Implen Journal Club
Implen Journal Club
Welcome to the Implen NanoPhotometer® Journal Club. Here we will highlight relevant publications where the Implen NanoPhotometer® helped researchers to unravel the mysteries of modern molecular biology.
Current Month Journal Club Issue
August 2022 | Biomass Edition | Full Newsletter (html) (pdf)
In the first issue, we are exploring a possible solution for the impacts of Marine Plastic Debris (MPD) on marine ecosystems, which is among the most critical environmental concerns of the past three decades as plastic pollution has become a worldwide environmental threat, impacting nearly all aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Consequently, there is a growing demand for more eco-friendly replacements of conventional plastic polymers, ideally with fit-for-purpose properties and a well-understood life cycle resulting in an increasing research effort directed towards developing bio-based products that could eventually replace synthetic materials on the market.
The NanoPhotometer® was used in this study to assess the quantity and quality of the extracted DNA.
The second issue is covering a study recently published in Nature by Stathatou et. al. demonstrating how yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae can effectively remove trace lead (Pb2+) from water via a rapid mass transfer process, called biosorption. Traces of heavy metals found in water resources pose a global threat and conventional treatment processes fail to remove toxic heavy metals, such as lead, from drinking water in a resource efficient manner. It was also shown in this groundbreaking study that the yeast cell wall plays a crucial role in this process, with the contribution of the outer mannan-protein layer of the yeast cell wall in accumulating heavy metal cations being the key potential lead adsorbents.
The Implen Nanophotometer® was used in this study for yeast strain, culture & OD600 culture density measurements. Discrete time-point OD measurements were performed using 2 mL non-frosted cuvettes and a tabletop, ultraviolet-visible NanoPhotometer® spectrophotometer measuring at 600 nm.
Next, we are highlighting the work of Ranjith et, al. recently reported in the Journal of Phytochemistry on Centella asiatica (L.) Urb., commonly known as Asiatic pennywort or Gotukola, a low-growing perennial herb of the Apiaceae (Umbelli- ferae) family. Saponins containing triterpene acids and their sugar esters – asiatic acid, madecassic acid, asiaticoside (ASD), and madecassoside (MSD) – collectively called centellosides, are major metabolites responsible for the pharmacological value giving them a wide range of applications in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. These specialized metabolites are highly specific structures designed through evolution and used by plants in response to various stresses, for example, attractants for pollinators and protectants against damaging effects of UV irradiation. Biological activities attributed to these bioactive compounds include neuro-protective and neuro-regenerative properties, wound healing and other dermatological properties, hepato-protective properties, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-diabetic, antibacterial, and antifungal properties.
The qualitative and quantitative estimation of RNA were done by NanoPhotometer® spectrophotometer.
The next issue is highlighting the first report of the drug prazosin (PRZ) removal in an anaerobic bioreactor. The occurrences of trace pharmaceutical compounds in Malaysian waterways have been linked to the incomplete removal of the compounds during treatment in conventional wastewater treatment processes. Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been acknowledged as one of the prospective enhancements to the existing conventional treatment processes to eliminate pharmaceutical compounds that are present in wastewater. The application of AD is favorable as it is known to be robust in treating various wastewater types, may operate with minimal energy requirements, and has biogas potential for energy recovery. The application of a laboratory-scale up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) bioreactor to this study successfully removed up to 87–99% of CAF, GCZ, and PRZ, mainly through biotransformation.
The Implen NanoPhotometer® N60/N50 spectrophotometer was used in this study to quantify gDNA.
The last issue is discussing the advancement of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, DNA metabarcoding has become a powerful molecular tool frequently used for biodiversity assessment. The interest in metabarcoding in environmental studies is emerging as is highlighted in the work featuring Euglenids- one of the several groups of eukaryotic microorganisms known to be underrepresented in metabarcoding studies. In this study, using metabarcoding resulted in obtaining a high fraction (85%) of euglenid reads and species-level identification of almost 90% of them. Fifty species were detected by the metabarcoding method, including almost all species observed using a light microscope.
The quality of the DNA isolates was evaluated spectrophotometrically with NanoPhotometer NP80.
Previous Journal Club Issues
2022
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