Showing papers by "T.S. Chandra published in 2008"

Production of surfactant and detergent-stable, halophilic, and alkalitolerant alpha-amylase by a moderately halophilic Bacillus sp. Strain TSCVKK.

Abstract: A moderately halophilic alkalitolerant Bacillus sp. Strain TSCVKK, with an ability to produce extracellular halophilic, alkalitolerant, surfactant, and detergent-stable alpha-amylase was isolated from soil samples obtained from a salt-manufacturing industry in Chennai. The culture conditions for higher amylase production were optimized with respect to NaCl, substrate, pH, and temperature. Maximum amylase production of 592 mU/ml was achieved in the medium at 48 h with 10% NaCl, 1% dextrin, 0.4% yeast extract, 0.2% tryptone, and 0.2% CaCl2 at pH 8.0 at 30 °C. The enzyme activity in the culture supernatant was highest with 10% NaCl at pH 7.5 and 55 °C. The amylase that was partially purified by acetone precipitation was highly stable in various surfactants and detergents. Glucose, maltose, and maltooligosaccharides were the main end products of starch hydrolysis indicating that it is an alpha-amylase.

Structural divergence of bacterial communities from functionally similar laboratory-scale vermicomposts assessed by PCR-CE-SSCP.

Abstract: Aims: To evaluate bacterial community structure and dynamics in triplicate vermicomposts made from the same start-up material, along with certain physico-chemical changes. Methods and Results: The physico-chemical parameters (pH, temperature, carbon, nitrogen, soluble substances and cellulose) evolved similarly in the triplicate vermicomposts, indicating a steady function. The 16S bacterial gene abundance remained constant over time. To monitor changes in the bacterial community structure, fingerprinting based on capillary electrophoresis single-strand conformation polymorphism was employed. A rise in bacterial diversity occurred after precomposting and it remained stable during the maturation phase. However, a rapid shift in the structure of the bacterial community in the vermicompost replicates was noted at the beginning that stabilized with the process maturation. Multivariate analyses showed different patterns of bacterial community evolution in each vermicompost that did not correlate with the physico-chemical changes. Conclusions: The broad-scale functions remained similar in the triplicates, with stable bacterial abundance and diversity despite fluctuation in the community structure. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study has demonstrated that microbial fingerprinting with multivariate analysis can provide significant understanding of community structure and also clearly suggests that an ecosystem’s efficacy could be the outcome of functional redundancy whereby a number of species carry out the same function.

High power density from Pt thin film electrodes based microbial fuel cell.

Abstract: Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) are robust devices capable of taping biological energy, converting sugars into potential sources of energy. Persistent efforts are directed towards increasing power output. However, they have not been researched to the extent of making them competitive with chemical fuel cells. The power generated in a dual-chamber MFC using neutral red (NR) as the electron mediator has been previously shown to be 152.4 mW/m2 at 412.5 mA/m2 of current density. In the present work we show that Pt thin film coated carbon paper as electrodes increase the performance of a microbial fuel cell compared to conventionally employed electrodes. The results obtained using E. coli based microbial fuel cell with methylene blue and neutral red as the electron mediator, potassium ferricyanide in the cathode compartment were systematically studied and the results obtained with Pt thin film coated over carbon paper as electrodes were compared with that of graphite electrodes. Platinum coated carbon electrodes were found to be better over the previously used for microbial fuel cells and at the same time are cheaper than the preferred pure platinum electrodes.