Maintenance of residual activity of Bt toxin by using natural and synthetic dyes: a novel approach for sustainable mosquito vector control

Mosquito control protein from Bacillus thuringiensis gets inactivated with exposure to sunlight. To address this issue, the potential of synthetic and natural dye was investigated as sunlight protectants. Bt SV2 in absence of dyes when exposed to sunlight showed reduced effectiveness against the fourth instars of mosquito larvae. Whereas acriflavin, congo red and violacein were able to maintain 86.4%, 91.6% and 82.2% mosquito larvicidal efficacy of Bt SV2 against IVth instars larvae of Anopheles stephensi Meigen after exposure to sunlight. Similarly, beetroot dye, acriflavin, congo red and violacein maintained 98.4%, 97.1%, 90.8% and 70.7% larvicidal activities against Aedes aegypti Linnaeus after sunlight exposure. Prodigiosin was found to be the best photo-protectant by simultaneously protecting and enhancing Bt activity by 6.16% and 22.16% against A. stephensi and A. aegypti, respectively. Combination of dyes with Bt formulations can be a good strategy for mosquito control programmes in tropical and sub-tropical regions.     

Silver nanoparticles formed in bio- and chemical syntheses with biosurfactant as the stabilizing agent

In this work, the comparison of the physical properties of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) obtained via the reduction of silver nitrate (AgNO₃) in biological and chemical (model) syntheses supplemented with the biosurfactant surfactin is described. In the studies, two strains of Bacillus subtilis (denoted T’1 and I’1a) were used. The biological synthesis of AgNPs was performed using supernatants obtained from cultures of bacteria growing on brewery effluents, molasses, and Luria–Bretani (LB) medium. In model experiments, ascorbic acid served as the reductant; surfactin acted as the stabilizing agent. The surfactin concentrations were adjusted to 5 and 30?mg/L, which corresponded to minimum and maximum surfactin concentrations as measured in the supernatants obtained from the B. subtilis cultures. The chemical synthesis was carried out at acidic as well as alkaline pH. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) revealed that in model and biological samples, single AgNPs were accompanied by aggregated structures. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the contribution of the aggregates in bacterial supernatants and in chemical synthesis is negligible under acidic conditions. However, in the alkaline environment, this contribution predominates. In the model experiments, smaller nanoparticles were formed with higher concentrations of surfactant. The presence of surfactin significantly increased the stability of AgNPs in both bio- and chemical syntheses.     

Electrochemical Studies on De-Emulsification: Effect of a Biosurfactant Produced by Bacillus subtilis MO-1

Model emulsions were de-emulsified using a biosurfactant produced by Bacillus subtilis MO-1 mixed with chemical de-emulsifiers. The speed and efficiency of de-emulsification by polyether type de-emulsifier (G-17) were enhanced by combined use of a biosurfactant produced by B. subtilis MO-1 (BS); this effect was more apparent at low concentrations. Polyether/biosurfactant synergy was confirmed by electrochemical measurement of the interfacial film electrical resistance (R _m ) and capacitance (C _m ) during de-emulsification. These values were closely related to the rate of water removal, demonstrating that electrical techniques are suitable for studying de-emulsification phenomena.     

Comparative study of biosurfactant produced by microorganisms isolated from formation water of petroleum reservoir

Biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Rhodococcus erythropolis that isolated from the formation water of Chinese petroleum reservoir has been compared in surface abilities and oil recovery. Maximum biosurfactant production reached to about 2.66 g/l and the surface tension of liquid decreased from 71.2 to 22.56 mN/m using P. aeruginosa. Three strains exhibited a good ability to emulsify the crude oil, and biosurfactant of P. aeruginosa attained an emulsion index of 80% for crude oil which was greater than other strains. Stability studies were carried out under the extreme environmental conditions, such as high temperature, pH, salinity and metal ions. Results showed an excellent resistance of all biosurfactants to retain their surface-active properties at extreme conditions. It was found that the biosurfactants from three isolated bacteria showed a good stability above pH of 5, but at lower pH (from 1 to 5) they will harmfully be affected. They were able to support the condition up to 20 g/l salinity. P. aeruginosa biosurfactant was even stable at the higher salinity. Regarding temperature, all produced biosurfactants demonstrated a good stability in the temperature up to 120 °C. But stability of three biosurfactants was affected by monovalent and trivalent ions. Oil recovery experiments in physical simulation showed 7.2-14.3% recovery of residual oil after water flooding when the biosurfactant of three strains was added. These results suggest that biosurfactants of these indigenous isolated strains are appropriate candidates for enhanced oil recovery with a preference to biosurfactant of P. aeruginosa.     

Characteristics of Bacterial Strains with Desirable Flavor Compounds from Korean Traditional Fermented Soybean Paste (Doenjang)

To identify and analyze the characteristics of the microorganisms involved in the formation of the desirable flavor of Doenjang, a total of 179 strains were isolated from ninety-four Doenjang collected from six regions in South Korea, and fourteen strains were selected through a sensory evaluation of the aroma of each culture. The enzyme activities of amylase, protease and lipase was shown in the various strains. Bacillus sp.-K3, Bacillus sp.-K4 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens-J2 showed relatively high protease activity, at 317.1 U, 317.3 U and 319.5 U, respectively. The Bacillus sp.-K1 showed the highest lipase activity at 2453.6 U. In the case of amylase, Bacillus subtilis-H6 showed the highest activity at 4105.5 U. The results of the PCA showed that Bacillus subtilis-H2, Bacillus subtilis-H3, and Bacillus sp.-K2 were closely related to the production of 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (23.51%~43.37%), and that Bacillus subtilis-H5 and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens-J2 were significantly associated with the production of phenethyl alcohol (0.39% and 0.37%). The production of peptides was observed to vary among the Bacillus cultures such as Val-Val-Pro-Pro-Phe-Leu and Pro-Ala-Glu-Val-Leu-Asp-Ile. These peptides are precursors of related volatile flavor compounds created in Doenjang via the enzymatic or non-enzymatic route; it is expected that these strains could be used to enhance the flavor of Doenjang.     

高效液相色谱-电喷雾质谱法分离和鉴别枯草芽孢杆菌产生的脂肽类化合物

枯草芽孢杆菌JA因产生多种脂肽类化合物而具有广阔的开发前景。JA发酵液经过离心、酸沉淀、甲醇抽提等步骤得到脂肽类化 合物的粗提物。将粗提物溶于流动相,采用反相高效液相色谱分离,对收集的洗脱峰组分进行电喷雾质谱(ESI-MS)分析。根据质荷比推 断JA菌株产生的脂肽类化合物属于3个家族,分别为surfactin, iturin和fengycin,是枯草芽孢杆菌合成的重要生物表面活性素。对一 级质谱中的主成分进行串联质谱分析,进一步确定了3种脂肽类化合物的分子结构。实验证明ESI-MS是一种鉴定脂肽类化合物及其同系 物的可靠方法。     

Purification and Characterization of Thermostable Chitinase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus licheniformis</Emphasis> SK-1

Chitinase was purified from the culture medium of Bacillus licheniformis SK-1 by colloidal chitin affinity adsorption followed by diethylamino ethanol-cellulose column chromatography. The purified enzyme showed a single band on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular size and pI of chitinase 72 (Chi72) were 72 kDa and 4.62 (Chi72) kDa, respectively. The purified chitinase revealed two activity optima at pH 6 and 8 when colloidal chitin was used as substrate. The enzyme exhibited activity in broad temperature range, from 40 to 70°C, with optimum at 55°C. It was stable for 2 h at temperatures below 60°C and stable over a broad pH range of 4.0–9.0 for 24 h. The apparent K _m and V _max of Chi72 for colloidal chitin were 0.23 mg ml⁻¹ and 7.03 U/mg, respectively. The chitinase activity was high on colloidal chitin, regenerated chitin, partially N-acetylated chitin, and chitosan. N-bromosuccinamide completely inhibited the enzyme activity. This enzyme should be a good candidate for applications in the recycling of chitin waste.     

微量热法研究二价铅对两种不同土壤微生物的毒性作用

本次研究采用微量量热技术分析了铅对两种常见土壤微生物（假丝酵母菌、枯草杆菌）的毒性作用。实验结果表明,低浓度Pb(Ⅱ) (10.0 µg mL-1) 对两种土壤微生物的生长均有促进作用;而当Pb(Ⅱ) 浓度较高时（假丝酵母菌 20.0~320.0 µg mL-1、枯草杆菌20.0~160.0 µg mL-1）,微生物的生长则明显被抑制了,此时微生物的生长速率常数k与Pb(Ⅱ) 的浓度c呈现线性相关。同时,细胞干重法和浊度法也应用于本次研究中,并与微量量热曲线拟合,充分证明了微量量热技术对研究铅对土壤微生物毒性作用的准确性和有效性。     

Homology Modeling of Cyt2Ca1 of Bacillus thuringiensis and Its Molecular Docking with Inositol Monophosphate

Cyt2Ca1 is an insecticidal crystal protein produced by Bacillus thuringiensis ET29 during its stationary phase, and this δ‐endotoxin demonstrates remarkable insecticidal activity against not only insects of the order Coleoptera, but also against fleas, and in particular the larvae of the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis. The first theoretical model of the three‐dimensional structure of Cyt2Ca1 was predicted and compared with Cyt2Aa, which is lethal to insect larvae. The three‐dimensional structure of the Cyt2Ca1 was obtained by homology modeling on the structures of the Cyt2Aa protein. The deduced model resembles previously reported Cyt2Aa toxin. A binding mode of inositol monophosphate as a polar head group of the putative membrane phospholipid ligand to Cyt2Ca1 was presented using molecular docking. The residues of Leu9, Glu21, Tyr23 and Gln110 of the Cyt2Ca1 toxin are responsible for the interactions with inositol monophosphate via eight hydrogen bonds. Those residues could be important for receptor recognition. This binding simulation will be helpful for the design of mutagenesis experiments aimed at the improvement of toxicity, and lead to a deep understanding of the mechanism of action of Cyt toxins.