Bioprocessing of Marine Chitinous Wastes for the Production of Bioactive Prodigiosin

Recently, microbial prodigiosin (PG) has received much attention due to its numerous beneficial applications. The aim of this study was to establish the bioprocessing of marine chitinous wastes (MCWs) for the cost-effective preparation of PG. Of the MCWs, demineralized shrimp shell powders (de-SSP) were found to be a potential source of carbon/nitrogen (C/N) for PG production by bacterial fermentation using Serratia marcescens strains. Further, PG scale-up production was investigated in a 15 L bioreactor system, and the highest yield (6200 mg/L) was achieved during fermentation using 5 L of a novel-designed culture broth that included 1.60% C/N sources (a de-SSP/casein ratio of 7/3), 0.02% K2SO4, and 0.05% K2HPO4, with an initial pH of 6–7. Fermentation was conducted in the dark at 27.5 °C for 8.0 h. This study was the first to report on the utilization of shrimp wastes for cost-effective, large-scale (5 L/pilot) PG production with high productivity (6200 mg/L) in a short cultivation time. The combination of 0.02% K2SO4 and 0.05% K2HPO4 was also found to be a novel salt composition that significantly enhanced PG yield. The red compound was purified and confirmed as PG after analyzing its HPLC profile, mass, and UV/vis spectra. The purified PG was then tested for its bioactivities and showed effective anticancer activities, moderated antioxidant activities, and novel anti-NO effects.

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Direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 using non-commercial RT-LAMP reagents on heat-inactivated samples

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-80352-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Alisa Alekseenko ◽

Donal Barrett ◽

Yerma Pareja-Sanchez ◽

Rebecca J. Howard ◽

Emilia Strandback ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Direct Detection ◽

Dna Polymerases ◽

Scale Up ◽

Lamp Assay ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Reaction Conditions ◽

Clinical Patient ◽

Reverse Transcriptases ◽

Large Scale Testing

AbstractRT-LAMP detection of SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to be a valuable approach to scale up COVID-19 diagnostics and thus contribute to limiting the spread of the disease. Here we present the optimization of highly cost-effective in-house produced enzymes, and we benchmark their performance against commercial alternatives. We explore the compatibility between multiple DNA polymerases with high strand-displacement activity and thermostable reverse transcriptases required for RT-LAMP. We optimize reaction conditions and demonstrate their applicability using both synthetic RNA and clinical patient samples. Finally, we validate the optimized RT-LAMP assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in unextracted heat-inactivated nasopharyngeal samples from 184 patients. We anticipate that optimized and affordable reagents for RT-LAMP will facilitate the expansion of SARS-CoV-2 testing globally, especially in sites and settings where the need for large scale testing cannot be met by commercial alternatives.

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Biological Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles and their Biomedical Activity: A Review

Current Green Chemistry ◽

10.2174/2213346109666211217091042 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 09 ◽

Author(s):

Sarvat Zafar ◽

Aiman Zafar ◽

Fakhra Jabeen ◽

Miad Ali Siddiq

Keyword(s):

Silver Nanoparticles ◽

Large Scale ◽

Scale Up ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Biological Properties ◽

Single Step ◽

Biological Synthesis ◽

Nanosized Particles ◽

Environment Friendly ◽

Physical And Chemical

: Nanotechnology studies the various phenomena of physio-chemical procedures and biological properties for the generation of nanosized particles, and their rising challenges in the various sectors, like medicine, engineering, agriculture, electronic, and environmental studies. The nanosized particles exhibit good anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, drug delivery, anti-parasitic, anti-coagulant and catalytic properties because of their unique dimensions with large surface area, chemical stability and higher binding density for the accumulation of various bio-constituents on their surfaces. Biological approaches for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been reviewed because it is an easy and single-step protocol and a viable substitute for the synthetic chemical-based procedures. Physical and chemical approaches for the production of AgNPs are also mentioned herein. Biological synthesis has drawn attention because it is cost-effective, faster, non-pathogenic, environment-friendly, easy to scale-up for large-scale synthesis, and having no demand for usage of high pressure, energy, temperature, or noxious chemical ingredients, and safe for human therapeutic use. Therefore, the collaboration of nanomaterials with bio-green approaches could extend the utilization of biological and cytological properties compatible with AgNPs. In this perspective, there is an immediate need to develop ecofriendly and biocompatible techniques, which strengthen efficacy against microbes and minimize toxicity for human cells. The present study introduces the biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles, and their potential biomedical applications have also been reviewed.

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Bioproduction of Prodigiosin from Fishery Processing Waste Shrimp Heads and Evaluation of Its Potential Bioactivities

Fishes ◽

10.3390/fishes6030030 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 30

Author(s):

Van Bon Nguyen ◽

San-Lang Wang ◽

Anh Dzung Nguyen ◽

Tu Quy Phan ◽

Kuaanan Techato ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Docking Simulation ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Docking Study ◽

Potential Candidate ◽

Processing Waste ◽

High Productivity ◽

Initial Ph ◽

Shrimp Head ◽

Shrimp Heads ◽

The Cost

The aim of this work was to reuse a fish processing waste, shrimp head powder (SHP), for the production of prodigiosin (PG) via microbial technology and to assess its potential bioactivities. PG was produced in a 12 L-bioreactor system, and the highest PG productivity of 6310 mg L−1 was achieved when Serratia marcescens CC17 was used for fermentation in a novel designed medium (6.75 L) containing 1.5% C/N source (SHP/casein = 9/1), 0.02% K2SO4, ans 0.025% Ca3(PO4)2, with initial pH 7.0, and fermentation was performed at 28 °C for 8 h. The purified PG showed moderate antioxidants, efficient anti-NO (anti-nitric oxide), and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activities. In a docking study, PG showed better binding energy scores (−12.3 kcal/mol) and more interactions (6 linkages) with several prominent amino acids in the biding sites on AChE that were superior to those of Berberine chloride (−10.8 kcal/mol and one linkage). Notably, this is the first investigation using shrimp heads for the mass bioproduction of PG with high productivity, and Ca3(PO4)2 salt was also newly found to significantly enhance PG production by S. marcescens. This study also provided available data on the anti-NO and anti-AChE effects of PG, especially from the docking simulation PG towards AChE that was described for the first time in this study. The above results suggest that SHP is a good material for the cost-effective bioproduction of PG, which is a potential candidate for anti-NO and anti-Alzheimer drugs.

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Utilization of Crab Waste for Cost-Effective Bioproduction of Prodigiosin

Marine Drugs ◽

10.3390/md18110523 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (11) ◽

pp. 523 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Van Bon Nguyen ◽

Dai Nam Nguyen ◽

Anh Dzung Nguyen ◽

Van Anh Ngo ◽

That Quang Ton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Uv Spectra ◽

Culture Broth ◽

High Yield ◽

Spectra Analysis ◽

Fermentation Time ◽

Flight Mass Spectrometry ◽

Short Period ◽

High Level

This study aimed to establish the culture process for the cost-effective production of prodigiosin (PG) from demineralized crab shell powder (de-CSP), a fishery processing byproduct created via fermentation. Among the tested PG-producing strains, Serratia marcescens TNU02 was demonstrated to be the most active strain. Various ratios of protein/de-CSP were used as the sources of C/N for PG biosynthesis. The PG yield was significantly enhanced when the casein/de-CSP ratio was controlled in the range of 3/7 to 4/6. TNU02 produced PG with a high yield (5100 mg/L) in a 15 L bioreactor system containing 4.5 L of a newly-designed liquid medium containing 1.6% C/N source (protein/de-CSP ratio of 3/7), 0.02% (NH4)2SO4, 0.1% K2HPO4, and an initial pH of 6.15, at 27 °C for 8 h in dark conditions. The red pigment was purified from the culture broth and then quantified as being PG by specific Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and UV spectra analysis. The purified PG demonstrated moderate antioxidant and effective inhibition against four cancerous cell lines. Notably, this study was the first to report on using crab wastes for PG bioproduction with high-level productivity (5100 mg/L) in a large scale (4.5 L per pilot) in a short period of fermentation time (8 h). The salt compositions, including (NH4)2SO4 and K2HPO4, were also a novel finding for the enhancement of PG yield by S. marcescens in this report.

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RAPID AND COST-EFFECTIVE PROCESS BASED ON INSECT LARVAE FOR SCALE-UP PRODUCTION OF SARS-COV-2 SPIKE PROTEIN FOR SEROLOGICAL COVID-19 TESTING

10.22541/au.162297108.80904190/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ignacio Smith ◽

Gregorio Mc Callum ◽

Adriana Sabljic ◽

Juan Marfia ◽

Silvina Bombicino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Scale Up ◽

High Sensitivity ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Elisa Method ◽

Insect Larvae ◽

S Protein ◽

Single Antigen ◽

Antibody Kinetics ◽

Virus Strains

Serology testing for COVID-19 is important in evaluating active immune response against SARS-CoV-2, studying the antibody kinetics, and monitoring reinfections with genetic variants and new virus strains, in particular, the duration of antibodies in virus-exposed individuals and vaccine-mediated immunity. In this work, recombinant S protein of SARS-CoV-2 was expressed in Rachiplusia nu, an important agronomic plague. One larva produces an amount of S protein sufficient for 150 determinations in the ELISA method herein developed. We established a rapid production process for SARS-CoV-2 S protein that showed immunoreactivity for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and was used as a single antigen for developing the ELISA method with high sensitivity (96.2%) and specificity (98.8%). Our findings provide an efficient and cost-effective platform for large-scale S protein production, and the scale-up is linear, thus avoiding the use of complex equipment like bioreactors.

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Stormbow: A Cloud-Based Tool for Reads Mapping and Expression Quantification in Large-Scale RNA-Seq Studies

ISRN Bioinformatics ◽

10.1155/2013/481545 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Shanrong Zhao ◽

Kurt Prenger ◽

Lance Smith

Keyword(s):

Data Analysis ◽

Large Scale ◽

Scale Up ◽

Local Environment ◽

Transcriptome Profiling ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Practical Challenge ◽

Amazon Web Services ◽

Computational Resources

RNA-Seq is becoming a promising replacement to microarrays in transcriptome profiling and differential gene expression study. Technical improvements have decreased sequencing costs and, as a result, the size and number of RNA-Seq datasets have increased rapidly. However, the increasing volume of data from large-scale RNA-Seq studies poses a practical challenge for data analysis in a local environment. To meet this challenge, we developed Stormbow, a cloud-based software package, to process large volumes of RNA-Seq data in parallel. The performance of Stormbow has been tested by practically applying it to analyse 178 RNA-Seq samples in the cloud. In our test, it took 6 to 8 hours to process an RNA-Seq sample with 100 million reads, and the average cost was $3.50 per sample. Utilizing Amazon Web Services as the infrastructure for Stormbow allows us to easily scale up to handle large datasets with on-demand computational resources. Stormbow is a scalable, cost effective, and open-source based tool for large-scale RNA-Seq data analysis. Stormbow can be freely downloaded and can be used out of box to process Illumina RNA-Seq datasets.

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Microbial Reclamation of Chitin and Protein-Containing Marine By-Products for the Production of Prodigiosin and the Evaluation of Its Bioactivities

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym12061328 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 1328 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Van Bon Nguyen ◽

Dai Nam Nguyen ◽

San-Lang Wang

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Anticancer Activities ◽

Protein Ratio ◽

Erlenmeyer Flask ◽

N Source ◽

Bioreactor System ◽

In Vitro Bioassays ◽

By Products

Chitin and protein-containing marine by-products (CPCMBPs), including crab shells, squid pens, and shrimp shells, were investigated as the sole carbon/nitrogen (C/N) source for prodigiosin (PG) production by Serratia marcescens TNU01 in a 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask and a 10 L bioreactor system. Among the used C/N source of CPCMBPs, squid pens powder (SPP) showed the most optimum PG productivity. Different ratios of chitin/protein combination were also used as the C/N sources for PG production. With a similar chitin/protein ratio (4/6) of squid pens, a significant PG productivity was achieved when the chitin/protein ratios were controlled in the range of 3/7–4/6. Maximum PG yield (3450 mg/L) by S. marcescens TNU01 was achieved in the bioreactor system containing 3 L medium of 1.75% SPP, 0.03% K2HPO4, and 0.05% MgSO4 at 25 °C for 12 h in dark. The results of in vitro bioassays reveal that the purified PG possesses acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and antioxidant as well as anticancer activities. This study suggests that squid pens may have the potential to be used for cost effective production of bioactive PG at a large-scale.

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From laboratory to field: applying the Fo47 biocontrol strain in potato fields

European Journal of Plant Pathology ◽

10.1007/s10658-020-02106-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 158 (3) ◽

pp. 645-654

Author(s):

Maria E. Constantin ◽

Francisco J. de Lamo ◽

Martijn Rep ◽

Frank L. W. Takken

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Biocontrol Agent ◽

Scale Up ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Outcome Variable ◽

Inoculum Production ◽

Effective Manner ◽

Biocontrol Potential ◽

And Performance ◽

Biocontrol Strain

Abstract Endophytic microbes conferring biocontrol are an eco-friendly alternative to control diseases in crops. Unfortunately, the use of endophytes to control diseases is not yet widespread as their application in agricultural settings is challenging and the outcome variable. Translating strains that perform well under laboratory conditions to the field poses several challenges. One is large scale inoculum production in a cost-effective manner. Here, we developed a framework to scale up inoculum production of Fusarium oxysporum 47 (Fo47), assess inoculum viability and its performance in the field and effects on potato yield and performance. The Fo47 endophyte is a well-described biocontrol agent, isolated from disease suppressive soils in the 1980’s. Using mung bean medium, we could routinely produce ≈7 × 108 spores/mL. Using 60 mL of 107 spores/mL per tuber we could re-isolate the fungus 79 days after application from 60 to 70% of the inoculated plants in a large-scale potato field trial (Clenze, Germany). Furthermore, this protocol can be used to assess Fo47 biocontrol potential under field conditions. The presence of the fungus did not negatively affect plant yield or starch production and did not increase susceptibility to endemic pathogens.

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Individual Monitoring of Behavior to Enhance Productivity and Welfare of Animals in Small-Scale Intensive Cattle Grazing Systems

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems ◽

10.3389/fsufs.2021.694413 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Author(s):

Hiroki Anzai ◽

Masahiko Hirata

Keyword(s):

Animal Behavior ◽

Large Scale ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Herd Size ◽

Small Scale ◽

Herd Behavior ◽

Low Frequencies ◽

High Productivity ◽

Individual Level ◽

Grazing Systems

To enhance productivity and welfare of individual animals maintained as a group, management based on individual behavioral tendencies is essential, which requires individual monitoring of animal behavior. Several behavior monitoring systems are currently available to livestock producers. The data obtained from these systems are analyzed to detect significantly high or low frequencies or intensities of behavior associated with estrus, calving and poor health conditions based on thresholds or past trends of the monitored individual. However, because behavior under grazing is more complex and changeable than under confinement, behavioral symptoms are more difficult to detect, and on-farm monitoring of individual animal behavior has been less validated and utilized in grazing systems. Nevertheless, individual monitoring of all animals in a herd is more feasible and cost-effective in small-scale intensive grazing systems because these systems pursue high productivity at the individual level with smaller herd size than large-scale extensive systems. Individually tailored management to enhance productivity and welfare will be possible by focusing on inter-individual differences in behavior within a herd. Behavior of an individual can be analyzed and understood in more detail by comparing it with those of the herd mates. Higher or lower levels of specific activities than the other animals can be associated with health disorders, temporal changes in physiological states, or productivity- or welfare-related traits. More sensitive monitoring and detection of behavioral responses of individuals to changes in nutritional, physical and social environments will lead to more efficient and welfare-conscious management that better meets the needs of individuals.

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Commercialization of veterinary viral vaccines

Animal Health Research Reviews ◽

10.1079/ahr200475 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 239-242 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

P. H. Flore

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Scale Up ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Production Environment ◽

Considerable Effort ◽

Veterinary Vaccine ◽

Viral Vaccine ◽

Development Department

AbstractIf vaccines are to reliably prevent disease, they must be developed, produced and quality-controlled according to very strict regulations and procedures. Veterinary viral vaccine registrations are governed by different rules in different countries, but these rules all emphasize that the quality of the raw materials—the cells, eggs, animals or plants that are used in production—need to be carefully controlled. The veterinary vaccine business is also very cost-conscious. Emphasis over the last 5–10 years has therefore been to develop culture systems that minimize labor and sterility problems and thus provide for reliable and cost-effective production. Implementing these often more complex systems in a production environment takes considerable effort, first in scale-up trials and further down the line in convincing production personnel to change their familiar system for something new and possibly untried. To complete scale-up trials successfully, it is absolutely necessary to understand the biochemistry of the cells and the influence of the virus on the cells under scale-up and later production conditions. Once a viral product can be produced on a large scale, it is imperative that the quality of the end-product is controlled in an intelligent way. One needs to know whether the end-product performs in the animal as was intended during its conception in the research and development department. The development of the appropriate tests to demonstrate this plays an important role in the successful development of a vaccine.

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