Purification is one of the most important steps in biotechnological downstream process. This procedure is associated with some difficulties including several separation steps. Common cell separation procedures are usually time and energy consuming that also compromises cell growth, viability and reusability. Magnetic immobilization was introduced as a novel separation technique to provide a quick, easy and convenient alternative vs. traditional cell harvesting methods. In this study, recombinant E. coli producing extracellular asparaginase was decorated by synthesized L-lysine coated iron oxide nanoparticles and cell growth, immobilization efficiency and asparaginase productivity was evaluated.

A unicellular microalga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, was isolated from rice paddy-field soil and water samples and used in the biotransformation of hydrocortisone (1). This strain has not been previously tested for steroid bioconversion. Fermentation was carried out in BG-11 medium supplemented with 0.05% substrate at 25ºC for 14 days of incubation. The products obtained were chromatographically purified and characterized using spectroscopic methods. 11b,17b-Dihydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one (2), 11b-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3,17-dione (3), 11b,17a,20b,21-tetrahydroxypregn-4-en-3-one (4) and prednisolone (5) were the main products of the bioconversion. The observed bioreaction features were the side chain degradation of the substrate to give compounds 2 and 3 and the 20-ketone reduction and 1,2-dehydrogenation affording compounds 4 and 5, respectively. A time course study showed the accumulation of product 2 from the second day of the fermentation and of compounds 3, 4 and 5 from the third day. All the metabolites reached their maximum concentration in seven days. Microalgal 18S rRNA gene was also amplified by PCR. PCR products were sequenced to confirm their authenticity as 18S rRNA gene of microalgae. The result of PCR blasted with other sequenced microalgae in NCBI showed 100% homology to the 18S small subunit rRNA of two Chlamydomonas reinhardtii spp.

Introduction. Many medicinal plants have been introduced in Persian medicine references for various respiratory disorders. Considering the growing interest in herbal medicines, this review aimed to introduce medicinal herbs recommended by Persian Medicine (PM) references for respiratory diseases and to discuss their activity against respiratory viruses. Methods. The medicinal plants recommended for respiratory disorders were extracted from the main PM textbooks. Subsequently, their activity against respiratory viruses was systematically investigated via queries of scientific databases. Results. Searching PM references for medicinal plants used in the management of respiratory disorders yielded 45 results. Of them, 18 possess antiviral activity against respiratory viruses. There were 29 in vitro studies (including studies on human cell lines) and 5 in vivo studies. Conclusion. This research demonstrated that many of the medicinal plants mentioned for the respiratory diseases in PM have considerable activity against respiratory viruses. However, human studies regarding the reported medicinal plants are scarce.

Purified L-asparaginase II from Escherichia coli has been supplied and employed in the acute leukemia and other malignant neoplasms chemotherapy. L-asparaginase II gene (ansB) in E. coli is under regulation and certain conditions is needed for expression of this gene. In this investigation ,the various concentrations of modified M9 medium ingredients and various carbon source were tested to optimize the medium for expression and identification of L-asparaginase in E. coli. Finally a semi-quantitative plate assay for L-asparaginase producing Escherichia coli is reported.