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The DNA polymerase derived from Thermus aquaticus is the most widely utilized among various DNA polymerases, indicating its significant economic importance. Consequently, efforts to achieve a substantial yield of Taq DNA polymerase (Taq-pol) are ongoing. The expression of recombinant protein using T7-induced promoters presents challenges in cost-effectiveness, primarily due to the reliance on traditional induction method. Our study aims to enhance cost-efficiency, and scalability of our method for overproducing Taq-pol, particularly in comparison to traditional IPTG-induced techniques, which remain underreported in the current literature. To achieve those purposes, this work integrated the use of (1) a high copy number vector; (2) an optimized chemically defined medium; and (3) optimized fermentation conditions in a 5 L bioreactor. A total of 83.5 mg/L of pure Taq-pol was successfully synthesized in its active form, leading to a 9.7-fold enhancement in protein yield. This was achieved by incorporating glucose, glycerol, and lactose into a defined medium at concentrations of 0.1, 0.6, and 1%, respectively, under specific production conditions in a 5 L bioreactor: 300 rpm, 2 vvm, and 10% inoculant. The data collectively suggest that the strategy serves as a significant foundation for the future advancement of large-scale production of Taq-pol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Industrial bioprocesses often require microorganisms that can adapt to specific conditions, such as halothermophilic bacteria capable of producing biosurfactants with various applications. Enhancing production yield is important, and one approach genetic modification. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) is a highly effective method for genetic editing; however, its use in halothermophilic bacteria remains limited. So far, optimal genetic editing with Cas9 has only been achieved in thermophilic bacteria unsuitable for high-salt environments. For determining optimal CRISPR involves analyzing the binding interaction between sgRNA (single guide RNA) and Cas9 using Molecular Docking in halothermophilic bacteria. This includes preparing the structures of Cas9 and sgRNA, simulating them with HDOCK software, and data analysis. Molecular Docking has advantages such as cost-effectiveness and time efficiency in designing the optimal sgRNA length. Optimization of sgRNA is achieved by varying the lengths of repeat, spacer, and tracrRNA, aiming for the lowest binding energy values and visually feasible designs. For Cas9 from the selected bacterium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, the optimal sgRNA design for Cas9 involves a spacer of 10 nt. In contrast, dCas9 involves a spacer of 10 nt, a repeat of 36 nt, and tracrRNA of 63 nt. The native temperature of the bacteria did not significantly affect the optimal sgRNA length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Abundant plastic waste degradation to microplastics may cause pollution hazards for the environment. The circulation of microplastic pollution supports the initiation of research related to detecting microplastics in the environment. One method for detecting microplastics is the utilization of the fluorescence properties of carbon quantum dots (CQDs). In this study, CQDs will be produced through the hydrothermal method using oil palm fronds as a carbon source because of their lignin levels of up to 26%. To obtain this carbon, oil palm fronds are crushed and then converted into biochar through a pyrolysis process. Biochar is used as a precursor for the manufacture of CQDs produced through the hydrothermal method at temperature variations of 180°C, 190°C, and 200°C. In this study, CQDs were produced with a peak of 291 nm in the UV wavelength range, which indicates the presence of a π-π* absorption band in the carbon structure of CQDs. The emergence of dominant C=C, O-H and C=O groups in the FTIR test also proves the success of CQDs production through this hydrothermal method. The CQDs produced at the three temperature variations are less than 10 nm in size and have the highest fluorescence intensity at 200°C when excited at 405 nm. Moreover, CQDs exhibit a promising ability for detecting microplastics, as indicated by their decreasing fluorescence intensity trend in response to polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) added solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Avocado is one of the important commodities as food and as a source of nutrition worldwide. Previous research shows that avocado has antioxidants that benefit for health, such as vitamins A, C, and E, potassium, and unsaturated fat. So, avocados have various health activities such as preventing stroke, reducing cholesterol levels, skin moisturizers, and functional foods for babies. Therefore, a lot of people want to farm avocados by themselves. One of the groups of farmers with experience comes from Desa Iwul, Bogor. The avocado farm is one of their primary incomes. However, the activity is interrupted due to the planning of land construction. Groups of farmers from Desa Iwul, Bogor might face loss of their sources of income. To overcome this problem, groups of community development from Bioprocess Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Universitas Indonesia tried to transfer knowledge about avocado cultivation techniques using grafting methods. The activities were done for 2 months as a form of training for trainers of selected avocado farmers and training from trained avocado farmers to other avocado farmers and society. The results show that the grafting method has successfully been done not only by trained avocado farmers but to untrained avocado farmers and society. By this activity, the success rate of the grafting method has been increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...