Biofilms comprise bacteria attached to wound surfaces and are major contributors to non-healing wounds. It was found that the increased resistance of biofilms to antibiotics allows wound infections to persist chronically in spite of antibiotic therapy. In this study, the reduced form of graphene oxide (rGO) was explored as plausible antibiofilm agents. The rGO was synthesized via reducing the functional groups of GO. Then, rGO were characterized using zetasizer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy and FESEM. The rGO were then formulated into sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) hydrogels to form rGO hydrogel and tested for antibiofilm activities in vitro using XTT test, and in vivo biofilm formation assay using nematodes C. elegans. Reduced GO hydrogel was successfully formed by reducing the functional groups of GO, and a reduction of up to 95% of functional groups was confirmed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. XTT tests confirmed that rGO hydrogels reduced biofilm formation by S. aureus (81-84%) and P. aeruginosa (50-62%). Fluorescence intensity also confirmed that rGO hydrogel can inhibit biofilm bacteria in C. elegans experiments. This study implied that rGO hydrogel is an effective antibiofilm agent for infected wounds.
A novel α-amylase was isolated successfully from Glaciozyma antarctica PI12 using DNA walking and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods. The structure of this psychrophilic α-amylase (AmyPI12) from G. antarctica PI12 has yet to be studied in detail. A 3D model of AmyPI12 was built using a homology modelling approach to search for a suitable template and to generate an optimum target-template alignment, followed by model building using MODELLER9.9. Analysis of the AmyPI12 model revealed the presence of binding sites for a conserved calcium ion (CaI), non-conserved calcium ions (CaII and CaIII) and a sodium ion (Na). Compared with its template-the thermostable α-amylase from Bacillus stearothermophilus (BSTA)-the binding of CaII, CaIII and Na ions in AmyPI12 was observed to be looser, which suggests that the low stability of AmyPI12 allows the protein to work at different temperature scales. The AmyPI12 amino acid sequence and model were compared with thermophilic α-amylases from Bacillus species that provided the highest structural similarities with AmyPI12. These comparative studies will enable identification of possible determinants of cold adaptation.