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.

Polymorphism in cytochrome P450 2A6 and glutathione S-transferase P1 modifies head and neck cancer risk and treatment outcome.

Abstract: A case control study was carried out to investigate the association of functionally important polymorphism in cytochrome P450 2A6 ( CYP2A6 ) and glutathione S-transferase P1 ( GSTP1 ) genes with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and treatment response in cases receiving a combination of chemo-radiotherapy. The study group consisted of 350 males suffering from HNSCC and an equal number of male controls. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed statistically significant decrease in risk to HNSCC in cases with variant genotypes ( CYP2A6*1B and CYP2A6*4C ) of CYP2A6 (OR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.43–1.22; P = 0.04) or GSTP1 (OR: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.51–1.00; P = 0.05). The risk associated with these variant genotypes was found to be further decreased in cases carrying a combination of variant genotypes of CYP2A6 and GSTP1 (OR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.25–0.65; P = 0.00). A similar decrease in risk was observed in cases with variant genotypes of CYP2A6 (OR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.40–0.86; P = 0.00) or GSTP1 (OR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.42–0.91; P = 0.01) and who were regular tobacco users (cigarette smokers or tobacco chewers). Interestingly, only 27% of the cases carrying the variant forms of CYP2A6 ( *1A / *4C + *1B / *4C + *4C / *4C ) responded to the treatment for HNSCC when compared to those with wild-type genotype (69%). However with GSTP1 , cases with homozygous mutant genotype ( Val / Val ) showed a superior treatment response (75%) when compared to cases with wild-type genotype (25%). Further, cases carrying a combination of variant genotype of CYP2A6 and wild-type genotype of GSTP1 exhibited a very poor treatment response demonstrating that polymorphisms in CYP2A6 and GSTP1 not only modified the risk to HNSCC but also played a major role in determining the chemotherapeutic response.

Immobilization of amyloglucosidase from SSF of Aspergillus niger by crosslinked enzyme aggregate onto magnetic nanoparticles using minimum amount of carrier and characterizations

Abstract: Immobilizations of enzymes are done for operational stability, recovery and re-use of the enzymes and easy separation of products. Amyloglucosidase (AMG) obtained from solid state fermentation (SSF) of Aspergillus niger was directly immobilized by novel technique of crosslinked enzyme aggregate onto magnetic nanoparticles. AMG was covalently linked to the magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) to form a monolayer of AMG (MNP–AMG), followed by crosslinked aggregates with free AMG (which was not immobilized) to yield MNP with high enzyme loading (MNP–AMG n ). Under optimized conditions, very high recovery (92.8%) of enzyme activity was obtained in MNP–AMG n using 14 times less carrier compared to the quantity of carrier required by conventional method. MNP–AMG n showed enhanced affinity for substrate, thermal stability, storage stability and reusability.

Microbial technologies for heavy metal remediation: effect of process conditions and current practices

Abstract: Heavy metal (HM) contamination is a persisting environmental problem in many countries. The major sources of soil contamination due to heavy metals (HMs) include pesticides, organic compounds, paints, waste generation by industrial (including small and medium enterprises) and mining activities. The remediation of soils contaminated with HMs is essential, given the fact that the latter causes direct and indirect damage to living organisms and the environment. There have been efforts to tackle the indefinite persistence of HMs in the soil for a long time; however, the problem persists due to a surge in HM utilization and lack of proper technologies for their eradication. To prevent HM contamination in the environment, novel, resilient ecotechnologies are necessary to remove and recover HMs from contaminated water and soil environments. Microbial bioremediation offers a cost-effective solution for the treatment of environmental sites contaminated with HMs. Microbes have the capacity to degrade environmental pollutants through their metabolic activity. Microbial degradation of HMs proceeds through diverse processes, such as biosorption, bioleaching, biomineralization, biotransformation and intracellular accumulation. The use of genetically modified microorganism with increased bioremediation potential, biomining using hybrid technologies and omics-based approaches is helpful to explore the realms of HM bioremediation. The implementation of these (bio) technologies has assisted in restoring soil contaminated by HMs and in protecting the environment. This review compiles information on the recent advances and applications of microbe-mediated bioremediation of soils contaminated with HMs.

Diversity of root associated microorganisms of selected medicinal plants and influence of rhizomicroorganisms on the antimicrobial property of Coriandrum sativum.

Abstract: The total heterotrophic bacteria, actinomycetes and fungus were enumerated from the rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil of 50 selected locally available medicinal plants in and around Bharathiar University. In all the plants, population of microorganism were higher in the rhizosphere soil than in the non rhizosphere soil. Among the microorganisms, bacterial population was higher in number followed by fungus and actinomycetes. Of the medicinal plants, the maximum rhizosphere effect was observed in Annona squamosa and the minimum effect was seen in Eclipta alba and Cassia auriculata. Among the bacteria the dominant species was Bacillus followed by Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Corynebacterium, Micrococcus and Serratia. The Streptomyces species was found to be dominant followed by Deuteromycetes and Frankia among the actinomycetes. Among the fungal isolates Rhizopus was found to be higher in number followed by Aspergillus, Penicillium, Mucor and Fusarium. About 70.96% of the bacterial isolates were found to be nitrate reducers and 90.60% of the bacteria solubilised phosphate. The rhizosphere bacterial isolates were also capable of hydrolyzing starch, cellulose, casein, urea and gelatin. The isolates of bacteria, actinomycetes and fungus were also able to produce phytohormone Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). The maximum IAA production was recorded by Fusarium sp (5.8 mg/l). The rhizosphere bacterial isolates showed resistance to 14 commercially used antibiotics. In an attempt to check the influence of these plant growth promoting microorganisms on the antimicrobial property of Coriandrum sativum against Escherichia coli MTCC-443 and Aeromonas hydrophila MTCC-646, the results observed was not encouraging since the inoculants did not influence the antibacterial property. However extensive and in depth study is required to find out the influence of rhizomicroorganisms on the antibacterial property of medicinal plants. The other results clearly indicated that the rhizosphere microorganisms could be exploited for its innumerable properties and active metabolites.