Research Publications (Food Safety)

Systemic candidiasis is the fourth leading cause of healthcare-associated infections worldwide. The combination therapy based on existing antifungal agents is well-established to overcome drug resistance and restore antifungal efficacy against drug-resistant strains.

Nitrogenase-dependent H2 production by photosynthetic bacteria, such as Rhodobacter capsulatus, has been extensively investigated. An important limitation to increase H2 production using genetic manipulation is the scarcity of high-throughput screening methods to detect possible overproducing mutants. Previously, we engineered R. capsulatus strains that emitted fluorescence in response to H2 and used them to identify mutations in the nitrogenase Fe protein leading to H2 overproduction.

One of the major mechanisms underlying plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is the lowering of ethylene level in plants by deamination of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) in the environment. In the present study, using ACC as the sole nitrogen source, we screened seven ACC deaminase-producing bacterial strains from rhizosphere soils of tea plants. The strain with the highest ACC deaminase activity was identified as Serratia marcescens strain JW-CZ2.

A newly isolated alkaline protease-producing myxobacterium was isolated from soil. The strain was identified as Pyxidicoccus sp. S252 on the basis of 16S rRNA sequence analysis. The extracellular alkaline proteases produced by isolate S252 (PyCP) was optimally active in the pH range of 11.0–12.0 and temperature range of 40–50°C The zymogram of PyCP showed six caseinolytic protease bands. The proteases were stable in the pH range of 8.0–10.0 and temperature range of 40–50°C.

Beneficial 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase-producing bacteria promote plant growth and stress resistance, constituting a sustainable alternative to the excessive use of chemicals in agriculture. In this work, the increased plant growth promotion activity of the ACC deaminase-producing Pseudomonas thivervalensis SC5, its ability to limit the growth of phytopathogens, and the genomics behind these important properties are described in detail. P.

One path toward identifying effective and easily accessible antifungals is to repurpose commonly used drugs. Amiloride, a widely used diuretic, inhibits different isoforms of Na+/H+ exchangers, Na+ channels, and Na+/Ca2+ exchangers. Here, we found that amiloride had poor antifungal activity against isolates of Cryptococcus prompting the examination of the amiloride analog, HMA [5-(N,N-hexamethylene)amiloride].