Inactivation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> O157:H7 by cinnamon extracts in carrot-kinnow mandarin blends

We investigated the antimicrobial efficacy of cinnamon extracts in laboratory prepared Kinnow-mandarin carrot blends challenged with Escerichia coli O157:H7. Freshly squeezed carrot and kinnow-mandarin juices were mixed to obtain a typical blend, inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 cultures at 10² CFU/mL with and without cinnamon extracts (0.3%) and stored at 4, 8 and 28°C for up to 10 hours. Counts on tryptic soy agar (TSA) selective medium (Mac conkey sorbitol agar) and thin agar layer (TAL) were determined at every 2 hour. The TAL method was used for recovery of sublethally injured cells. Inactivation of E. coli O157:H7 in blends containing 0.3% cinnamon extracts were observed, with killing effects being more pronounced at 28°C, similar trends were evident with blends stored under refrigeration conditions (4 and 8°C).The decrease in counts were attributed to several factors namely, pH, storage temperature and addition of cinnamon. The results of our study indicate that cinnamon extracts could be used as an effective, natural antimicrobial for assuring consumer safety at the point of preparation of carrot-kinnow mandarin blends, which is a popular, nutritional beverage consumed in India.     

Discovery of an isocoumarin analogue that modulates neuronal functions via neurotrophin receptor TrkB

Isocoumarins are lactone ring-containing natural products, are quite abundant in microbes and higher plants, and have been shown to exhibit a broad range of pharmacological properties. However, the molecular mechanism or target of this class of molecules is not known. In this study, we have synthesized 14 isocoumarin derivatives and evaluated for their activity at TrkB receptor in transiently transfected HEK293T cells. We identified 8-hydroxy-3-aryl isocoumarin (1) as a high-affinity agonist at the TrkB receptor. We also demonstrated that isocoumarin 1 activated endogenously TrkB receptor in primary cortical neurons and modulated various markers of synaptic plasticity, and increased dendritic arborization. These results indicate therapeutic potential and molecular target of 8-hydroxy-3-aryl isocoumarin 1 for the treatment of various CNS disorders.     

Interaction of nogalamycin with chromatin

Number of available nogalamycin binding sites in Sarcoma-180 chromatin is less than that present in Sarcoma-180 DNA. Gradual removal of proteins from chromatin by salt leads to increase in available drug binding sites, without appreciable alteration in binding affinity. Histones restrict the accessibility of nogalamycin to chromosomal DNA, whereas high mobility group (HMG) proteins have no effect. Association of histone H1 with chromosomal DNA has a more marked inhibitory effect on nogalamycin binding than other types of histones. Chromosomal protein induced conformational change in DNA appears to be the main factor in determining the availability of strong binding sites.     

What determines nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus?

Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus is an important risk factor for infection by this organism in both community and hospital settings; this article reviews the role of host and bacterial factors in carriage. A host genetic influence appears likely but the phenotypic determinants are unknown. Possibilities include variability in host adhesins, immune response or secretion of antimicrobial molecules. Colonization resistance by S. aureus, together with the observation that persistent carriers often carry a single strain whereas intermittent carriers can be colonized with unrelated strains over time, suggests that bacterial factors could also be involved.     

One-dimensional dynamics of attention and decision making in LIP

Where we allocate our visual spatial attention depends upon a continual competition between internally generated goals and external distractions. Recently it was shown that single neurons in the macaque lateral intraparietal area (LIP) can predict the amount of time a distractor can shift the locus of spatial attention away from a goal. We propose that this remarkable dynamical correspondence between single neurons and attention can be explained by a network model in which generically high-dimensional firing-rate vectors rapidly decay to a single mode. We find direct experimental evidence for this model, not only in the original attentional task, but also in a very different task involving perceptual decision making. These results confirm a theoretical prediction that slowly varying activity patterns are proportional to spontaneous activity, pose constraints on models of persistent activity, and suggest a network mechanism for the emergence of robust behavioral timing from heterogeneous neuronal populations.     

Statistical optimization of physical parameters for enhanced bacteriocin production by L. casei

Antimicrobial proteinaceous compounds such as bacteriocins produced from Lactobacillus sp. are widely known. They have potential antimicrobial activities towards closely related bacteria and several pathogens associated with food spoilage and hence can be a potential food bio-preservative agent. Bacteriocin production requires optimized process, complex media and well-controlled physical conditions including pH and temperature. A probiotic strain of L. casei LA-1 isolated from mango pickle was used in the present study. The influence of physical parameters viz. temperature (15 ?? 45°C), pH (4.0 ?? 7.0), incubation time (up to 48 h) and inoculum size (0.7 ?? 2.0 O.D) on bacteriocin production was analyzed. The effect of all the parameters was first investigated using the one-factor-at-a-time method (OFAT) to see the significance of these parameters on bacteriocin production and then further optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). Following OFAT analysis, all factors were found to have a significant effect on bacteriocin production. Bacteriocin production of 2,844 AU/mL was obtained at temperature 37°C, pH 6.7 and inoculum size 1.8 O.D at an incubation time of 20 h and it was produced during the stationary phase of growth. Statistical analysis showed that three variables-pH, temperature and incubation time have significant effects on bacteriocin production. RSM proved to be a powerful tool in the optimization of bacteriocin production by L. casei LA-1 with a two-fold increase, giving a production of 4652.15 AU/mL at pH 7.19, temperature 33.3°C and incubation time of 22.2 h.     

Mitogenic response and probiotic characteristics of lactic acid bacteria isolated from indigenously pickled vegetables and fermented beverages

Lactic acid bacteria from indigenous pickled vegetables and fermented beverages (fermented rice and Madhuca longifolia flowers) were isolated and investigated for their functional characteristics in vitro as potential new probiotic strains. Four isolates (all Lactobacillus spp.) selected on the basis of high tolerance to bile (0.2%) were identified by standard and molecular methods (16S rDNA) as L. helveticus, L. casei, L. delbrueckii and L. bulgaricus from pickled vegetables and fermented beverages respectively. These selected strains had antibiotic resistance, tolerance to artificial gastric juice and phenol (0.4%), enzymatic profile, and antagonistic activity against enteric pathogens (Enterobacter sakazakii, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella flexneri 2a, Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia enterocolitica and Aeromonas hydrophila). All strains survived well in artificial gastric juice at low pH (3.0) values for 4 h, possessed bile salt hydrolase activity and were susceptible to most antibiotics including vancomycin. Additionally, the isolates exhibited high tolerance to phenol, high cell surface hydrophobicity (>60%) and induced proliferation of murine splenocytes. All the four strains of present study suppressed the Con A-stimulated proliferation of the mouse spleen cells, although L. casei had the strongest suppressive effect. The results of this study suggest a potential application of the strains (following human clinical trials), for developing probiotic foods.