Project description:Investigation of transcriptomic changes in M.luteus at 12hrs and 24hrs. Differences in fatty acid profiles of M. luteus at exponential and stationary phase is attributed to transcriptional changes of branched amino acid biosynthesis and degradation genes. This study is described by Pereira, J.H., E.B. Goh, J.D. Keasling, H.R. Beller and P.A. Adams in Crystal structure of FabH and factors affecting the distribution of branched fatty acids in Micrococcus luteus, which has been submitted to Acta Crystallographica Section D A 6 microarray study using total RNA recovered from six separate control cultures of Micrococcus luteus NCTC2665 strain with 3 harvested after 12hrs of growth and the other 3 after 24hrs of growth. Each chip measures the expression level of 2,374 ORF based on the draft genome sequence of Micrococcus luteus with ten 60-mer probe pairs (PM/MM) per gene, with 3-fold technical redundancy.
Project description:Bacterial pigments (e.g., melanin and carotenoids) are considered to be among the most important secondary metabolites due to their various pharmacological activities against cancer and microbial resistance. Different pigmented bacterial strains were isolated from soil samples from El Mahmoudiyah governance and screened for their antimicrobial activity. The most promising pigment producer was identified as Micrococcus lylae MW407006; furthermore, the produced pigment was identified as echinenone (β-carotene pigment). The pigment production was optimized through a central composite statistical design to maximize the biomass production, pigment concentration, and the antimicrobial activity. It was revealed that the most significant fermentation parameters were the glucose (as a carbon source) and asparagine (as a nitrogen source) concentrations. Nano-echinenone was synthesized using the ball milling technique, characterized, and finally assessed for potential antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antitumor activities. The data revealed that the synthesized nano-echinenone had higher antimicrobial activity than the crude pigment. The cytotoxic potency of echinenone and nano-echinenone was investigated in different cell lines (normal and cancer cells). The inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of cell death was observed in Caco-2 and Hep-G2 cells. The data proved that nano-echinenone is a suitable candidate for use as a safe antimicrobial and anti-hepatocellular-carcinoma agent.
