Facile synthesis and nanoscale features of a nanostructured nordihydroguaiaretic acid analog for therapeutic applications.

Background: Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) is a plant lignan obtained from creosote bush, known to possess anti-oxidant, anti-cancer and anti-viral activities and is being used in traditional medicine. However, toxicity studies indicated liver and kidney damage despite its immense medicinal properties. There has been a recent increase of curiosity in the chemical synthesis of NDGA derivatives for therapeutic applications.

Inducible chromate reductase exhibiting extracellular activity in Bacillus methylotrophicus for chromium bioremediation.

Chromium toxicity is one of the major causes of environmental pollution due to its heavy discharge in industrial wastewaters. Chromate reduction is a viable method to detoxify hexavalent chromium to nontoxic trivalent species mediated by enzymes and metabolites. A new Bacillus methylotrophicus strain was isolated from tannery sludge and was an efficient candidate for chromate reduction.

Facile production of ZnS quantum dot nanoparticles by Saccharomyces cerevisiae MTCC 2918.

Microbial synthesis of nanoparticles is a green route towards ecofriendly measures to overcome the toxicity and non-applicability of nanomaterials in clinical uses obtained by conventional physical and chemical approaches. Nanoparticles in the quantum regime have remarkable characteristics with excellent applicability in bioimaging. Yeasts have been commercially exploited for several industrial applications.

Molecular cloning of OSP94: A significant biomarker protein of hypertensive human heart and a member of HSP110 family.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are upregulated in response to stress and play a protective function in refolding of cellular proteins. In hypertension, the heart is a vital organ that requires examination and investigation, and primary induction of HSPs is predominantly effected. Hypertension results from osmotic imbalance during renin-angiotensin cycle inefficiency.

Understanding structural features of microbial lipases--an overview.

The structural elucidations of microbial lipases have been of prime interest since the 1980s. Knowledge of structural features plays an important role in designing and engineering lipases for specific purposes. Significant structural data have been presented for few microbial lipases, while, there is still a structure-deficit, that is, most lipase structures are yet to be resolved.

Mixed substrate solid state fermentation for production and extraction of lipase from Aspergillus niger MTCC 2594.

A novel mixed substrate solid-state fermentation (SSF) process has been developed for Aspergillus niger MTCC 2594 using wheat bran (WB) and gingelly oil cake (GOC) and the results showed that addition of GOC to WB (WB : GOC, 3 : 1, w/w) increased the lipase activity by 36.0% and the activity was 384.3+/-4.

Bioaccumulation and biosorption of chromium by Aspergillus niger MTCC 2594.

Chromium toxicity is of prime concern due to chrome tanning processes in the leather sector. Chrome tanning results in the discharge of toxic levels of chromium causing pollution hazards. Chromium levels of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) were high above permissible limits in chrome samples after chrome tanning.

Strain improvement of Aspergillus niger for enhanced lipase production.

The enhancement of lipase production from Aspergillus niger was attempted by ultraviolet (UV) and nitrous acid mutagenesis, and the mutants were selected on media containing bile salts. Nitrous acid mutants exhibited increased efficiency for lipase production when compared with UV mutants in submerged fermentation. The hyperproducing UV and nitrous acid mutants were further subjected to a second step of mutagenesis to devise an economical and ecofriendly technique for lipase production by the effective use of hydrocarbons.