Search

Tackling COVID-19 requires halting virus proliferation and reducing viral complications in humans. Papaya leaf extract (PLE) is well known for its ability to inhibit numerous viral replications in vitro and in vivo and reduce viral complications in humans such as thrombocytopenia and cytokine storm. The goal of this research is to evaluate the possible use of papaya leaf extract as a multifaceted antiviral and potential therapy for COVID-19 using an in-silico docking followed by a 100 ns molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) approach. The targeted proteins are the SARS-CoV-2’s proteins such as the nucleocapsid, main protease (MPro), RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP), spike protein (Wuhan, Delta, and Omicron variants) and human TNF-alpha and alpha-thrombin protein targets. Several compounds from PLE such as protodioscin, clitorin, glycyrrhizic acid, manghaslin, kaempferol–3–(2g–glucosylrutinoside), rutin, isoquercetrin and acacic acid were found to exhibit strong binding to these targets. The free energies of binding (Autodock) with protodioscin, the best PLE compound for nucleocapsid, main protease (MPro), RdRP and spike protein were –13.83, –13.19, –11.62 and –10.77 (Omicron), kcal/mol, respectively, while the TNF-alpha and alphathrombin binding free energies were –13.64 and –13.50 kcal/mol, respectively. The calculated inhibition constants for protodioscin were in the nanomolar and picomolar range at 216.34, 27.07, 73.28, and 99.93 pM, respectively, whilst RdRp and spike protein (Omicron) were in the nanomolar range at 3.02 and 12.84 nM, respectively. Protodioscin interacted with key residues of all protein targets. The binding affinity poses were confirmed by molecular dynamics simulation. Analysis of the binding affinities calculated employing the molecular mechanics-Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) shows favorable interaction between protodioscin, and all targets based on total binding-free energies corroborating the Autodock’s docking results. In concl

Aptamers are a group of synthetic single-stranded nucleic acids. They are generated from a random library of single-stranded DNA or RNA by a technology named systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). SELEX is a repetitive process to select and identify suitable aptamers that show high affinity and specificity towards target cells. Great strides have been achieved in the design, construction, and use of aptamers up to this point. However, only a small number of aptamer-based applications have achieved widespread commercial and clinical acceptance. Additionally, finding more effective ways to acquire aptamers with high affinity remains a challenge. Therefore, it is crucial to thoroughly examine the existing dearth and advancement in aptamer-related technologies. This review focuses on aptamers that are generated by SELEX to detect pathogenic microorganisms and mammalian cells, as well as in cell-internalizing SELEX for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The development of novel aptamer-based biosensors using optical and electrical methods for microbial detection is reported. The applications and limitations of aptamers are also discussed.

In this study, the Metanil Yellow (MY) decolorizing mixed culture, namely FN3, has been isolated from agriculture soil. The mixed culture was immobilized using gellan gum. In order to optimize the immobilization process for maximal dye decolorization, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was performed. The optimal conditions for immobilization predicted by desirability function are 130 mg/L of MY dye concentration, 1.478% of gellan gum concentration, 50 beads and 0.6 cm of beads size with the percentage of decolorization of 90.378%. The correlation coefficients of the model (R2 and R2 adj) are 0.9767 and 0.9533, respectively. This indicates that the established model is suitable to predict the effectiveness of dye decolorization under the investigated condition. The immobilized beads of mixed culture FN3 were able to be reused up to 15 batches of decolorization. The immobilized cells also have high tolerance towards heavy metals. This was proven by higher dye decolorization rate by the immobilized cells even with the addition of heavy metals in the media. The decolorization potential of the mixed culture indicates that it could be useful for future bioremediation of soil contaminated sites and treatment solutions of water bodies polluted with MY dye.

Due to the increasing development of nanotechnology and its wide applications, the flow of a nanofluid in a duct is also optimal geometric construction of ducts in the fabrication and production of various ducts to increase efficiency in nanofluid behavior are essential. In this paper, by using the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation process, the effect of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on the behavior of water-based fluid is investigated. Physical parameters such as total temperature, potential energy, fluid, nanofluid density profiles, fluid velocity, nanofluid profiles, and fluid and nanofluid temperature profiles are reported. Also, the effect of the number of layers and wall material on fluid flow is investigated. Therefore, the channel wall material in the following simulations will be considered as platinum, copper, and iron. Over time, the temperature of atomic structures reaches 300 K, which indicates the temperature stability in the simulated atomic structures. The results show that by increasing the number of wall layers in nanochannels and similar microchannels, interactions between fluid particles and walls increase. As these interactions increase, the accumulation of fluid particles in the vicinity of the channel walls increases, which increases the density of the shelves adjacent to the channel walls. Also, by changing the microchannel material from copper to iron and platinum, the number of interactions between particles in the present structures increases. This increase in the number of interactions between the particles present in the microchannel wall and the base fluid causes the maximum density to be observed in the platinum microchannel.

Predicting the crucial effect of single metal pollutants against the aquatic ecosystem has been highly debatable for decades. However, dealing with complex metal mixtures management in toxicological studies creates a challenge, as heavy metals may evoke greater toxicity on interactions with other constituents rather than individually low acting concentrations. Moreover, the toxicity mechanisms are different between short term and long term exposure of the metal toxicant. In this study, acute and chronic toxicity based on luminescence inhibition assay using newly isolated Photobacterium sp.NAA-MIE as the indicator are presented. Photobacterium sp.NAA-MIE was exposed to the mixture at a predetermined ratio of 1:1. TU (Toxicity Unit) and MTI (Mixture Toxic Index) approach presented the mixture toxicity of Hg2+ + Ag+, Hg2+ + Cu2+, Ag+ + Cu2+, Hg2+ + Ag+ + Cu2+, and Cd2+ + Cu2+ showed antagonistic effect over acute and chronic test. Binary mixture of Cu2+ + Zn2+ was observed to show additive effect at acute test and antagonistic effect at chronic test while mixture of Ni2+ + Zn2+ showing antagonistic effect during acute test and synergistic effect during chronic test. Thus, the strain is suitable and their use as bioassay to predict the risk assessment of heavy metal under acute toxicity without abandoning the advantage of chronic toxicity extrapolation.

The application of microorganisms in azo dye remediation has gained significant attention, leading to various published studies reporting different methods for obtaining the best dye decolouriser. This paper investigates and compares the role of methods and media used in obtaining a bacterial consortium capable of decolourising azo dye as the sole carbon source, which is extremely rare to find. It was demonstrated that a prolonged acclimation under low substrate availability successfully isolated a novel consortium capable of utilising Reactive Red 120 dye as a sole carbon source in aerobic conditions. This consortium, known as JR3, consists of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain MM01, Enterobacter sp. strain MM05 and Serratia marcescens strain MM06. Decolourised metabolites of consortium JR3 showed an improvement in mung bean’s seed germination and shoot and root length. One-factor-at-time optimisation characterisation showed maximal of 82.9% decolourisation at 0.7 g/L ammonium sulphate, pH 8, 35 °C, and RR120 concentrations of 200 ppm. Decolourisation modelling utilising response surface methodology (RSM) successfully improved decolourisation even more. RSM resulted in maximal decolourisation of 92.79% using 0.645 g/L ammonium sulphate, pH 8.29, 34.5 °C and 200 ppm RR120.

Application of dyes is prevalent in industries involved in textile and food manufacturing. Effluent discharge from these industries to neighbouring water bodies cause significant health concerns due to dye toxicity. To date, only very few bacteria are isolated with the ability to completely assimilate dyes. The main objective of this study is to isolate bacteria(s) with the ability to utilise reactive red dye 120. Local strains were isolated from contaminated sites in Northern Malaysia. Based on 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis, the best strain was identified as Pseudomonas sp. strain DRY011. Optimum RR120 decolourisation was observed at 200 ppm with 71.07% removal rate within 5 days and able to tolerate up to 500 ppm. The effect of heavy metals (silver, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, lead and zinc) were investigated. Mercury, 1 ppm had the highest inhibition effect, followed by zinc and silver, with decolourisation of 12 % and 14.3 % respectively. Chromium had the least effect with 55.6% decolourisation and bacterial growth of 11.5 CFU/mL. The rest of the heavy metal had the least effect on the decolourisation rate. As a conclusion, the finding of microbial degrader able to utilise dye will become crucial bioremediation key in controlling the level of dye wastes in water bodies.

Rhodococci are renowned for their great metabolic repertoire partly because of their numerous putative pathways for large number of specialized metabolites such as biosurfactant. Screening and genome-based assessment for the capacity to produce surface-active molecules was conducted on Rhodococcus sp. ADL36, a diesel-degrading Antarctic bacterium. The strain showed a positive bacterial adhesion to hydrocarbon (BATH) assay, drop collapse test, oil displacement activity, microplate assay, maximal emulsification index at 45% and ability to reduce water surface tension to < 30 mN/m. The evaluation of the cell-free supernatant demonstrated its high stability across the temperature, pH and salinity gradient although no correlation was found between the surface and emulsification activity. Based on the positive relationship between the assessment of macromolecules content and infrared analysis, the extracted biosurfactant synthesized was classified as a lipopeptide. Prediction of the secondary metabolites in the non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) clusters suggested the likelihood of the surface-active lipopeptide production in the strain’s genomic data. This is the third report of surface-active lipopeptide producers from this phylotype and the first from the polar region. The lipopeptide synthesized by ADL36 has the prospect to be an Antarctic remediation tool while furnishing a distinctive natural product for biotechnological application and research.

Assessment of eco-toxicant using bioluminescent bacterial assay is a widely used and globally accepted method. In this work, a new luminescent bacterium was isolated from squid (Loligo duvauceli) and identified as Photobacterium leiognathi strain AK-MIE using 16S rRNA, phylogeny analysis. The predicted optimum conditions by RSM were 2.76% (w/v) NaCl, 2.28% (w/v) peptone, 0.34% (w/v) yeast extract, and pH 6.83 with 541,211.80 RLU of luminescent production whereas the predicted optimum conditions by ANN were 2.21% (w/v) NaCl, 2.27% (w/v) peptone, 0.39% (w/v) yeast extract, and pH 6.94 which produced 541,986.20 RLU. The validation analysis of both RSM and ANN show 0.60% and 0.69% deviation from the predicted results indicating that both models provided good quality predictions with ANN showing a superior data fitting capability for non-linear regression analysis. Toxicity tests show strain AK-MIE was sensitive to mercury (concentration causing 50% inhibition or IC50 of 0.00978 mg), followed by cadmium (IC50 of 0.5288 mg), copper IC50 of (0.8117 mg), silver (IC50 of 1.109 mg), and lead (IC50 of 10.71 mg) which are more sensitive than previously isolated luminescent bacteria, suggesting that strain AK-MIE has the potential to be used in toxicity assessment of heavy metals in the environment. Based on the field trial results, several sediment samples from industrial areas in Bangi, Selangor managed to inhibit the bioluminescence of strain AK-MIE. Validation method carried out using ICP-MS proved the presence of several toxic heavy metal elements.

Response surface methodology and Plackett-Burman experiments were applied to optimize the biodegradation of carbofuran by using Enterobacter sp. stain BRC05 isolated from selected agricultural areas in peninsular Malaysia. The significant factors influencing the degradation of carbofuran were assessed using two-level Plackett–Burman Design (PBD) with five variables. Plakett Burman experiment showed that the following four variables were significant for carbofuran degradation including, carbofuran concentration, temperature, pH and nitrogen sources. Significant variables obtained in Plackett-Burman Design were further optimize using Central Composite Design (CCD). The outcome of the design for carbofuran degradation for each runs of the PBD experiment base on the design matrix, showed that the minimum and the maximum carbofuran degradation percentage were found to be 6.7% and 79.77% as presented in runs 4 and 1, respectively. Results obtained using Central Composite Design showed that the relations between the factors affect carbofuran degradation with significant response. The predicted results in CCD indicated that highest carbofuran degradation of 95.40% could be realized with carbofuran concentration of 92.50 mg/L, pH of 6.0, temperature 27.50 °C, nitrogen sources of 0.45 g/L and reaction period of 6 days. The predicted values were in agreement with the actual values with coefficient of determination with R2 0.9719. Partial 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed that the carbofuran degrading isolate was closely related to members of the genera Enterobacter sp. The morphological and biochemical characteristics of the isolate also confirmed the phylogenetic signature. This study would provide an effective approach that could be beneficial for the bioremediation of carbofuran insecticide in polluted environment.

Different growth models such as Baranyi-Roberts, Von Bertalanffy, modified Gompertz, Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF), modified Richards, modified Logistics and Huang utilized in fitting and analyzing the COVID-19 outbreak pattern showing the cumulative number of SARS-CoV-2 deaths in Indonesia as of 15 July 2020. Out of all the models tested MMF was found to be the best one considering its highest adjusted R2 and the lowest RMSE values. Parameter such Accuracy and Bias Factors were found to have values close to unity (1.0). Values generated from the MMF model includes the maximum growth of death rate (log) of 0.051 (95% CI from 0.34 to 0.49), the curve constant (d) that affects the inflexion point of 0.4212 (95% CI from 1.029 to 1.171), lower asymptote value ( b ) of -1.72 (95% CI from -2.53 to -1.22) and the maximal total number of death (ymax) of 889,201 (95% CI from 260,016 to 7,464,488). The MMF forecasted that the total death toll in Indonesia would be 5.315 (95 per cent CI from 5.079 to 5.562) and 6.857 (95 per cent CI from 6.450 to 7.289) on the 15th August and 15th September 2020 respectively. The prediction accuracy of the model used in this research article is a powerful tool for epidemiologists to monitor and evaluate the level the severity of COVID-19 in Indonesia in the coming months. Besides that, just like any other model, due to the intermittent nature of the COVID-19 dilemma both in the local and global context, these values must be considered with caution.

The current global COVID-19 pandemic is causing a lot of deaths and economic losses worldwide. The modelling of future death and cases is a very important aspect of managing the severity of the pandemic. In this paper, we demonstrated potential use of various growth models like modified Gompertz, Von Bertalanffy, Baranyi-Roberts, modified Logistics, Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF), modified Richards and Huang in modeling the epidemic trend of COVID-19 in the form of total number of infection cases of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States as at 20th July 2020. The Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF) model showed best fitting to the data set with least RMSE and AICc and the highest adjusted R2 values. The values for Accuracy and Bias Factors were closest to 1.0. Despite this, further statistical diagnosis of the data showed nonnormality with the residuals failing the runs and homoscedasticity tests. Interestingly, this was addressed by remodeling the data from day 132 onwards using the MMF model, which results in improving the statistical diagnosis. The fitting coefficients obtained include maximum growth rate (logmm) of 0.03 (95% CI 0.023 - 0.039), curve constant (d) that affects the inflection point of 1.42 (95% CI 1.304 - 1.540), lower asymptote value (b) of 6.454 (95% CI 6.451 - 6.456) and maximal total number of cases (ymax) of 7,906,786 (95% CI 6,652,732 - 10,839,269). The MMF model predicted that by 20th of August 2020 the total number of cases in the United States will be 5,560,168 (95% CI of 5,295,337 - 5,838,243), while the Fig. will rise to 6,366,506 (95% CI of 5,791,751 - 6,998,298) by 20th of September 2020. The predictive potential of the utilized model makes it a powerful tool for epidemiologist monitoring the severity of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in the United States in the near future. Although, predictions from this model as with any other model, need to be taken with caution due to unpredictable nature of COVID-19 situation locally and globally.

In this paper, we present various growth models such as Von Bertalanffy, Baranyi-Roberts, Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF), modified Richards, modified Gompertz, modified Logistics and Huang in fitting and evaluating the COVID-19 epidemic pattern as of 15 July 2020 in the form of the total number of SARS-CoV-2 deaths in Nigeria. The MMF model was found to be the best model having the highest adjusted R2 value and lowest RMSE value. The values for the Accuracy and Bias Factors were near unity (1.0). The parameters derived from the MMF model include maximum growth rate (log) of 0.02 (95% CI from 0.02 to 0.03), curve constant (d) that affects the infection point of 1.61 (95% CI from 1.42 to 1.79) and maximal total number of death cases (Ymax) of 1,717 (95% CI from 1,428 to 2,123). The model estimated that the total number of death cases for Nigeria on the coming 15th of August and 15th of September 2020 were 940 (95% CI of 847 to 1,043) and 1,101 (95% CI of 968 to 1,252), respectively. The predictive ability of the model employed in this study is a powerful tool for epidemiologist to monitor and assess the severity of COVID-19 in Nigeria in months to come. However, like any other model, these values need to be taken with caution because of the COVID-19 uncertainty situation locally and globally.

Cholinesterase-based biosensor well known as a sensitive method to detect the existence of harmful dissolved compounds in any type of water source, especially the river. This alternative biosensor can be used to determine the level of pollution of the water in a short period of time as well as to evaluate the low cost and simple service. The aim of this study was to exceed the effectiveness of acetylcholinesterase source extracted from the brain tissue of Asian swamp eel; Monopterus albus as a potential environmental biosensor. Purified acetylcholinesterase exposed to a different type of metal ions and mercury showed the highest percentage of inhibition at 62.9% followed by chromium at 59.22% while silver, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel, zinc and lead at not more than 50% (approximately 37-50%). Metal ions such as mercury, zinc, chromium and copper showed exponential decay type inhibition curves with calculated half maximal inhibitory concentration; IC50 in the ascending sensitivity order 0.005, 0.595, 0.687 and 1.329 mgL-1, respectively. Field trial works exhibited that the acetylcholinesterase was applicable in sensing heavy metals pollution from the river which closed to the industrial and agricultural sites at near real-time and verified using ICP-OES. This study proves the potential use of acetylcholinesterase sourced from M. albus as a biomonitoring tool to assess the contamination level of the river.

The use of agricultural by-products as a fish meal is an attempt to minimize the cost of fish production to aquaculturist and to also create a more environmentally friendly practice. Due to high demand of Tilapia fish, efforts to improve its growth performance is highly needed. The application of linearization technique by natural logarithm transformation, even though standard, is inaccurate and can just provide an estimated value for the single parameter measured; the specific growth rate. In this paper, for the first time we used various kinetics models such as Von Bertalanffy, Baranyi-Roberts, modified Schnute, modified Richards, modified Gompertz, modified Logistics and most recent Huang were used to get values for the above constants or parameters from Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus growth on fed diets formulated from local ingredients in cages. At the end of the modelling exercise, Baranyi-Roberts model proved to be the finest model with the highest adjusted R2 value and lowest RMSE value. The Accuracy and Bias Factors values were close to unity (1.0). The kinetics modelling shows that the most satisfactory fitting is with the Baranyi-Roberts model. The use of Nile Tilapia growth models to obtained exact growth rate is advantageous for further development of secondary model and this work has revealed the capability of such models.

The SDS-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas sp. strain DRY15 was strongly inhibited by heavy metals especially mercury. Growth of the SDS-degrading bacterium at various concentrations of mercury shows a sigmoidal pattern with lag periods ranging from 7 to 10 h. As the concentration of mercury was increased, the overall growth was inhibited with 1.0 g/L causing an almost cessation of bacterial growth. The modified Gompertz model was utilized to obtain growth rates at different concentrations of mercury. The growth rates obtained from the modified Gompertz model was then modelled according to the modified Han-Levenspiel, Wang, Liu, modified Andrews, the Amor and Shukor models. Out of the five models, only the Shukor, Wang, modified Han-Levenspiel and the Liu models were able to fit the curve, whilst the modified Andrews and Amor models were unable to fit the curves. The best model was Shukor based on the lowest values for RMSE and AICc, highest adjusted correlation coefficient (adR2) and values of AF and BF closest to unity. The parameters obtained from the Shukor model, which are Sm, max and n which represent critical heavy metal ion concentration (mg/L), maximum growth rate (h-1) and empirical constant values were 6.0 (95%, confidence interval from 5.87 to 6.14), 0.09 (95%, confidence interval of 0.086 to 0.096) and 4.2 (95%, confidence interval from 3.1 to 5.2), respectively.

Ahydrocarbon-utilizing microorganism isolated locallywas characterized and investigated. This study involved standard biochemical tests and investigation of the bacterial growth based on the uptake of carbon and nitrogen source, temperature and optimum pH growth. The bacterium was found to be a Gram-negative rod, non-motile property with unique property to degrade hydrocarbon sludge. By using diesel as sole carbon source the bacterium was found to be an aerobe as further proven by the oxidase testing. The optimum conditions for the growth was found to be at 30 °C and pH 6.8 with optimum diesel concentration, 1% (v/v). The bacterium ideally used ammonium sulfate as source of nitrogen and was identified as Pseudomonas sp.strain UPM-KV. The ability of this bacterium to efficiently grow on hydrocarbon sludge makes the bacterium an important tool for bioremediation of this toxic sludge that contains high concentration of heavy metals.

Toxicity evaluation of wastewater, polluted sediment and water streams is a very crucial aspect of environmental pollution monitoring. In this work, a newly developed luminescent bacterial test using a tropical luminescent bacterium, Photobacterium sp. strain MIE was used to assess the toxicity of several heavy metals using a 15-min assay format. The assessment was carried out by exposing strain MIE to different concentrations of heavy metals ranging from 0.001 to 200 mg/L in a DTX microplate 96 wells. The toxicity result based on the inhibitory concentration (IC50) was Hg (0.053 mg/L) > Ag (0.12 mg/L) > Cu (0.85 mg/L) > Ni (12.32 mg/L) > Zn (18.72 mg/L) > Cr (26.02 mg/L). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) analyses showed the sensitivity (IC50) of strain MIE to several toxic heavy metals are comparable to the commercial luminescent assay, Microtox™ as both clusters together making it a good choice for an alternative near-real-time monitoring of heavy metals. The sensitivity of strain MIE towards heavy metals was proven through field trial works on several heavy metal-polluted sites in Malaysia. Thus, it is a good candidate as an early detection system for heavy metals in aquatic bodies in tropical countries.

Phenol has been classified as a priority pollutant by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) due to its high toxicity. The increased level of phenol concentration in the Antarctic environment causes a significant risk to the aquatic and terrestrial lives there due to its persistence, biomagnification and accumulation in the food chain. The biodegradation of phenol in Antarctica is considered highly challenging owing to its harsh and extremely cold climate. Therefore, actions of bioremediation are crucial to overcome this problem. To date, little data is available regarding the biodegradation of phenol by aboriginal Antarctic bacteria, and reports on the utilisation of phenol as sole carbon source by strains isolated from Antarctic soil are scarce. In the present study, bacteria isolated from Antarctic soil and identified as Arthrobacter sp. strain AQ5-15 based on 16S rRNA sequence was screened and optimised through conventional method for efficient phenol degradation. Based on preliminary screening, AQ5-15 strain was capable of completely degrading 0.5 g/L phenol within 108 h at 10°C. A study on the effects of significant factors including nitrogen source and concentration, salinity, pH and temperature was carried out to optimise the conditions for phenol degradation. Finding revealed that this strain is a psychrotolerant with optimum temperature at 20°C and prefer neutral or near-neutral condition for phenol degradation. The basic knowledge obtained from this study will provide the benefits on custody of the Antarctic environment especially in removing phenol and its derivatives at low temperature.

Aim : The cholinesterase (ChE) based inhibition and histopathological studies from fish were investigated and represented in this study to develop as one of the great potential biomarkers for heavy metals monitoring. Methodology : In this study, the histopathological study of gills were observed a under microscope. The capability of ChE extracted from the gills of Clarias gariepinus was assessed for declining Cd. ChE was purified through affinity chromatography and continued with the optimisation and inhibition study (IC50) of cholinesterase. Results : Histopathological study of gills was carried out and several changes such as aneurysm, necrosis and lamella fusion were noted. Purification fold obtained from purified enzyme was 1.15 with 30% a yield specific activity 20.726. The optimum temperature for purified AChE was 35°C along with acetylthiocholine iodide (ATC) as a preferable substrate that had the highest Vmax value of 0.5452 U mg'1 and the lowest Km value of 0.0311 mM. The optimum pH was observed to be 10 of Tris-HCl as a medium. Meanwhile, the IC50 of cadmium was 6.808 mg ľ with R2 value of 0.9532. Interpretation : The result of the study can be used as a tool for further developing a biomarker for the detection of heavy metals in aquatic ecosystems. In addition, the baseline data provided can also be used for designing a kit, which would give rapid and accurate result.

Carbamates are poisonous pesticides which have been used widely in agriculture production for decades. Unlike other pesticides such as organophosphate, carbamate pesticides are not persistent in the environment however, their degradation is crucial due to their toxicity to living system. The World Health Organization, categorized carbamate pesticide as toxic, hazardous and restricted for use. Example of carbamates pesticides include Carbaryl, Aldicarb, Methomyl, Carbofuran, and Propoxur. They are extensively used to control many insect and pests of crops. Presently, there is significant awareness regarding the negative effects of pesticides due to their ability to pollute soil and water bodies. Most pesticides are readily degraded or metabolized by microbes. Carbamate pesticide degradation by microorganisms relies not only on the availability of microbes with suitable biodegradative enzymes, but also on the various ecological factors. This review-article outlines the present development in biodegradation of carbamate pesticides, their toxicity and enzymatic degradation as well as their degradative pathways.

The presence of heavy metals in aquaculture is a major concern due to possible toxicity effects to the organisms. Bioaccumulation with bacteria is an effective and economical way to remove heavy metals from the water. The objectives of this research were to measure the growth rate of probiotics (Bacillus sp. BpChIAY [BpChIAY] and Bacillus thruingiensis, [Bt]) under different concentrations of selected heavy metals, and to determine the ability of the probiotics to bioaccumulate selected metals. Bacterial strains were grown in nutrient broth with the addition of heavy metals (Cu, Cr, Cd, Zn, Ni) at 37°C to determine the growth under exposure to heavy metals. The bioaccumulation experiment was conducted by exposing the strains' pellets to heavy metals solutions. The concentrations of heavy metals were measured using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). The bacterial growth percentages when grown under 2 ppm Zn, Ni and Cd for BpChIAY were 128%, 103% and 67%, and for BT, the growth rates were 97.7%, 98.8% and 36.2%, respectively. The findings showed the order of the toxicity in the order from the most toxic: Cu>Cr>Cd>Zn>Ni. Both strains were able to bioaccumulate the heavy metals, and BpChIAY was a better metal absorber than BT at the rate of 0.0539 mg/g for Zn, 0.0781 mg/g for Ni and 0.0256 mg/g for Cd.

Background: Biodegradation of hydrocarbons in Antarctic soil has been reported to be achieved through the utilisation of indigenous cold-adapted microorganisms. Although numerous bacteria isolated from hydrocarbon-contaminated sites in Antarctica were able to demonstrate promising outcomes in utilising hydrocarbon components as their energy source, reports on the utilisation of hydrocarbons by strains isolated from pristine Antarctic soil are scarce. In the present work, two psychrotolerant strains isolated from Antarctic pristine soil with the competency to utilise diesel fuel as the sole carbon source were identified and optimised through conventional and response surface method. Results: Two potent hydrocarbon-degraders (ADL15 and ADL36) were identified via partial 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, and revealed to be closely related to the genus Pseudomonas and Rhodococcus sp., respectively. Factors affecting diesel degradation such as temperature, hydrocarbon concentration, pH and salt tolerance were studied. Although strain ADL36 was able to withstand a higher concentration of diesel than strain ADL15, both strains showed similar optimal condition for the cell’s growth at pH 7.0 and 1.0% (w/v) NaCl at the conventional ‘one-factor-at-a-time’ level. Both strains were observed to be psychrotrophs with optimal temperatures of 20 °C. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were performed with a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionisation detector to measure the reduction of n-alkane components in diesel. In the pre-screening medium, strain ADL36 showed 83.75% of n-dodecane mineralisation while the reduction of n-dodecane by strain ADL15 was merely at 22.39%. The optimised condition for n-dodecane mineralisation predicted through response surface methodology enhanced the reduction of n-dodecane to 99.89 and 38.32% for strain ADL36 and strain ADL15, respectively. Conclusions: Strain ADL36 proves to be a better candidate for bioaugmentation operations on sites cont

Heavy metals pollution has become a great threat to the world. Since instrumental methods are expensive and need skilled technician, a simple and fast method is needed to determine the presence of heavy metals in the environment. In this work, a preliminary study was carried out on the applicability of various local plants as a source of protease for the future development of the inhibitive enzyme assay for heavy-metals. The crude proteases preparation was assayed using casein as a substrate in conjunction with the Coomassie dye-binding assay. The crude protease from the kesinai plant was found to be the most potent plant protease. The crude enzyme exhibited broad temperature and pH ranges for activity and will be developed in the future as a potential inhibitive assay for heavy metals.

In Asia, Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) is commonly found in paddy fields and irrigation systems. Due to its habitat, Climbing perch is exposed to toxic pesticides used in paddy fields such as metaldehyde which is one of the most widely used molluscicide. This study aims to determine the acute toxicity Lethal Concentration50 (LC50) of metaldehyde and its effect on the behaviour and physical changes of the Climbing perch. The fish mortality responses to six different metaldehyde concentrations ranging from 180 to 330 mg/L were investigated. The 96-h LC50 values were determined and analysed using three different analysis methods which is arithmetic, logarithmic and probit graphic. The LC50 values obtained in this study were 239, 234 and 232 mg/L, respectively. After 96-h of exposure to metaldehyde, the fish showed a series of abnormal behavioural response in all cases: imbalance position, and restlessness of movement. The LC50 values show that metaldehyde is moderately toxic to the Climbing perch indicating that metaldehyde is not destructive to Climbing perch. However, long term exposure of aquatic organisms to the metaldehyde means a continuous health risk for the fish population as they are more vulnerable and it is on high risk for human to consume this toxicated fishes.

Commercialisation of glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] in the early 1970s has left a big leap in the agriculture sector. This is due to its effectiveness in controlling a wide range of weeds. Glyphosate translocates well in plants. In addition, with added surfactant in its formulae, it can also be used in wet conditions. Its ability to kill weeds by targeting the 5-enolpyruvyl-shikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) makes no competing herbicide analogs in its class. Considering its cost effectiveness, only small amount is needed to cover a large sector in agricultural land. The most important aspect in the success of glyphosate is the introduction of transgenic, glyphosate-resistant crops in 1996. However, glyphosate is not an environmental friendly herbicide. This systematic herbicide has raised environmental concern due to its excessive use in agriculture. Studies have shown traces of glyphosate found in drinking water. Meanwhile, it's rapid binding on soil particles possesses adverse effect to soil organisms. Glyphosate degradation in soil usually carried out by microbial activity. Microbes’ capable utilising glyphosate mainly as phosphate source. However, the activity of C-P lyase in breaking down glyphosate have not clearly understood. This review presents a collective summary on the understanding on how glyphosate works and its environmental fate.

Copper is a significant trace element necessary for the normal growth and metabolism of living organisms. However, this element may become very dangerous if used beyond its limit, turning into continuous metal compounds with the ability to accumulate in water and cause imbalance to the biological system. Aquaculture activities can also be affected due to the increase in environmental pollution. Copper is observed with the ability to cause some deleterious effects on fish by its toxicity, which can be evaluated from the molecular and structural level of the organism. This is because fish is one of the aquatic organisms that are able to accumulate heavy metals in their tissue. Generally, this accumulation is influenced by several factors namely, metal concentration, time of exposure, ways of metal uptake, environmental condition (water temperature, pH) and intrinsic factors (fish age, size). Different organs of fish show different affinity to copper accumulation. Therefore, this review was conducted with the purpose of investigating the harmful effects of copper on fish as a result of the accumulation of copper in fish organs and the histopathological alteration encountered in fish.

The increase of anthropogenic activities and growth of technology in Antarctica is fuelled by the high demand for petroleum hydrocarbons needed for daily activities. Oil and fuel spills that occur during explorations have caused hydrocarbon pollution in this region, prompting concern for the environment by polar communities and the larger world community. Crude oil and petroleum hydrocarbon products contain a wide variety of lethal components with high toxicity and low biodegradability. Hydrocarbon persistence in the Antarctic environment only worsens the issues stemming from environmental pollution as they can be long-term. Numerous efforts to lower the contamination level caused by these pollutants have been conducted mainly in bioremediation, an economical and degrading-wise method. Bioremediation mainly functions on conversion of complex toxic compounds to simpler organic compounds due to the consumption of hydrocarbons by microorganisms as their energy source. This review presents a summary of the collective understanding on bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons by microorganisms indigenous to the Antarctic region from past decades to current knowledge.

Acrylamide is a synthetic monomer that has been classified as toxic and carcinogenic apart from its diverse application in the industry. Its application is in the formation of polyacrylamide. Polyacrylamide usage is diverse and is found as herbicide formulation, as soil treatment agent and in water treatment plants. Deaths and sickness due to the accidental exposure to acrylamide has been reported while chronic toxicity is also a source of problem. This review highlight on the toxic effect of acrylamide to various organism like human, animal and plant. This review also discusses on the potential use of biological technologies to remediate acrylamide pollution in the environment and the degradation pathways these microorganisms utilize to assimilate acrylamide as a nitrogen, carbon or both as carbon and nitrogen sources.

Isolate JR1 was isolated from the polluted textile industry activities site in the Juru Penang area. This bacterium was characterized as a gram-positive Bacillus bacterium and also gave a positive biochemical test for catalase test and oxidase test. The isolate JR1 gave a maximum decolourization of Amaranth dye under static conditions with the rate of decolorization of 98.82%. Seven variables which are pH, temperature (°C), ammonium acetate (g/L), glucose (g/L), sodium chloride (g/L), yeast (g/L) and dye concentration (ppm) was run by using Plackett-Burman design for the effective parameter of the decolourization of Amaranth. From the seven variables, three effective variables which were ammonium acetate, glucose, and dye concentration were further optimized by using a central composite design. The optimum value of ammonium acetate concentration at 0.74 g/L, glucose concentration at 3.0 g/L and a dye concentration at 58.1 ppm gave the highest percentage of decolourization. Thus, this isolate could provide an alternate solution in removing toxic dyes from environments.

Environmental pollution is one of the major concerns in the 21st century; where billions of tonnes of harmful chemicals are produced by industries such as petroleum, paints, food, rubber, and plastic. Phenol and its derivatives infiltrate the ecosystems and has become one of the top major pollutants worldwide. This review covers the major aspects of immobilization of phenol-degrading bacteria as a method to improve phenol bioremediation. The use of various forms of immobilization matrices is discussed along with the advantages and disadvantages of each of the immobilization matrices especially when environmental usage is warranted. To be used as a bioremediation tool, immobilized system must not only be effective, but the matrices must be non-toxic, non-polluting and if possible non-biodegradable. The mechanical, biological and chemical stability of the system is paramount for long term activity as well as price is an important factor when very large scale is concern. The system must also be able to tolerate high concentration of other toxicants especially heavy metals that form as co-contaminants, and most immobilized systems are geared towards this last aspect as immobilization generally provides protection from other contaminants.

Bacterial based remediation of environmental toxicants is a promising innovative technology for molybdenum pollution. To date, the enzyme responsible for molybdate reduction to Mo-blue from bacteria show that the Michaelis-Menten constants varies by one order of magnitude. It is important that the constants from newer enzyme sources be characterized so that a comparison can be made. The aim of this study is to characterize kinetically the enzyme from a previously isolated Mo-reducing bacterium; Bacillus pumilus strain Lbna. The maximum activity of this enzyme occurred at pH 5.5 and in between 25 and 35 °C. The Km and Vmax of NADH were 6.646 mM and 0.057 unit/mg enzyme, while the Km and Vmax of LPPM were 3.399 mM and 0.106 unit/mg enzyme. The results showed that the enzyme activity for Bacillus pumilus strain Lbna were inhibited by all heavy metals used. Zinc, copper, silver, chromium, cadmium and mercury all caused more than 50% inhibition to the Mo-reducing enzyme activity with copper being the most potent with an almost complete inhibition of enzyme activity observed.

The presence of both heavy metals and organic xenobiotic pollutants in a contaminated site justifies the application of either a multitude of microbial degraders or microorganisms having the capacity to detoxify a number of pollutants at the same time. Molybdenum is an essential heavy metal that is toxic to ruminants at a high level. Ruminants such as cow and goats experience severe hypocuprosis leading to scouring and death at a concentration as low as several parts per million. In this study, a molybdenum-reducing bacterium with amide-degrading capacity has been isolated from contaminated soils. The bacterium, using glucose as the best electron donor reduces molybdenum in the form of sodium molybdate to molybdenum blue. The maximal pH reduction occurs between 6.0 and 6.3, and the bacterium showed an excellent reduction in temperatures between 25 and 40 oC. The reduction was maximal at molybdate concentrations of between 15 and 25 mM. Molybdenum reduction incidentally was inhibited by several toxic heavy metals. Other carbon sources including toxic xenobiotics such as amides were screened for their ability to support molybdate reduction. Of all the amides, only acrylamide can support molybdenum reduction. The other amides; such as acetamide and propionamide can support growth. Analysis using phylogenetic analysis resulted in a tentative identification of the bacterium as Pseudomonas sp. strain 135. This bacterium is essential in remediating sites contaminated with molybdenum, especially in agricultural soil co-contaminated with acrylamide, a known soil stabilizer.

Petroleum hydrocarbons remain as the major contaminants that could be found across the world. Remediation approach through the utilisation of microbes as the bioremediation means is widely recognised due to their outstanding values. As a result, scientific reports on the isolation and identification of new hydrocarbon-degrading strains were on the rise. Colourimetric-based assays are one of the fastest methods to identify the capability of hydrocarbon-degrading strains in both qualitative and quantitative assessment. In this study, the hydrocarbon-degrading potential of nine bacterial isolates was observed via 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCPIP) test. Two potent diesel-utilising isolates show a distinctive tendency to utilise aromatic (ADL15) and aliphatic (ADL36) hydrocarbons. Both isolates prove to be a good candidate for bioremediation of wide range of petroleum hydrocarbon components.