Zhu XJ^†, YF Hu^†, X Chen, YH Wang, WP Fang, XH Li

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.83, pp. 57-63, 2014, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2014.83.057

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antagonistic activity of two endophytic fungal strains, Pseudocercospora kaki and Penicillium sclerotiorum, isolated from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, against the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe grisea. The inhibitory activity of the two endophytes against M. grisea in dual-culture was compared with that in monoculture. It was confirmed that the broth and its ethyl acetate extract of the dual-culture had a much stronger inhibition activity against M. grisea than the monocultures of P. kaki and P. sclerotiorum. The antagonism index of the broth and ethyl acetate extract from dual-culture to the mycelial… More >

Manilal¹ A, S Sujith², J Selvin³, C Shakir⁴, G Seghal Kiran⁵

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.78, pp. 161-166, 2009, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2009.78.161

Abstract The antibacterial property of the red algae, Falkenbergia hillebrandii (Born) collected from the southwest coast of India (Indian Ocean) was evaluated against three multidrug resistant human pathogens. Four different solvents: ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, methanol and phosphate buffer saline (PBS) were used with this purpose. Dried samples extracted with methanol showed broadest and highest antimicrobial activity when compared to other solvents. However, PBS extract showed no antibacterial activity. The highly active compounds red alga, F. hillebrandii were fractionated and purified using different chromatographic systems, including reverse phase HPLC and GCMS. The analysis revealed that the most abundant metabolite was the oleic… More >

Mahmoud MOUSTAFA^{1, 2}, Saad ALAMRI¹, Mohamed ELNOUBY³, Tarek TAHA⁴, M. A. ABU-SAIED⁵, Ali SHATI¹, Mohamed AL-KAHTANI¹, Sulaiman ALRUMMAN¹

BIOCELL, Vol.42, No.3, pp. 93-98, 2018, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2018.07014

Abstract Water contaminated with pathogenic microbes is considered as one of the most common routes for transmitting diseases in human beings. Different methods have been applied for the decontamination of microbes in contaminated water. In the current study, an easy to do hydrothermal method has been used for the preparation of TiO₂-Ag nanoparticles. The obtained material was characterised using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR). The morphological appearance of the obtained nanoparticles was in the shape of a sphere with a size range of 60-90 nm. The antimicrobial activity of the prepared nanoparticles was tested against… More >

Haifeng WANG^{1, 2, 3} , Hongxuan HE²

BIOCELL, Vol.42, No.2, pp. 47-54, 2018, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2018.07006

Abstract The emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes among Bacteria are a serious threat to global health. Their occurrence in animals which are in contact with humans is also important. The Chinese cobra (Naja atra, Elapidae), though a highly venomous species, is appreciated as food and as a source of materials used in traditional Chinese medicine. We are here reporting the isolation of multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (Enterobacteriaceae) from the lung of Naja atra, obtained from a snake farm in a Beijing suburb. Our study analyzed, using gene sequencing, the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in three K. pneumoniae… More >

Rakesh Kumar^1,*, Reshma Praveen¹, Shikha Rani¹, K. Sharma², K. P. Tiwary^3,*, K. Dinesh Kumar⁴

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.8, pp. 749-761, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.06286

Abstract ZnSe nanoparticles have been synthesized by microwave assisted method by using zinc chloride, selenium powder and ethylene diamine. The synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized structurally by FT-IR and XRD as well as morphological characterization was done by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The crystallite size after synthesis was obtained around 30 nm for pure ZnSe nanocrystallites. However, from SEM micrograph, agglomerated ZnSe nanoparticles of irregular shapes were observed. The as-synthesized ZnSe nanoparticles at different contents (1 to 5% w/w w.r.t SPI) were incorporated into soy protein isolate (SPI) to produce reinforced SPI films by solution casting method. The ZnSe nanoparticles incorporated… More >

Bahaa T. Shawky¹, Mohammed Nagah¹, Mosad A. Ghareeb², Gamal M. El-Sherbiny³, Saad A. M. Moghannem³, Mohamed S. Abdel-Aziz^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.7, pp. 667-682, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.04524

Abstract Rice straw (RS) collected from Egyptian agricultural environment (Al-Masied village-Alsharqia Governorate-Egypt) was used as substrate for three fungal isolates namely: 4b, 1Asp, Pleurotus ostreatus NRRL 3501 and mixed culture of (4b, 1Asp). Isolates number 4b and 1Asp were identified using the molecular technique (18S rRNA). Isolate 4b and 1Asp, were identified as Trichoderma saturnisporum MN1-EGY and Aspergillus niger MN2-EGY, respectively. Trichoderma saturnisporum MN1-EGY extract exhibited the highest antimicrobial activity compared to the other fungal extracts. Total phenolic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were also determined from the ethyl acetate extract of rice straw inoculated by these fungi. The antioxidant scavenging concentration(SC50)… More >

Murat Kaya^1,*, Idris Sargin¹, Povilas Mulerčikas², Jalel Labidi³, Asier M. Salaberria³, Yavuz S. Cakmak¹, Sonata Kazlauskaitė², Demet Erdonmez⁴, Vykintas Baublys⁵

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 215-226, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00002

Abstract Hylobius abietis is a plant parasitic insect belonging to the order Coleoptera and which causes severe damages to coniferous forests in Northern and Eastern Europe. This current study is aimed to provide a new viewpoint into the waste of this insect by producing chitosan. Dry insect corpses consisted of 27.9% chitin and 86.2% of the chitin was converted into the chitosan. FT-IR spectra analyses confirmed the purity and the deacetylation degree of the produced chitosan (molecular weight of chitosan; 7.3 kDa). This chitosan exhibited antimicrobial activity against 18 bacterial strains. Further, biodegradable chitosan composite films with β-carotene were produced. Antioxidant… More >

Rakesh Kumar^1,*, Priya Rani¹, K. Dinesh Kumar²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.2, pp. 103-115, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00027

Abstract Soy protein isolate (SPI) biopolymeric films were prepared by adding different contents of mandelic acid (1 to 5% wrt SPI) to glycerol plasticized SPI by solution casting method. Also, SPI was fermented by Bacillus subtilis to get fermented SPI films by solution casting. Molecular mass determination of mandelic acid incorporated and fermented SPI films was carried out by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Mandelic acid incorporated and fermented SPI films were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile strength, water uptake and optical transmittance studies. Results indicated that incorporation of mandelic acid in SPI resulted… More >

Sawsan Dacrory^1*, Hussein Abou-Yousef¹, Ragab E. Abou-Zeid¹, Samir Kamel¹, Mohamed S. Abdel-Aziz², Mohamed Elbadry³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.5, pp. 536-547, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634190

Abstract Carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogels were developed through crosslinking process using eco-friendly crosslinkers such as maleic, succinic, and citric acids. Carboxymethyl cellulose was prepared from the cellulosic fraction of olive industry residues. A series of hydrogels with varying crosslinker acid concentrations, reaction times, and reaction temperatures was produced to study the swelling capacities and gel fraction of the obtained hydrogels. Additional study pertains to the preparation of antimicrobial nanocomposite hydrogels through in-situ incorporation of the silver nanoparticles during the crosslinking reaction. Silver nanoparticles were prepared by reduction of AgNO3with leaves of Ricinus communis. The particle size of prepared silver nanoparticles was detected… More >

Karolina Villalobos¹, Hider Rojas¹, Rodolfo González-Paz², Daniel Brenes Granados², Jeimmy González-Masís², José Vega Baudrit^1,3, Yendry Regina Corrales-Ureña^1*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.3-4, pp. 189-198, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634109

Abstract Because starch is a biodegradable polymer with low cost and wide availability it is an attractive material for producing edible films for fruits. Films produced with pure starch have the disadvantage of being fragile. To overcome this issue, propolis nanoparticles were used as a novel plasticizer. Mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of the films containing 0.5, 1 and 3 wt.% propolis nanoparticles were evaluated. The best performance was obtained using 0.5 wt.% propolis, increasing the Young’s modulus and decreasing the glass transition temperature (Tg), showing their plasticizing effect. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM)… More >