Nowadays, there is increased interest in the biosynthesis of microbial melanin related to their numerous biological functions and applications in many fields, especially in medical fields, including immune-modulating, antimicrobial antibiotic, antiviral antivenin, anticancer, antitumor activity, and anti-biofilm activity. Pyomelanin is a hydrophobic macromolecule that is typically dark brown or black in color, formed by the oxidative polymerization of phenolic or indolic compounds. Pyomelanin is reported to be safe for consumption, thus providing a crucial strategy for biocontrol of biofilm. Furthermore, natural pyomelanin is known as a potent antioxidant, photoprotective, and free radical scavenging. Objective: This study focuses on the extraction and parametric optimization of melanin using Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) isolates. Materials and Methods: P. aeruginosa was isolated from various clinical sources, including urinary tract infections, burn patients, and wound infections. The isolate’s identification was done by biochemical, cultural, and VITEK-2 compact system. The isolates were subjected to pyomelanin production in nutrient agar supplemented with L-tyrosine, and the potential isolate was selected and employed for melanin production using nutrient broth supplemented with L-tyrosine. The pyomelanin-producing isolates were further identified through the PCR analysis technique. Different physical parameters were used for optimum pyomelanin yield. Results: The potential P. aeruginosa isolates were further identified using 16s rRNA. Pyomelanin production was better at 2.9 µg/mL at 100 rpm. The highest pyomelanin production was 3.07 µg/mL after 72 h incubation. The optimum pH at 7 was 3.12 µg/mL. The highest pyomelanin yield at 40°C was 3.03 µg/mL, while the maximum pyomelanin was produced using 2 g/L tyrosine at 2.99 µg/mL. UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy analysis for pyomelanin pigment was at 273.5 nm. The infrared spectrum exhibited a broad absorption band around 3280.82 cm−1 which corresponds to the presence of -OH and N-H groups. Conclusion: This study provides knowledge on factors affecting pyomelanin production using bacteria in broth media supplemented with L-tyrosine.
Nanomaterials, including nanoparticles such as iron oxide nanoparticles, have received great attention from researchers due to their unique properties and applications. There are several diverse methods, including chemical, physical, and green biological methods, to prepare iron oxide nanoparticles. The green method was chosen because it is safer, purer, and less toxic compared to other methods. Therefore, the green method is a promising and environmentally friendly method in the near future. The aqueous extract of Iraqi orange leaves was used to prepare nano iron oxide, it was examined structurally and spectrally by several techniques (X-ray diffraction- XRD, Fourier transform infrared - FT-IR, field emission scanning electron micr
... Show MoreThe effect of using grinded rocks of (quartzite and porcelanite) as powder of (10 and 20) % replacement by weight of cement for self-compacting concrete slabs was investigated in this study. Five slabs with 15 concrete cubes were tested experimentally at 28 days to study the compressive strength, ultimate load, ultimate deflection, ductility, crack load and steel strain. The test results show that, the compressive strength improvement when replacement of local rock powder reached to (7.3, 4.22) % for (10 and 20) % quartzite powder and (11.3, 16.1) % for (10 and 20) % porcelanite powder, respectively compared to the reference specimen. The ultimate load percentage increase for slabs with (10 and 20) % rep
... Show MoreThe effect of compound machine on wheat/ AlNoor cultivar was studied based on some technical indicators. were tested under three speeds ( 2.541, 3.433 and 4.091km.hr-1) and three tillage depths (14, 16 and 18cm). The experiments were conducted in a factorial experiment under complete randomized design with three replications. The results showed that the 2.541km.hr-1 practical speed was significantly better than other two speed in all studied conditions. Except for the FC, which achieved the best results with the third speed 4.091 km.hr-1. mechanical parameters, plant growth parameters and yield and growth parameters. The 1
Biotreatment using immobilized cells (IC) technology has proved to be the most promising and most economical approach for the removal of many toxic organic pollutants found in petroleum-refinery wastewater (PRW) such as phenol. This study was undertaken to evaluate the degradation of phenol by Pseudomonas cells individually immobilized in two different bio-carrier matrices including polyvinyl alcohol-guar gum (PVA-GG) and polyvinyl alcohol-agar agar (PVA-AA). Results of batch experiments revealed that complete removal of phenol was attained in the first cycle after 150 min using immobilized cells (IC) in both PVA-GG and PVA-AA. Additional cycles were confirmed to evaluate the validity of recycling beads of immob
... Show MoreBackground: The beneficial gut bacterium E. coli can cause blood poisoning, diarrhoea, and other gastrointestinal and systemic disorders. Objective: This study amid to examines the antibiofilm activity of Laurus nobilis leaves extract on E. coli isolates and compares pre- and post-treatment gene expression of fimA and papC genes. Subjects and Methods: Ten isolates of E. coli were obtained from the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Institute, University of Baghdad, which was previously collected from Baghdad city hospitals and diagnosed by chemical tests, the diagnosis was confirmed using VITEK-2 System. The preparation of the aqueous and methanolic Laurus nobilis leaves extracts was done by using the maceration method and Soxhlet appara
... Show MoreThis work deals with preparation of Sulfated Zirconia catalyst (SZ) for isomerization of n-hexane model and refinery light naphtha, as well as enhanced the role of promoters to get the target with the mild condition, stability, and to prevent formation of coke precursors on strong acidic sites of the catalyst. The prepared SZ catalysts were characterization by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer –Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) Analyzer. The results illustrate that the maximum conversion and selectivity for n-hexane isomerization with Ni-WSZ and operating temperature of 150 °C
... Show MoreA new nano-sized NiMo/TiO2-γ-Al2O3 was prepared as a Hydrodesulphurization catalyst for Iraqi gas oil with sulfur content of 8980 ppm, supplied from Al-Dura Refinery. Sol-gel method was used to prepare TiO2- γ-Al2O3 nano catalyst support with 64% TiO2, 32% Al2O3, Ni-Mo/TiO-γ-Al2O3 catalyst was prepared under vacuum impregnation conditions to loading metals with percentage 3.8 wt.% and 14 wt.% for nickel and molybdenum respectively while the percentage for alumina, and titanium became 21.7, and 58.61 respectively. The synthesized TiO2- γ-Al2O3 nanocomposites and Ni-Mo /TiO2
... Show MoreThe porosity of materials is important in many applications, products and processes, such as electrochemical devices (electrodes, separator, active components in batteries), porous thin film, ceramics, soils, construction materials, ..etc. This can be characterized in many different methods, and the most important methods for industrial purposes are the N2 gas adsorption and mercury porosimetry. In the present paper, both of these techniques have been used to characterize some of Iraqi natural raw materials deposits. These are Glass Sand, Standard Sand, Flint Clay and Bentonite. Data from both analyses on the different types of natural raw materials deposits are critically examined and discussed. The results of specific surface are
... Show MoreThe purpose of this research was to prepare, characterize, and evaluate the new antimicrobial peptide KSL peptide encapsulated in poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)composite microspheres. KSL was loaded in poly(acryloyl hydroxyethyl) starch (acHES) micropar-ticles, and then the peptide-containing microparticles were encapsulated in the PLGA matrix by a solvent extraction /evaporation method.
KSL-loaded PLGA microspheres were also prepared without the starch hydrogel microparticle microspheres for comparison study. KSL peptide microspheres were characterized for drug content, surface morphology, microspheres size determination, polymers stability , in vitro microspheres degradation and in vitro release. KSL peptide
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