Journal of Applied Biotechnology Reports
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Winter 2017

Catalase is an antioxidant enzyme that has various applications in different indus- tries, such as food, dairy, textile, etc. Alkaline catalase is suitable in this regard. Kocuria sp. ASB107 is a radio-resistant bacterium that has been isolated from Ab- e-siahspring in Ramsar (Mazandaran Province, Iran). This bacterium is able to produce relative high amounts of alkaline catalase and hence this catalase has the potential for industrial applications. Production of enzyme in a short time and with low expenses is of a great importance. Lag phase of Kocuria sp. ASB107 growth takes a long time in TSB medium (about 13 hours). In order to achieve the highest rate of bacterial growth, 5% inoculum size of cells was used in the middle loga- rithmic phase and as a result, bacterial lag phase decreased to 2 hours. On the other hand, for economic production of catalase, sugar beet molasses was used as a cheap carbon source. Several factors effecting bacterial growth and enzyme activity were selected for the optimization of catalase production by Kocuria sp. ASB107 using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on the Central Composite Design (CCD). Four variables (carbon source, nitrogen source, agitation, and inoculum size) were selected for the optimization studies. Results showed that Kocuria sp. ASB107 exhibits optimum rate of catalase activity (3399.08 U/ml) and bacterial biomass (6.904 g/L) with carbon source 3% v/v, nitrogen source 0.5% w/v, inocu- lum size 7.5% v/v, and agitation 200 rpm.

Stem cells are valuable for cell therapy. One of the important disadvantages of stem cells for cell therapy is stem cell senescence. Based on the reports, cell division causes telomere attrition and shortening which this in turn leads to cell senescence. Telomeres are short sequences at the both end of chromosomes that hinder chromo- somal attachment. Since pluripotency of stem cells reduces by each cell division, one can conclude that the telomere shortening of stem cell by passaging is inevita- ble. Here we decided to evaluate the relation between the telomere length and cell passages in human adipocyte stem cells (hAdSCs) by qPCR and Southern blotting. For this purpose, first the AdSCs were isolated from adipocyte tissue by collage- nase digestion. Then isolated hAdSCs were subjected to flow cytometry to purify hAdSCs from the rest of adipocyte cells by means of expression of surface markers such as CD105, CD90, CD73 and CD43. Purified hAdSCs were subcultured till appropriate passages (passage 2 and 17). Genomic DNA of appropriate passages were extracted and subjected to both qPCR and Southern blotting for telomere length measurement. Based on the results, hAdSCs telomere length in the passage 2 was much longer than passage 17. Moreover, the longer telomere length in passage 17 was confirmed by Southern blot. Our results indicated that telomeres attrition occur in hAdSCs by each cell division.

The aim of the present work was to investigate the feasibility of employing the molecular imprinting polymer technique for detecting diazinon using magnetic molecularly imprinted nanoparticles. The magnetic molecularly imprinted nanopar- ticles were prepared in the presence of a template diazinon molecule. These nano- particles exhibited a linear response in the range of 2-20 ppm (y= 0.2634×Cdiazinon - 0.0575, R2=0.9892) for detection of diazinon. The adsorption kinetics and iso- therms and the selectivity efficiencies of diazinon and other structurally related analogues were investigated by HPLC-UV as well, respectively. The results showed that the magnetic molecularly imprinted nanoparticles have high adsorption capacity, controlled selectivity, and direct magnetic separation in aqueous envi- ronments. The results indicates that the spiked recoveries were changed from 73 to 85%, and the RSD was lower than 11.91

Researchers need continuously improve their views on mechanisms of salt toler- ance in crop plants in order to overcome their limitations and improve yields under stress conditions including salt stress. One of the most important methods of con- trolling stresses in plants is through making adjustments during the process of gene transcription. Transcription factors adjust the degree of expression in many genes by binding to DNA and are thus very important in salt tolerance of plants. There- fore, the present research studied the role of transcription factors bHLH, CBF4, and Zpt2-1in salt tolerance by investigating their expression patterns under salt stress in the leaf and root tissues of the Yazdi (salt tolerant) and the Diabloverde (sensitive to salinity) genotypes of Alfalfa. Results showed that short-term salt stress affects on expression patterns of the CBF4, Zpt2-1, and bHLH genes in leaf and root tis- sues of both genotypes. Using qRT-PCR (Real-Time PCR) analysis, it was shown that the transcription factors Zpt2-1 and CBF4 in the salt tolerant genotype (Yazdi) were expressed at a higher level in root tissues. In other words, it seems that higher expression levels of the transcription factors Zpt2-1 and CBF4 were accompanied by greater salt tolerance. This finding can help plant breeders to use these transcrip- tion factors for selecting salt-tolerant genotypes in alfalfa.

Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped bacte- rium and member of the Enterobacteriaceae family. E. coli is common in various infections, including hospital-acquired urinary tract infections. Ceftriaxone and ceftazidime are most commonly-used antibiotics to treat infections caused by Ente- robacteriaceae. The purpose of this study was to determine the antimicrobial resis- tance pattern of E. coli strains isolated from patients referred to the selected hospit- als in Zahedan by tracing the blaTEM beta-lactamase gene. Over a 12 month period, 200 clinical samples were examined. Antibiotic susceptibility was deter- mined by disk diffusion test and microdilution method and the presence of bla TEM gene was evaluated by PCR. 130 isolates were potentially extended-spectrum beta- lactamase-producing and 72 isolates contained the TEM gene. The results of the present study indicate a high rate of antibiotic resistance among E. coli isolates to ceftriaxone and ceftazidime. Therefore, it is recommended to perform antibiogram tests before prescribing antibiotic therapy.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties and thus offer a potentially attractive therapeutic option for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of extracellular enzymes that play a key role in the pathogenesis of MS. It is unclear whether MSCs affect MMPs or not. In this study, we evaluated the effect of Human Wharton’s Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hWJ-MSCs) on gene expression of MMPs in EAE mice.We isolated hWJ-MSCs based on explant culture. HWJ-MSCs were injected on days 3 and 11 after EAE induction. In the peak phase of disease (day 22) and 50 days after EAE induction, the brains were harvested and the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) genes in brain of EAE mice was studied. HWJ-MSCs significantly decreased the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 genes but increased gene expression of TIMP-1 in brain of EAE mice. Our finding open new perspectives for understanding the mechanisms of MSCs in treatment of MS.

Multicellular organisms of the human and animal bodies such as skin, bones, ten- dons, cartilage and blood vessels have collagen as a fibrous element. Collagen is a most representative protein of the leather wastes and collagenase is a proteolytic enzyme. The collagenase is responsible for the degradation of native collagen to small peptide fragments, without affecting the other proteins. Collagenase has widespread applications such as cosmetics, wound healing, diabetic ulcer, arterial ulcers and burns surgery, etc. In the present study, Twenty-seven collagenase- producing microorganisms were identified and isolated from soil/sewage samples of the fish market and slaughterhouse areas. CS-20 sample was found most effi- cient producer microorganism of collagenase. This sample was identified from Pseudomonas genus and isolated as Pseudomonas species. The parameters such as temperature, substrate, pH, incubation period and inoculum percentage were also optimized to screen the hyper producer strain with maximum collagenase activity. CS-20 isolate (Collagenase producing microorganism) was capable of hydrolyzing other protein substrates such as gelatine and azocoll. Thus, CS-20 isolate is high- efficiency strain for the production of collagenase.