Muhammad Afzal Ghauri

Removal and recovery of uranium from aqueous solutions by Ca-alginate immobilized Trichoderma harzianum

The ability of Ca-alginate immobilized Trichoderma harzianum has been explored for removal and recovery of uranium from aqueous streams. Ca-alginate as polymeric support was selected after screening different matrices. Immobilization of Trichoderma harzianum to Ca-alginate improved the stability as well as uranium biosorption capacity of biosorbent at 28+/-2 degrees C and 200 rpm. The suitability of packed bed column operations was illustrated by obtaining break through curves at different bed heights, flow rates and inlet uranium concentrations. The adsorption column containing 1.5 g dry weight of immobilized material has purified 8.5L of bacterial leach liquor (58 mg/LU) before break through occurred and the biosorbent became saturated after 25 L of influent. Sorbed uranium was recovered in 200 ml of 0.1N HCl resulting in 98.1-99.3% elution by 0.1N HCl, which regenerated the biosorbent facilitating the sorption-desorption cycles for better economic feasibility without any significant alteration in sorption capacity/elution efficiency.

Chitosan: A potential biopolymer for wound management

It has been seen that slow healing and non-healing wounds conditions are treatable but still challenging to humans. Wound dressing usually seeks for biocompatible and biodegradable recipe. Natural polysaccharides like chitosan have been examined for its antimicrobial and healing properties on the basis of its variation in molecular weight and degree of deacetylation. Chitosan adopts some vital characteristics for treatment of various kinds of wounds which include its bonding nature, antifungal, bactericidal and permeability to oxygen. Chitosan therefore has been modified into various forms for the treatment of wounds and burns. The purpose of this review article is to understand the exploitation of chitosan and its derivatives as wound dressings. This article will also provide a concise insight on the properties of chitosan necessary for skin healing and regeneration, particularly highlighting the emerging role of chitosan films as next generation skin substitutes for the treatment of full thickness wounds.

Analysis of the dibenzothiophene metabolic pathway in a newly isolated Rhodococcus spp.

Out of 17 samples collected from diverse environments, 110 bacterial isolates of varied characteristics were screened for their dibenzothiophene-desulphurizing activity. A single isolate, Eu-32, originating from a soil sample taken from the roots of a eucalyptus tree, displayed dibenzothiophene-desulphurizing activity. This isolate metabolized dibenzothiophene to 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2-HBP), as detected by HPLC, and was also able to use other organic sulphur compounds as a sole sulphur source. Based on morphological, biochemical and molecular studies, it was found that the organism belongs to the genus Rhodococcus, with a maximum of 95% identity to species in this genus for the partial sequence of the 16S rRNA gene. Isolate Eu-32 could desulphurize 0.2 mM dibenzothiophene to 2-HBP in 72 h at a temperature of 30 degrees C and pH 7.0. The structure and molecular mass of metabolites produced from dibenzothiophene desulphurization were identified by GC-MS, and two sulphur-free products, 2-HBP and biphenyl, were detected in ethyl acetate extract. It was concluded that isolate Eu-32 is a unique desulphurizing biocatalyst that desulphurizes dibenzothiophene through an extended, sulphur-specific degradation pathway with the selective cleavage of C-S bonds.

Characterization and potential applications of gamma irradiated chitosan and its blends with poly(vinyl alcohol)

Naturally available chitosan (CHI), of high molecular weight, results in reduced efficiency of these polymers for antibacterial activity. In this regard, irradiation is a widely used method for achieving reduction in molecular weight of polymers, which may improve some of its characteristics. Chitosan was extracted from crab shells and degraded by gamma radiations. Effect of radiation dose on chitosan was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Furthermore, the irradiated chitosan was blended with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and crosslinked with tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) into membranes. The membranes were found to be smooth, transparent and macroporous in structure, exhibiting high tensile strength (TS: 27-47 MPa) and elongation at break (EB: 292.6-407.3%). The effect of molecular weight of chitosan and chitosan blends on antibacterial activity was determined. Irradiated low molecular weight chitosan and membranes showed strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.

Polyhexamethylene biguanide functionalized cationic silver nanoparticles for enhanced antimicrobial activity

Polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB), a broad spectrum disinfectant against many pathogens, was used as a stabilizing ligand for the synthesis of fairly uniform silver nanoparticles. The particles formed were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, dynamic light scattering, electrophoretic mobility, and TEM to measure their morphology and surface chemistry. PHMB-functionalized silver nanoparticles were then evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against a gram-negative bacterial strain, Escherichia coli. These silver nanoparticles were found to have about 100 times higher bacteriostatic and bactericidal activities, compared to the previous reports, due to the combined antibacterial effect of silver nanoparticles and PHMB. In addition to other applications, PHMB-functionalized silver nanoparticles would be extremely useful in textile industry due to the strong interaction of PHMB with cellulose fabrics.

Biodiversity and phylogenetic analysis of culturable bacteria indigenous to Khewra salt mine of Pakistan and their industrial importance

Culturable bacterial biodiversity and industrial importance of the isolates indigenous to Khewra salt mine, Pakistan was assessed. PCR Amplification of 16S rDNA of isolates was carried out by using universal primers FD1 and rP1and products were sequenced commercially. These gene sequences were compared with other gene sequences in the GenBank databases to find the closely related sequences. The alignment of these sequences with sequences available from GenBank database was carried out to construct a phylogenetic tree for these bacteria. These genes were deposited to GenBank and accession numbers were obtained. Most of the isolates belonged to different species of genus Bacillus, sharing 92-99% 16S rDNA identity with the respective type strain. Other isolates had close similarities with Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus arlettae and Staphylococcus gallinarum with 97%, 98% and 99% 16S rDNA similarity respectively. The abilities of isolates to produce industrial enzymes (amylase, carboxymethylcellulase, xylanase, cellulase and protease) were checked. All isolates were tested against starch, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), xylane, cellulose, and casein degradation in plate assays. BPT-5, 11,18,19 and 25 indicated the production of copious amounts of carbohydrates and protein degrading enzymes. Based on this study it can be concluded that Khewra salt mine is populated with diverse bacterial groups, which are potential source of industrial enzymes for commercial applications.

Production of tylosin in solid‐state fermentation by Streptomyces fradiae NRRL‐2702 and its gamma‐irradiated mutant (γ‐1)

Aims:  To develop solid‐state fermentation system (SSF) for hyper production of tylosin from a mutant γ‐1 of Streptomyces fradiae NRRL‐2702 and its parent strain.

Exploring Coal Biodesulfurization Potential of a Novel Organic Sulfur Metabolizing Rhodococcus spp. (Eu-32) – A Case Study

ABSTRACT Coal is one of the most abundant nonrenewable fossil fuels, in Pakistan. However, in general, the quality of coal is too low to offset the practical, economic, and regulatory barriers to its utilization. High sulfur content comes up as one of the bottlenecks in productive usage of indigenous coal. Biotechnology can emerge as a panacea for upgrading the huge reserves of high sulfur coal. In current study, the sulfur removal potential of Rhodococcus spp. (Eu-32) was investigated using coal from Dukki, Baluchistan, Pakistan. Biodesulfurization process was optimized for various parameters and maximum decrease of 40% and 60% in total and organic sulfur contents, respectively were achieved in 15 days. The Langmuir and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface areas of the biotreated coal were increased by 20 and 16 times, respectively. Scanning electron microscope showed higher tendency of attachment of bacterial cells to the coal particles. Our results revealed that Eu-32 could remove significant amounts of organic sulfur from coal and could be used in the pre-combustion operations with appropriate arrangements.

Coal methanogenesis: a review of the need of complex microbial consortia and culture conditions for the effective bioconversion of coal into methane

Microbial biodegradation of coal into low-molecular-weight compounds such as methane has been extensively researched in the last two decades because of the underlying environmental and industrial applications of this technique as compared to the chemical and physical methods of coal conversions. However, the irregular structure of coal and the need for complex microbial consortia under specific culture conditions do not make this biotransformation an ideal process for the development of anaerobic bioreactors. The most abundant species in a methanogenic culture are acetoclastic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens which utilize acetate and H2+CO2, respectively. Medium- to low-rank coals such as high-volatile bituminous, sub-bituminous and lignite are more promising in this bioconversion as compared to semi- and meta-anthracite coals. While covering the details of the ideal culture conditions, this review enlightens the need of research setups to explore the complex microbial consortia and culture conditions for maximum methane production through coal methanogenesis.

Isolation of Coal Degrading Fungus from Drilled Core Coal Sample and Effect of Prior Fungal Pretreatment on Chemical Attributes of Extracted Humic Acid

Fungal degradation of low rank coal has appeared as an alternative technique for exploitation of non-fuel options. A fungal isolate, MW1, was isolated and coal sample was subjected to fungal pretreatment. The residual coal was processed for extraction of humic acid for determining the effect of such pretreatment. Extracted humic acid was analyzed on the basis of elemental composition and spectroscopy. Fungal pretreatment caused improvement in oxygen content, E4/E6 ratio, and absorption bands related to humic materials. Conclusively, pretreatment resulted in improving chemical attributes of humic acid molecule, thus, warranting supplementary high-tech investigations for the optimization of process upscale.