Saulius Grigiškis

Usage of Plants for Fat-Polluted Soil Treatment

Abstract Following the complex technology for greasy waste utilization, which is under development, two stages of fat degradation – biodegradation and phytoremediation – were applied for treatment of fat-polluted soil. Biodegradation was used in the first stage, and phytoremediation was applied for degradation of residual fat and final restoration of soil structure. The latter technology was used to evaluate the ability of three following species of herbaceous plants to degrade fat in soil: red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.), and hybrid ryegrass (Lolium hybridum Hausskn.). The evaluation after the stages of phytoremediation showed that hybrid ryegrass was the most effective in fat degradation in soils with high initial fat concentrations (100 g/kg and 55.1 g/kg), i.e. 53% and 67% respectively. With lower initial fat contents in soil (up to 12.7 g/kg), the best ability in fat degradation was determined in hybrid ryegrass and red clover, i.e. 76%. Application of stag...

Technology for Treatment of Lipid-Rich Wastewater and Pipelines Clogged by Lipids Using Bacterial Preparation

Abstract The complex, effective and innovative cleaning technology for lipid-rich wastewater and pipelines contaminated by lipids, was developed. For this purpose, laboratory experiments were performed to verify the efficiency of bacterial preparation (Enterobacter aerogenes E13, Arthrobacter sp. N3 and Bacillus coagulans S1) to degrade the grease in water and in drainpipes. The results showed that selected microorganisms intensively degrade grease to light odourless precipitate, water and CO2, thus could be applied in industry. For optimization of technological cleaning processes, the response surface methodology was used. The optimal parameters for biological model wastewater treatment were determined: concentration of grease − 4.5–6.0 g/l, amount of bacterial preparation −5.5–6.0%, pH – 8–9. Due to optimization, the grease degradation rate increased by 20–30%. The optimization of drainpipe cleaning technology was achieved in two stages. During the first stage, the experiments were performed in laborato...

The effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae β-glucan on proliferation, phagocytosis and cytokine production of murine macrophages and dendritic cells

Abstract β-Glucan is a natural carbohydrate, which is produced by the variety of different organisms – bacteria, fungi, plants, etc. β-Glucan from different sources has been recognized as an active material, which is an immune stimulator for plants, invertebrates and mammals. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the baker’s yeast, is one of the commonly used sources of β-1,3-glucan. The aim of the present work was to investigate how the different S. cerevisiaeβ-glucan preparations affect proliferation, phagocytosis and cytokine production of murine macrophages and dendritic cells. In our experiments, BALB/c macrophages and dendritic cells were treated with different β-glucan preparations in vitro. Then cell proliferation (AlamarBlue reagent), ability to phagocytose zymosan particles and production of IL-12 and IFNγ (Western blot) were investigated. Our results showed that β-glucan preparations stimulated proliferation of BALB/c macrophages and dendritic cells in vitro, but acted on phagocytosis and cytokine synthesis in different ways. This study demonstrated that S. cerevisiae β-glucan preparations propelled proliferation of the murine macrophages and dendritic cells and influenced phagocytosis and cytokine production of these cells. These effects can depend on the size of β-glucan molecules.

Different saccharomices cerevisiae β-glucans preparation's effect on murine dendritic cells

Nowadays non-cellulosic, β-glucans from the different source are intensively investigated due to the fact that these biological polymers are recognized as potent immunological stimulators for the mammals immune system. Dendritic cells are the most important antigen presenting cells for activating naive T cells. The research goals of the recent investigation were to determine how the different molecular weight Saccharomyces cerevisiae β- glucan preparations affect such properties of the murine DC as phagocytosis, proliferation and cytokine synthesis in vitro.