L-Asparaginase (L-asparagine aminohydrolase, E.C. 3.5.1.1) has been proven to be competent in treating Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), which is widely observed in paediatric and adult groups. Currently, clinical L-Asparaginase formulations are derived from bacterial sources such as Escherichia coli and Erwinia chrysanthemi. These formulations when administered to ALL patients lead to several immunological and hypersensitive reactions. Hence, additional purification steps are required to remove toxicity induced by the amalgamation of other enzymes like glutaminase and urease. Production of L-Asparaginase that is free of glutaminase and urease is a major area of research. In this paper, we report the screening and isolation of fungal species collected from the soil and mosses in the Schirmacher Hills, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, that produce L-Asparaginase free of glutaminase and urease. A total of 55 isolates were obtained from 33 environmental samples that were tested by conventional plate techniques using Phenol red and Bromothymol blue as indicators. Among the isolated fungi, 30 isolates showed L-Asparaginase free of glutaminase and urease. The L-Asparaginase producing strain Trichosporon asahii IBBLA1, which showed the highest zone index, was then optimized with a Taguchi design. Optimum enzyme activity of 20.57 U mL⁻¹ was obtained at a temperature of 30 °C and pH of 7.0 after 60 hours. Our work suggests that isolation of fungi from extreme environments such as Antarctica may lead to an important advancement in therapeutic applications with fewer side effects.

This study focuses on the use of the co-precipitation method to prepare Mg–Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) catalysts for the transesterification conversion of Jatropha oil into biodiesel. X-Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and BET methods were used to characterize the crystallinity, morphology, and surface area of the catalyst. The effects of varying reaction conditions, such as time, catalyst loading, reaction temperature, and methanol to oil molar ratio, on biodiesel yield, were investigated. The optimal experimental conditions for achieving a 95 percent yield were identified as a temperature of approximately 70 °C, a catalyst loading of 3 percent by weight, and a molar ratio of methanol to Jatropha oil of 12 to 1. Catalyst regeneration was also studied to determine reusability, and the activation energy was evaluated to be around 26.7 kJ mol⁻¹. The results showed that the catalyst could be reused for up to 5 cycles with a yield reduction of less than ∼10%. The study demonstrates the potential of using inexpensive Mg–Al LDH catalysts for large-scale biodiesel production.