Zygosaccharomyces bisporus is a moderately halotolerant yeast isolated from highly sugary and salty foods. We performed various evident biochemical and in vivo experiments as first of its kind to sketch out the possible overlay of salt tolerance mechanism in this model organism. The growth and survival curve analysis revealed that 1.0 M NaCl concentration (sublethal) enacts growth inhibitory effects with prompting immediate delay in cell division cycle; however, yeast cells adopted modified stress physiologically with further stretched stress spans which was accompanied by an upsurge in the level of cellular metabolites such as trehalose (reserve carbohydrate) and chiefly glycerol (polyols) as major compatible osmolytes, suggesting their role in defense mechanism against osmotic stress. To further elucidate the relation of osmotic stress cell physiology to salinity, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, protein carbonyl, and reduced glutathione content were measured in salt-stressed cells demonstrating positive correlation of reactive oxygen species generation in Z. bisporus with an elevated concentration of lipid and protein oxidation, thereby damaging cell membrane and eventually causing cell death. We assessed NaCl exposure sourcing increased intracellular reactive oxygen species concentration, by an electron transfer-based colorimetric cupric-reducing antioxidant capacity assay justifying that cellular total antioxidant capacity which uses all the combined antioxidant activities present within vitamins, proteins, lipids, and glutathione reverses these deleterious stress effects. Henceforth, performance of Z. bisporus MTCC 4801 mounted because of stress regime seems to be multifactorial.

Understanding body size growth pattern is one of the best ways to find out biological variation in phenotypic plasticity, health and nutritional statuses, and quality of life. Optimum environment and better nutrition are associated with rapid growth, tall stature, and early puberty. However, poor living condition impacts every stage of development, which results in variation in growth rates, growth periods, and body sizes across populations. Baduy is one of traditional populations who inhabit mountainous area in Kanekes Village, Lebak Regency, Banten Province, Indonesia. The traditional obligatory duties and taboos resulted in genetic, geographic, and cultural isolations. This leads to question whether the biocultural condition affects the growth pattern of their body size. We measured the body height, weight, and mass index of 340 girls and 239 boys aged 4–30 years sampled from 39 of 61 hamlets using cross-sectional method. We found that Baduy people had prolonged growth resulting in small body size because of slow rate and low spurt. This might be a selection to save body maintenance costs in biocultural condition with poor nutrition and high physical activity.

Shrimp is a very important source of protein which is patronized by almost half of the world's population, and hence a very important specie in aquaculture. There is the need for increase in shrimp production worldwide to meet consumer demands. However, shrimp production is hampered by high cost of commercial feeds. Increase in prices of fish oil and fish meal has led to calls for their substitute. This calls for substitute has resulted in researchers studying the nutritional requirement of shrimp. The rationale for this article is to review the literature available on recent studies toward the development of practical diets for shrimps focusing on the nutrients required by different species qualitatively as well as quantitatively. This review highlights on nutrient requirements with respect to growth and feed utilization. Digestibility of nutrients used in shrimp diets is also accounted for in this article.

Different plantation forests possibly harbor different bird communities. This study was aimed to reveal responses of bird community to the different plantation (Schima wallichii, Agathis loranthifolia, Pinus merkusii, and mixed plantation), identify species shared in all plantation, and species confined to a particular plantation. The study site was plantation forests, using the point count method for 64 effective hours. There were 40 bird species (maximum prediction 52) in all forest plantations and each type had 26–31 species. Number of individuals, species density, and diversity index in Schima plantation were higher, followed by Agathis, Pinus, and mixed plantations. Mixed plantation could have harbored more species based on the prediction by Chao. Although there were some differences in tree species, tree sizes, and tree heights, the response of bird composition in all plantations was not differed (93–81% similarity) probably because of the short distances among the forests, the abundance of food insects, and the same late-successional stages. There were 15 (37.5%) widely distributed species in all forest types. Eight species were confined only to a specific forest type. Four species were considered true confined species, namely Javan sunbird (Schima forest), Grey-cheeked bulbul (in Pinus), Crescent-chested babbler (Agathis), and Mountain white-eye (Agathis).

With the passage of time, durability and stability of plastic has been upgraded continuously and now this material is resistant to several environmental effects. The present study aim was to study the Phanerochaete chrysosporium ability of lignin peroxidase enzyme production and its potential of polyvinyl chloride degradation. The fungal lignin peroxidase was qualitatively confirmed by using methylene blue assay. Veratryl alcohol was used for quantitative analysis of lignin peroxidase at 25°C. Effect of various factors such as temperature, pH, incubation time and glucose concentration on enzyme production was studied in triplicate. Purified enzyme molecular weight was determined through sodium dodecyl sulfate gel. Degradation of pure polyvinyl chloride was investigated in crude lignin peroxidase mixture in shaking incubator at 30°C. The fungal isolate efficiently produced lignin peroxidase in mineral salt medium having 1% glucose as a carbon source. Maximum enzyme activity of 0.479 U/mL was observed at pH 7.0, and 0.482 U/mL at temperature 30°C, while at 1% glucose concentration 0.473 U/mL activity was recorded. The purified enzyme molecular weight was 37 kDa. The crude enzyme mixture considerably caused corrosion on polyvinyl chloride surface, which was qualitatively confirmed with scanning electron microscopy. The result obtained from Fourier Transform Infra-Red (Jasco FT/ IR – 620) also exhibited the changes occurred in the functional groups after treatment with crude enzyme. As plastic is the main source of environmental destruction, therefore, this biodegradation of plastic with fungal enzymes may play a vital role to overcome this issue.

The application of cytochrome oxidase subunit I for genetic divergence and phylogenetic analyses in monitor lizards seems to be limited, despite the practicality and relevance to use the short sequence of this region known as the DNA barcode. Some Indonesian species of monitor lizards are morphologically similar, some of which are legally exported as pet animal commodities and some others being protected by Indonesian national law. Thus, a practical molecular tool that can be useful to help clarify their species identity is essential, especially for closely related species. This study used the DNA barcode to test the application of this mitochondrial DNA region as a molecular tool to identify some species of Indonesian monitor lizards for the first time. Results showed that the Barcodes can facilitate molecular species identification based on their relative amount of genetic divergence and phylogenetic relationships. Closely related species can be distinguished based on the short sequences, as well as a likelihood of species misidentification among samples in this study. Further study should be performed in the future using more species, especially those belong to groups of species complex from the eastern Indonesia and species protected by the Indonesian national law.

Shrimp is a very important source of protein which is patronized by almost half of the world's population, and hence a very important specie in aquaculture. There is the need for increase in shrimp production worldwide to meet consumer demands. However, shrimp production is hampered by high cost of commercial feeds. Increase in prices of fish oil and fish meal has led to calls for their substitute. This calls for substitute has resulted in researchers studying the nutritional requirement of shrimp. The rationale for this article is to review the literature available on recent studies toward the development of practical diets for shrimps focusing on the nutrients required by different species qualitatively as well as quantitatively. This review highlights on nutrient requirements with respect to growth and feed utilization. Digestibility of nutrients used in shrimp diets is also accounted for in this article.

Tempeh is a type of traditional fermented food in Indonesia. The fermentation can be performed by Rhizopus microsporus as a main microorganism. However, Bacillus spp. is found in abundance in tempeh production. Nevertheless, information regarding the diversity of Bacillus spp. in tempeh production has not been reported yet. Therefore, the aim of this investigation was to study the genetic diversity of Bacillus spp. in tempeh production based on the 16S ribosomal RNA sequence. In this study, about 22 of 24 fresh tempeh from Jakarta, Bogor, and Tangerang were used. A total of 52 protease-producing Bacillus spp. isolates were obtained. Based on 16S ribosomal RNA results, all 52 isolates were identified to be similar to B. pumilus, B. subtilis, B. megaterium, B. licheniformis, B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, B. amyloliquefaciens, Brevibacillus brevis, and Bacillus sp. All the identified isolates were divided into two large clusters: 1) a cluster of B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, Bacillus sp., and B. brevis and 2) a cluster of B. pumilus, B. subtilis, B. megaterium, B. licheniformis, and B. amyloliquefaciens. Information about the Bacillus spp. role in determining the quality of tempeh has not been reported and this is a preliminary study of Bacillus spp. from tempeh.

This present study was planned to obtain an up-to-date picture of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and its genotypes distribution in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, as well as of the relationship between HCV genotypes and demographic and clinical parameters, and the risk factors in patients with an HCV subtype. Samples (blood) from 1978 individuals were collected and were tested using a strip-based method called the immunochromatographic test (ICT) for the existence of antibodies against HCV. It was observed that 158 of the 1978 individuals (7.9%) harbored antibodies in their blood against HCV, among which the female percentage (53.2%) was higher than that of the male (46.8%). Among the different age groups, the highest number of incidences of HCV antibodies was found in the age group of 31–40 years (26.6%). ICT positive samples were further screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to determine the existence of active HCV-RNA, and it was found that 6.21% (123) of the total population (1978) tested, was positive, among which the female rate (56.91%) was observed to be higher than that of the male (43.09%). The highest incidence recorded was in the age group of 41–50 years (33.3%). HCV RNA positive individuals were genotyped: genotype 3a (45.5%) was dominant among the other detected genotypes, followed by 1a (11.4%), 3b (4.9%), and 2a (4.1%). It was concluded that the highest prevalence of HCV was found in females, and that the dominant genotype of the screened individuals was 3a genotype.