Arcobacter -like species are found associated with many matrices, including shellfish in marine environments. The culture media and conditions play a major role in the recovery of new Arcobacter -like species. This study was aimed to develop a culture media for isolation and enhanced growth of Arcobacter- like spp. from marine and shellfish matrices . For this purpose, 14 different Arcobacter -like spp . mostly isolated from shellfish, were grown in 24 different formulations of enrichment broths. The enrichment broths consisted of five main groups based on the organic contents (fresh oyster homogenate, lyophilized oyster either alone or in combination with other standard media), combined with artificial seawater (ASW) or 2.5% NaCl. Optical density (OD 420nm ) measurements after every 24 h were compared with the growth in control media (Arcobacter broth) in parallel. The mean and standard deviation were calculated for each species in each broth and statistical differences ( p < 0.05) among broths were calculated by ANOVA. The results indicated that shellfish-associated Arcobacter -like species growth was significantly higher in Arcobacter broth + 50% ASW and the same media supplemented with lyophilized oysters. This is the first study to have used fresh or lyophilized oyster flesh in the enrichment broth for isolation of shellfish-associated Arcobacter -like spp .

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Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have been produced by physical and chemical methods. Here, the comparative evaluation of both chemically-synthesised ZnO-NPs (C-ZNPs) and in-vitro cultured S. marianum mediated green-synthesised ZnO-NPs (G-ZNPs) were investigated on seed germination frequency, root and shoot growth, callus induction and biochemical profile of medicinally important plant Silybum marianum. Of all the treatments, callus-mediated ZnO-NPs gave optimum results for seed germination (65%), plantlet's root length (4.3 cm), shoot length (5.3 cm) and fresh and dry weights (220.4 g L À1 and 21.23 g L À1 , respectively). Similarly, the accumulation of phenolic (12.3 mg/mg DW) and flavonoid (2.8 mg/mg DW) contents were also enhanced in callus cultures treated with G-ZNPs. We also observed maximum antioxidant activity (99%) in callus cultures treated with G-ZNPs, however, in case of plantlets, these activities were found highest for in-vitro whole plant-mediated ZnO-NPs. Moreover, G-ZNPs also enhanced total protein content (265.32 BSAE/20g FW) in callus cultures. G-ZNPs were further assessed for their effects on several multidrug resistant bacterial strains and human liver carcinoma (HepG2) cells and our findings revealed that callus extracts treated with G-ZNPs show ameliorated antibacterial (highest zone of inhibition (19 mm) against Klebsiella pneumonia) and anticancer (highest cytotoxicity of 64%) activities.