Department of Biotechnology

About: Department of Biotechnology is a government organization based out in New Delhi, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Silver nanoparticle. The organization has 4800 authors who have published 5033 publications receiving 82022 citations.

Biobutanol – An impending biofuel for future: A review on upstream and downstream processing tecniques

Abstract: Driven by the increase in industrialization and population, the global demand for energy and material products is steadily growing. Since the world primary sources for energy and chemicals are fossil fuels, this growth raises significant issues at environmental, economic and social levels. To meet the increasing demand of energy sources, biomass resources are extremely promising. For the sustainable production of renewable energy, the production of biobutanol through ABE fermentation was investigated by upstream and downstream processing techniques. ABE fermentation was achieved using Clostridium species whose genes help in the conversion of biomass into butanol. Further, genetic engineering techniques are used to modify these organisms to increase the yield of butanol. Biobutanol is found to be efficient fuel compared to other known biofuels both by physical and chemical properties. In order to accomplish the increasing demand of this fuel; selection of species, identification of subtrates, pre-treatment, genetic engineering techniques and various downstream processing techniques (pervaporation, gas stripping, etc.) are inculcated which are been discussed in this review. This review also focuses on economics of biobutanol across the globe.

Natural Anti-biofilm Agents: Strategies to Control Biofilm-Forming Pathogens.

Abstract: Pathogenic microorganisms and their chronic pathogenicity are significant concerns in biomedical research. Biofilm-linked persistent infections are not easy to treat due to resident multidrug-resistant microbes. Low efficiency of various treatments and in vivo toxicity of available antibiotics drive the researchers toward the discovery of many effective natural anti-biofilm agents. Natural extracts and natural product-based anti-biofilm agents are more efficient than the chemically synthesized counterparts with lesser side effects. The present review primarily focuses on various natural anti-biofilm agents, i.e., phytochemicals, biosurfactants, antimicrobial peptides, and microbial enzymes along with their sources, mechanism of action via interfering in the quorum-sensing pathways, disruption of extracellular polymeric substance, adhesion mechanism, and their inhibitory concentrations existing in literature so far. This study provides a better understanding that a particular natural anti-biofilm molecule exhibits a different mode of actions and biofilm inhibitory activity against more than one pathogenic species. This information can be exploited further to improve the therapeutic strategy by a combination of more than one natural anti-biofilm compounds from diverse sources.

Larvicidal and adulticidal activities of some medicinal plants against the malarial vector, Anopheles stephensi (Liston).

Abstract: The present study was undertaken to test the efficacy of 11 commonly available medicinal plants and compare its efficacy in relation to larvicidal and mosquitocidal activities against larvae and adults of Anopheles stephensi (Liston). All the medicinal plants and the mixture were effective against larvae of A. stephensi as evidenced by low lethal concentration and lethal time. The lethality varied in adults and plant extracts of mixture; Eucalyptus globulus, Cymbopogan citratus, Artemisia annua, Justicia gendarussa, Myristica fragrans, Annona squamosa, and Centella asiatica were found to be most effective. Larval mortality between 80% and 100% was observed in mixture treatment, C. asiatica and E. globulus. The adults that emerged from all the treatments were malformed. Further, the treated larvae showed significant decrement in the levels of protein, carbohydrate, and lipids and affect negatively the presence of certain amino acids. The present findings have important implications in the practical control of mosquito larvae and adults in the aquatic ecosystem as the medicinal plants studied are commonly available in large quantities. These plant extracts are easy to prepare, inexpensive, and safe for mosquito control which might be used directly as larvicidal and mosquitocidal agents in small volume aquatic habitats or breeding sites of around human dwellings.