Synthetic pollutants are a looming threat to the entire ecosystem, including wildlife, the environment, and human health. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are natural biodegradable microbial polymers with a promising potential to replace synthetic plastics. This research is focused on devising a sustainable approach to produce PHAs by a new microbial strain using untreated synthetic plastics and lignocellulosic biomass. For experiments, 47 soil samples and 18 effluent samples were collected from various areas of Punjab, Pakistan. The samples were primarily screened for PHA detection on agar medium containing Nile blue A stain. The PHA positive bacterial isolates showed prominent orange–yellow fluorescence on irradiation with UV light. They were further screened for PHA estimation by submerged fermentation in the culture broth. Bacterial isolate 16a produced maximum PHA and was identified by 16S rRNA sequencing. It was identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia HA-16 (MN240936), reported first time for PHA production. Basic fermentation parameters, such as incubation time, temperature, and pH were optimized for PHA production. Wood chips, cardboard cutouts, plastic bottle cutouts, shredded polystyrene cups, and plastic bags were optimized as alternative sustainable carbon sources for the production of PHAs. A vital finding of this study was the yield obtained by using plastic bags, i.e., 68.24 ± 0.27%. The effective use of plastic and lignocellulosic waste in the cultivation medium for the microbial production of PHA by a novel bacterial strain is discussed in the current study.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) is a chronic and sometimes fatal condition which affects people all over the world. Nanotherapeutics have shown tremendous potential to combat chronic diseases—including DM2—as they enhance the overall impact of drugs on biological systems. Greenly synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Catharanthus roseus methanolic extract (C. AgNPs) were examined primarily for their cytotoxic and antidiabetic effects. Methods: Characterization of C. AgNPs was performed by UV–vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The C. AgNPs were trialed on Vero cell line and afterwards on an animal model (rats). Results: The C. AgNPs showed standard structural and functional characterization as revealed by FTIR and XRD analyses. The zetapotential analysis indicated stability while EDX analysis confirmed the formation of composite capping with Ag metal. The cytotoxic effect (IC50) of C. AgNPs on Vero cell lines was found to be 568 g/mL. The animal model analyses further revealed a significant difference in water intake, food intake, body weight, urine volume, and urine sugar of tested rats after treatment with aqueous extract of C. AgNPs. Moreover, five groups of rats including control and diabetic groups (NC1, PC2, DG1, DG2, and DG3) were investigated for their blood glucose and glycemic control analysis. Conclusions: The C. AgNPs exhibited positive potential on the Vero cell line as well as on experimental rats. The lipid profile in all the diabetic groups (DG1-3) were significantly increased compared with both of the control groups (p < 0.05). The present study revealed the significance of C. AgNPs in nanotherapeutics.

Natural coumarins contribute to the aroma of licorice, and they are often used as a flavoring and stabilizing agents. However, coumarins usage in food has been banned by various countries due to its toxic effect. In this study, a strain of HSM-C2 that can biodegrade coumarin with high efficiency was isolated from soil and identified as Pseudomonas putida through performing 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The HSM-C2 catalyzed the biodegradation up to 99.83% of 1 mg/mL coumarin within 24 h under optimal culture conditions, such as 30 °C and pH 7, which highlights the strong coumarin biodegrading potential of this strain. The product, such as dihydrocoumarin, generated after the biodegradation of coumarin was identified by performing GC-MS analysis. The present study provides a theoretical basis and microbial resource for further research on coumarin biodegradation.

Sensory attributes strongly influence consumers’ preferences for products. The inoculation of the Klebsiella variicola H8 strain in a reconstituted tobacco leaf concentrate (RTLC) solution increased neutral aroma-enhancing compound (NAEC) production by 45%, decreased the nicotine level by 25%, decreased the water-soluble total sugar content by ~36%, and improved the sensory quality by 5.71%. The production of NAECs such as dihydrokiwi lactone (DHKL: 192.86%), 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,1,6-trimethylnaphthalene (THTMN: 177.77%), 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol (DTBP: 25%), 4-oxoisofolkone (OIFK: 116.66%,) 1,9-heptadecadiene-4,6-diyn-3-ol (HDD: 116.67%), β-damastrone (BDS: 116.67), and megastigmatrienone A (MSTA: 116.67%) was increased. A metagenomics analysis of the microbial community in the fermented RTLC (FRTLC) was performed to elucidate the mechanism by which NAECs were produced. As a result, 24 groups of functional genes were identified, and among them, five families of carbohydrate-active enzymes, (i) glycoside hydrolase (GH), (ii) glycosyltransferase (GT), (iii) polysaccharide lyase (PL), (iv) carbohydrate esterase (CE), and (v) auxiliary active enzyme (AA), were found to be positively correlated with the production of NAECs. However, among the GHs, the GHs annotated from the H8 strain chromosome displayed the highest relative abundance and a positive correlation with the production of NAECs. Specifically, the GH13-14, GH13-20, GH13-38, GH13-25, GH13-10, GH42, and GH28 genes of the H8 strain were relatively more abundant and were key contributors to the production of NAECs. The correlation analyses revealed that the H8 strain plays a leading role among all the microorganisms in FRTLC in the production of NAECs. Our findings support the application of Klebsiella variicola in NAEC production and a reduction in nicotine content in tobacco products.

Background and Objectives: Telomere length (TL) undergoes attrition over time, indicating the process of aging, and is linked to a higher risk of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM-2). This molecular epidemiological study investigated the correlation between leukocyte TL variations and determinants of molecular aging in 121 Pakistani DM-2 patients. Materials and Methods: The ratio of telomere repeats to the SCG copy number was calculated to estimate the TL in each sample through qPCR assays. Results: In this study, smaller mean TLs were observed in 48.8% of males (6.35 ± 0.82 kb), 3.3% of underweight patients (5.77 ± 1.14 kb), 61.2% of patients on regular medication (6.50 ± 0.79 kb), 9.1% with very high stress levels (5.94 ± 0.99 kb), 31.4% of smokers (5.83 ± 0.73 kb), 40.5% of patients with low physical activity (6.47 ± 0.69 kb), 47.9% of hypertensive patients (5.93 ± 0.64 kb), 10.7% of patients with DM-2 for more than 15 years, and 3.3% of patients with a delayed onset of DM-2 (6.00 ± 0.93 kb). Conclusion: This research indicated a significant negative correlation (R² = 0.143) between TL and the age of DM-2 patients. This study demonstrated that the correlation of telomere length with age in DM-2 patients was also influenced by various age-determining factors, including hypertension and smoking habits, with significant strong (R² = 0.526) and moderate (R² = 0.299) correlations, respectively; sex, obesity, the stress level and age at the onset of diabetes with significant weak correlations (R² = 0.043, 0.041, 0.037, and 0.065, respectively), and no significant correlations of medication routine, rate of physical activity, and the durations of DM-2 with age-adjusted telomere length. These results challenge TL as the sole marker of aging, thus highlighting the need for further research to understand underlying factors and mitigate the effect of aging or premature aging on diabetic patients.