8^th World Congress and Expo on Applied Microbiology September 28-29, 2020 Barcelona, Spain

Biography:

Dr. Dionysios Koulougliotis is a Professor in the Department of Environment at Ionian University in Zakynthos, Greece. He earned his Bachelors degree in Physics (University of Athens, Greece) and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Biophysical Chemistry (Yale University, USA). He has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Florence (Department of Chemistry), the Max-Volmer Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (TU Berlin) and the Institute of Materials Science in NCSR “Demokritos” (Greece). His current research interests are related with physicochemical properties of foods and science education. He is the author of 32 publications in international peer-review journals.

Abstract:

The chemical composition of wine is affected by many factors among which grape microbial ecology and the fermentation process.Very few wineries of Lefkada island employ spontaneous fermentation, using wild yeasts found on the grapes, to ensure “local and distinguished bouquet ” in their wines. Our aim was to explore the indigenous yeast microbiota of the local red grape variety Vertzami, select indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains and determine the antioxidant activity of the produced wine. In total, 231 yeast strains were isolated from wine lees at the end of spontaneous fermentation and identified via the API 20C AUX system. Alcohol resistance was determined by growing cells onto YEPD plates at 0-17%v/v ethanol. Sulfite tolerance was examined by growing strains in YEPD broth containing 100 mg/L SO₂.Thirty yeast isolates were selected and used in small scale vinifications.The antioxidant activity of each wine product was determined spectrophotometrically (DPPH absorbance at 517 nm).The yeast species identified included S. cerevisiae (75.7%), Candida lusitiniae (11.3%) and Candida famata (9.1%) (3.9% not identified). 78.8% of the yeast strains tolerated 12% ethanol whereas only 22.1% grew at 17%. All S. cerevisiae strains were sulfite-resistant whereas all other yeasts were sulfite-intolerant. The thirty wine samples exhibited a mean antioxidant activity of 1.38 mmol Trolox/l. Statistical analysis provided evidence for two distinct clusters A (11 samples) and B (19 samples) with different mean antioxidant activities (1.53 and 1.28 mmol Trolox/l, respectively).

The authors acknowledge support from the Operational Programme “Ionian Islands 2014-2020” (Project: MIS 5006342)

Biography:

Dr.Adamantia Kampioti graduated from the Chemistry Department of the University of Crete, Greece and earned her Ph.D degrees in Environmental Analytical Chemistry at the University of Crete. She has conducted postdoctoral research at the Department of Environmental Chemistry at the Institute of Chemical and Environmental Research (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain and the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Patras, Greece.  She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environment at Ionian University in Zakynthos, Greece.

Abstract:

Fruit or dried fruit and nuts are among the most popular healthy snacks. A locally produced “super-food” is the black currant produced in Zakynthos Island (Greece) with health benefits well documented. Our aim was to formulate a microbiologically safe functional snack of high nutritional value and determine its shelf life.

An almond crust was prepared by mixing wheat flour, chopped almonds, butter, sugar and eggs and oven cooked. Cooled crusts were overlaid with 10 g of rehydrated black currants and 10 ml of black currant grape jelly (pH = 3.3) containing Bifidobacterium species BB-12 at cell concentration of 6.0 x 109 cfu/g. Tartlets were individually wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at two different temperatures (4 ^oC and -2 ^oC).Microbial population in tartlets was examined every second day for: Bifidobacterium, total aerobic count, micrococci, Gram negative bacteria, yeasts and molds, S. aureus, E. coli, L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. using appropriate conditions. Results are the mean of two runs (n=3). Furthermore, a taste test was performed at 2-day intervals.The mean value of Bifidobacterium counts was reduced by 1 log cycle at day 10 and 16 when kept at 4 ^oC and -2 ^oC, respectively. Neither microbiological contamination nor taste defect was detected for the pre-mentioned  time period. Conclusions: A microbiologically safe new functional snack has been formulated with shelf life of 10 and 16 days when stored at 4 ^oC and -2 ^oC respectively.

The authors acknowledge support from the Operational Programme “Ionian Islands 2014-2020” (Project: MIS 5006880)

Biography:

Dr.Effimia Eriotou graduated from the Biology Department of the University of Patras, Greece and earned her M.Sc. and Ph.D degrees in Food Technology and Science and Microbiology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, USA. She has conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Tennessee, Department of Microbiology, and the Pasteur Institute of Athens, Greece.She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Ionian University in Kefalonia, Greece. Her current research focuses on Food Microbiology.

Abstract:

Health-promoting properties of olive oil are partially attributed to their phenolic compounds. Olive oils produced from native cultivars of the island Corfu were studied to a) determine content in six phenolic compounds with health-protecting potential, b) probe antioxidant activity and its correlation with the phenolics and c) examine antimicrobial activity (AA) of oil and of each specific phenolic.Olive oil was produced under the same conditions from olives collected early in the harvest period. Determination of six phenolic compounds [oleocanthal (A), oleacein (B), ligstroside aglycone (C), oleokoronal (D), oleuropein aglycone (E), oleomissional (F)] was done via ¹H-NMR. Antioxidant activity was determined spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease of the DPPH absorbance.The AA of an olive oil sample as well as of compounds A, B, C, E, and F was tested on Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 15313, 7644 and 1911, Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 and 10876 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 via the disc assay with erythromycin as a positive reference standard.The highest AA was exhibited by the olive oil sample. All individual compounds, except C, were found to have antimicrobial activity with A and B being the most potent. Determination of phenolic content and antioxidant activity was done on samples from two cultivars: “Lianolia” (“L”) and “Koroneiki” (“K”).Olive oil from Corfu island and specific isolated phenolic compounds were shown to possess antimicrobial activity. The oils exhibited antioxidant activities which were correlated with their phenolic content.

The authors acknowledge support from the Operational Programme “Ionian Islands 2014-2020” (Project: MIS 5005497)

Biography:

Tanya Bajaj is a Master’s degree holder in the field of Microbial biotechnology and is pursuing her doctorate from the Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. She is also the Founder of a biotech startup, ‘Kinac Innovations LLP’ working with the aim of agro-waste utilization to serve various industries with multiple products in pipeline.

Abstract:

Amongst the major crops being produced in India, wheat (100 Million metric tons) and rice (112 MMT) are the two main food crops mowed by the farmers every year. This leads to the accumulation of huge agro-waste comprising of wheat and rice straw- a large portion of which is burnt in open fields as a regular practice. Apart from affecting the soil fertility, the practice of stubble burning is a major source of air pollution as it leads to emission of large amounts of suspended particulate matter along with gases like CH₄, CO, N₂O, NO_X, SO₂ and hydrocarbons. In today’s era of clean and green technologies, the hazardous wastes that pose a threat to the environment can be transformed into wealth via multiple routes. We propose that enzymes like lipases can play a role in these ‘waste-to-wealth’ routes of agro-waste utilization for the synthesis of natural food ingredients. The industry today needs sustainable technologies for lipase production and enzyme-mediated bio-transformations. Thus we aim to develop a novel efficient and cost-effective green process of lipase production by exploiting agro-waste as a substrate for fermentation and for subsequent synthesis of food flavor esters. During the course of this work, a bacterial library has been screened to obtain multiple isolates that effectively utilize agricultural waste as a substrate for enzyme synthesis, evidenced through high lipolytic titers (corresponding to nearly 2000 Units). The said microbes are able to thrive in high, industry-friendly temperature ranges and produce thermostable enzyme(s) for biotransformation of the agro-waste, thereby achieving an edge over their mesophilic counterparts.

Biography:

Iesham alzoubi has completed his PhD at the age of 27 years fromDoctor of Philosophy Degree in Agricultural Mechanization Engineering (University of Tehran – Iran) University and Postdoctoral Studies from School of Surveying Geospatial Engineering-Department of Surveying and Geomatics Engineering, University of Tehran.Current Job: General commission for scientific Agricultural Research – Damascus – Syria (Mechanical Engineer) He has published more than 16 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of repute.

Abstract:

Land leveling is one of the most important steps in soil preparation for agricultural and other purposes.New techniques based on artificial intelligence, such as Artificial Neural Network, integrating Artificial Neural Network and Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA-ANN), or Genetic Algorithms (GA-ANN), or Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO-ANN) have been employed for developing predictive models to estimate the energy related parameters and the results were compared to SPSS and Sensitivity Analysis  results. In this study, several soil properties such as cut/fill volume, compressibility factor, specific gravity, moisture content, slope of the area, sand percent, and swelling index were measured and their effects on energy consumption were investigated. Totally 90 samples were collected from 3 land areas by grid size of 20m×20m. The aim of this work was to develop predictive models based on artificial intelligence techniques to predict the environmental indicators of land leveling .Results of sensitivity analysis illustrated that only three parameters consist of soil density, soil compressibility, and soil cut/fill volume had meaningful effects on energy consumption.  Among the proposed methods, the GA-ANN had the most capability in prediction of the environmental energy parameters. However, for prediction of LE and FE the ANN and ICA-ANN algorithms had better performance.On the other hand, SPSS software had higher R 2 value than Minitab software and sensitivity analysis and in fact close to the ANN values.

Biography:

Karina is a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. She completed her bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering at the University of California Los Angeles and her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. Her work focuses on microbial communities in drinking water and water resources in Latina America and the Caribbean. Her research interests include the effects of intermittent water supply on drinking water microbiomes and water source protection.

Abstract:

The widespread and increasing occurrence of urbanization, agriculture, pasture conversion and deforestation, among others, represent a real threat to the conservation of lotic ecosystems and water quality. Different land cover/use can significantly impact the physical, chemical and bacteriological properties and dynamics of stream ecosystems. A better understanding of how land use can influence the ways in which microbes move through tropical watersheds is essential for implementing best practices for managing microbial contaminants in freshwater systems, such as through buffer zones along streams.This talk will focus on work being carried out at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to: 1) characterize taxonomic and functional profiles of microbial communities of surface waters in parts of the Panama Canal Watershed that are influenced by different land uses, including mature and secondary forests, traditional pastures and silvopastures; 2) evaluate potential associations among microbial taxa and various environmental and land use factors; and 3) characterize long-term spatial and temporal changes in water quality. We aim to determine if microbial communities, as characterized with 16S rDNA metabarcoding, can serve as a bioindicator of stream health.

Biography:

Ayilara-Akande Simbiat has completed her M.Tech from Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. She started her career in academics a year ago as an assistant lecturer in one of the Nigeria Universities, named, Federal University Oye-Ekiti. she has only published about 5 papers in reputed journal.                      

Abstract:

Pleurotus is a genus of gilled mushrooms which includes the most widely eaten mushrooms. research was carried out to assess the effect of the medicinal tree on the mineral content and nutritional value of the mushroom using standard method. The result revealed that the mushroom grown on cashew tree substrate, had the highest increase in calcium, sodium, magnesium and iron content followed by mushroom cultivated on dongoyaro. The qualitative phytochemical analysis of the woods on which the mushrooms were grown showed the presence of alkaloid , anthraquinine, flavonoid, steroid, tannin, saponin and cardiac glycoside, while in addition to these, the mushroom had anthraquinone. The in vivo evaluation of the mushroom on albino rats showed that the mushroom from cashew had the highest effect on the PCV followed by the mushroom cultivated on dongoyaro with a PCV of 48.52±1.05 percent and 47.40±0.18 percent, while the white blood cell count and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate both decreased. The histopathology result of the various organs of albino rats analyzed showed no negative pathological changes in the liver, intestine, kidneys and lungs of all the rats fed with all the mushroom samples.Hence, it can be concluded that the mushrooms have no deleterious effect on the rats. And the findings in this study demonstrated that mushroom’s efficacy can be enhanced by utilizing  plant with medicinal property as mushroom substrate or growing medium.

Biography:

Esteban Charria Girón at the age of 20 is a last year student of Biochemical Engineering at ICESI University and one of the top 20 mathematicians at undergraduate level in Colombia.During his young research journey has collaborated in international projects with UCL, as part of research groups at the Biotechnology Science master in ICESI, mainly working in microalgae biorefinery approaches and In silico strategy desing through systems biology. These efforts has given him the recognition of young talent from Minciencias, currently he is working in the production of bioactive compounds obtained from the fungal communities of Colombia tropical rainforest.

Abstract:

Bioactive secondary metabolite production from fungal strains has become a recurring research focus in recent decades, as these microorganisms represent an unexplored biological niche for its diverse biotechnological potential. Despite this, studies involving tropical fungi remain scarce, particularly those isolated from medicinal plants of these ecosystems. Also, the state of the art of the pharmaceutical industry has been experiencing stagnation for the last 30 years, a situation that has led to pathogen infections being one-step ahead, developing resistance to existing treatments. This study aims to find promising bioactive producers through the screening of the antibacterial activity of crude extracts obtained from the fermentation of endophytic and polypore fungi isolated from Otoba gracilipes and Vismia baccifera, medicinal trees from native ecosystems. In this study, twelve fungal strains isolated from these medicinal trees (Six endophytes and six polypore fungi) were cultured in PDB medium. After all the available carbon sources were depleted, both the mycelium and the exhausted medium were subjected to an extraction process of the metabolites present in organic phases. Even when most of the evaluated strains have presented antibacterial activity, the exhaust medium crude organic extract from the endophyte Xylaria sp. displayed high antibacterial activity against both Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 16.84 and 14.29 mg/mL respectively. The above supports the potential of Colombian native biodiversity to provide new approaches to the global emergence of antibiotics resistance and future production of undiscovered compounds different from current antibiotics classes, and at the same time calling for the value of preserving native habitats due to their promising ecosystemic applications in the biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries.

Biography:

Sher Ali has completed his BSc in Microbiology from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan in 2011. After completion of his degree, he has joined the SRSP (Sarhad Rural Support Program) as a Health Promotion and Research Officer and working till date.

Abstract:

The study was carried out in Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan in 2011 on the antimicrobial activity of honey against specific microbes which include like E. coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albican. During the study the 37 honey samples were collected from different district of Hazara division and Malakand division like Mansehra Swat and Dir were selected for the samples collection. For the samples collection process 170 indoor and outdoor patients were visited. The microorganisms were isolated from the various samples collected from the patients having the confirmed infection which were further processed in the microbiology laboratory by using nutrient agar incubated on 37 ^oC for 24 hours.During the research work agar well plate technique were used to examine the maximum zone of inhibition on Muller Hinton agar against all the specified organisms. Result showed that E. coli showed 66 mm, Salmonella Typhi 62 mm, Enterococcus faecalis 60 mm, Candida albican 50 mm and Staphylococcus aureus 38 mm.From the study it is concluded that honey is used against different diseases and infections like wound infection, diarrhea, dehydration, paralysis, enterococcus faecalis, chest infection, jaundice, tuberculosis and Urinary tract infections.