Pinot noir vinifications carried out at industrial scale during 2008 vintage were monitored in Patagonian region, Argentina, and several lactic acid bacteria were obtained. By analysis of a fragment of rpoB gene, species-specific PCR of malolactic enzyme and sequencing of 16S rRNA gene, three isolates were identified as Oenococcus oeni. Polyphasic typing made by carbohydrate fermentation behaviour and RAPD-PCR grouped the isolates and O. oeni reference strain in three different clusters. Additionally, the effect of ethanol on bacterial growth and malolactic activity was evaluated. In spite of some inhibitory effects were found, the three isolates were able to growth in all ethanol concentration tested. A clear correlation was found between the different clusters obtained and their ethanol tolerance. All indigenous O. oeni showed a strong malolactic activity at all ethanol concentrations assayed, indicating that this alcohol just affect the growing parameters of bacteria, but not the malolactic activity. These promissory results suggest a potential enological application of the O. oeni indigenous isolates as malolactic fermentation starters in winemaking.

The soil in the identified saline was investigated for the study of phosphate solublization by fungi and bacteria. In the present study 107 samples were collected from saline affected area, among these samples, 33 (30.80%) samples showed the ability to solubilize the inorganic insoluble phosphate. From the study it was observed that the fungi viz; Aspergillius spp., Penicillium spp. and Fusarium spp. have the more solubilizing ability of inorganic insoluble phosphate than bacteria, viz; B.subtilis, and B.megatherium. Hence the application of biofertilizer prepared by above mentioned fungi should be helpful to reduce the salinity of soil by neutralization phenomenon, because these microorganisms release the acid in very minute quantity in phosphate Solubilization.

Five Samples of traditional dairy products were collected from different rural areas in the Farafra region in west desert of Egypt. Thirteen isolates from these products were identified by Apparatus and Procedure of Identification (API) system; isolates were studied for their genetic diversity using PCR and their technological characteristics.

Phosphorus (P) is one of the essential macronutrients for plant growth and reproduction. Plants acquire P from the soil solution as phosphate anions. However, phosphate anions are extremely reactive and may be immobilized through precipitation with cations such as Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe3+ and Al3+, depending on the particular properties of the soil and as a result, the phosphate is highly insoluble and unavailable to plants. Application of phosphate-solubilizing fungi (PSF) has been added as fertilizer to increase P uptake and plant growth. The improvement of soil fertility is one of the most common strategies to increase agricultural production. Maintaining high levels of available nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), the two most limiting nutrients in soil, remains being a challenge. Major researches on biofertilizer have concentrated on understanding and improving N2 fixation. However, it is known that every aspect of the process of nodule formation is limited by the availability of P. Legumes like alfalfa and clover show a high positive response to P supplementation (Gyaneshwar et al., 2002), but most of the supplemented P become unavailable when its reacts with soil components. Many soil microorganisms are able to solubilize this unavailable P through their metabolic activities exudating organic acids, which directly dissolve the rock phosphate, or chelating calcium ions that release P to the solution. Production of microbial metabolites results in a decrease in soil pH, which probably plays an important role in the solubilization (Abd- Alla, 1994). Phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) were isolated from the area around Bidar region and screened on the basis of their solubilization of inorganic tricalcium phosphate in liquid cultures. Ten strains that had higher solubilization potential were selected, and they characterized.

Solid-state fermentation for lipase production from Rhizopus oryzae KG-10, using different low cost available oil cakes JOC (Jatropha oil cake), TOC (Teesi oil cake), MOC (Mustard oil cake), GOC (Groundnut oil cake) was carried and it was found that the fungus produced significant amount of lipase utilizing oil cakes as substrate. Among the four substrates used crude enzyme extracted from MOC medium showed highest activity of 170 IU. Activity of enzyme extracted from medium containing JOC, TOC and GOC were assayed to be 80 IU, 60 IU and 60 IU respectively. Total protein of the crude enzyme extracted from the different medium was estimated by Lowry’s method. Total protein content of extracts from MOC, JOC, TOC and GOC medium were 32 mg/ml, 30 mg/ml, 31.2 mg/ml and 26.4 mg/ml respectively. Thus it could be seen that in about same amount of extracellular proteins the activity was maximum in case of MOC, suggesting it to be the best substrate.