Mohammad Reza Soudi

Alzahra University · Faculty of Biological Sciences

A new species of basidiomycetes was isolated from kitchen garden soil in Shahryar city, Tehran province, Iran. Molecular and conventional methods were employed to identify and classify this single isolate. Morphologically, the isolate is considered yeast-like with hyaline and oval cells reproducing by monopolar budding, and also producing septate h...

Gold mine operations release toxic arsenic and other heavy metals into the environment, which can be accumulated in water resources and the food chain. As microbial bioremediation has been a promising method for pollutant removal from contaminated sites, the identification of bacterial communities in arsenic-contaminated resources has recently been...

Background Fungal extracts have received increased attention due to their great medicinal applications including antitumor, immune-modulating, antioxidant, radical scavenging, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and detoxificating properties. Objectives This study is the first report on a novel bioactive compound, namely Childinan SF-2 which was...

Article type: Full Length Research Paper

Background: Gold mine operations release toxic arsenic and other heavy metals into the environment, which can be accumulated in water resources and the food chain. As microbial bioremediation has been a promising method for pollutant removal from contaminated sites, the identification of bacterial communities in arsenic-contaminated resources has r...

Background: Microbial phytase is one of the most widely used enzymes in food industries like cattle, poultry, and aquaculture food. Therefore, understanding the kinetic properties of the enzyme is very important to evaluate and predict its behavior in the digestive system of livestock. Working on phytase is one of the most challenging experiments...

The rapid global growth of plastic production and waste are harbingers of increasing pollution in terrestrial and marine ecosystems for which safe and effective methods of disposal and degradation must be pursued. In the present study, metabarcoding and culture-based studies have been carried out to provide insights into polyethylene terephthalate...

Synthetic polymers, such as polyethylene (PE), are produced daily in large quantities and, due to their unique properties, like durability and low cost, consumed in various capacities worldwide, subsequently accumulating in terrestrial and marine environments. In recent years, several studies have focused on the toxicological effects of these plast...

Nowadays, preparing biodegradable films based on hydrocolloids has become thoroughly crucial in food packaging. Also, to enhance some of the aspects of these films, adding oil to the formulation of the films has been considered as a valid method. In this study, a variety of films based on two biopolymers (fenugreek galactomannan and xanthan gum) in...

The effects of treating two biopolymers (Trigonella foenum—graceum galactomannan and xanthan gum mixtures) with microwaves and ultrasound on the rheological aspects of O/W emulsions were investigated. The data obtained from steady shear flow were fitted with various models and the best were chosen due to the values of R2 and RMSE. The oscillatory s...

Synthetic polymers, such as polyethylene (PE), are produced daily in large quantities and due to their unique properties, like durability and low cost, consumed in various capacities around the world subsequently accumulating in terrestrial and marine environments. In recent years, the toxicological effects of these plastic particles on the environ...

Background: Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most abundant plastic wastes which accumulates in marine and terrestrial environments. As microbial degradation has been a promising approach for the bioremediation of polluted environments, identification of the microbial community profile where these pollutants accumulate, has recently been in focus....

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...

Arsenic oxyanions are toxic chemicals that impose a high risk to humans and other living organisms in the environment. The present study investigated indigenous heterotrophic bacteria in the tailings dam effluent (TDE) of a gold mining factory. Thirty-seven arsenic resistant bacteria were cultured on Reasoner's 2A agar supplemented with arsenic sal...

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) polymer is mainly used in the production of plastic bags and food packaging making up the largest volume of plastic pollutions. These polymers are potential substrates for bacteria in the bioremediation process. In this study, soil samples were collected from different plastic landfills in Iran and subsequently enric...

The traditional leather tanning is one of the oldest technologies which produces effluents containing different pollutants, including Cr(VI) oxyanions. In this lab-scale study, batch experiments were conducted to measure Cr(VI) removal capacity of Sargassum tenerrimum. The efficacy of biosorption was optimized considering variables including pH, te...

Molecular properties and biological functions of Pyrenaican SF-1 as a novel biological macromolecule extracted from a fungal isolate were studied. The isolate was identified as Daldinia pyrenaica on the basis of 5.8S rDNA sequencing. Pyrenaican SF-1 was obtained from the culture filtrate of the fungal isolate. The partial characterization of bioche...

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...

Biological precipitation of calcium carbonate using Sporosarcina pasteurii, has been developed in the recent decades for the civil applications such as improvement of soil engineering parameters, crack repair in concrete and remediation of contaminated soil. In order to facilitate the application of this method, cost optimization and production sim...

Introduction: Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) is a well-known biodegradable polymer produced by some microorganisms and can be a suitable alternative for petrochemical plastics. PHB synthase encoded by phbC gene is the main enzyme in PHB biosynthesis pathway in Ralstonia eutropha. The aim of current study was the transformation of R. eutropha PTCC 16...

Polysaccharides are, composed of monomeric simple sugars exhibiting substantial diversity for functional groups, found being suitable for vast biological activities in different living organisms. Difficulties in isolation, purification by professional methods and using costly equipment are the multiple challenges of characterizing the nature and pr...

In the last decades, mushroom polysaccharides as important complex biopolymer; have attracted considerable attention by their preference such as bioactivity, low toxicity and environmental friendly. Nowadays, most of the antioxidants used are synthetic and have been suspected of being responsible for liver damage and carcinogenesis. Therefore, extr...

This study assessed the role of a new Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strain, GSN3, with biofilm-forming and phenol-degrading abilities. Three biofilm reactors were spiked with activated sludge (R1), green fluorescent plasmid (GFP) tagged GSN3 (R2), and their combination (R3). More than 99% phenol removal was achieved during four weeks in R3 while this...

Fungal exopolysaccharides are powerful resources of medicinal applications. Neopestalotiopsis sp. SKE15 was isolated and identified according to phenotypical and genotypical analyses (GenBank Accession No. MG649986). The exopolysaccharide (EPS) was produced by cultivation of mycelia in broth culture and extracted. The production was optimized to 2....

In this study, the efficiency improvement of three moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) was investigated by inoculation of activated sludge cells (R1), mixed culture of eight strong phenol-degrading bacteria consisted of Pseudomonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. (R2) and the combination of both (R3). Biofilm formation ability of eight bacteria was ass...

The enhancement of the production of lipopeptide biosurfactant by Bacillus pumilus 2IR as an oil field-isolated bacterium was investigated in the fed-batch fermentation using a 5-L bioreactor. The initial study on the culture medium composition used for biosurfactant synthesis revealed that biosurfactant production was greatly affected by glucose,...

Polysaccharides from a number of fungal species are recognized as bioactive substance with potential health benefits. The growth-dependence fungal exopolysaccharide was produced by cultivation of mycelia in submerged culture, extracted and purified via solvent extraction. This study was evaluated antioxidant effects of polysaccharides extracted fro...

In this study, the effect of the essential oil of Zataria multiflora was examined against the local strains of Xanthomonas campestris isolated from the soil. The pathogenicity of the bacteria was confirmed using seedlings on culture media under sterile conditions. The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations of Zataria multiflora essentia...

During a study on the biodiversity of yeasts and yeast-like ascomycetes from wild plants in Iran, four strains of yeast-like filamentous fungi were isolated from a healthy plant of Euphorbia polycaulis in the Qom Province, Iran (IR. of). All four strains formed small hyaline one-celled conidia from integrated conidiogenous cells directly on hyphae...

Background Xanthomonas campestris is a biopolymer producing gram negative bacterium. Production of xanthan biopolymer can be affected by different extrinsic factors as well as surfactants. Hitherto, effects of nonionic surfactants on xanthan production have been studied in a limited number of articles. Objective In the present study, nonionic surf...

Aims: The aim of this study was to isolate a novel yeast strain, evaluate biosurfactant production by the strain and characterize the major product. Methods and results: The strain SAM20, isolated from grass, identified as Sporisorium sp. aff. sorghi based on phylogenetic analyses. The strain produced approximately 32 g l(-1) glycolipid biosurfa...

A xanthan-degrading bacterium, strain AS7(T), was isolated from soil and its taxonomic position was determined using a polyphasic approach. Strain AS7(T) was a Gram-stain-variable, spore-forming, motile, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain AS7(T) belongs to the genus Pae...

Ammonification is part of nitrogen cycle which organic nitrogen sources biodegradation into NH4+. This process carried out by "ammonifiers". For enumeration ammonifiers can use MPN method. In this study, to estimate the MPN of denitrifiers a Excel-based software was used.

Background: A number of microorganisms and their enzymes have been reported as xanthan depolymerizers. Paenibacillus species are well-known polysaccharide hydrolyzing bacteria. However, Paenibacillus alginolyticus and Paenibacillus sp. XD are the only species in the genus which are now known to degrade xanthan. Objectives: Complete biodegradation o...

Denitrification is the biological reduction of nitrate to nitrite and then nitrogen oxides and/or dinitrogen. The process carry out by different taxa of bacteria called "denitrifiers" that use nitrate or nitrite as final electron acceptor in their respiration. To estimate the number of denitrifiers, there are many ways such as molecular methods, me...

A pyrenochaeta-like species was isolated from soil in rice farms in Mazandaran Province (formerly Tabarestan), Iran. Phylogenetic analyses of SSU, LSU, ITS, β-tubulin and actin sequence data showed that the new collection clustered with species in Pyrenochaetopsis sensu stricto. In morphology, phylogeny and physiological characters, the new strains...

A Pyrenochaeta-like species was isolated from soil in the rice farms in Mazandaran Province (formerly Tabarestan), Iran. Phylogenetic analyses of SSU, LSU, ITS, β-tubulin and actin sequence data showed that the new collection clustered with species in the genus Pyrenochaetopsis sensu stricto. In morphology, phylogeny and physiological characters, t...

Amikacin is one of the most effective antibiotics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections but, according to its high toxicity, the use of this antibiotic has been clinically limited. In the present study, amikacin was successfully loaded into a new formulation of nanoparticles based on PLGA 50:50. Amikacin-loaded nanoparticles showed desirable an...

Amikacin is one of the most effective antibiotics against Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, but because of its high toxicity, the use of this antibiotic has been clinically limited. In the present study, amikacin was successfully loaded into a new formulation of nanoparticles (NPs) based on poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) 50 : 50. Amikacin-loaded N...

Bacterial Cellulose (BC) is a very fascinating microbial biopolymer which is mainly produced by Gluconacetobacter xylinum. Optimization of BC production by G. xylinum was carried out based on scale-down studies in miniature-bioreactor and response surface methodology in which the optimum pH value (6.5) and shaking rate (50 rpm) were obtained. The s...

Background: Sequence-based identification of various microorganisms including Archaea, Bacteria, Cyanobacteria, Diatoms, Fungi, and green algae necessitates an efficient and reproducible genome extraction procedure though which a pure template DNA is yielded and it can be used in polymerase chain reactions (PCR). Considering the fact that DNA extra...

Background: Sequence-based identification of various microorganisms including Archaea, Bacteria, Cyanobacteria, Diatoms, Fungi, and green algae necessitates an efficient and reproducible genome extraction procedure though which a pure template DNA is yielded and it can be used in polymerase chain reactions (PCR). Considering the fact that DNA extra...

This is a continuity of a series of taxonomic papers where materials are examined, described and novel combinations are proposed where necessary to improve our traditional species concepts and provide updates on their classification. In addition to extensive morphological descriptions and appropriate asexual and sexual connections, DNA sequence dat...

Amikacin is a very effective aminoglycoside antibiotic but according to its high toxicity, the use of this antibiotic has been limited. The aim of this study was to formulate and characterize amikacin loaded PLGA nanoparticles. Nanoparticles were synthetized using a solid-in-oil-in-water emulsion technique with different ratio of PLGA 50:50 (Resome...

Many plant pathologists who must identify isolates of Fusarium are extremely concerned about the proliferation of Fusarium species that are difficult, if not impossible, to identify morphologically. In short we have run out of morphological characters before we have run out of species that need to be separated. It is why Fusarium may need some revi...

17th European Congress on Biotechnology

This study demonstrates the efficient utilization of low-cost agricultural substrates, particularly date syrup, by Schizophyllum commune ATCC 38548 for schizophyllan production. Initially, one factor-at-a-time method was used to find the best carbon and nitrogen sources for schizophyllan production. Subsequently, response surface methodology was em...

Five closely related yeast strains were isolated from soil in Kharg Island, Persian Gulf, Iran, and from fallen fruits in Galle, Sri Lanka, during separate projects. Morphologically, the strains produced white-coloured yeast colonies, with cells that were ovoid to ellipsoidal, making branched, true hyphae and pseudohyphae. Ascospore formation was n...

Background and objectives: The US Environmental Protection Agency has suggested faecal enterococci as the primary bacterial indicators. Of more importance is their direct correlation with swimmer-associated gastroenteritis in recreation water quality monitoring. In contrast to other seawater bodies with 3.5% salinity, the recreational waters in th...

Catechol 1, 2-dioxygenase (1, 2-CTD) plays an important role in the biodegradation of most aromatic pollutants (e.g. phenol) by cleaving the bond between the phenolic hydroxyl groups. In this study, we analysed microbial populations in petroleum-contaminated soil samples by the culture-dependent approach and chose one population as a sample locatio...

Four strains of a novel ascomycetous yeast species were isolated from flowers in Iran and China. Phylogenetic analysis of the ITS region (including 5.8S rDNA) and the LSU rRNA gene D1/D2 domains sequences indicated that these strains belong to the Starmerella clade and show divergence from previously described species in this clade. Growth reaction...

Background and objective: The genus Xanthomonas is composed of phytopathogenic bacterial species. In addition to causing crops diseases, most of the Xanthomonas species especially Xanthomonas campestris produce xanthan gum via an aerobic fermentation process. Xanthan gum is, an important exopolysaccharide from Xanthomonas campestris, mainly used i...

Objectives: The genus Fusarium, one of the most prominent pathogens of plant and animal species, harbors multiple species and species complexes. Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC), defined mainly based on morphology, is indeed a diverse complex of many phylogenetic and/or biological species. These fusaria may be soil-borne although they cause a...

Eukaryotic microorganisms, including filamentous fungi, green algae and diatoms, are a considerable part of life on the planet. Studying these microorganisms necessitates an accurate identification and nomenclature. Considering the fact that the species delimitation of these microorganisms may need more than one genomic fragment to be sequenced, th...

Background and Aim: Sophorolipids are one of the most promising glycolipid biosurfactants produced by yeasts of the genera Starmerella, Wickerhamiella, and Rhodotorula. Methods: A yeast strain, SAM09, was isolated from the flowers of Salsola sp. collected from a desert in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Morphological and physiological characteristi...

First International and 9th Iranian Biotechnology Congress

The systematic position of two strains of a yeast-like fungus isolated from plant remnants on the Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf of Iran is evaluated using morphological, physiological and phylogenetic analyses. In culture, this fungus produced cylindrical cells that reproduced by polar budding on short stalks. Production of ballistoconidia and b...

Abstract—Azo dyes are the largest class of synthetic dyes, which are widely used in the textile industry. The amount of dyestuff does not bind to the fibers and is lost in wastewater during textile processing. The discharge of colored effluents into the environment is not only aesthetically unpleasing. Moreover, dyes and their breakdown products ca...

In this study, the synthesis and characterization of copper nano/micro particles in the presence of (2,2’,2”,2"’-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(azanetriyl))tetraacetohydrazide) as a capping and reducing agent under hydrothermal conditions for use in biological conditions were investigated. The effects of reductant-ligand/copper-ion, concentration ratios, reac...

The catheterized urinary tract provides ideal conditions for the development of biofilm populations. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are recalcitrant to existing antimicrobial treatments, therefore after treatment established biofilms are not completely eradicated and surviving biofilm cells will carry on the infection. Cis-2-d...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most important pathogenic bacteria related to biofilm infections. Due to the biofilm multi-drug resistance, methods of biofilm formation enumeration are of interest for assessment of efficient drug regimen development for biofilm inhibition or eradication. There are many different assay methods to determine the...