Biochemical responses in mice induced by saxitoxins extracted from the cockles Acanthocardia tuberculatum.

Harmful algae blooms have increased in frequency and geographic range in recent decades, and they produce toxins strains such as saxitoxins (STXs). they block voltage-gated sodium channels and can lead to several poisonings and the death of organisms that pose a significant risk to public and environmental health. The study of STXs toxicity has been carried out but little is known about the response of antioxidant enzymes activities to STXs in mice.

Isolation, characterization, and antimicrobial activity of communic acid from .

Objectives: A mixture of Z and E communic acid is isolated for the first time from the cones of Its biological activity was studied.

Methods: The plant material was extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus with -hexane, the resulting extract was subjected to column chromatography (CC) on silica gel. The structure elucidation of the constituents of the isolated fraction was identified by comparison of its spectroscopic properties H and C NMR data with those reported in the literature.

Prediction of Anti-COVID 19 Therapeutic Power of Medicinal Moroccan Plants Using Molecular Docking.

The emerging pathogen SARS-CoV2 causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health challenge. To the present day, COVID-19 had affected more than 40 million people worldwide. The exploration and the development of new bioactive compounds with cost-effective and specific anti-COVID 19 therapeutic power is the prime focus of the current medical research.

Molecular characterization of mutations associated with resistance to second line drugs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis patients from Casablanca, Morocco.

The emergence and spread of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is a serious threat to global health. Therefore, its rapid diagnosis is crucial. The present study aimed to characterize mutations conferring resistance to second line drugs (SLDs) within multidrug Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-MTB) isolates and to estimate the occurrence of XDR-TB in Casablanca, Morocco.

Heavy metals and antibiotics resistance of bacteria isolated from Marchica lagoon: biodegradation of anthracene on submerged aerated fixed bed reactor.

Heavy metals resistant and polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-degrading bacteria isolated from Marchica lagoon. Six isolates, and were characterized on the basis of biochemical and 16S rDNA. The strains that showed high resistance to heavy metals were also studied for their antibiotics resistance and growth kinetics.

Methyl Red Decolorization Efficiency of a Korea Strain of sp. Immobilized into Different Polymeric Matrices.

  Intensive research studies have revealed that fungal decolorization of dye wastewater is a promising replacement for the current process of dye wastewater decolorization. The authors isolated an Aspergillus sp. from the effluent of a textile industry area in Korea and assessed the effects of a variety of operational parameters on the decolorization of methyl red (MR) by this strain of Aspergillus sp.

Bacterial population and biodegradation potential in chronically crude oil-contaminated marine sediments are strongly linked to temperature.

Two of the largest crude oil-polluted areas in the world are the semi-enclosed Mediterranean and Red Seas, but the effect of chronic pollution remains incompletely understood on a large scale. We compared the influence of environmental and geographical constraints and anthropogenic forces (hydrocarbon input) on bacterial communities in eight geographically separated oil-polluted sites along the coastlines of the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The differences in community compositions and their biodegradation potential were primarily associated (P < 0.

Biogenic nanopalladium based remediation of chlorinated hydrocarbons in marine environments.

Biogenic catalysts have been studied over the last 10 years in freshwater and soil environments, but neither their formation nor their application has been explored in marine ecosystems. The objective of this study was to develop a biogenic nanopalladium-based remediation method for reducing chlorinated hydrocarbons from marine environments by employing indigenous marine bacteria. Thirty facultative aerobic marine strains were isolated from two contaminated sites, the Lagoon of Mar Chica, Morocco, and Priolo Gargallo Syracuse, Italy.

Bioremediation of Southern Mediterranean oil polluted sites comes of age.

Mediterranean Sea is facing a very high risk of oil pollution due to the high number of oil extractive and refining sites along the basin coasts, and the intense maritime traffic of oil tankers. All the Mediterranean countries have adopted severe regulations for minimizing pollution events and bioremediation feasibility studies for the most urgent polluted sites are undergoing. However, the analysis of the scientific studies applying modern 'meta-omics' technologies that have been performed on marine oil pollution worldwide showed that the Southern Mediterranean side has been neglected by the international research.

The prevalence of resistance-associated mutations to protease and reverse transcriptase inhibitors in treatment-naïve (HIV1)-infected individuals in Casablanca, Morocco.

Background: The widespread use of antiretroviral agents and the growing occurrence of HIV-1 strains resistant to these drugs have given rise to serious concerns regarding the transmission of resistant viruses to newly infected persons, which may reduce the efficacy of a first-line antiretroviral therapy.

Methodology: RNA was extracted from plasma samples of 98 treatment-naïve individuals with a plasma HIV RNA viral load of at least 1,000 copies/ml. Both protease (pr) and reverse transcriptase (rt) were amplified and sequenced using an automated sequencer.

Ionophoric properties of atropine: complexation and transport of Na+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions across a liquid membrane.

The activity of atropine on the complexation and transport of Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+) and Ca(2+) ions across a liquid membrane was investigated using a spectrophotometric method. Atropine is a natural drug that blocks muscarinic receptors. It is a competitive antagonist of the action of acetylcholine and other muscarinic agonists.

Decolorization of some azo dyes by immobilized Geotrichum sp. biomass in fluidized bed bioreactor.

Geotrichum sp. strain, which is able to decolorize azo dyes enzymatically, was used in this study for decolorization of synthetics solutions contaminated by toxic azo dyes orange G, trypan blue, azorubine, and methyl red. The biomass of Geotrichum sp.

Purification and partial characterization of paralytic shellfish poison-binding protein from Acanthocardia tuberculatum.

A paralytic shellfish poison-binding protein (PSPBP) was purified 16.6-fold from the foot of the Moroccan cockles Acanthocardia tuberculatum. Using affinity chromatography, 2.

Electron transfer from NADH bound to horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (NAD+ dependent dehydrogenase): visualisation of the activity in the enzyme crystals and adsorption of formazan derivatives by these crystals.

The crystals of holoenzyme from native and cross-linked alcohol dehydrogenase exhibit electron transfer from NADH to phenazinium methosulfate (PMS), and then to the tetrazolium salt sodium 3,3'-{1-[(phenylamino)carbonyl]-3,4-tetrazolium}-bis(4-methoxy-6-nitro)benzenesulfonate (XXT). The slow dissociation of the cofactor and/or the conformational change associated can now be bypassed. The reduction product, formazan, did not diffuse out of the crystals in buffer and the crystals turned colored.

A comparative study on biosorption characteristics of certain fungi for bromophenol blue dye.

Laboratory investigations of the potential use of dried biomasses of Rhizopus stolonifer, Fusarium sp., Geotrichum sp., and Aspergillus fumigatus as biosorbents for the removal of bromophenol blue (BPB) dye from aqueous solutions were conducted.

Comparative study on differential accumulation of PSP toxins between cockle (Acanthocardia tuberculatum) and sweet clam (Callista chione).

At the western Mediterranean coast of Morocco, the cockle (Acanthocardia tuberculatum) contained persistent high levels of paralytic shellfish toxins for several years, while other bivalve molluscs such as sweet clam (Callista chione) from the same vicinity were contaminated seasonally to a much lesser extent. In order to understand the causes of this prolonged contamination, a comparative study on PSP decontamination between sweet clam and cockle was conducted from November 2001 until June 2002. PSP toxicity was analysed by automated pre-column oxidation (Prechromatographic oxidation and LC-FD) in several organs of both species, namely digestive gland, foot, gill, mantle, muscle and siphon for sweet clams.

Decolorization of azo dyes with Enterobacter agglomerans immobilized in different supports by using fluidized bed bioreactor.

Immobilized cells of Enterobacter agglomerans, able to reduce azo dyes enzymatically, were used as a biocatalyst for the decolorization of synthetic medium containing the toxic azo dye methyl red (MR). This bacterial strain exhibits high ability to completely decolorize 100 mg/L of MR after only 6 h of incubation under aerobic conditions. Cells of E.

Biosorption of mercury from aqueous solution by Ulva lactuca biomass.

The mercury biosorption onto non-living protonated biomass of Ulva lactuca, as an alternative method for mercury removal from aqueous solutions, was investigated. Batch equilibrium tests showed that at pH 3.5, 5.

Purification and partial characterization of azoreductase from Enterobacter agglomerans.

Azoreductase, an enzyme catalyzing the reductive cleavage of the azo bond of methyl red (MR) and related dyes, was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity from Enterobacter agglomerans. This bacterial strain, isolated from dye-contaminated sludge, has a higher ability to grow, under aerobic conditions, on culture medium containing 100mg/L of MR. The enzyme was purified approximately 90-fold with 20% yield by ammonium sulfate precipitation, followed by three steps of column chromatography (gel-filtration, anion-exchange, and dye-affinity).