Abstract: This research article deals with biodegradation of azo dyes by a newly isolated bacterial strain from activated sludge. Azo dyes are recalcitrant to the conventional modes of treatment due to their complex structure. This article reports decolorization of azo dye by, Bacillus subtillis ETL-1979. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the important physical parameters screened by Placket–Burman design. Five physical parameters such as pH, temperature (°C), dye concentration (mg/L), inoculum size % (v/v) and time (h) were tested by using Placket–Burman design criterion and all five parameters showed significant effect (P < 0.05) on decolorization of azo dye orange using Bacillus subtillis ETL-1979. The values of parameters was optimized by applying central composite design (CCD) and the most suitable values for orange dye decolorization by Bacillus subtillis ETL-1979, as predicted by the statistical tool, was pH 6.9; temperature 37.0°C; dye concentration 517 mg/L, inoculum size, v/v, (%) 5.5 % and time 23.7 h. At these optimum levels of parameters, bacterial decolorization of orange dye by 94.48% was obtained under static conditions. Biodegradation and decolorization of azo dye, orange, was confirmed using UV-VIS spectrophotometry, thin layer chromatography (TLC) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron spray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) analysis.

Abstract: Objectives: To study the prevalence of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from patients with pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Materials and Methods: A total of 178 extra pulmonary clinical specimens were collected from patients suspected with extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) and again 2,048 sputum samples from 1030 patients with clinical evidence of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) were collected in SRM Hospital and Research Centre of Kanchipuram District. Both pulmonary and extrapulmonary specimens were stained by Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) method. All sputum AFB smear positive specimens and 178 extrapulmonay clinical specimens were cultured in Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium. All Mycobacterial isolates were identified by standard protocols and were tested by conventional drug susceptibility method using absolute concentration method. Results: Out of 1030 clinically suspected pulmonary tuberculosis patients, 125 (12.13%) patients were smear positive for AFB. Among these 125, 76 (54.4%) were positive for Mycobacterium species cultured on LJ medium. Out of 76 mycobacterial isolates, 68 (89.4%) were M. tuberculosis and 8 (10.52%) were non tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Of 178 extrapulmonary clinical specimens, 10 (5.6%) were direct AFB smear positive and 6 (3.37%) were positive for M. tuberculosis on LJ medium. All 74 M. tuberculosis isolates (68 pulmonary isolates and 6 extrapulmonary isolates) were tested for first line anti-TB drugs by conventional drug susceptibility method. Three (4.05%) M. tuberculosis isolates were resistant to rifampicin, isoniazid and ethambutol. All the three multidrug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB) strains were isolated from pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Conclusion: In this hospital area, 4.05 percentage of MDR-TB isolates were reported in culture positive PTB cases.

Abstract: This study was conducted to isolate cellulose degrading bacteria from mangrove soil of Mahanadi river delta, Odisha, India and also to evaluate their cellulase production ability. Results showed that in total fifteen cellulose degrading bacteria were isolated based on their halo zone formation on congored agar medium. Their maximum carboxymethylcellulose hydrolysis capacities (HC value) were ranged from 1.18 to 2.5 cm. A CMCase test of these fifteen isolates showed that their enzyme activity ranged from 2.471 to 98.253 U/ml/min. From the morphological, aand biochemical characterisation, the isolates were identified as Micrococcus spp., Bacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., Xanthomonas spp. and Brucella spp.

Abstract: Bacterial homeostasis depends on an array of physical and chemical stimulants. Current investigation assessed the impact of one of such factors, the speed of aeration, on cell viability and culturability of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp. and Bacillus spp. Each of the bacterial strain was incubated at 37°C with a shaking speed of 0, 100 or 200 rotation per minute (rpm) separately up to 72 hours, with a simultaneous monitoring of morphological changes and cell culturability. All bacterial species were found to optimally grow at 100 rpm whereas at 0 rpm growths of E. coli and Pseudomonas spp. were bit slower compared to that of Bacillus spp. The capacity to form colony forming units (CFUs) of E. coli and Pseudomonas spp. on Luria Burtani (LB) agar plates were observed to be inhibited after 36 hours of growth at 200 rpm; i.e., approximately 3-log reduced CFUs than those formed by Bacillus spp. Besides, morphologically impaired cells were observed for the former two bacteria cultivated at 200 rpm. Taken together, it is assumed that the high speed shaking might evolve the oxidative stress endogenously which possibly rendered the cells lose their culturability.

Abstract: Cellulase is composed of more than one distinctive enzymes which can degrade cellulose and is produced by a wide variety of fungal and bacterial species and the enzyme is transported across the cell membrane to the outside environment. The product of cellulose degradation is known to form glucose and important monomer highly used in food industry for producing various commercial products including alcohol. The problem lies in converting lipid rich cellulose source or cellulose from plants with a higher quantity of unsaturated fatty acids. This problem has created a need of finding bacteria capable of cellulose digestion without the inhibitory effects of lipids and poly-unsaturated fatty acids. To solve this problem, bacterial specie was isolated from a soil rich in oil, since it was collected from a petrol pump with little trace of vegetative cover. Also, due to lack of oxygen there was a chance of acclimatization of the bacteria and developing itself as an anaerobe. The cellulomonas medium was optimized by using different amino acids, Carbon sources, and Nitrogen sources. Extracted crude cellulase was subjected to change in pH, incubation temperature and metal ion supplementation and was inferred that Cysteine proved to be the best amino acid supplement followed by maltose being a good carbon supplement and ammonium chloride for nitrogen. At 60 ˚C and pH 7.15 the crude cellulase yielded higher glucose. Also a supplementation of Cobalt and Manganse enhanced the cellulase production enlightening the way that it may be used in traces for any metabolic pathway feeding the cellulase production. The colonies producing the crude cellulase had been tested on Whatman No.1 filter paper and have been found to grow colonied utilizing the filter paper as substrate. This infers the ability of the bacterium to produce cellulase and decay cellulose even at stressful conditions. The enhanced cellulase has negligible effect of poly-unsaturated fatty acids and capable of cellulose digestion from a diverse source.