Green synthesis of reduced graphene oxide by using tropical microalgae and its application in biophotovoltaic devices.

The successful commercialization of algal biophotovoltaics (BPV) technology hinges upon a multifaceted approach, encompassing factors such as the development of a cost-efficient and highly conductive anode material. To address this issue, we developed an environmentally benign method of producing reduced graphene oxide (rGO), using concentrated sp. UMACC 313 suspensions as the reducing agent.

Storage and dynamics of soil organic carbon in allochthonous-dominated and nitrogen-limited natural and planted mangrove forests in southern Thailand.

Mangrove forests can help to mitigate climate change by storing a significant amount of carbon (C) in soils. Planted mangrove forests have been established to combat anthropogenic threats posed by climate change. However, the efficiency of planted forests in terms of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and dynamics relative to that of natural forests is unclear.

Investigating habitat transition from sediments to water in tropical urban lakes.

Background: is a commonly used faecal indicator bacterium to assess the level of faecal contamination in aquatic habitats. However, extensive studies have reported that sediment acts as a natural reservoir of in the extraintestinal environment. can be released from the sediment, and this may lead to overestimating the level of faecal contamination during water quality surveillance.

Evaluation of selected tropical marine microalgal cultures for use in biophotovoltaic platforms.

In this study, the bioelectrical power generation potential of four tropical marine microalgal strains native to Malaysia was investigated using BPV platforms. Chlorella UMACC 258 produced the highest power density (0.108 mW m), followed by Halamphora subtropica UMACC 370 (0.

Phage N15-Based Vectors for Gene Cloning and Expression in Bacteria and Mammalian Cells.

Bacteriophage N15 is the first virus known to deliver linear prophage into During its lysogenic cycle, N15 protelomerase (TelN) resolves its telomerase occupancy site () into hairpin telomeres. This protects the N15 prophage from bacterial exonuclease degradation, enabling it to stably replicate as a linear plasmid in . Interestingly, purely proteinaceous TelN can retain phage DNA linearization and hairpin formation without involving host- or phage-derived intermediates or cofactors in the heterologous environment.

Distribution of faecal indicator bacteria in tropical waters of Peninsular Malaysia and their decay rates in tropical seawater.

We investigated the appropriateness of faecal indicator bacteria in tropical waters. We compared total coliform (undetectable to 7.2 × 10 cfu 100 mL), faecal coliform (undetectable to 6.

Prevalence and Diversity of Antibiotic Resistant From Anthropogenic-Impacted Larut River.

Aquatic environments, under frequent anthropogenic pressure, could serve as reservoirs that provide an ideal condition for the acquisition and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genetic determinants. We investigated the prevalence and diversity of antibiotic-resistant by focusing on their genetic diversity, virulence, and resistance genes in anthropogenic-impacted Larut River. The abundance of ranged from (estimated count) Est 1 to 4.

RFP-based method for real-time tracking of invasive bacteria in a heterogeneous population of cells.

Quantification of bacterial invasion into eukaryotic cells is a prerequisite to unfold the molecular mechanisms of this vector's function to obtain insights for improving its efficiency. Invasion is traditionally quantified by antibiotic protection assays that require dilution plating and counting of colony-forming units rescued from infected cells. However, to differentiate between attached and internalized bacteria vector, this assay requires supplementation by a time-consuming and tedious immunofluorescence staining, making it laborious and reduces its reliability and reproducibility.

The roles of ribosomal proteins in nasopharyngeal cancer: culprits, sentinels or both.

Ribosomal protein genes encode products that are essential for cellular protein biosynthesis and are major components of ribosomes. Canonically, they are involved in the complex system of ribosome biogenesis pivotal to the catalysis of protein translation. Amid this tightly organised process, some ribosomal proteins have unique spatial and temporal physiological activity giving rise to their extra-ribosomal functions.

The impact of eutrophication towards selected bacterial process rates in tropical coastal waters.

The dissolved organic nutrient conditions and bacterial process rates at two tropical coastal sites in Peninsular Malaysia (Port Klang and Port Dickson) were initially studied in 2004-2005 period and later revisited in 2010-2011. We observed that dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) increased about two- and ten-fold at Port Klang and Port Dickson, respectively and resulted in a significant change in DOC:DON ratio (t ≥ 2.077, p < 0.

Inhibition of lysosomal vacuolar proton pump down-regulates cellular acidification and enhances E. coli bactofection efficiency.

Endosomal escape is considered a crucial barrier that needs to be overcome by integrin-mediated E. coli for gene delivery into mammalian cells. Bafilomycin, a potent inhibitor of the H+ proton pump commonly employed to lower endosomal pH, was evaluated as part of the E.

Examination of barnacles' potential to be used as bioindicators of persistent organic pollutants in coastal ecosystem: A Malaysia case study.

Barnacles are ubiquitous in coastal ecosystems of different geographical regions worldwide. This is the first study attempting to assess the suitability of barnacles as bioindicators of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in coastal environments. Barnacles were collected from the coasts around Peninsular Malaysia and analyzed for POPs including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs).

Influence of elevated river flow on hypoxia occurrence, nutrient concentration and microbial dynamics in a tropical estuary.

We sampled the Klang estuary during the inter-monsoon and northeast monsoon period (July-Nov 2011, Oct-Nov 2012), which coincided with higher rainfall and elevated Klang River flow. The increased freshwater inflow into the estuary resulted in water column stratification that was observed during both sampling periods. Dissolved oxygen (DO) dropped below 63 μM, and hypoxia was observed.

A Self-Replicating Linear DNA.

TelN and are a unique DNA linearization unit isolated from bacteriophage N15. While being transferable, the TelN cleaving-rejoining activities remained stable to function on in both bacterial and mammalian environments. However, TelN contribution in linear plasmid replication in mammalian cells remains unknown.

Anthropogenic impacts on sulfonamide residues and sulfonamide resistant bacteria and genes in Larut and Sangga Besar River, Perak.

The environmental reservoirs of sulfonamide (SA) resistome are still poorly understood. We investigated the potential sources and reservoir of SA resistance (SR) in Larut River and Sangga Besar River by measuring the SA residues, sulfamethoxazole resistant (SMX) in bacteria and their resistance genes (SRGs). The SA residues measured ranged from lower than quantification limits (LOQ) to 33.

Environmental control of Vibrio spp. abundance and community structure in tropical waters.

We measured Vibrio spp. distribution and community profile in the tropical estuary of Port Klang and coastal water of Port Dickson, Malaysia. Vibrio spp.

Phage N15 protelomerase resolves its tos recognition site into hairpin telomeres within mammalian cells.

Phage N15 protelomerase (TelN) cleaves double-stranded circular DNA containing a telomerase-occupancy-site (tos) and rejoins the resulting linear-ends to form closed-hairpin-telomeres in Escherichia coli (E. coli). Continued TelN expression is essential to support resolution of the linear structure.

Distributions of particulate and dissolved phosphorus in aquatic habitats of Peninsular Malaysia.

Particulate phosphorus was the dominant phosphorus species and accounted for 72 ± 5% of total phosphorus in coastal habitats, 63 ± 4% in estuaries, 58 ± 6% in lakes and 80 ± 7% in aquaculture farms whereas dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) were minor components. Correlation analyses (DIP vs Chl a; R = 0.407, df = 31, p < 0.

Effects of eutrophication on diatom abundance, biovolume and diversity in tropical coastal waters.

Diatom abundance, biovolume and diversity were measured over a 2-year period along the Straits of Malacca at two stations with upper (Klang) and lower (Port Dickson) states of eutrophication. Diatom abundance, which ranged from 0.2 × 10 to 21.

The , , , and Ribosomal Protein Genes Are Dysregulated in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cell Lines.

The association of ribosomal proteins with carcinogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has been established in a limited subset of ribosomal protein genes. To date, three ribosomal protein genes, , , and , have been found to be differentially expressed in cell lines derived from NPC tumors. This raises the possibility of more ribosomal protein genes that could be associated with NPC.