pollutant, for good biomass and enzyme yield and hence could be well employed in whey bioremediation.

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