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Cellulases and xylanases are enzymes of industrial significance, particularly in the pulp, paper, textile, and animal feed industries. Moreover, their utilization in the food industry, among them, bakery, brewery, winery and fruit and vegetable juice production, cannot be underestimated. One of the potential sources of enzymes is the filamentous fungi, and hence bio-prospecting of this specific group of microorganisms with the highest levels of cellulase and xylanase secretions is being continuously undertaken. The specific aim of this study was to isolate and characterize cellulase-and xylanaseproducing filamentous fungi from termite mounds. Termite mounds have long been established as very good sources of filamentous fungi with the ability to secrete high levels of lignocellulolytic enzymes, and hence an ideal target for the bio-prospecting of cellulases and xylanases. In this study, various groups of filamentous fungi were isolated through enrichment and repeated sub-culturing. This was followed by screening using the Congo red plate-based assay. Cellulase and xylanase activities during the solid-state fermentation of wheat bran were detected and analyzed through spectrophotometry via the 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid detection system for reducing sugars. The obtained fungal isolates were then finally characterized through zymography, reaction kinetics and morphological studies. Overall, a total of eight different groups of fungi, capable of decomposing cellulose and hemicellulose, were isolated, and their tentative identities established as Fusarium, Didymostible, Penicillium, Phytophthora, Oedocephalum, Aspergillus, Monosporascus and Acremonium. Taken together, findings of this study conceivably showed that termite mounds are a good source of filamentous fungi that in turn are also a good source of cellulases and xylanases that arguably, can be recommended for use in industrial and commercial settings.

Biosorption is a cost-effective biotechnological innovation for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. There is widespread research into ways of utilizing agricultural residues to achieve zero waste. Groundnut shells are biodegradable waste available in large quantities. This study investigated the use of groundnut shells for the biosorption of chromium (VI) ions from an aqueous solution. Groundnut shells were cleaned and crushed to make fractions of particle size in the range of 90-1000 µm. The point of zero charge (pHPZC) and the distribution of oxygenated acidic and basic surface functional groups were determined. In batch experiments, the effect of acid pre-treatment, initial metal concentration, biosorbent particle size, biosorbent dosage, and contact time on biosorption was investigated. The biomass was found to have a pHPZC value of 6 and was dominated by acidic groups. The best biosorption activity was observed at 20 mg/L initial metal concentration and a biosorbent dosage of 10%. The effect of contact time was dependent on the initial chromium (VI) concentration. At 20 mg/L initial chromium (VI) concentration, the biosorption process reached equilibrium within 60 minutes whilst at high (>80 mg) chromium (VI) concentration equilibrium was not reached, even after 240 minutes. The best biosorption activity was observed with acid-treated biomass of particle size 300 µm. The adsorption fitted best with the Langmuir isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 > 0.9982). Groundnut shell biomass has the potential for the removal of chromium (VI) ions from aqueous solutions and possibly from chromium-polluted effluents on an industrial scale.

Plants, just like any other living organism, naturally get attacked by various pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi and viruses. However, unlike animals that utilize their specialized circulatory macrophage system to protect themselves, plants instead use a multi-layered complex system termed the plant innate immunity, which recognizes pathogens and transducing downstream defense responses. They have developed a unique type of transmembrane receptors or R proteins, which extracellularly, are capable of recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP) such as flagellin and chitin, while intracellularly, they activate their harbored nucleotide cyclases (NCs) such as adenylyl cyclases (ACs), to generate second messenger molecules such as 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), which then propagates and magnifies the defense response. To date, only a single R protein from Arabidopsis thaliana (AtLRR) has been shown to possess AC activity as well as having the ability to defend plants against infection by biotrophic and hemi-biotrophic pathogens. Therefore, in order to further broaden information around the functional roles of this protein (AtLRR), we explored it further, using an array of web-based tools or bioinformatics. These included structural analysis, anatomical expression analysis, developmental expression analysis, co-expression analysis, functional enrichment analysis, stimulusspecific expression analysis and promoter analysis. Findings from structural analysis showed that AtLRR is a multi-domain, trans-membrane molecule that is multi-functional, and thus consistent with all known R-proteins.