Bhuvnesh Shrivastava

Solid state bioconversion of wheat straw into digestible and nutritive ruminant feed by Ganoderma sp. rckk02

Solid state fermentation (SSF) of wheat straw with Ganoderma sp. rckk02 was carried out for 15 days for improving its digestibility and nutrients. Fungal growth caused a significant (P<0.05) decrease in acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), hemicellulose, lignin and cellulose content till 15th day. In vitro gas production (IVGP) test revealed that 10th day fermented feed possessed higher metabolizable energy (ME: 4.87 MJ/kg), in vitro organic matter digestibility (OMD: 334 g/kg) and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs: 1.82 mmol/g Dry Matter). The fermented feed was also evaluated in vivo in goats fed with either untreated wheat straw (T1) or fungal treated straw (T2). Dry matter intake (DMI), digestible crude protein (DCP), total digestible nutrients (TDN) and nitrogen (N) intake were found significantly (P<0.05) increased in T2 group. The study shows that fermentation of wheat straw with Ganoderma sp. rckk02 holds potential in improving its nutritive value.

Middle-redox potential laccase from Ganoderma sp.: its application in improvement of feed for monogastric animals

The variables influencing laccase production by white-rot fungus Ganoderma sp. rckk-02 were optimized employing response surface methodology. Malt extract (6.0% w/v), lignin (0.5% w/v) and pH (5.5) were found to be the most significant factors for enhanced laccase production by 7 fold (226.0 U/ml) as compared to unoptimized growth conditions (32.0 U/ml). The N-terminal sequence of laccase revealed its distinct amino acid profile (S- I- R- N- S- G), which suggested it as a novel enzyme. The Far-UV CD spectrum of the laccase showed single broad negative trough at around 213 nm, a typical signature of all β proteins. The laccase was found to fall in the range of middle redox potential laccases. Purified laccase at dosage of 2.5 Ug−1 body weight when supplemented with pelleted diet of rats, a significant improvement (p < 0.05) in nutrients digestibility without causing any elevation of blood stress enzymes was observed.

Isolation and partial characterization of actinomycetes with antimicrobial activity against multidrug resistant bacteria

Article history: Objective: To isolate strains of Actinomycetes from different locations of Gwalior to evaluate its antimicrobial activity against multidrug resistant pathogenic strains. Method: Soil samples collected from different niche habitats of Gwalior were serially diluted and plated on selective media. Potential colonies were further purified and stored in agar slants and glycerol stocks. Isolates were biochemically characterized and purified isolates were test against pathogenic microorganisms for screening. Isolates with antagonistic properties were inoculated in production media and secondary metabolites or antimicrobial products were extracted. Result: The seven actinomycetes strains showing maximum antibacterial activity were isolated further characterized based on their colony characteristics and biochemical analyses. The isolates were screened for their secondary metabolites activity on three human pathogenic bacteria are Escherichia coli (E. coli), Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE). Discussion: The strain MITS 1005 was found to be more active against the test bacteria.

Bioprocessing of wheat straw into nutritionally rich and digested cattle feed

Wheat straw was fermented by Crinipellis sp. RCK-1, a lignin degrading fungus, under solid state fermentation conditions. The fungus degraded 18.38% lignin at the expense of 10.37% cellulose within 9 days. However, when wheat straw fermented for different duration was evaluated in vitro, the 5 day fungal fermented wheat straw called here “Biotech Feed” was found to possess 36.74% organic matter digestibility (OMD) and 5.38 (MJ/Kg Dry matter) metabolizable energy (ME). The Biotech Feed was also observed to be significantly enriched with essential amino acids and fungal protein by fungal fermentation, eventually increasing its nutritional value. The Biotech Feed upon in vitro analysis showed potential to replace 50% grain from concentrate mixture. Further, the calves fed on Biotech Feed based diets exhibited significantly higher (p<0.05) dry matter intake (DMI: 3.74 Kg/d), dry matter digestibility (DMD: 57.82%), total digestible nutrients (TDN: 54.76%) and comparatively gained 50 g more daily body weight.

Microorganisms and Enzymes Involved in Lignin Degradation Vis-à-vis Production of Nutritionally Rich Animal Feed: An Overview

Lignocellulosics are the major structural component of woody and nonwoody plants and represent a major source of renewable organic matter. The plant cell wall consists of three major polymers: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Lignocellulose biomass, available in huge quantity, has attracted considerable attention as an alternate resource for pulp and paper, fuel alcohol, chemicals, and protein for food and feed using microbial bioconversion processes. The current industrial activity of lignocellulosic fermentation is limited because of the difficulty in economic bioconversion of these materials to value-added products. Lignin is degraded to different extents by variety of microorganisms including bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi, of which wood-rotting fungi are the most effective, white-rot fungi in particular. White-rot fungi degrade wood by a simultaneous attack on the lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose, but few of them are specific lignin degraders. The selective lignin degraders hold a potential role in economically bioconversion of plant residues into cellulose-rich materials for subsequent bioethanol and animal feed production. Different fungi adapt in accordance to conditions existing in the ecosystem and complete their task of carbon recycling of the lignified tissues, and some white-rot fungi have capability to completely mineralize it. It is known that white-rot fungi are able to perform lignin degradation by an array of extracellular oxidative enzymes, the best characterized of which are lignin peroxidase (LiP), manganese peroxidase (MnP), and laccase. However, the regulation of the production of individual enzymes and lignin degradation is a complex phenomenon. Unfortunately, even selected white-rot fungi take long in delignifying the lignocellulosic substrates. Therefore, it is necessary to improve these fungi for their ability to degrade lignin through various conventional and modern approaches. A considerable progress has been made in this direction during the past two decades; LiP, MnP, and laccase genes have been cloned, and an efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system has been developed, which will eventually help in successful expression of the desired protein. This chapter presents an overview of diversity of lignin-degrading microorganisms and their enzymes especially in developing animal feed. In addition to that, advances in molecular approaches to enhance the delignification capability of microorganisms are also discussed.

Biofuels: The Environment-Friendly Energy Carriers

Escalating globalisation, high demand for energy, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and depleting fossil fuel reserves have necessitated the search for alternative and sustainable energy carriers such as biofuels. Worldwide, the laboratories are engaged in extensive research for the development of different biofuels such as bioethanol, biodiesel, biohydrogen, biogas and advanced bioalcohols. This chapter provides an overview of bioprocessing of various types of biofuels.

Plant-Microbe Interaction and Genome Sequencing: An Evolutionary Insight

Abstract The survival of human population depends on the balance between the demand and supply of plant resources for food, feed, and fuels. Interestingly, plants are in continuous interaction with both aerial and terrestrial microbes, which creates a challenge for the crop productivity and evolution of new varieties. The opportunistic and avirulent plant microbial symbiont after strong colonization releases a variety of compounds that causes nonreversible changes to the plant genome, proteome, and secretome. Furthermore, the advancement in genome- and transcriptome-based studies on epiphytic, endophytic, phyllospheric, and rhizospheric microorganisms have transformed our understanding of many phytopathogens and have significantly broadened our knowledge of plant-microbe interactions.

Solid-State Bioconversion and Animal Feed Production: Present Status and Future Prospects

An overview of solid-state bioprocesses and its relevance to India is presented. The latest developments, existing problems, and future areas of research arising in methods of analysis, process optimization and scale-up, new reactor designs, instrumentation and control of solid-state bioprocesses, and systems analysis for screening and strain improvement have been discussed in detail. This chapter brings forth the need to integrate the biological and engineering sciences to catalyze the progress in this field to the next level where quantitative analysis, accuracy, and standardization will be achieved.