Anand Pandey

Management of Cosmetic Embarrassment Caused by Malassezia spp. with Fruticose Lichen Cladia Using Phylogenetic Approach

During anti-Malassezia screening of plants by CLSI broth microdilution method, Cladia aggregata (Swartz) Nyl. (family Cladoniaceae), a fruticose lichen from Sikkim (northeast Himalayan region), has been found effective at minimum inhibitory concentrations (mg/mL) of 2.72, 0.63, and 1.28 against yeast-like fungi namely, M. furfur, M. globosa and M. sympodialis, respectively. These test pathogens are responsible for pityriasis versicolor (PV) and seborrheic dermatitis (SD) in humans. We tried to establish the reason for variable MICs against various Malassezia spp. using bioinformatical tools, thereby reducing the cost of the experimentation. This is the first report on anti-Malassezia activity of C. aggregata and thus can serve as a potential source for the development of cosmaceuticals.

Detoxification and Tolerance of Heavy Metals in Plants

Abstract Plant growth and metabolisms are regulated by some heavy metals found in Earths crust because they are active constituents of various enzymes. However, their increased concentration may lead to different toxic effects, inhibiting plant growth and development. There are some plants that are capable of surviving in the presence of heavy metals, apparently by adapting the mechanism that involved in common homeostasis as well as removal of metal ions. Plants have diverse mechanisms for metal detoxification, enabling them to tolerate heavy metal stress. The defense systems against heavy metal stress include mycorrhizae, cellular exudates, plasma membrane, heat shock proteins, phytochelatins (PCs), metallothioneins (MTs), organic acids, and amino acids. All the mechanism involved the tolerance of heavy metal concentration at cellular level to avoid the negative impacts. Extracellular plants include roles for mycorrhizae and extracellular exudates in the plasma membrane either by dropping by absorption of heavy metal or by inducing the efflux pumping of metal ions. On the other hand, intracellularly heat shock proteins, MTs, organic acids, amino acids, and PCs also play a vital role in tolerance of different heavy metals. Few metal transporters have been identified in the past few years that actively participate in tolerance of metal specificity. Enhanced application of molecular genetics has shown their eminent contribution in understanding the mechanism of heavy metal tolerance in plants.

A comparative analysis of in vitro growth inhibition of waterborne bacteria with bioactive plant Lippia nodiflora L. and camphor

AbstractIn the current scenario, due to global deterioration of the environment and climate change, among them water pollution possesses serious threat to most of the populace. Waterborne pathogenic bacteria like Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella typhimurium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, etc. are responsible for several diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, salmonellosis, etc. In order to overcome these waterborne bacterial diseases and for purification of water, plants have been of great use for their potential role from very ancient times. The present study deals with the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)-recommended broth microdilution antibacterial susceptibility assay of waterborne bacterial pathogens against Lippia nodiflora L. petroleum ether (LNPE) and ethanolic extracts (LNEE) prepared from the leaves and flowers together of Lippia nodiflora (Verbenaceae), in comparison to camphor. Growth inhibition of tested bacterial pathogens was recorded in from of IC50 and MIC values were...

Introduction of Nanotechnology in the Field of Biofuel Production

Nanotechnology has an increasingly large impact on a wide range of industries, but its current use in the production of electricity and heat from biomass is limited. The potential impact of nanotechnology on bioenergy production through a literature review and interviews with industry members. Current technologies and methods in use were reviewed, with a focus on fuel handling and combustion systems. Areas in which problems existed were identified and nanotechnologies with properties relevant to those problems were examined. Basic economic analyses were also performed to determine the conditions for the economic viability of the nanotechnology solutions. Biodiesel can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels and successful studies have been carried out in different applications. Butchery wastes were used for the production of hydrocarbon gases and biodiesel. The economics of this novel process is much more cost competitive due to the cheap raw material (butchery waste) that contains high levels of fatty acids. Photocatalysis gave hydrocarbons of prime importance. The study reported an interesting finding that butchery waste could be used for not only the production of biodiesel but also for hydrocarbons. This technology differs from others in that it uses low energy input, cheap and reusable catalyst, with low sulfur and nitrogenous waste gases than petro-diesel and is environment-friendly.

Land Reformation Using Plant Growth–Promoting Rhizobacteria in the Context of Heavy Metal Contamination

Abstract Our environment is surrounded with toxic substances that affect everything in several forms, especially green plants, which are the lungs of nature but grown in soil. These noxious things pollute one of the most important medium of life in earth known as the rhizosphere, which is the largest habitat of rhizobacteria on Earth. It is found in and around the roots of crop plants, enhance the crop yield by several mechanisms, and remediate the rhizosphere by eliminating the metal contaminants from soil. These metal toxicants are absorbed mainly by accumulation and biotransformation. Metal contaminations in soil is a major result of human activities such as mining and can be differentiated into three categories on the basis of their properties: reactive oxygen species, overcrowding of functional groups of biomolecules, and displacement of functional groups leading to ecotoxicological risks. The ecotoxic effects of heavy metal contamination have the ability to destroy the receptive parts of the plants and rhizospheric microbes, because once they enter in the soil, they adversely affect the food web due to the biomagnifications. The foremost soil pollutants are Al, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead, antimony, and selenium. The removal of soil contaminants using plant growth–promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is believed to be more efficient in comparison to the traditional methods because their activity persists and they have a diversity of soil microorganisms to sustain healthy environment. PGPR are known to affect heavy metals in ways such as phosphate solubilization, chelation, acidification, and redox changes ultimately changing the metal speciation, Production of phytohormones, N2 fixation, siderophores, and conversion of nutrients when they are either applied to seeds or incorporated into the soil to complete the phytoremediation process. Thus, the use of rhizobacteria in combination with plants could be a fast-developing field of research for land reform.

Synthesis and antimicrobial effects of colloidal gold nanoparticles against prevalent waterborne bacterial pathogens

Abstract Gold is being used therapeutically since 2500 BC in Chinese medical history. Red colloidal gold is still used in the Indian Ayurvedic medicine for rejuvenation and revitalization during old age under the name of Swarna Bhasma. The present research describes a more reliable method for assaying growth inhibition of some waterborne bacterial pathogens by gold nanoparticles. The gold nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical method using auric chloride as a precursor salt and sodium citrate as a reducing as well as stabilizing agent. Characterization of Au NPs was performed using UV–Vis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and TEM (transmission electron microscope). Further, these nanoparticles were tested against four well-explored waterborne bacterial pathogens viz., E. coli, V. cholerae, S. typhimurium, S. dysenteriae, using globally accepted broth microdilution method recommended by CLSI, which exhibited a good antibacterial potency demonstrated in the form of IC50 and MIC. Subsequently, a novel phylogenetic approach for reducing the cost of experimentation was also carried out. In future, Au NPs can be used in making a water purifier system or kit.