What are Marine Diatoms

Algae-mediated biosynthesis of inorganic nanomaterials as a promising route in nanobiotechnology – a review

Freshwater benthic diatoms of central Europe: over 800 common species used in ecological assessment. English edition with updated and added species.

Increasing public awareness of foodborne illnesses, factory farming and the ecological footprint of the meat industry, has generated the need for animal-free meat alternatives. In the last decade, scientists have begun to leverage the knowledge and tools accumulated in the fields of stem cells and tissue engineering towards the development of cell-based meat (i.e., clean meat). In tissue engineering, the physical and biochemical features of the native tissue can be mimicked; cells and biomaterials are integrated under suitable culture conditions to form mature tissues. More specifically, in skeletal muscle tissue engineering, a plurality of cell types can be co-cultured on a 3D scaffold to generate muscle fibers, blood vessels and a dense extracellular matrix (ECM). This review focuses on tissue engineering of skeletal muscle and the adjustments needed for clean meat development. We discuss the skeletal muscle structure and composition, and elaborate on cell types from farm animals that have the potential to recapitulate the muscle ECM, blood vessels, muscle fibers and fat deposits. We also review relevant biomaterials, primarily for fabricating scaffolds that can mimic the intramuscular connective tissues, as well as gene expression studies on the biological pathways that influence meat quality.

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Tissue Engineering for Clean Meat Production

Several methodologies have been devised for the design of nanomaterials. The "Holy Grail" for materials scientists is the cost-effective, eco-friendly synthesis of nanomaterials with controlled sizes, shapes and compositions, as these features confer to the as-produced nanocrystals unique properties making them appropriate candidates for valuable bio-applications. The present review summarizes published data regarding the production of nanomaterials with special features via sustainable methodologies based on the utilization of natural bioresources. The richness of the latter, the diversity of the routes adopted and the tuned experimental parameters have led to the fabrication of nanomaterials belonging to different chemical families with appropriate compositions and displaying interesting sizes and shapes. It is expected that these outstanding findings will encourage researchers and attract newcomers to continue and extend the exploration of possibilities offered by nature and the design of innovative and safer methodologies towards the synthesis of unique nanomaterials, possessing desired features and exhibiting valuable properties that can be exploited in a profusion of fields.

https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/4/1/14/pdf

Biosynthesis of Inorganic Nanoparticles: A Fresh Look at the Control of Shape, Size and Composition.

Relatively little is known about the feeding habit of the Royal Bengal Tiger of Sundarbans and the relative biomass of individual prey base species that the predator consumes during each kill. This is the first attempt to collect such data from the study area. Data sets of two phases have been used. Identification of undigested remains of 214 tiger scat samples was carried out. A comparison with Sundarbans tigers in zoo has been made. In its natural habitat, the tiger consumes more of spotted deer, followed by wild boar, rhesus monkey, and water monitor. Though the tiger consumes a relatively low proportion of small prey species to meet its dietary requirements, it gains importance in the present perspective. Significant increase is noted in the relative number of prey species consumed in the second phase, which correlates well with increased prey availability. Hypotheses formulated to find the difference in prey biomass and relative number of prey consumed have been tested statistically. A significant difference in terms of relative number of prey consumed only was derived which has been qualitatively correlated with the positive effect of increased vigilance, as revealed by secondary data, on conserving tiger habitat vis-a-vis the increased prey availability in Sundarbans.

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The Range of Prey Size of the Royal Bengal Tiger of Sundarbans

The present work is a study on the biological synthesis of cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanoparticles using blue-green algae that is popularly used as a food supplement. This synthesis is unique in the sense that no external sulphur precursor is required, the CdS nanoparticles are synthesized in situ in the algal medium. The CdS nanoparticles thus synthesized are photoluminescent and can act as highly efficient photocatalysts for degradation of the dye pollutant malachite green. Thus the CdS nanoparticles synthesized in situ in the algae conform to the desired criteria of waste water treatment i.e. biosorption of the pollutant and its subsequent degradation. The novelty of this work also lies in its potential for use in bioremediation by conversion of the toxic Cd(II) ion to less toxic CdS nanoparticles within the algal framework.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2053-1591/3/5/055007/pdf

Algae mediated synthesis of cadmium sulphide nanoparticles and their application in bioremediation

neerashen@yahoo.co.in Abstract Algae are popular sources of food, fodder, feed, fuel, fertilizers, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products, and other co-products. The reason for preferring algae as source of a wide array of commercial products is that provisions for algal biomass production for application in different fields are long-term, pro-environmental and sustainable. This is related to the numerous varieties of ways and places in which algae can grow naturally or can be cultivated for commercialization. The fact that different species of algae have traditionally been used as preferred food or delicacy throughout the world speaks volumes about the taste attributes of edible algae. However, the use of algae or its derivatives as taste or flavour enhancers has not been explored enough, though sporadic works and reports can be found worldwide. This review attempts to scout the role of algae in imparting flavours in various cuisines made from algae or algae derived products. Also a number of fish and marine organisms have been reported to have flavours which are considered to contain flavour-enhancing compounds derived from algae, with uniqueness in such tastes been attributed to algae. Contrary to this, few algae have also been reported to impart “off-flavour” in some marine organisms. The present review brings together all such available reports to open avenues in bio-prospecting algae for extracting natural flavour enhancing products to enhance flavours of food items deficit in these appetitestimulating flavours. Further, this review could stimulate research on “off-flavour” producing algae to remove distaste or toxicity imparting compounds by modification of biochemical pathways.

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Algae as Source of Natural Flavour Enhancers - A Mini Review

School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, 188 Raja S.C. Mallick Road, Kolkata700032, West Bengal, India Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Ocean Valley, Pragathi Nagar (BO), Nizampet (SO), Hyderabad 500 090, India Department of Botany, University of Kalyani, Kalyani-741235, Nadia, West Bengal, India National Remote Sensing Centre, Department of Space, Government of India, Balanagar, Hyderabad – 500 037, India

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Microphytoplankton species assemblages, species-specific carbon stock and nutrient stoichiometry in the shallow continental shelf of the northern Bay of Bengal during winter

The study highlights the dynamics and morphological characteristics of the Genus Planktoniella Schutt. The two available species P. sol (Wallich) Schutt. and P. blanda (Schmidt) Syvertsen and Hasle are important components of the phytoplankton assemblage in the estuarine system of Indian Sundarbans and also marine systems elsewhere. The sampling sites for the purpose of this study include four different spots along a riverine stretch in the estuarine region adjacent to the Tiger Reserve in the Indian Sundarbans flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Integrated phytoplankton samples were preserved for the purpose from composite water samples from each site. The water samples were analysed in field for determining pH, temperature, salinity, conductivity, TDS, turbidity and DO and subsequent to treatment and processing, the samples were microscopically analysed in the laboratory. Significant negative correlation of cell count of both species found with respect to temperature and turbidity. P. sol versus temperature (significant at α = 0.01, p = 0.001) and P. blanda versus temperature (significant at α = 0.05, p = 0.037); P. sol versus turbidity (at α = 0.05, p = 0.019) and P. blanda versus turbidity (at α = 0.05, p = 0.019). Significant positive correlation found with respect to DO and as correlation between the two species themselves. A model has been generated for each of the two species with temperature, turbidity and DO as predictor variables and the two species of Planktoniella as response variables. The influence of other dominant phytoplankton in the samples has also been considered with Pearson correlation computed for each set of species.

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Neera Sen Sarkar

Papers

The Range of Prey Size of the Royal Bengal Tiger of Sundarbans

Algae mediated synthesis of cadmium sulphide nanoparticles and their application in bioremediation

Algae as Source of Natural Flavour Enhancers - A Mini Review

Microphytoplankton species assemblages, species-specific carbon stock and nutrient stoichiometry in the shallow continental shelf of the northern Bay of Bengal during winter

Seasonal dynamics of the genus: Planktoniella Schutt in the estuarine waters of Indian Sundarbans.