7^th Asia-Pacific Biotech Congress July 13-15, 2015 Beijing. China

Biography:

Zhijun Li has received his Ph.D. degree from Vanderbilt University in 2000 and undergone postdoctoral training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Vanderbilt University. He is currently the associate professor of bioinformatics at University of the Sciences, formerly Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. He has published more than 28 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has been awarded a number of grants by various funding agencies for his research on protein structure and function prediction and computer-aided molecular design. He has been a reviewer for a variety of scientific journals and funding agencies including NSF.

Abstract:

Tremendous amount of chemical and biological data are being generated by various high-throughput biological techniques which could facilitate modern drug discovery. These data include protein sequences, protein three-dimensional structures, single amino acid variations (SAV), known ligands and substrates of proteins, and pathways. Currently, these data are classified and deposited into various chemical-informatics and bio-informatics databases based on the data type. However, the lack of integration makes it very challenging for individual scientist to access and understand all the data related to a specific protein of interest. We developed a bioinformatics tool, PyMine, which extracts various chemical and biological data from a variety of high-quality databases and presents them in a graphic and uniformed way. The primary databases accessible by PyMine include protein UniProt database, KEGG pathway database, PDB macromolecule structure database, ChEMBL database of small ligands, IBIS database of protein binding sites and HUMSAVAR database of SAVs. Users input the PDB ID of the protein of interest, all related data will then be extracted and whenever possible, mapped to the three-dimensional structure of the protein. Thus, PyMine can be used as a central data-hub to visualize and access various types of data related to the protein of interest as well as to develop new idea for structure-based molecule design. For convenience, PyMine was developed as a plugin of PyMol, a popular and free graphic modeling tool.

Biography:

Raghuvir has completed his PhD (Tech) from Bombay College of Pharmacy, Mumbai University in Pharmaceutical Chemistry. He has worked at Bombay College of Pharmacy as an Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry from January 2006 till September 2014. At present he is an Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Goa College of Pharmacy, Panaji Goa. He’s area of research include Structure-based Ligand Design, Protein Modeling and Bio-molecular Simulations. He has 2 patents, 28 international and 4 national papers to his credit.

Abstract:

Peptides play a significant role in the biological world. Optimization of peptide activity for a specific therapeutic target is a daunting task; owing to time and cost factor involved in the process. Specific computational approaches can simplify the task to elucidate the structural basis in the design of new peptides. Peptide QSAR approaches highlighted here being with simple Classical Hansch and Free-Wilson QSAR technique based models that make use of the amino acid properties (literature compiled or calculated theoretically) as X-variables to correlate the biological activity. The mathematical models so developed can explain and predict the position-wise specific nature and type of amino acids for a given peptide sequence (QCS 2007, 26, 189). Uncertainties associated with the 3D-alignment of peptides in 3D-QSAR can be reduced by an approach coined as HomoSAR. The concept is centered on the homology modelling principles to result in 1D-alignment of the peptides though a multiple sequence alignment; followed by computation of position-wise similarity indices for amino acids in the peptide sequences. (SRE, 2008, Article ID 360572, 1; JCC 2013, 34, 2635). The third peptide QSAR approach referred to as ensemble QSAR (eQSAR) addresses the conformational ensemble issue as an improvement to the classical ‘one chemical–one structure–one parameter value’ dogma. The X-variables are calculated for the conformational ensemble for all peptides generated through molecular dynamic simulations. These descriptors (PD-Eigen values) are computed over Physicochemical Distance matrices (PD-matrices) that are unique to every conformation of every peptide; subsequently correlated to the biological activities. All the approaches have been tested on peptide datasets to put forth statistically validated QSAR models (JCC 2011, 32, 2204).

Biography:

Niranjan Koirala is pursuing his PhD under the supervision of Professor Sohng at Sun Moon University, South Korea. He has been working at the Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and his major research focus is modifications of plant secondary metabolites by glycosylation and methylation using engineered E. coli. The compounds produced in the reactors are tested for anti-microbial and anti-cancer assays in the laboratory conditions. He has published around 10 international papers as author and co-author.

Abstract:

Rhamnetin, sakuranetin and genkwanin are uncommon plant secondary metabolites and have been suggested to be potent pharmaceutical agents by some research groups. Evidences were based on the findings conducted on rat models, lung cancer cells, nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and many in vivo and in vitro experiments. We also conducted several experiments in vitro and found out these compounds were more potent than their original counterparts; quercetin, naringenin and apigenin respectively. While these results sounds promising and worthy of further investigations, we speculate that these compounds warrant further investigation in vivo as potential new therapeutic anti-carcinogenic, anti-melanogenic and anti-angiogenic agents. We want to draw the attention of the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical communities.

Biography:

Abstract:

Numerous enzymes have been synthesized as a zymogen in different stage and activated time-specific manner in many insect pests for its growth and development. Particularly, 37kDa serine protease was synthesized as a zymogen precursor in the midgut and activated upon pupation of B.mori. 37 kDa serine protease encodes a 37 kDa composed of 329 amino acid which is playing a critical role in the process of digestion of food and physiological process including apoptosis and tissue remodelling in B.mori. To purify and characterize the 37kDa serine protease, it was over expressed by using PET30a expression vector in Escherichia coli (BL21 DE3) with N-terminal His6-tag. The over expressed His-tag protein was successfully purified using Ni-NTA and observed as a single band with a molecular mass of 42.5 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The pI of the purified protein was found to be three major spots between the pI of 6.2 to 6.8 with MW 45kDa were determined by using 2D-PAGE. The resulted protein spots were also confirmed by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. Circular Dichroism showed that 37 kDa serine protease zymogen was consistent over the range of 6-7 for the pH, with approximately half of the protein having well-defined α-helical and β-sheet secondary structure. The composition of purified p37k serine protease was analysed using HPLC. Computational prediction of cleavage site for signal peptide and propeptide of 37 kDa serine protease between positions of 18-19, 35-66 aa respectively were determined through SignalP-4.1 tool. This result revealed that pI/Mw of active protease of 37kDa serine protease after removal of pro-peptide showed 5.91 / 28007.38. This overall results revealed that the complex structure of this protease reasoned for inactive zymogen and slightly acidic pH at (>5) plays a major role in activation 37 kDa serine protease in the midgut for tissue remodelling during pupation or anti-feeding stage. In future, the identification of zymogen (pro-protein) processing enzyme will be much helpful for the development of novel drug/pesticide for the control of insect pests.

Biography:

Arunachalam Chinnathambi has completed his PhD from Bharathidansan University, India and has trained few molecular techniques from National University of Singapore. He is a young, energetic and enthusiastic Microbiologist and has 11 years’ experience in both Teaching and Research. He has participated in several international, national conferences, symposia and presented research papers and recently he presented his novel research in University of London. He has published more than 41 papers in reputed national and international journals and serving as an Editorial Board Member of reputed journal and also has lifetime membership of few Microbiology associations.

Abstract:

Mimosa pudica plant leaves were collected from Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu. They were air-dried and ground and their phytochemical composition determined. The analysis demonstrated the presence of tannin, phlobatannins, saponin, steroids, terpenoids and the cardiac glycosidem while no flavonoids were found. Thirteen phytochemical compounds were identified by GC-MS analysis, most of which are known to possess a variety of medicinal properties. A soxhlet apparatus was used to extract antibacterial active compounds from the powdered plant leaves and the antimicrobial activity of the extract were analyzed against some human pathogenic bacteria. Acetone and ethanol extracts were found to be the most active. Compared to other test plant-extracts aqueous extracts however exhibited only limited inhibition against the tested organisms. The findings will hopefully be useful in helping to develop new and effective antimicrobial agents.

Biography:

Chin-Chu Chen received his PhD degree in toxicology and bioactivity at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. His primary field is industrial liquid fermentation of mushroom mycelium such as Ganoderma lucidum, Cordyceps and Antrodia cinnamomea and uses these ingredients to develop health foods. His group had 19 patents and published more than 25 papers in reputed journals. He is currentlythe vice general manager of Grape king Bioand head of Bioengineering Center. He served for professional professor in Hung-Kuang University and Associate Professor in Shin-Chien University, National Hsinchu University, National Changhua University, Chung-Yuan Christian University and Yuanpei University.

Abstract:

Erinacine A, the main representative of erinacines existed only in the Hericium erinaceum mycelium, was found to induce nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesis in vitro, and was proved could cross the blood–brain barrier in vivo. Other studies showed this compound also increased catecholamine and NGF content in the central nervous system of rats. In this study, we investigated the production of erinacine A in 20T fermenter and its identification by use of LC-MS-MS and NMR. Purified erinacine A and mycelium extracts were used to treat PC12 cell line for evaluating neural differentiation. Our results showed that erinacine A induced neural differentiation of PC12 cells in a dose dependent manner. In an in vitro study, we examined the effects of erinacine A on amyloid β-peptide (25-35) induced neurotoxicity in primary cortical neurons. In our in vivo data demonstrated induced neurogenesis by erinacine A in transgenic (APP/PS1) mice. We then investigated the neuroprotective effects of H. erinaceum in a MCAO and Parkinson’s model in rat. Results showed infarct volumes markedly reduced in rat receiving 300 mg/kg H. erinaceum treatment for 5 days prior to 1.5 hr MCAO. Oral treatment of H. erinaceumdry mycelium powder (300 mg/kg) in Parkinson’s disease rats showed increased brain dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase content. H. erinaceum safety assessment showed no treatment related toxicity in rat garaged up to 3000 mg/kg for 28 consecutive days.

Biography:

Olalekan Adeyemi completed his PhD at the age of 32 years from University of Ilorin, Ilorin Nigeria and postdoctoral studies from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Nigeria as well as Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Nigeria, a premier university of petroleum in Africa. He is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Society of Toxicology, Virginia. He is the leader of the Biotechnology and Environmental Toxicology Research Team. He has published more than 35 papers in high-impact reputable journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.

Abstract:

Alternative fuels have become more prominent today because of environmental concerns. Biotechnology studies have improved the quality and yield of alternative fuels from both edible and inedible plant sources. Due to the increase in the use of alternative fuels, toxicology studies have become imperative to determine whether alternative fuels will affect the biochemistry of aquatic organisms. In this study, biodiesel in different concentrations (0.0, 0.1, 0.25 %v/v) was introduced into water samples of same volume containing species of Clarias gariepinus (African cat fish). The 3 groups of fish placed in (0.0 0.1, 0.25)%v/v biodiesel-contaminated water were sacrificed after 30hours and enzymic and non-enzymic antioxidants (GSH, SOD, CAT, and MDA) as well as haematological properties were analyzed. Specific activity of SOD was found to be 8.55±0.89, 6.25±0.45 and 6.22±0.55 in the kidney of Control, 0.1%v/v and 0.25%v/v fish respectively. Similarly, specific activity of catalase was found to be 18.24±1.89, 15.30±0.76 and 13.39±1.27 in the gills of Control, 0.1%v/v and 0.25%v/v fish respectively. Conversely, the haematological property of Control is not significantly different from those of 0.1%v/v and 0.25%v/v fish. Results from this study showed significant decrease in the antioxidant status of cat fish from biodiesel contaminated water, however, haematological properties of the fish were not affected. This study revealed that biodiesel from palm kernel oil poses threat to aquatic life forms.

Biography:

Oyeyemi Adeyemi completed her PhD in 2014 at the age of 35 years from University of Benin, Benin-City, Nigeria. She is currently a Lecturer II at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Nigeria, a premier university of petroleum in Africa. She is a member of the Nigerian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She has published more than 12 papers in high-impact reputable journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute

Abstract:

Water hyacinth (Eichhonia crassipes) is one of the aquatic weeds. It infests rivers, dams, lakes and irrigation channels on every continent except Antarctica. The coverage of water ways by water hyacinth devastates aquatic environment and costs billions of dollars every year as control costs and economic losses. In these days of diminishing natural resources, it has become necessary to investigate the existing resources in water hyacinth for production of food, food additives, pharmaceuticals and raw materials for agro-allied industries. The aim of this study was to convert water hyacinth from an environmental nuisance to a natural resource that is in high demand. Edible form of water hyacinth leaf protein concentrate (WHLPC) was extracted. The physicochemical characteristics, total alkaloids and phenolic compounds of the WHLPC were determined. Proximate composition and amino acid profile of the WHLPC were analyzed and the LD50 evaluated. The WHLPC was used to formulate feed using different concentrations (7.73, 15.46, 23.19, and 30.92) %w/w. A control feed was formulated with soybean (15.46%w/w) in place of WHLPC. The resulting feeds were fed to different groups of rats over a period of twenty (20) weeks and the growth was monitored. Growth response curve of rats placed on formulated feed showed positive slope. At the end of the experiment, rats in various groups gained weight, gain in body weight measured in Control rats (55.35 g), WHLPC1 rats (57.75 g) were not significantly different (p>0.05). Data revealed that WHLPC is a potential raw material for food and beverages industry

Biography:

Ram Prasad is working as Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, India. He has eighty publications in international and national level. He has also five patents issued or pending and authors/editors of four books. He was awarded Young Scientist Award (2007), Prof. J.S. Datta Munshi Gold Medal (2009) and FSAB fellowship (2010) by Society for Applied Biotechnology in the field of Microbial Biotechnology. Recently, He has been awarded American Cancer Society UICC International Fellowships (2014) for Beginning Investigators and presently Visiting Assistant professor in Whiting School of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, USA.

Abstract:

Nanotechnology is dealing with nano-meter sized particles. In order to enhance the utilization of nanomaterial in biological systems, it is very important to understand the influence they impart on the cellular health and function. Most of the nanomaterials reported earlier have demonstrated to be efficient antimicrobial agent. There is only a few or no report on the growth-promoting role of the nanomaterials especially with respect to microbes. Nano-agriculture involves the employment of nanoparticles in agriculture with the ambition that these particles will impart some beneficial effects on the crops. Viewing the plant growth promoting effects in many economically and medicinally important plants by symbiotic fungus Piriformospora indica, was chosen as a representative model to see the effect of nanoparticles on the fungal biomass and seedling development. The preliminary observations indicated that 2-3 fold in the presence of TiO2 as compared to control enhanced the fungal biomass. P. indica culture filtrate is known to enhance the seed germination and the growth of several plants. An independent test was performed with the culture filtrate of the nanomaterial treated fungal broth on the seeds of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica). The results indicated the stimulation of seed germination by TiO2. This property has been patented (Application No. 14/DEL/2009; Reference No. E-12/3/2009-DEL). The results indicated that it may serve an excellent potential for producing liquid biofertilizers.

Biography:

Joon-Pyo Jeun is a Senior Researcher in the Radiation Research Division for Industry & Environment at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) since 2005. He is currently enrolled in the doctor’s program in the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Republic of Korea. His field of research is interaction of radiation with matter.

Abstract:

In this study, we investigated an effective isolation method of the cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) to find a rapid and high-yield using an electron beam irradiation (EBI). Commercial microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel PH-101), purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, was used as a starting material. CNC was obtained from Avicel PH-101 with sulfuric acid by both controlling the irradiation dose varied and the time of hydrolysis treatment. In experimental, the EBI of the Avicel PH-101 was performed at various doses ranging from 50 to 200 kGy and then hydrolyzed with 65% sulfuric acid at (pre-heated) 45oC for 30, 60, 90, 120 min. Particle size characterization and FE-SEM clearly showed the formation of rod-like shaped 50-CNC-301) (average particle size: 330 nm) and 0-CNC-120 (average particle size: 319 nm). X-ray diffraction indicated that 50-CNC-30 has higher crystallinity index (78.0%) than that of 0-CNC-120 (76.7%). We could decrease the hydrolysis time of CNC from 120 min (0-CNC-120) to 30 min (50-CNC-30). Moreover, the yield of CNC was improved from 44% (0-CNC-120) to 51% (50-CNC-30). To demonstrate these results, elemental analysis (EA) showed sulfur impurity (0.51-0.74%) in CNC along with other main components (C, H, and O). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Zeta-potential, and thermal stability (TGA-DTG) of CNC were also carried out. An EBI-induced novel isolation method of CNC can be effective and facile process in industrial applications. 1) Irradiation dose; 50kGy, Hydrolysis time; 30 min.

Biography:

Qiang Wang has completed his PhD at the age of 33 years from China Agricultural University and postdoctoral studies from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He is the deputy director of Institute of Agro-food Science and Technology and also Chief expert of “Cereal and oil processing and comprehensive utilization” innovation team, MOA. He has earned more than 10 national award, including the Second prize of State Technological Invention Award, China and Harald Perten Prize of the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC). He has published more than 100 papers in reputed journals and hold more than 20 patents.

Abstract:

The objectives of this study were to determine the physicochemical characteristics of sausages added with arachin/conarachin which was catalyzed by TGase. The effect of different amount treated arachin/conarachin addition on the sausages was investigated. Properties of sausages were evaluated by product yield, water loss rate, color measurement, texture profile analysis (TPA). No significant differences in product yield results (p > 0.05) were detected among TG-treated arachin/conarachin, no protein and soybean protein sausages due to vacuum packing. Treated arachin/conarachin addition increase resulted in a decrease in water loss rate of final sausage products. Color measurement results indicated that sausage L* decreased while a*, b*, â–³E value increased after incorporation of TG-treated arachin/conarachin. The TPA values (hardness, springiness, and chewiness) of modified arachin sausages were significantly highr (p < 0.05) than those of the conarachin sausages. There were no significant differences in sausage quality or TPA parameters between modified arachin sausages and the control.

Biography:

I Zinicovscaia is a PhD student of the University of the Academy of Science of Moldova, Rupublic of Moldova (scientific supervisors: Academician Gheorghe Duca and Dr. Marina Frontasyeva) and Scientific researcher of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Russia. She has 10 papers published in reputed journals and participated in 20 conferences.

Abstract:

The time-dependent accumulation of heavy metals from residual waters of an engineering plant was investigated using two cyanobacteria, Spirulina platensis and Nostoc linckia. The degree of metal retention present in wastewater increased rapidly in the first 5-30 min of the reaction, then stayed approximately at the same level or slightly decreased. Neutron activation analysis allowed determination of 18 elements: Na, Mg, Ca, Cl. Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, As, Br, Rb, Sr, Sb, Ba, Cs, and U in the microbial biomass. The accumulation of Cr, Ni, Co, Zn, As, and Sr by Nostoc linkia is higher than by Spirulina platensis due to the metal binding to the different chemical functional groups of the cyanobacteria cells. Spirulina platensis shows good binding capacity for Sc, Sb, Rb, and U. The amount of iron accumulated by both cyanobacteria was at the same level. Biological post-treatment of wastewaters permits its reuse in the enterprise water cycle, therefore the accumulated cyanobacteria biomass can be potentially used as a fertilizer in agriculture.

Biography:

Pragati Awasthi is Pursuing M.Phil. from Amity University, Noida in Microbial Technology. She completed her M.Sc. in Microbiology from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, India.

Abstract:

India is rich in agricultural productivity with our economy mostly dependent on it. In the total process of obtaining food product large amount of plant residues are left, which are rarely utilized beneficially. Majority of them are just burned as fuel sources, which leads to only partial utilization of energy and also is a major cause of air pollution at plenty of places. Besides, this issue enhanced utilization of fossil fuel is leading to regular depletion of reserved resources. Present work focuses on enhanced utilization of agricultural waste towards development of sustainable and renewable fuel resource. Majorly agricultural waste like, wheat bran, sugarcane bagasse, rice husk etc. have been studied. Consortiums of 14 bacterial strains and one fungal strain in various combinations towards production of maximal monosaccharide sugars was developed and subsequent ethanol production by Pichia stipitis NCIM 3497 were evaluated. About 300 mg/ml ethanol could be obtained by stepwise saccharification and fermentation process. Novel bacterial isolates found in the study are Bacillus altitudinus, Bacillus stratosphaericus, Lysinibacillus sp., Bacillus sp., paenibacillus sp., Bacillus cereus, Bacillus aerophilus, Bacillus thuringiensis. All these have tremendous potential of hydrolyzing plant polysaccharides. Our work is in progress and we expect potential contribution of Indian agricultural waste towards biofuel production.