An Overview of Microorganisms Immobilized in a Gel Structure for the Production of Precursors, Antibiotics, and Valuable Products.

Using free microorganisms for industrial processes has some limitations, such as the extensive consumption of substrates for growth, significant sensitivity to the microenvironment, and the necessity of separation from the product and, therefore, the cyclic process. It is widely acknowledged that confining or immobilizing cells in a matrix or support structure enhances enzyme stability, facilitates recycling, enhances rheological resilience, lowers bioprocess costs, and serves as a fundamental prerequisite for large-scale applications. This report summarizes the various cell immobilization methods, including several synthetic (polyvinylalcohol, polyethylenimine, polyacrylates, and Eudragit) and natural (gelatin, chitosan, alginate, cellulose, agar-agar, carboxymethylcellulose, and other polysaccharides) polymeric materials in the form of thin films, hydrogels, and cryogels.

Monitoring studies of the occurrence of fire blight pathogen in Kazakhstan and identification of antagonistic microorganisms suppressing its development.

The paper presents data on phytosanitary monitoring of garden cenoses for fire blight in the Turkestan, Zhambyl, and Almaty regions of Kazakhstan. The purpose of this study is to assess the phytosanitary situation in various regions of Kazakhstan, determine the extent of fire blight spread, and isolate and identify the fire blight pathogen. During the study, methods such as hypersensitivity, pathogenicity, and fluorescent simplification-based specific hybridization polymerase chain reaction (FLASH-PCR) were used.

Antagonistic and protective activity of Lactobacillus plantarum strain 17 M against E. amylovora.

The subject of the study was to identify the antagonism of the Lactobacillus plantarum strain 17 M against the causative agent of fire blight, the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, and to evaluate its protective capabilities on apple blossoms against this disease. For comparison 9 strains of lactic acid bacteria from the LLP "SPC of Microbiology and Virology" collection were included in the study. Strain 17 M appeared to be superior in limiting the growth of the pathogen on all 3 liquid media tested.

Dairy associations for the targeted control of opportunistic Candida.

Antifungal and antibacterial activities of twenty-six combinations of lactic acid bacteria, propionibacteria, acetic acid bacteria and dairy yeasts inoculated in whey and milk were investigated. Associations including acetic acid bacteria were shown to suppress growth of the opportunistic yeast Candida albicans in well-diffusion assays. The protective effect of milk fermented with the two most promising consortia was confirmed in Caco-2 cell culture infected with C.