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Background: Levan or fructan, a polysaccharide of fructose, is widely used in various commercial industries. Levan could be produced by many organisms, including plants and bacteria. The cloning of the gene from Bacillus licheniformis, which expressed levansucrase in Escherichia coli host, was carried out successfully. In the present study, we performed the in vitro production of levan and analyzed its potential application as antibacterial and antioxidant agents. Methods: In vitro levan production catalyzed by heterologous-expressed levansucrase Lsbl-bk1 and Lsbl-bk2 was optimized with BW design. The antibacterial activity of the produced levan was carried out using agar well diffusion method, while its antioxidant activity was tested by free radical scavenging assays. Results: The optimum conditions for levan production were observed at 36 °C and pH 7 in 12% (w/v) sucrose for levansucrase Lsbl-bk1, while the optimum catalysis of levansucrase Lsbl-bk2 was obtained at 32 o C and pH 8 in the same sucrose concentration. The in vitro synthesized levan showed an antibacterial activity within a concentration range of 10-20% (w/v) against Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The same levan was also able to inhibit the DPPH radical scavenging activity with the antioxidant strength of 75% compared to ascorbic acid inhibition. Conclusion: Our study, therefore, shows that the optimized heterologous expression of levansucrases encoded by Lsbl-bk1 and Lsbl-bk2 could open the way for industrial levan production as an antibacterial and antioxidant agent.

This study examined the potential of levan from the halophilic bacterium Bacillus licheniformis BK1 as a nanoparticle system for protein immobilization. Levan produced by B. licheniformis BK1 was obtained by incubating the bacterium in the optimized Belghith medium, containing 15% (w/v) sucrose, 7.5% (w/v) NaCl and pH 8, in a rotary shaker at 150 rpm for 16 h, at 40 °C. The structure of the levan produced was verified by FTIR and NMR. It appeared that the levan had the same structure as that from Erwinia herbicola. The obtained levan was then used as a nanoparticle system to immobilize BSA and lysozyme proteins. The BSA-nanoparticle had a non-spherical shape with a surface charge of about -4.72 mV and a size distribution in the range of 83–298 nm. In contrast, the lysozyme-nanoparticle exhibited more spherical shapes with a surface charge of -2.57 mV and 206–285 nm size distribution. The efficiency of immobilization was about 74.26% and 81.77% for BSA and lysozyme, respectively. The study thus shows that levan produced by B. licheniformis BK1 can be used as a nanoparticle system for protein immobilization.

The discovery that human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the primary cause of cervical cancer has opened up new avenues for prevention. Carrageenans are attractive candidates for developing potential HPV prevention due to their actions against a wide range of viruses, mainly through the blocking of the viral attachment stage. In addition, they are characterised by low production costs, abundant availability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity. This review presents an overview of in vitro and in vivo studies of carrageenan antiviral properties, availability, and future liquid-sexual material. Based on the results of previous studies, both in vitro and in vivo carrageenan has the potential to be applied as a lubricant and feminine cleanser because it can reduce HPV infection, is non-toxic, and non-allergenic.