Kambiz Akbari Noghabi

National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology | NIGEB · Department of Molecular Genetics

A group of biosurfactants, called rhamnolipids, have been shown to have antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria. Here, we examined the effect of rhamnolipid biosurfactants extracted from Pseudomonas aeruginosa MA01 on cell growth/viability, biofilm formation, and membrane permeability of methicillin-resistant Sta...

Bioethanol produced from lignocellulosic biomass is regarded as a clean and sustainable energy source. The recalcitrant structure of lignocellulose is a major drawback to affordable bioethanol production from plant biomass. In this study, a novel endo-1,4-xylanase, named Xyn-2, from the camel rumen metagenome, was characterized and evaluated for hy...

Various studies have been conducted to understand the impact of environmental pollutants on cyanobacteria due to their abundant presence in aquatic and terrestrial environments, specific morphological and physiological characteristics, and high ecological flexibility in response to environmental changes. Here, the effect of different concentrations...

Demands for peroxidases (POX)s with diverse physicochemical properties have steadily grown as more applications of POXs are demonstrated. Plants are among the best sources of versatile POXs, and plant biotechnology, as an agricultural hassle-free technology, promises to circumvent the limitations of natural resource exploitation and to address the...

Xylanase is one of the essential enzymes in divergent industries such as Pulp bleaching, cosmetics, and beverages. It has been widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries and obtained from bacteria, fungi, and crustaceans that is mainly responsible for the hydrolysis of β-1,4 bonds in xylan polysaccharides. Structural and bioinformatics studi...

Satureja sahendica Bornm belongs to the mint family (Lamiaceae family) and is a native medicinal plant-specific to Iran. In addition to being used in the kitchen, this plant contains essential oils with major constituents of thymol, γ-terpinene, paracetamol, and carvacrol, which have medicinal uses. In the present study, the ethanolic extract of Sa...

Therapeutic options including last-line or combined antibiotic therapies for multi-drug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii are ineffective. The outer membrane protein A (OmpA) and outer membrane protein W (OmpW) are two porins known for their different cellular functions. Identification of natural compounds with the potentials to block th...

Among seven strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from traditional dairy products, a Lactobacillus strain was identified through 16S rRNA gene sequencing and tentatively designated as Lactobacillus brevis MK05. This strain demonstrated the highest probiotic potential through biochemical analysis, including acid and bile salt resistance, as...

Therapeutic options, including last-line or combined antibiotic therapies for multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains of Acinetobacter baumannii are ineffective. The outer membrane protein A (OmpA) and outer membrane protein W (OmpW) are two porins known for their different cellular functions. Identification of natural compounds with the potentials to b...

Bioethanol produced by fermentative microorganisms is regarded as an alternative to fossil fuel. Bioethanol to be used as a viable energy source must be produced cost-effectively by removing expense-intensive steps such as the enzymatic hydrolysis of substrate. Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) is believed to be a practical solution combining saccha...

Background: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a major threat to global health. Older antibiotics have become more or less ineffective as a result of widespread microbial resistance and an urgent need has emerged for the development of new antimicrobial strategies. Acidocin 4356 is a novel antimicrobial bacteriocin peptide produced by Lactobacillus...

Aims: The use of cyanobacterial cell extracts for the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles seems to be superior to other methods of synthesis as a green, environmentally friendly, and low-cost approach. In the present study, the cell extract of a newly characterized cyanobacterial strain Desertifilum sp. EAZ03 was used for the biosynthesis of zin...

The ability of biofilm formation in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) causes significant mortality and morbidity in wound infections. Nanoparticles are considered as proper tools to overcome the therapeutic problem of antimicrobial-resistant infections. This study was aimed to evaluate the anti-biofilm activity of cefazolin-loaded...

Background: Bioethanol produced by fermentative microorganisms is regarded as an alternative to fossil fuel. Bioethanol to be used as a viable energy source must be produced cost-effectively by removing expense-intensive steps such as the enzymatic hydrolysis of substrate. Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) is believed to be a practical solution comb...

An outer membrane protein A (OmpA) from Acinetobacter sp. strain SA01 was identified and characterized in-depth based on the structural and functional characteristics already known of its homologues. In silico structural studies showed that this protein can be a slow porin, binds to peptidoglycan, and exhibits emulsifying properties. Characterizati...

Peptide flexibility is a determining factor in designing peptide-based drugs and in linker peptides. The flexibility is roughly inversely proportional to the size of the amino acid side chains in a peptide sequence. Glycine homo repeats are, therefore, the most flexible oligopeptides. We synthesized three oligopeptides: a relatively rigid peptide,...

Indigenous acidophilic bacteria separated from mine-waste can be used in return for the addition of the reagents like sulfuric acid. Among the tailings bacteria, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans are of the moststudied ones for the bioleaching and bioremediation of elements. In this work, the isolation and characteriz...

Multidrug-resistant bacteria are a major threat to global health, and the Pseudomonas bacterium with the ability to form biofilms is considered one of the main causative agents of nosocomial infections. Traditional antibiotics have failed because of increased resistance. Thus, finding new biocompatible antibacterial drugs is essential. Antimicrobia...

An efficient lipopeptide biosurfactant (BS) producer, Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus HAK01, was isolated from municipal landfill sites. The strain was able to produce about 4.9 g L À1 lipopeptide at a thermophilic temperature of 45 C. After optimization of culture component concentrations using the response surface method, the main focus is to f...

Global warming and the limitations of using fossil fuels are a main concern of all societies, and thus, the development of alternative fuel sources is crucial to improving the current global energy situation. Biofuels are known as the best alternatives of unrenewable fuels and justify increasing extensive research to develop new and less expensive...

Cyanobacteria, as one of the largest groups of phototrophic bacteria, have a high potential as an excellent source of fine chemicals and bioactive compounds, including lipid-like compounds, amino acid derivatives, proteins, and pigments.

Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), which is present in most bacteria and eukaryotes’ mitochondria, plays an important role in amino acid metabolism. In general, GDH converts 2-oxoglutarate to l-glutamate using NAD(P)H as a cofactor, and vice versa. Acquiring more structural information about the GDH of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 could be helpful in man...

C-phycocyanin (C-PC) pigment, as a natural blue dye, has particular applications in various fields. It is a water-soluble protein which has anticancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Here, we introduce an efficient procedure for the purification of C-PC pigment, followed by conducting a comprehensive investigation of its cytotoxic ef...

An extreme halophilic xylanase, designated as XylCMS, was characterized by cloning and expression of the encoding gene from a camel rumen metagenome. XylCMS proved to be a GH11 xylanase with high identity to a hypothetical glycosyl hydrolase from Ruminococcus flavefaciens. XylCMS with a molecular weight of about 47 kDa showed maximum activity at pH...

Over the last decade, finding bacterial strains with ability to accumulate high concentrations of lipids has gained increasing interest, since these lipids may be used in different industries. Here we describe two methods for evaluation of lipid accumulation in cyanobacteria, following by our personal reflection on issues surrounding the use of the...

In this study, a glycolipid type of biosurfactant (BS) was produced, its characteristics were evaluated and several flooding tests were conducted in a micromodel to investigate its potential for enhancing oil recovery. A rhamnolipid BS producer strain was identified as a bacterium belonging to the genus Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This BS showed good s...

Synechocystis sp. GMRA01 Bacteria; Cyanobacteria; Synechococcales; Merismopediaceae; Synechocystis

Background and objective: Biosurfactants are increasingly used by food industries due to their low toxicities and unique structures. In this study, biosurfactants were produced and characterized for the first time using acidic bacteria isolated from acidic hot springs in Bushehr Province, Iran. Material and methods: Screening and identification of...

The present study is pursuing our previous research, focused on some aspects of Nostoc entophytum ISC32 cell response to the stress caused by exposure to cadmium at the cellular and molecular levels. Variations in the antioxidant system (catalase and ascorbate peroxidase activity) of N. entophytum ISC32 exposed to varying concentrations of Cd (2, a...

C-Phycocyanin pigment was purified from a native cyanobacterial strain using a novel consecutive multi-step procedure and utilized for the first time for the green synthesis of phycocyanin-zinc oxide nanorods (PHY-ZnO NRs) by a simple, low-cost and eco-friendly approach. The PHY-ZnO NRs were characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy, X-ray diffractio...

A specific strain of naturally occurring oral lactobacilli was isolated and identified based on morphological, biochemical, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The phylogenetic affiliation of the isolate confirmed that the NK02 strain had close association with the Lactobacillus salivarius. An effective mouthwash was developed for treatment of periodonti...

Among microorganisms, bacteria are the main group of biosurfactant‐producing organisms. Different types of bacteria including Pseudomonas sp., Acinetobacter sp., Bacillus sp. and Arthrobacter sp. are among the most commonly studied bacteria in the realm of scientific researches. However, due to the pathogenic nature of the producing organisms, the...

It was earlier shown that the mixotrophic cultivation of Synechococcus sp. HS01 in ostrich oil-containing BG11 medium leads to an up to 2.82- fold increase in lipid productivity compared with autotrophic condition. A follow-up investigation was carried out to divulge whether conditions that would increase the lipid content in Synechococcus sp. HS01...

Endoglucanases are important enzymes in plant biomass degradation. They have current and potential applications in various industrial sectors including human and animal food processing, textile, paper, and renewable biofuel production. It is assumed that the cold-active endoglucanases, with high catalytic rates in moderate and cold temperatures, ca...

The camel rumen metagenome is an untapped source of glycoside hydrolases. In this study, novel genes encoding for a modular xylanase (XylC) and a cellulase (CelC) were isolated from a camel rumen metagenome and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). XylC with xylanase (Xyn), CBM, and carbohydrate esterase (CE) domains was characterized as a β-1,...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm-related infections are the major cause of premature death in cystic fibrosis patients. Strategies to induce biofilm dispersal are of interest, because of their potential in preventing biofilm-related infections. Our previous work demonstrated that n-butanolic Cyclamen coum extract with ciprofloxacin could eliminate 1-...

In this study, we isolated five indigenous cyanobacterial strains from different aqueous environments, with heavy metals contamination, in East Azerbaijan Province (northwest portion of Iran). A strain was identified by morphological and 16S rRNA sequence analysis as Limnothrix sp. KO05 and selected for further studies as having the greatest potent...

High contamination by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has been detected in Beja province (Tunisia) in many dairy products and animal feed, which has resulted in many tons of cereals and cereals being removed from the market, causing economic loss. While removal represents a means of reducing risk, exposures still occur. Studies have increasingly focused on mea...

A novel glycoside hydrolase from Exiguobacterium sp. SH3 was characterized. The enzyme, designated as Glu-SH3, was predicted by in silico analysis to have structural similarity with members of oligo-1,6-glucosidase and trehalose-6-phosphate hydrolase subfamilies in the GH-13 family of glycoside hydrolases. The gene was expressed in E. coli and the...

Objective In the present work, we have extended the study and immobilized the metalloprotease enzyme in glutaraldehyde cross-linked chitosan nanogels to scrutinize the enzyme’s features including stability over its soluble free form. Method The immobilized metalloprotease was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), followed by Four...

Among 9 cyanobacterial strains isolated from oil contaminated regions in southern Iran, an isolate with maximum cadmium uptake capacity was selected and identified based on analysis of morphological criteria and 16S rRNA sequence homology as Nostoc entophytum (with 99% similarity). The isolate was tentatively designated as Nostoc entophytum ISC32....

The Curtobacterium sp. FM01 was isolated from farmland soils of northeast Iran and tested for eight heavy metals removal in aqueous solutions. The results showed that the metal removal (%) values for Ni (II) and Pb (II) with FM01 were significantly superior to the corresponding values with other metals. Accordingly, further analyses were concerted...

An extensive investigation was applied to isolate biosurfactant producer bacteria from urban waste. Bacillus tequilensis HK01 was screened and identified as an efficient biosurfactant producer among 140 bacterial isolates. A comprehensive study was done to evaluate different aspects of the growth and biosurfactant production by this strain. Growth...

A pullulanase-encoding gene from psychrotrophic Exiguobacterium sp. SH3 was cloned and expressed in both E. coli and Bacillus subtilis. The functional recombinant enzyme (Pul-SH3) was purified as a His-tagged protein. Pul-SH3 was characterized to be a cold-adapted type I pullulanase with maximum activity at 45 °C. Using fluorescence spectroscopy, t...

Porosity and crack formation are two major ordinary phenomena in concrete which alongside a reduction in the service life of concrete structures, increase maintenance and cement production needs. The main aim of running this research was to investigate the calcite precipitating-proficient indigenous bacterial strain Bacillus licheniformis AK01, iso...

In order to provide optimal conditions for the growth of fibroblast cells, a three-dimensional scaffold of gelatin-starch was developed using the salt-leaching and freeze-drying methods. The exclusivity and uniqueness of the final scaffold was obtained from testing different percentages of gelatin. In addition, the morphology of the scaffolds was e...

A glycolipid kind of biosurfactant (rhamnolipid) which is obtained from Pseudomonas aeruginosa MA01, adsorbed on the polypropylene film to produce antimicrobial and antiadhesive polymeric surface for the first time. The polypropylene was modified using oxygen and air plasma. The effects of plasma operating condition including the plasma power and t...

In the present study, an array of relevant experiments has been conducted to determine the potential of five cyanobacteria strains isolated from aquatic zones to induce lipid production. The phylogenetic affiliation of the isolates was determined based on their 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Among the isolates, an efficient cyanobacterium, Synechococcus...

Protein A is a commercially important protein in biotechnological and medicinal applications. The great value of this protein and its applications in genetic and protein engineering and microbial researches as well as the growing use in biochemical industries, biotechnology, medicine and pharmacology, highlight the importance of the present study....

A psychrotrophic bacterium with amylolytic activity was isolated from soil samples collected from the southwestern suburb of Tehran. Using biochemical tests and a molecular approach based on 16S rDNA sequencing this bacterial isolate was identified as closely related with Exiguobacterium genus. This bacterium designated as Exiguobacterium sp. SH3 w...

In recent years, exploring novel probiotic strains for therapeutic intervention has been raised due to the significant increase in market demand. This study aimed to investigate the certain probiotic properties of 15 Lactobacillus isolates from Iranian traditional dairy products. Among them, a novel potential probiotic strain was isolated and ident...

A lipopeptide biosurfactant production from a probiotic type strain of Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. freudenreichii is being reported here for the first time. This biosurfactant is able to reduce the surface tension of water from 72 to 38 mN/m with an increase of the biosurfactant concentration up to critical micelle concentration value o...

In this study, biosorption of cadmium (II) ions from aqueous solutions by a glyphosate degrading bacterium, Ochrobactrum sp. GDOS, was investigated in batch conditions. The isolate was able to utilize 3 mM GP as the sole phosphorous source, favorable to bacterium growth and survival. The effect of different basic parameters such as initial pH, cont...

A gene coding for an alpha-amylase (Amy-E) from Exiguobacterium sp. SH3 was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli. The enzyme was purified as a functional His-tagged protein of about 53 kDa with maximum activity at 30 °C and pH 6.5. Amy-E was also able to function well at low temperatures, retaining 41% of its maximum activity in assays conduc...