Screening of high efficient cellulose-decomposing microorganisms

Hou Yong1,2*, Wang Qiang-Feng1, 2, Chen Qiang1, 3, Xia Zhong-Mei2 and Zhu Peng-Ling2

In this study, liquid enrich culture using filter paper and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose as sole carbon sources was prepared and ten gram of soil samples collected from different sites was inoculated and incubated, respectively. By using continuous enrich culturing process, three high efficiency cellulosedegrading microbial strains JSB1, JSA1 and JSF1 were screened and their phylogenic position were determined. The results of 16S rDNA sequencing showed that bacterial strain JSB1 belonged to Bacillus sp. and actinomycete strain JSA1 belonged to Streptomyces sp. respectively. Based on the morphology and ITS fragment sequence, fungal strain JSF1 was determined as Trichoderma longibrachiatum. Confrontation tests revealed that there was no antagonistic phenomenon among these three strains. The compound inoculants consisted of those three strains at ratio 1:1:1 and its cellulose activity reached to 300U/ml. Adding 5% of compound inoculants and 2% of urea as nitrogen source with rice straw, the fermentation was done. The results showed that after 15 days’ fermentation, the weight loss rate of rice straw achieved 53.91% and the degrading rates of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin were 37.55%, 56.65% and 14.78% respectively. These results suggested that these strains can be used as straw-degrading strains.

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Rapid Kinetics of Bromination of Nitrophenols in Aqueous Solution by the use of RPE

Bhore J. B., Dangat V.T., Borkar V.T. and Gatkul B.I.*

The kinetic study of the bromination of ortho, meta and para nitrophenols in aqueous solution at 7 pH by molecular bromine at 26.0 oC has been carried out. The rapidity of the reactions necessitated a special technique to follow the kinetics wherein the decaying concentration of bromine was followed by measuring the diffusion limited current at a platinum microcapthode rotated at 600 rpm versus an anode. The specific reaction rates determined from this study are found to be 7294, 6147 and 9286 M-1 s-1 respectively for ortho, meta and para- nitrophenol. These values have been invoked to justify the predicted relative reactivities of nitrophenols in aqueous solution in electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions.

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Demineralization of sub-bituminous coal by fungal leaching: A structural characterization by X-ray and FTIR analysis

Manoj B.1* and Elcey C.D.2

The filamentous fungi, A. niger, A. flavus and Penicillium spp were studied for their ability to demineralise the low rank Indian coals. The FTIR spectra of coals showed the presence of stretching vibrations of –OH bond, aliphatic –CH, -CH2 and – CH3 absorptions, C=C and –CH of aromatic structure and mineral groups. X-ray analyses revealed that coal consists of crystalline carbon of turbostratic structure. The average lateral sizes (La), stacking height (Lc) and the interlayer spacing (d002) of the crystallite structure were calculated which ranged from 343.64 to 1.5, 223.20 to 22.54 and 3.35 to 3.60Å respectively. The structure of coal was modified to a product similar to that of pure graphite after leaching with Penicillium spp. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of coal revealed a layer like structure on the surface.

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Dye decolorization by Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Polyphenol Oxidase immobilized into Alginate Beads

Usluoglu A. and Arabaci G.*

Wastewater from textile industries represents a serious problem all over the world. They contain different types of synthetic dyes which are mostly toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic. Unfortunately, conventional wastewater treatments are ineffectual at removing dyes and involve high cost, formation of hazardous by-products and intensive energy requirements. Recently, enzymatic approach has attracted much interest in the removal of phenolic pollutants from aqueous solutions. In this work, Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) polyphenol oxidase immobilized on calcium alginate beads was used for the successful and effective decolorization of textile industrial effluent. Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzyme was extracted from dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and immobilized on calcium alginate beads. The immobilized and free enzymes were employed for the decolorization of acid and metal complex dyes. Dye solutions of acid and metal complex dyes were prepared in the concentration 100 mg/L in distilled water and incubated with free and immobilized Dandelion PPO for one hour. The percent decolorization was calculated by taking untreated dye solution. Immobilized PPO was significantly more effective in decolorizing of the dyes as compared to free enzyme. Our results showed that the immobilized Dandelion PPO enzyme could be efficiently used for the removal of synthetic dyes from industrial effluents.

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Determination of total antioxidant capacity and total phenolic compounds of Helianthus annuus L. growing in Turkey

Karasakal A.

L- Ascorbic acid (AA: vitamin C) is the most important vitamin for human nutrition supplied by fruits and vegetables and is the main water-soluble antioxidant in human plasma. AA is reversibly oxidized to form dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) which also exhibits biological activity. As a potent antioxidant, AA scavenges reactive oxygen species including superoxide, protects isolated LDL against oxidative modification and plays an important role in the regulation of intracellular redox status. Helianthus Annuus L. is also a good source of manganese, magnesium, copper, tryptophan, phosphorous, zinc, selenium, foliate, iron, potassium, calcium, vitamin E, thiamine, vitamin B1, niacin , riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6 and traces of Vitamin C . The aim of this study was to measure antioxidant capacity and total phenolic compounds of Helianthus Annuus L., collected from different regions by using CERAC (ceric reducing antioxidant capacity) and CUPRAC (cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity) method. The results of total antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds were found in the range of 0.012-0.254 mmol AA/g and 1043-1120 mg GA /100g

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Effect of natural zeolite on bioavailability and leachability of heavy metals during rotary drum composting of green waste

Singh Jiwan*, Prasad Ravi and Kalamdhad Ajay S.

Presence of heavy metals in compost is the major limiting factor for agricultural applications. Natural zeolites have the ability to take up readily available fractions of metals by utilizing ion exchange. The effect of natural zeolite on heavy metal bioavailability and leachability was assessed during water hyacinth composting mixed with cattle manure and sawdust. The water hyacinth, cattle manure and sawdust were taken in 6:3:1 ratio with 5, 10 and 15% natural zeolite and composted in rotary drum for 20 days. The concentrations of nutrients and total heavy metals were increased during the process. Addition of natural zeolite enhanced the composting process and reduced the water solubility, diethylene triamine penta acetic acid (DTPA) extractability and leachability of heavy metals in the final compost. Water soluble concentration of Ni, Pb and Cd and DTPA extractable concentration of Pb and Cd were not detected during the composting process. Addition of appropriate amount of natural zeolite significantly reduced the bioavailability and leachability of heavy metals during water hyacinth composting process.

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New Xanthoneand Coumarin Derivatives from Chemical Constituents of Mesua beccariana

Ee G. C. L.,1* Teh S. S.,1 Mah S. H.1,2 and Sukari M.A.1

Our ongoing research focusing on the phytochemical studies of the stem bark of Mesua beccariana has resulted in the isolation of a xanthone, (1) mesuarianone and (2) a coumarin, beccamarin. Structural modifications were carried out on mesuarianone and beccamarin to provide three acetylated derivatives. The acetylation of mesuarianone afforded the new mono and diacetate derivatives which were identified as (3) mesuarianone acetate A and (4) mesuarianone diacetate B. On the other hand, the acetylation reaction of beccamarin successfully yielded (5) beccamarin acetate, another new compound. The characterizations of these compounds were achieved through spectroscopic techniques such as 1D and 2D NMR, UV, FTIR and GC-MS.

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Effect of Pt loading onto ball-milled TiO2 on the visiblelight photocatalytic activity to decompose rhodamine B

Hyunho Shin* and Tae-Hoon Byun

The effect of Pt loading on the visible-light photocatalytic activity of ball-milled and as-received TiO2(P-25, Degussa) is investigated from the viewpoint of decomposingrhodamine B in aqueous solution. Ball milling is shown to be a more efficient processing route than Pt loading from the viewpoint of increasing visible-light photoactivity of TiO2. When Pt is loaded to the ball milled TiO2, the photocatalytic activity is improved further. Both ball milling and Pt loading act synergistically to facilitate the rate of RhB de-ethylation on the surface of the photocatalyst imposing notably increased visible-light photoactivity onto TiO2.

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The influence of a newly synthesized Iron (II) Dithiocarbamate Complex on Fungi Phomopsis viticola and Wilsonomyces carpophilus

Trifunović S. R.1, Bulatović D.2, Latinović N.3 and Leka Z.2*

The iron (II)-complex with 3-dithiocarboxy-3-aza-5-aminopentanoate threehydrate was synthesized and characterized by IR and UV spectroscopy. The composition of the complex was determined by elemental analysis and by measuring of the magnetic moment and conductivity. Antifungal activity of the obtained complex was performed against pathogenic fungi Phomopsis viticola and Wilsonomyces carpophilus.

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Removal of Cr (VI) from spiked soils by electrokinetics

Vivek Kumar1 and Chithra K.2*

This paper presents the result of a laboratory investigation performed for the removal of chromium by electrokinetic method from spiked soils (kaolin, loam and sand) Electrokinetic experiment were conducted for chromium concentration of 500, 1000, 1500mg/kg and a constant voltage gradient of 1.0 VDC/cm was supplied. The effect of enhanced oxalic acid (0.3N) on the electro kinetic remediation processes was studied. The result showed that the percentage removal of Cr (VI) from the contaminated soils enhanced to 82%, 63.8% and 69% for kaolin, loam and sand respectively when oxalic acid was used as purging solution.

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Three-Component Reaction between 4-Hydroxy Quinazoline Dialkyl Acetylene dicarboxylates and Alkyl Isocyanides: Synthesis of Highly Functionalized Ketenimines and 1-Azadienes

Mohtat B.,1* Shahmaghsood N.,1 Jamshidi F.1 and Djahaniani H.2

The 1:1 reactive intermediates generated by the addition of alkyl isocyanides to dialkyl acetylene dicarboxylates were trapped by 4-hydroxyquinazoline to yield highly functionalized ketenimines 1-azabuta-1,3- dienes.

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A DFT study on the structural and electronic properties of Barium Sulfide nanoclusters

Chandiramouli R.

The realistic clusters of BaS were completely optimized using B3LYP/LanL2DZ basis set. The possible structures such as linear, ring and three dimensional structures were optimized for the structural stability using calculated energy and binding energy. The dipole moment and point symmetry were also studied for different structures. The electronic properties were studied with the help of HOMO-LUMO gap, ionization potential and electron affinity. The information reported for various structures of BaS will give an insight tosynthesizea proper structure which will find its potential importance in engineering applications.

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Non-target organism species sensitivity distributions to oxytetracycline in water

Zhao Xiu-Juan1,2, Ma Rong-Cai1 and Li Zhao-Jun2*

Tetracyclines (TCs), a group of structurally-related antibiotics are widely used to treat bacterial infectious and to promote animal growth in livestock and poultry breeding. They are difficult to be degraded in soils. To illustrate the different responses of crop and aquatic organisms to TCs and assess the risk of OTC to organisms in environment, oxytetracycline (OTC) was selected as model compound and ten plants were selected to test their responses to OTC by hydroponics at the level of 0.0, 0.8, 1.6, 3.2, 6.4, 12.8, 25.6, 51.2 and 120.4 mg L-1. EC50 and EC10 of OTC for ten plants ranged from 20.80 to 0.85 mg L-1 and 0.01 to 1.33 mg L-1 respectively. The largest EC50 value for barley was 24.47 times as high as the smallest EC50 value for broomcorn. The largest EC10 value for mung beans was 133 times as high as the smallest EC10 for broomcorn. The responses of different plants to OTC can be well described by BurrIII function. The hazardous concentration for 5% of the species (HC5) was 500.00 g L-1. The different toxicity of OTC to aquatic organisms was found. The fish is the most resistant to OTC and Algae (A. cylindrica) is the most sensitive to OTC among all the aquatic organisms collected in the present paper. The hazardous concentrations for 5% of the species (HC5) based on EC50 and NOEC were 30.00 g L-1 and 5.40 g L-1 respectively. The mean concentration of OTC in surface water ranged from 0.01μg•L-1 to 72.91 μg•L-1. The potential affected fractions (PAF) values for aquatic organisms ranged from 0.73% to 6.91%. OTC in Nanchang farms wastewater and Shanghai piggery wastewater had the potential hazards to aquatic organisms with PAF values exceeding 5.0 % threshold.

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Microwave Versus Ultrasound assisted Synthesis of Some Acyclonucleobase based on Uracil Moiety using DMAP as a Catalyst

Lahsasni Siham A.

In order to accelerate the acylation and alkylation reactions, DMAP has been used as a catalyst. The introduction of microwave and ultrasound heating has greatly impacted on many aspects of chemical synthesis.In this study, 1-(Bromo-alkanoyl)-1Hpyrimidine- 2,4-dione, (2',4'-dioxo-3',4'-dihydro-2'H pyrimidin-1'-yl)-oxo-alkanoic acid and bis(2',4'- dioxo-3',4'-dihydro-2'H-pyrimidin-1'-yl)-alkanone were successfully prepared via electrophilic substitution of uracil and its derivatives using different methods. High yields and very pure products were obtained when microwave and ultrasound methodologies were used for undertaking the reactions. Importantly, using DMAP, in the present investigation, gave rise to higher conversion of the starting material than many commonly used catalysts including K2CO3 for alkylation and AlCl3 for acylation reactions. Furthermore, DMAP afforded facile access for regioselective N-1 products.

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