scholarly journals Biotechnology: identification and evaluation of the Bacillus cereus amylolytic activity

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (13) ◽  
pp. e437101321301
Author(s):  
Jefferson Alves da Costa Junior ◽  
Genesio Mario da Rosa ◽  
Arci Dirceu Wastowski ◽  
Hilda Hildebrand Soriani ◽  
Ana Paula Corteze Locatelli ◽  
...  

Biotechnology is the branch of science that uses molecules, viruses, microorganisms, cells, animals, plants or part of them in technological processes to generate benefits for humans, to flora, fauna and the environment. In this context, enzymes are natural biocatalysts that present substrate specificity and extreme importance to vital processes, as they develop indispensable functions in biochemical reactions of cell metabolism, and can be used in biotechnological processes. Knowing the human needs, for a world population of about 7.7 billion people and the functional usefulness of enzymes, there is, on the one hand, a gigantic demand for the consumption of various products in the agricultural sector, processed and industrialized, such as: food, beverages, clothing in the textile sector, medicines, vaccines, cosmetics in the chemical-pharmaceutical sector, as well as in the production of paper and fuels, in which enzymes, mainly amylases, have been widely used in production processes. In this work, experiments were carried out with the wild Bacillus cereus bacterium to verify the production of amylases, the results obtained could demonstrate the formation of amylolysis halos around the colonies in Petri dishes containing Tryptic Soy Agar + starch (1%) medium, pH 7.3 and grown in a biological oven at 37oC for 24 hours, when revealed in iodine vapor; the Amylolysis Index (AI) was 3.3 and the efficiency of starch substrate degradation by amylases was greater than 90% in the evaluated treatments.

Author(s):  
Paola Sangiorgio ◽  
Alessandra Verardi ◽  
Salvatore Dimatteo ◽  
Anna Spagnoletta ◽  
Stefania Moliterni ◽  
...  

AbstractThe increase in the world population leads to rising demand and consumption of plastic raw materials; only a small percentage of plastics is recovered and recycled, increasing the quantity of waste released into the environment and losing its economic value. The plastics represent a great opportunity in the circular perspective of their reuse and recycling. Research is moving, on the one hand, to implement sustainable systems for plastic waste management and on the other to find new non-fossil-based plastics such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). In this review, we focus our attention on Tenebrio molitor (TM) as a valuable solution for plastic biodegradation and biological recovery of new biopolymers (e.g. PHA) from plastic-producing microorganisms, exploiting its highly diversified gut microbiota. TM’s use for plastic pollution management is controversial. However, TM microbiota is recognised as a source of plastic-degrading microorganisms. TM-based plastic degradation is improved by co-feeding with food loss and waste as a dietary energy source, thus valorising these low-value substrates in a circular economy perspective. TM as a bioreactor is a valid alternative to traditional PHA recovery systems with the advantage of obtaining, in addition to highly pure PHA, protein biomass and rearing waste from which to produce fertilisers, chitin/chitosan, biochar and biodiesel. Finally, we describe the critical aspects of these TM-based approaches, mainly related to TM mass production, eventual food safety problems, possible release of microplastics and lack of dedicated legislation.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1283
Author(s):  
Vasileios Ziogas ◽  
Georgia Tanou ◽  
Giasemi Morianou ◽  
Nektarios Kourgialas

Among the various abiotic stresses, drought is the major factor limiting crop productivity worldwide. Citrus has been recognized as a fruit tree crop group of great importance to the global agricultural sector since there are 140 citrus-producing countries worldwide. The majority of citrus-producing areas are subjected to dry and hot summer weather, limited availability of water resources with parallel low-quality irrigation water due to increased salinity regimes. Citrus trees are generally classified as “salt-intolerant” with high water needs, especially during summer. Water scarcity negatively affects plant growth and impairs cell metabolism, affecting the overall tree growth and the quality of produced fruit. Key factors that overall attempt to sustain and withstand the negative effect of salinity and drought stress are the extensive use of rootstocks in citriculture as well as the appropriate agronomical and irrigation practices applied. This review paper emphasizes and summarizes the crucial role of the above factors in the sustainability of citriculture.


2004 ◽  
Vol 287 (2) ◽  
pp. G344-G351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Béatrice Mouillé ◽  
Véronique Robert ◽  
François Blachier

Chronic high-protein consumption leads to increased concentrations of NH4+/NH3 in the colon lumen. We asked whether this increase has consequences on colonic epithelial cell metabolism. Rats were fed isocaloric diets containing 20 (P20) or 58% (P58) casein as the protein source for 7 days. NH4+/NH3 concentration in the colonic lumen and in the colonic vein blood as well as ammonia metabolism by isolated surface colonic epithelial cells was determined. After 2 days of consumption of the P58 diet, marked increases of luminal and colonic vein blood NH4+/NH3 concentrations were recorded when compared with the values obtained in the P20 group. Colonocytes recovered from the P58 group were characterized at that time and thereafter by an increased capacity for l-ornithine and urea production through arginase ( P < 0.05). l-Ornithine was mostly used in the presence of NH4Cl for the synthesis of the metabolic end product l-citrulline. After 7 days of the P58 diet consumption, however, the ammonia metabolism into l-citrulline was found lower ( P < 0.01) when compared with the values measured in the colonocytes recovered from the P20 group despite any decrease in the related enzymatic activities (i.e., carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase I and ornithine carbamoyl transferase). This decrease was found to coincide with a return of blood NH4+/NH3 concentration in colonic portal blood to values close to the one recorded in the P20 group. In response to increased NH4+/NH3 concentration in the colon, the increased capacity of the colonocytes to synthesize l-ornithine is likely to correspond to an elevated l-ornithine requirement for the elimination of excessive blood ammonia in the liver urea cycle. Moreover, in the presence of NH4Cl, colonocytes diminished their synthesis capacity of l-citrulline from l-ornithine, allowing a lower cellular utilization of this latter amino acid. These results are discussed in relationship with an adaptative process that would be related to both interorgan metabolism and to the role of the colonic epithelium as a first line of defense toward luminal NH4+/NH3 concentrations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1686) ◽  
pp. 20150070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Keller

The definition of self and others can be regarded as embodying the two dimensions of autonomy and relatedness. Autonomy and relatedness are two basic human needs and cultural constructs at the same time. This implies that they may be differently defined yet remain equally important. The respective understanding of autonomy and relatedness is socialized during the everyday experiences of daily life routines from birth on. In this paper, two developmental pathways are portrayed that emphasize different conceptions of autonomy and relatedness that are adaptive in two different environmental contexts with very different affordances and constraints. Western middle-class children are socialized towards psychological autonomy, i.e. the primacy of own intentions, wishes, individual preferences and emotions affording a definition of relatedness as psychological negotiable construct. Non-Western subsistence farmer children are socialized towards hierarchical relatedness, i.e. positioning oneself into the hierarchical structure of a communal system affording a definition of autonomy as action oriented, based on responsibility and obligations. Infancy can be regarded as a cultural lens through which to study the different socialization agendas. Parenting strategies that aim at supporting these different socialization goals in German and Euro-American parents on the one hand and Nso farmers from North Western Cameroon on the other hand are described. It is concluded that different pathways need to be considered in order to understand human psychology from a global perspective.


2019 ◽  
pp. 227-232
Author(s):  
Edward B. Barbier

This concluding chapter looks at the future of water. There are two possible paths for managing water. First, if the world continues with inadequate governance and institutions, incorrect market signals, and insufficient innovations to improve efficiency and manage competing demands, most chronic water and scarcity problems will continue to worsen. The world will see a future of declining water security, freshwater ecosystem degradation, and increasing disputes and conflicts over remaining water resources. The alternative path to managing water is the one offered by this book. If, in anticipation of the coming decades of increasing water scarcity, humankind is able to develop appropriate governance and institutions for water management, instigate market and policy reforms, and address global management issues, then improved innovation and investments in new water technologies and better protection of freshwater ecosystems should secure sufficient beneficial water use for a growing world population.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Breygina Maria ◽  
Klimenko Ekaterina ◽  
Shilov Eugeny ◽  
Mamaeva Anna ◽  
Zgoda Viktor ◽  
...  

1.AbstractROS are known to be accumulated in stigmas of different species and can possibly perform different functions in plant reproduction. Here we confirm the assumption that they affect pollen by altering ion transport through the plasma membrane; as a more deferred effect, pollen proteome is modified. We detected ROS in stigma exudate, found hyperpolarization in exudate-treated growing pollen tubes and used flow cytometry of pollen protoplasts to compare the effects of fresh exudate and exogenous H2O2 on pollen tube plasmalemma. Exudate causes plasmalemma hyperpolarization similar to the one provoked by H2O2, which is abolished by catalase treatment and ROS quencher MnTMPP. Inhibitory analysis indicates the participation of Ca2+- and K+-conducting channels in the observed hyperpolarization, linking obtained data with previous patch-clamp studies in vitro. For a deeper understanding of pollen response to ROS we analyzed proteome alterations in H2O2-treated pollen grains. We found 50 unique proteins and 20 differently accumulated proteins that are mainly involved in cell metabolism, energetics, protein synthesis and folding. Thus, pollen is getting ready for effective resource usage, construction of cellular components and rapid growth.HighlightsThe active substance in stigma exudate is H2O2H2O2 causes hyperpolarization mediated by the activation of cation channels.H2O2 affects pollen proteome; we found 50 unique proteins.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-338
Author(s):  
Raditya Novidianto ◽  
Rini Irfani

Indonesia is known as an agricultural country. This means that most of the population work in the agricultural sector related to food. However, food insecurity still occurs in Indonesia. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stated that there was a threat of food scarcity which had an impact on food insecurity conditions. This would undermine the second goal of the SDGs, which is to end hunger and create sustainable agriculture. The purpose of this study was to determine the spatial pattern of food insecurity in each province in Indonesia using the bicluster method. The data used are data from Susenas and Sakernas by BPS in 2019. Several studies show that the bicluster method with the CC algorithm shows that each province group has a different characteristic pattern. In the bicluster approach, the researcher runs parameter tuning to select the best parameter based on the Mean Square Residual in Volume (MSR / V). The CC algorithm tries to get a bicluster with a low MSR value, therefore the best parameter is the one that produces the smallest MSR / V value, in this study the smallest MSR / V is 0,01737 with δ = 0,01. The application of the CC biclustering algorithm to the food insecurity structure in Indonesia results in 5 bicluster. Bicluster 1 consists of 15 provinces with 8 variables, Bicluster 2 consists of 10 provinces with 5 variables, Bicluster 3 consists of 3 provinces with 7 variables, Bicluster 4 consists of 4 provinces with 4 variables and Bicluster 5 consists of 2 provinces with 5 variables. Biculster 4 represents a cluster of food insecurity areas with the characteristics of the bicluster P0, P1, P2 and calorie consumption of less than 1400 KKAL.


2004 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 724-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun-Jun Lu ◽  
Ming Ming ◽  
Yi Yang ◽  
Jia Wu ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Transient dynamic behavior of the excited bacteriorhodopsin (BR), which was isolated from the strain H. salinarum, was studied at excitation wavelength from 585 to 639 nm. With the one-color femtosecond (fs) pump-probe technique, we revealed the primary events in BR's photocycle that took place in an ultrafast time scale. From the analysis of the decay components of the dynamical traces, it was evident that the isomerization of the retinal chromophore in BR and the intermediate J's formation occurred within 500 fs. BR exhibited pH-dependent dynamical behaviors. When the medium pH was between 5 and 9, the BR ultrafast dynamics has no obvious change. In contrast, the dynamical curves were obviously affected when the pH was out of that region.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-105
Author(s):  
Frédéric Goulet

In this article, we analyse the mechanisms by which family farming established itself in Argentina over the 2004–2016 period as a legitimate solution to the food security challenge. We show that this process has played a role in the emergence of an alternative sociotechnical imaginary built as a counter-model to the one associated with industrial agriculture. We highlight the importance of the processes of demarcation and detachment at the heart of this shift, in the political, techno-scientific and agricultural spheres. The actors involved in the promotion of family farming associate this alternative approach to the development of the agricultural sector with the implementation of an alternative practice and organisation of science and technology. These shifts correspond to a narrative and mode of political action that put the emphasis on the production of a national future liberated from the mistakes and injustices of the past, in which science and technology play a central role. By highlighting the tensions at the heart of this dynamic, between the establishment of new boundaries and the challenging of existing ones, the article contributes to the analysis of the formation of alternative sociotechnical imaginaries, and in particular the underlying mechanisms of co-production between science and politics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengzhen Zhao ◽  
Zhenhua Chen ◽  
Hailing Zhang ◽  
Junbo Xue

The sustainable development of agriculture is important for China, where more than 20 percent of the world population live. Many factors affect the sustainable development of agriculture in China. The purpose of this paper is to find out what factors play influential roles on affecting the growth pattern. Based on a modified production function model built upon Slow (1956) and Romer (2001), the impact of growth drag on the agricultural economy, and the contribution resources, are evaluated empirically using a time-series regression analysis based on the case of China for the period 1978–2015. The estimated coefficient of the total agricultural growth drag in China is 1.32, which suggests that the annual agricultural growth is associated with a 1.32 percent decline due to the scarcities of land, water, and energy. Specifically, the growth drags from land, water, and energy are found to be 0.5 percent, 0.44 percent, and 0.38 percent, respectively. Additionally, the results suggest that capital is the most important factor in the agricultural sector, although agriculture is highly dependent on land. Capital contributes around 76.86 percent to the growth of the agricultural economy, whereas contributions from land, energy, water, and technological progress are relatively small. Therefore, more investment should be added to agriculture, to accelerate the technology progress. Furthermore, the saving of water and energy is also important for the sustainable development of agriculture.


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