The meat and fisheries products have high nutritional content which is highly ideal for bacterial growth. Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) have several potential advantages as a bio-preservative agent in the food industry because they produce antimicrobial substances against pathogenic bacteria e.g. bacteriocin. Our previous study has succeeded in isolating and characterizing LAB from the mangrove sediments of Logending Beach, Kebumen. This present study aimed to determine the activity of bacteriocinogenic-LAB against food-borne pathogens and their potential for fisheries product preservation. The study consisted of five serial stages, as follows: screening of LAB isolates, cell-free supernatant production and its inhibition activity, extraction of partially purified bacteriocin, bacteriocin confirmation against proteolytic enzymes, and in-vitro test of partially-purified bacteriocin against Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexneri, and Salmonella typhi. A total of 25 out of 99 isolates were able to grow on MRSA+1% CaCO3 medium. Initial screening showed that the cell-free supernatant of 14 LAB isolates was able to inhibit the growth of S. thypi, S. flexneri, and L. monocytogenes. There was an increased inhibitory activity of partially purified bacteriocin when compared with the cell-free supernatant which was statistically different (p<0.01). It indicated that the purification was successfully performed. Bacteriocin expressed a lower inhibition against S. typhi than L. monocytogenes and S. flexneri. The ANOVA test showed that each indicator pathogenic-bacterium expresses a very significant sensitivity to the partially purified bacteriocin.

Dengue prevention efforts are limited to the control strategies of its vector and the management of breeding sites. New alternatives for dengue vector control that are sustainable and more environmentally friendly are needed to complement the government’s current efforts. Research on Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti Linnaeus mosquitoes as an alternative biocontrol strategy has been performed in Yogyakarta City. However, one of the concerns of the community members and stakeholders about this technology is the safety aspect regarding the transmission of Wolbachia to other species and the possibility that humans will contract Wolbachia. This study aimed to address these concerns, namely to find out whether horizontal transmission of Wolbachia occurred from A. aegypti that were released to other species and whether residents living in the released areas were infected with Wolbachia. The research was conducted in Dusun Nogotirto and Dusun Kronggahan (Sleman Regency), as well as in Dusun Jomblangan and Dusun Singosaren (Bantul Regency), Yogyakarta Special Province. Wolbachia qPCR screening using the target gene WD0513 was performed on 922 Culex quinquefasciatus Say and 331 Aedes albopictus (Skuse). ELISA test was carried out on 190 pairs of plasma samples, namely the sample before the Wolbachia frequency was established (still 80%). The results showed no evidence of Wolbachia transfer from Wolbachia-infected A. aegypti to other mosquito species coexisting in the same habitat or to humans. This study corroborates the safety evidence of Wolbachia-infected A. aegypti technology as an alternative to control dengue virus transmission

Rovik A, Daniwijaya EW, Supriyati E, Rahayu A, Kumalawati DA, Saraswati U, Handayaningsih AE, Rachman MP, Oktriani R, Kurniasari I, Candrasari DS, Nurhayati I, Sholeh R, Arianto B, Tantowijoyo W, Ahmad RA, Utarini A, Arguni E. 2022. Wolbachia genetic similarity in different insect host species: Drosophila melanogaster and Yogyakarta’s (Indonesia) Aedes aegypti as a novel host. Biodiversitas 23: 2321-2328. Wolbachia naturally presents in a large number of insects and other arthropod species. The Wolbachia strain wMel from Drosophila melanogaster has been stably transinfected into Aedes aegypti where it stops the mosquito host from being infected with medically important arbovirus like dengue. Consequently, Ae. aegypti infected with wMel have been released in Indonesia as a public health intervention against dengue. This study genetically compared wMel from Yogya field-caught D. melanogaster and the wMel in stably transfected Ae. aegypti used for field releases in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The genetic similarity between wMel Wolbachia was evaluated by sequencing of Wolbachia surface protein (wsp) gene and some polymorphic genomic regions of insertion sites (IS) and variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) loci. The sequence of the Wolbachia surface protein (wsp) gene was 100% identical between hosts. There is no insertion sequence among specimens. The insertion sequence IS-WD1310 was identical between wMel from both hosts and among other strains, as well as the IS-WD516/7. The VNTR-141 period was identical within wMel from both hosts and among other strains, the VNTR-105 as well. Wolbachia Yogya field-caught D. melanogaster and Wolbachia strain wMel present in Ae. aegypti used for bio-control of dengue were genetically identical. These findings provide beneficial understanding to answer the public attention on safety issues, especially on the genetic similarity between Wolbachia strain in the natural and transfected hosts of this novel technology for dengue control.

Mangrove is a unique ecosystem. Only a few studies have explored the presence of lactic acid bacteria and their roles in mangrove ecosystems. From mangrove sediments at Logending Beach in Jawa Tengah (Indonesia), the Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) isolates LG-50, LG-107, and LG-114 were discovered. They produce bacteriocins. This study aimed to determine the characteristics of LAB isolates, antimicrobial activity, and physicochemical properties of bacteriocins. LAB isolates were characterized by morphology, physiology, and biochemistry. The production of bacteriocin was performed by salting-out method, followed by testing its antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria. Isolates LG-50, LG-107, and LG-114 are thought to be in the Lactobacillus group. The crude bacteriocin can inhibit the growth of Gram-positive and negative bacteria. The average inhibition zones against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were 16.67 mm and 22.17 mm, respectively. The crude bacteriocin tested positive for ninhydrin. It confirmed the crude bacteriocin was a protein and sensitive to the proteolytic enzyme. SDS-PAGE analysis presented the molecular weight of crude bacteriocin was 38 kDa. This present study supports the potential use of bacteriocin in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

Cancer remains one of the biggest challenges to human health worldwide, with incidence and mortality rates continuing to rise. Popular cancer treatments to date include surgery, radiation-based therapy, chemotherapy, gene therapy, and hormone therapy. Chemotherapy is one of the primary treatment methods for cancer. However, it has unwanted side effects. It has prompted the search for new chemotherapeutic drugs with better efficacy, excellent selectivity, and fewer side effects. In recent years, there has been growing scientific interest in the potential of soursop leaf (Annona muricata) as an anticancer agent. This review paper discusses the phytochemical content of A. muricata and its potential as a co-chemotherapy against various types of cancer. Several bioactive compounds in soursop leaves have been reported, including annopentocin A, muricatetrocin A, annohexocin, isoannonacinone, annomuricin A, muricatin C, corossolin, and arianacin. Extracts from various parts of A. muricata have potential as co-chemotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate, lung, cervical, liver, and blood cancer. Studies concluded that A. muricata extracts have a good safety and tolerability profile. Its benefits as a co-chemotherapy agent will be even more significant when made into pharmaceutical dosage forms. A. muricata extracts or compounds packaged in pharmaceutical preparations are expected to improve patient's quality of life. However, more research is needed to determine the optimal dosage, route of administration, and potential side effects.

Introduction: Indonesia is ranked the 4th most populous country in the world. Since Covid19 is highly transmissible from human to human, Indonesia might suffer a long period of the Covid19 pandemic than other less-populous countries. This study aimed to find the correlations of tropical climate, population density and confounding factors with Covid19 progression in Indonesia from March to August 2020. Methods: The climatological data, population density, laboratory testing, and the confirmed Covid19 cases were statistically analyzed. The correlations between each data were performed with Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient using a Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The values of statistical significance were considered at 95% and 99% confidence intervals. Results and Discussion: Indonesia recorded more than 1,315 confirmed Covid19 cases in almost all provinces (30 out of 34) during the dry season (March to August 2020). During the early pandemic, DKI Jakarta and East Java have been the epicenters of the pandemic in Indonesia. Humidity and precipitation have a weak negative correlation, while the temperatures have a weak positive correlation. Population density and laboratory testing have a strong positive and significant correlation with the cumulative confirmed Covid19 cases. Conclusion: Our study indicates that tropical climate less affects the cumulative Covid19 case in Indonesia than population density and laboratory testing capacity.