Miller McKay (spoonfoot9)

Oligofructans are potential biological substances that due to their distinctive properties have a positive health-promoting effect. This research aimed to produce oligofructans using sugarcane juice fermentation with Bacillus subtilis TISTR 001 and to study the prebiotic properties in vitro. The results showed that the maximum total oligofructans in the form of free fructose was 2.57% (w/v) at the 84th hour of fermentation with 0.17 g/g reducing sugar and a production yield of 0.031 g/L/h and maximum levansucrase activity of 1.57 × 106 U/mL at that time. The oligofructans contained in the fermented juice had potential functional ingredients that exhibited prebiotic properties that could resist the digestion of enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract under in vitro conditions with digestion of only 6.92%. In addition, the fermented juice promoted the growth of prebiotics, especially Bifidobacterium bifidum TISTR 2129 and inhibited the growth of pathogens using both single culturing and co-culturing with probiotics.An amperometric biosensor for xanthine was designed, based on covalent immobilization of xanthine oxidase (XO) of Bacillus pumilus RL-2d onto a screen-printed multi-walled carbon nanotubes gold nanoparticle-based electrodes (Nano-Au/c-MWCNT). The carboxyl groups at the electrode surface were activated by the use of 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl carbodiimide) (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS). The working electrode was then coated with 6 μL of xanthine oxidase (0.273 U/mg protein). The cyclic voltammetry (CV) study was done for the characterization of the sensor using [K3Fe(CN)6] as an artificial electron donor. The sensitivity (S) and the limit of detection (LOD) of the biosensor were 2388.88 µA/cm2/nM (2.388 µA/cm2/µM) and 1.14 nM, respectively. The developed biosensor was used for determination of fish meat freshness.Cyclotides are true gene products characterized by the presence of six conserved cysteine residues and knotted arrangement of three disulfide bonds. These macrocyclic peptides show exceptional resistance to thermal, chemical and enzymatic degradation which is defined due to their three-dimensional folding. The current study describes an efficient strategy involving reduction, enzymatic digestion and mass spectroscopy sequencing for the identification of the precursor sequences and the cyclotide domains present in the leaf tissue of Viola odorata. We observed 122 partial peptide sequences containing 31 cyclotide domains along with 19 unique sequences consisting of putative novel cyclotides and acyclotides. Four precursor sequences consisting of putative new and already reported domains were further characterized for cyclotide domains, their structure and subfamilies. The sequences revealed the presence of classic knotted cyclotide folds with similar six characteristic loops but different amino acid residues. Molecular modeling indicated that the secondary structures present in the cyclotides are mainly α-helix and random coils. Variation in the sequences and conservation in cysteine residues in the cyclotides was revealed by protein diversity wheel. The significant information observed in the current study expands our knowledge about the structure and type of cyclic peptides in V. odorata leaves. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-02763-2. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-02763-2.The rhizosphere microbial community is important for plant health and is shaped by numerous environmental factors. This study aimed to unravel the effects of a pesticide/fertilizer mixture on the soil rhizosphere microbiome of field-grown sugarcane. A field trial on sugarcane was conducted in Zhanjian City, Guangdong Province, China, and soil samples from the rhizosphere were collected after clothianidin pesticide and/or organic fertilizer treatments. The effects of pesticide and/or organic fertilizer treatments on