There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly used to target bacteria as an alternative to antibiotics. Nanotechnology may be particularly advantageous in treating bacterial infections. Examples include the utilization of NPs in antibacterial coatings for implantable devices and medicinal materials to prevent infection and promote wound healing, in antibiotic delivery systems to treat disease, in bacterial detection systems to generate microbial diagnostics, and in antibacterial vaccines to control bacterial infections. The antibacterial mechanisms of NPs are poorly understood, but the currently accepted mechanisms include oxidative stress induction, metal ion release, and non-oxidative mechanisms. The multiple simultaneous mechanisms of action against microbes would require multiple simultaneous gene mutations in the same bacterial cell for antibacterial resistance to develop; therefore, it is difficult for bacterial cells to become resistant to NPs. In this review, we discuss the antibacterial mechanisms of NPs against bacteria and the factors that are involved. The limitations of current research are also discussed.

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The antimicrobial activity of nanoparticles: present situation and prospects for the future

The use of herbal medicinal products and supplements has increased tremendously over the past three decades with not less than 80% of people worldwide relying on them for some part of primary health care. Although therapies involving these agents have shown promising potential with the efficacy of a good number of herbal products clearly established, many of them remain untested and their use are either poorly monitored or not even monitored at all. The consequence of this is an inadequate knowledge of their mode of action, potential adverse reactions, contraindications and interactions with existing orthodox pharmaceuticals and functional foods to promote both safe and rational use of these agents. Since safety continues to be a major issue with the use of herbal remedies, it becomes imperative, therefore, that relevant regulatory authorities put in place appropriate measures to protect public health by ensuring that all herbal medicines are safe and of suitable quality. This review discusses toxicity related-issues and major safety concerns arising from the use of herbal medicinal products and also highlights some important challenges associated with effective monitoring of their safety.

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The growing use of herbal medicines: issues relating to adverse reactions and challenges in monitoring safety

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are the rhizosphere bacteria that can enhance plant growth by a wide variety of mechanisms like phosphate solubilization, siderophore production, biological nitrogen fixation, rhizosphere engineering, production of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase (ACC), quorum sensing (QS) signal interference and inhibition of biofilm formation, phytohormone production, exhibiting antifungal activity, production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), induction of systemic resistance, promoting beneficial plant-microbe symbioses, interference with pathogen toxin production etc. The potentiality of PGPR in agriculture is steadily increased as it offers an attractive way to replace the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other supplements. Growth promoting substances are likely to be produced in large quantities by these rhizosphere microorganisms that influence indirectly on the overall morphology of the plants. Recent progress in our understanding on the diversity of PGPR in the rhizosphere along with their colonization ability and mechanism of action should facilitate their application as a reliable component in the management of sustainable agricultural system. The progress to date in using the rhizosphere bacteria in a variety of applications related to agricultural improvement along with their mechanism of action with special reference to plant growth-promoting traits are summarized and discussed in this review.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR): emergence in agriculture

Elements Of X Ray Diffraction

© The Author(s) 2019. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Abdalrahim et al. J Pure Appl Microbiol, 13(3), 1349-1362 | September 2019 Article 5769 | https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.13.3.06

Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of Exopolysaccharide Producing Bacteria Isolated from Fermented Fruits, Vegetables and Dairy Products

Plant root linked bacteria that live on the plant roots as ectophytes or endophytes and can directly boost plant development through augmenting nourishment absorption of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other important minerals or changing the level of phytohormones and indirectly by diminishing the harmful impact of different phytopathogens in the form of biological control and competition for colonization sites on plants are designated as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Therefore, the application of such PGPR in the form of single or mixed bioinoculants can reduce the reliance on synthetic fertilizers without decreasing the crop productivity. Despite their potential to enhance crop productivity and improve crop protection, PGPR still have to cover a long distance to compete as effective bioinoculants. Therefore, there is urgent need to learn the functional diversity of PGPR for sustainable crop production. Keeping in view the author attempted to review the recent progress associated with functional diversity of PGPR along with their mode of action.

Functional Diversity of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria: Recent Progress and Future Prospects

In vitro influence of certain essential oils on germ tube formation, cell surface hydrophobicity, and production of proteinase and hemolysin in Candida albicans

Deciphering the interaction of plumbagin with human serum albumin: A combined biophysical and molecular docking study

Plastic materials have become a necessity of human life especially in the packaging of food commodities and biomedical procedures. Bioplastic is emerging as an effective alternative to fossil oil-based materials to avoid the environmental hazards of the plastic industry. During this study, chicken feathers were used as a substrate to isolate keratin degrading bacteria. Among 14 identified isolates, Bacillus sp BAM3 was found to be the most promising isolate. Partial 16S rDNA analysis-based molecular characterization revealed it is a strain of Bacillus cereus. Bacillus sp BAM3 can grow and produce keratinase in feathers containing basal medium as the sole carbon and energy source. The maximum keratinase production (730U/ml) was achieved within 24 h under optimum reaction conditions. The optimized reaction pH and temperature were noted as 9.0 and 50 °C for crude keratinase activity, respectively. The chicken feathers were used as a substrate in 2, 5, and 10 wt% glycerol to synthesize keratin-based bioplastic with keratinolytic bacterium Bacillus cereus BAM3. Bioplastic prepared from keratin with 2% of glycerol was found to possess good mechanical properties. Therefore, the results present a novel keratinolytic isolate of Bacillus cereus BAM3, which may have potential biotechnological applications in keratin hydrolysis processes. The development of keratin-based bioplastics possessing superior crystalline morphology requires further investigations to substitute fossil oil-based materials.

Iqbal Ahmad

Papers

Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of Exopolysaccharide Producing Bacteria Isolated from Fermented Fruits, Vegetables and Dairy Products

Functional Diversity of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria: Recent Progress and Future Prospects

In vitro influence of certain essential oils on germ tube formation, cell surface hydrophobicity, and production of proteinase and hemolysin in Candida albicans

Deciphering the interaction of plumbagin with human serum albumin: A combined biophysical and molecular docking study

Bio-plastic Films Production from Feather Waste Degradation by Keratinolytic Bacteria Bacillus cereus