To determine the optimal medium conditions for the detection of the cellulolytic activity in Ganoderma lucidum, we varied three media conditions: dye reagent, pH, and temperature. First, we evaluated the use of four dyes, Congo Red, Phenol Red, Remazol Brilliant Blue, and Trypan Blue. To observe the effect of pH on the chromogenic reaction, we also made and tested various media spanning acidic ...

Lignin peroxidase (LiP) and manganese peroxidase (MnP) have been investigated in Phanerochaete chrysosporium. A third ligninolytic peroxidase has been described in Pleurotus and Bjerkandera. Two of these versatile peroxidases (VPs) have been cloned, sequenced and characterized. They have high affinity for Mn(2+), hydroquinones and dyes, and also oxidize veratryl alcohol, dimethoxybenzene and li...

The plant powder of Jaswand (Hibiscus rosa-Sinensis) were activated with sulphuric acid and used as low cost easily available and renewable biological adsorbent for the removal of acid dyes (acid blue, acid red and malachite green) from aqueous solution. Batch experiments were carried out for adsorption kinetics and isotherms. Operating variable studied were pH, temperature, adsorbent dose, ini...

Natural pigments are an important alternative to potentially harmful synthetic dyes. We investigated the feasibility of corn cob powder as a substrate for production of pigments by Monascus purpureus KACC 42430 in solid-state fermentation. A pigment yield of 25.42 OD Units/gram of dry fermented substrate was achieved with corn cob powder and optimized process parameters, including 60% (w/w) ini...

Transfection of DNA has been invaluable for biological sciences, yet the effects upon membrane homeostasis are far from negligible. Here, we demonstrate that Neuro2A cells transfected using Lipofectamine LTX with the fluorescently coupled Botulinum serotype A holoenzyme (EGFP-LcA) cDNA express this SNAP25 protease that can, once translated, escape the transfected host cytosol and become endocyt...

Four simple and sensitive methods for the assay of prazosin hydrochloride (PRH) are developed. These methods are based on the formation of coloured species by treating it either with excess N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) and determining the unconsumed NBS with p-N-methyl aminophenol sulphate (metol)-sulphanilamide (SA) reagent (method A, lambda(max) 520 nm): with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazon...

A direct, extraction-free spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of acebutolol hydrochloride (ABH) in pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based on ionpair complex formation between the drug and two acidic dyes (sulphonaphthalein) namely bromocresol green (BCG) and bromothymol blue (BTB). Conformity to Beer’s law enabled the assay of the drug in the range of 0....

Cationic polypeptides interact with bacterial cells of E. coli and B. anthracis. They confer upon the cells some of the characteristics of cationic particles. Since bacterial cells usually behave as anions, acidic dyes at high pH levels differentiate between cells which have and those which have not interacted with cationic polypeptides. Under the conditions of these experiments it appeared tha...

Mesoporous silica-carbon composites functionalized with acidic oxygen groups were prepared by oxidation of a layer of carbon deposited inside the silica pores. The synthesis procedure involved the following steps: a) removal of the silica surfactant, b) impregnation of the silica pores with a carbon precursor, c) carbonization and d) oxidation with ammonium persulfate. The resulting silica-carb...

Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry using atmospheric pressure ionization (LC-API-MS) has drastically changed the analytical methods used to detect polar pollutants in water. The present status of application of this technique to organic water constituents is reviewed. The selection of the appropriate LC conditions, whether reversed-phase liquid chromatography, ion-pair chromatography, capi...