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Topic Review
Techniques for Dealcoholization of Wines
To adapt to the trends in wine styles, and the effect of climate change on wine alcohol content, different techniques have been used at the various stages of winemaking, among which the physical dealcoholization techniques, particularly membrane separation (nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, evaporative perstraction, and pervaporation) and thermal distillation (vacuum distillation and spinning cone column), have shown promising results and hence are being used for commercial production.
  • 1.9K
  • 29 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT)
Photodynamic inactivation is known as a new antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT). It is based on the administration of a photosensitizer located in the bacterial/viral cell followed by exposure to light radiations (with a proper wavelength corresponding with the maximum value of absorption of the photosensitizer) that generate singlet oxygen or reactive oxygen species, which lead to the death of different microorganisms. This review will present an overview beyond the state-of-the-art of the photosensitizer types (based on tetra-p-sulphonated-phenyl porphyrin—TSPP, which is able to form cationic and J-aggregates forms at different pH values ((1–4) and concentrations around 10−5 M) and their applications of PDT for viruses, especially. 
  • 1.9K
  • 30 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Biogenic amines in Fish
The occurrence of biogenic amines in fish is directly associated with microorganisms with decarboxylase activity. These compounds are generally detoxified by oxidases in the intestinal tract of humans, but some conditions, such as alcohol consumption, enzyme deficiency, or monoamino-oxidase antidepressant use, can make their intake by food dangerous. Due to its toxicity, histamine is a unique biogenic amine with regulatory limits for fishery products. This review focuses on biogenic amines in fish, with a detailed picture of the number of alert notifications or intoxication events reported in the last years. The favoring conditions for their formation, as well as the main preventive and control measures to ensure public health, are also reviewed.
  • 1.9K
  • 18 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Methanogens in industrial wastewater treatment
Anaerobic biotechnology is commonly used for treating high-strength wastewaters from different industries. Properties of wastewater vary across industries and significantly affect microbiome composition in the anaerobic reactor. Methanogenic archaea play a crucial role during anaerobic wastewater treatment.
  • 1.9K
  • 22 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Technologies in Detection of Mycotoxins
Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by filamentous fungi that cause harmful effects on human and animal health as well as significant economic losses. As mycotoxins are responsible for food contamination and certain permissible limits have already been established, developing sensitive and reliable methods to detect them is a top priority. Proteomic and genomic methods, molecular techniques, electronic nose, aggregation-induced emission dye, quantitative NMR, and hyperspectral imaging are some innovative techniques which are applied in the analysis and determination of important mycotoxins in foods and are used alternatively in chromatographic techniques. Some of them have proven to be particularly effective in not only the detection of mycotoxins, but also in detecting mycotoxin-producing fungi. As mycotoxin-contaminated foods can appear anywhere in the world through international trade, their detection and identification are considered essential to the protection of human health by providing safe foods free of major food contaminants such as mycotoxins.
  • 1.9K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Erysipelas
Erysipelas (/ˌɛrəˈsɪpələs/) is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin (upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright red rash, typically on the face or legs, but which can occur anywhere on the skin. It is a form of cellulitis and is potentially serious. Erysipelas is usually caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as group A β-hemolytic streptococci, through a break in the skin such as from scratches or an insect bite. It is more superficial than cellulitis, and is typically more raised and demarcated. The term is from Greek ἐρυσίπελας (erysípelas), meaning "red skin". In animals, erysipelas is a disease caused by infection with the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. The disease caused in animals is called Diamond Skin Disease, which occurs especially in pigs. Heart valves and skin are affected. Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae can also infect humans, but in that case, the infection is known as erysipeloid.
  • 1.8K
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Microbiological Hazards in Dairy
In Africa, milk production, processing and consumption are integral part of the traditional food supply, with dairy products being a staple component of recommended healthy diets. In this article, we highlight the main microbial food safety hazards in the dairy chain in African. These include risk factors associated with various steps in the dairy chain including primary production, milk collection, storage, packaging, transportation and distribution, traditional milk processing as well as consumer practices.
  • 1.8K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Fungal Proteases
Proteases are obtained from plants, animals, and microorganisms. Plants and animals’ proteases are more complex as compared to microorganisms. Fungal proteases are used as detergents for the removal of stains by hydrolyzing the peptide bond among the protein molecules.
  • 1.8K
  • 14 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Antifungal Therapy
Antifungals (also referred to as antimycotics) are the type of antibiotics used to treat fungal infections. In contrast to bacteria, fungi are eukaryotic organisms; thus fungal cells are very similar to our own cells. Because of this there is a limited number of selective targets and the current arsenal of antifungal drugs is very limited, which contributes to high mortality rates. In addition, development of resistance against current antifungals poses additional challenges. Clearly, new antifungal agents are urgently needed. 
  • 1.8K
  • 22 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Skin Microbiota and Cosmetics Influence
Dermatological and cosmetics fields have recently started to focus on the human skin microbiome and microbiota, since the skin microbiota is involved in the health and dysbiosis of the skin ecosystem. Amongst the skin microorganisms, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Cutibacterium acnes, both commensal bacteria, appear as skin microbiota sentinels. These sentinels have a key role in the skin ecosystem since they protect and prevent microbiota disequilibrium by fighting pathogens and participate in skin homeostasis through the production of beneficial bacterial metabolites. These bacteria adapt to changing skin microenvironments and can shift to being opportunistic pathogens, forming biofilms, and thus are involved in common skin dysbiosis, such as acne or atopic dermatitis.
  • 1.8K
  • 24 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Fission
Fission, in biology, is the division of a single entity into two or more parts and the regeneration of those parts to separate entities resembling the original. The object experiencing fission is usually a cell, but the term may also refer to how organisms, bodies, populations, or species split into discrete parts. The fission may be binary fission, in which a single organism produces two parts, or multiple fission, in which a single entity produces multiple parts.
  • 1.8K
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
LABs and Silage Production
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are considered potent natural additives for animal feed production due to the efficient production of biological metabolites—notably, higher lactic acid content with marginal level acetic acid and other organic acids. Furthermore, LAB can utilize water-soluble carbohydrates and convert them into valuable organic acids, which increase the acidification of the surrounding environment. Rapid acidification (lower pH) could help to prevent undesirable microbial growth and toxic secondary metabolite secretion.
  • 1.8K
  • 07 Jan 2022
Topic Review
PTMs Role During Virus Infection
Viruses are opportunistic intracellular pathogens that are dependent on the host for their replication. They hijack host cellular machinery for their replication and survival by targeting crucial cellular physiological pathways, including transcription, translation, immune pathways, and apoptosis. Immediately after translation, the host and viral proteins undergo a process called post-translational modification (PTM). PTMs of proteins involves the attachment of small proteins, carbohydrates/lipids, or chemical groups to the proteins and are crucial for protein's functioning. During viral infection, host proteins utilize PTMs to control the virus replication, using strategies like activating immune response pathways, inhibiting viral protein synthesis, and ultimately eliminating the virus from the host. PTM of viral proteins increases solubility, enhances antigenicity and virulence properties. However, RNA viruses are devoid of enzymes capable of introducing PTMs to their proteins. Hence, they utilize the host PTM machinery to promote their survival. Proteins from viruses belonging to the family: Togaviridae, Flaviviridae, Retroviridae, and Coronaviridae such as chikungunya, dengue, zika, HIV, and coronavirus are a few well-known to be modified. This review discusses various host and virus-mediated PTMs that play a role in the outcome during the infection.
  • 1.8K
  • 28 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Bacterial Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents
Bacterial pathogens as causative agents of infection constitute an alarming concern in the public health sector. In particular, bacteria with resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents can confound chemotherapeutic efficacy towards infectious diseases. Multidrug-resistant bacteria harbor various molecular and cellular mechanisms for antimicrobial resistance. These antimicrobial resistance mechanisms include active antimicrobial efflux, reduced drug entry into cells of pathogens, enzymatic metabolism of antimicrobial agents to inactive products, biofilm formation, altered drug targets, and protection of antimicrobial targets. These microbial systems represent suitable focuses for investigation to establish the means for their circumvention and to reestablish therapeutic effectiveness.
  • 1.8K
  • 01 Aug 2022
Topic Review
MALDI–TOF Mass Spectrometry in Microbiology
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that has emerged as a powerful tool in clinical microbiology for identifying peptides and proteins, which makes it a promising tool for microbial identification. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight MS (MALDI–TOF MS) offers a cost- and time-effective alternative to conventional methods, such as bacterial culture and even 16S rRNA gene sequencing, for identifying viruses, bacteria and fungi and detecting virulence factors and mechanisms of resistance. 
  • 1.8K
  • 24 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Phages and Intestinal Dysbiosis
Gastrointestinal tract microbiota plays a key role in the regulation of the pathogenesis of several gastrointestinal diseases. In particular, the viral fraction, composed essentially of bacteriophages, influences homeostasis by exerting selective pressure on the bacterial communities living in the tract. The inflamed gut is associated with an SOS response regulated by an increase in resident intestinal pathogenic bacteria, loss of phage diversity, and induction of prophages.
  • 1.8K
  • 09 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Trypanosomatid Pathogens
Unicellular eukaryotes of the Trypanosomatidae family include human and animal pathogens that belong to the Trypanosoma and Leishmania genera. Diagnosis of the diseases they caused requires the sampling of body fluids (blood, lymph, peritoneal fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, etc.) or organ biopsies (bone marrow, spleen, etc.), which are mostly obtained through invasive methods. Body fluids or appendages can be alternatives to these invasive biopsies but their appropriateness remains poorly studied. To further address this question, we perform a systematic review on clues evidencing the presence of parasites, genetic material, antibodies, and antigens in body secretions, appendages, or the organs or proximal tissues that produce these materials.
  • 1.7K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Cold-Tolerant Microbes
Cold adapted microorganisms represent a large fraction of biomass on earth due to the dominance of low temperature environments. Himalaya is one of the most important low temperature environments on Earth because it possess environmental similarities to Polar Regions. The extreme cold environments of Himalaya are mainly dependent on the tiny life forms because of climatic restrictions to higher plants and animals. These cold loving microbes are known to possess several structural and functional adaptations in order to perform various life processes under the stressful low temperature environments. Their biological activities maintain the nutrient flux in environment and contribute in the global biogeochemical cycles. The culture dependent and culture independent studies revealed their diversity in community structure and functional potential. Apart from the ecological importance, these microorganisms have been recognized as a source of cold active enzymes and novel bioactive compounds. These products have several applications in biotechnological industries. 
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Microorganisms
Microorganisms are a diverse group of microscopic organisms including archaea, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, algae, and viruses. Microbial diversity produces a massive pool of unique chemicals, which have become a valuable source for innovative biotechnology. About 23,000 secondary metabolites from microorganisms are known, out of which actinomycetes exclusively produce approximately 42%, whereas fungi form almost similar amounts (42%), and the remaining 16% is produced by eubacteria.
  • 1.7K
  • 27 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Biofilm Formation
Biofilm is a complicated bacterial structure that was first recognized by the Dutch microscopist Anton Van Leeuwenhoek in dental plaque during the 1670s. Until around 50 years ago, very few studies had been performed on biofilm properties. Following the invention of the electron microscopy, it was revealed that biofilm is a microbial community composed of bacteria that is protected by the barrier of an exopolysaccharide matrix. Within this unique structure, microorganisms possess multicellular behavior that is distinct from that of simple planktonic cells, and they are typically at least 500 times more resistant to antibacterial agents. The enclosed environment is beneficial to bacterial survival for extended periods and is thus considered a self-defense measure to safeguard against unfavorable conditions. This drives chronic infection by opportunistic pathogens in which the bacterial community is resistant to antibacterial agents and to host immunity. For instance, the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in clinical specimens is closely associated with a potent ability to produce biofilm. 
  • 1.7K
  • 06 Apr 2022
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