Forgot your password?
New user?
New Window Opens on the Secret Life of Microbes: Scientists Develop First Microbial Profiles of Ecosystems
CAS announces the release of SciFinder Scholar for Mac OS X
Press Releases
Press Releases
| Check out our New Publishers' Select for Free Articles |
Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology: Part A: Enzyme Engineering and Biotechnology (v.127, #1)
Microbial synthesis of chitinase in solid cultures and its potential as a biocontrol agent against phytopathogenic fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides by Chandran Sandhya; Parameswaran Binod; K. Madhavan Nampoothiri; George Szakacs; Ashok Pandey (pp. 1-15).
Antifungal activity of chitinase can be effectively utilized in biologic pest control strategies. Because solid-state cultivation has been termed a cost-effective means for fungal growth and metabolite production, chitinase production by Trichoderma harzianum was studied using wheat bran-based solid medium containing 1% colloidal chitin. Chitinase synthesis was found to be growth associated because maximum enzyme (5.4 U/g of dry substrate) and biomass production occurred at 72h. Substrate moisture had a critical impact on chitinase production; five grams of medium having an initial moisture content of 68.4% when incubated for 72 h increased the enzyme yield to 9.3 U/g of dry substrate. Optimization of colloidal chitin concentration showed that improvements in chitinase yield and maximum activity were attained with a 2% (w/w) concentration. Supplementation of additional nitrogen sources also influenced enzyme production, and the best yield was obtained with yeast extract. The effect of crude chitinase on hyphal morphology of the phytopathogenic fungus Collelotrichum gloeosporioides was swelling as well as lysis of hyphal wall, depending on the age of the mycelium. Studies of pH and thermal stability showed that crude culture filtrate was active over pH 4.0–6.0 and retained about 48.2% activity after 40 min of incubation at 40°C.
Keywords: Biologic control; chitinase; solid-state cultivation; antifungal activity; pH stability; thermal stability
Lipase-catalyzed esterification of selected phenolic acids with linolenyl alcohols in organic solvent media by Kebba Sabally; Salwa Karboune; Faustinus K. Yeboah; Selim Kermasha (pp. 17-27).
Lipase-catalyzed esterification of selected phenolic acids with linolenyl alcohols was investigated in selected organic solvent media. The enzyme activity for the esterification of dihydrocaffeic acid with linolenyl alcohol in solvent mixtures of hexane/2-butanone of 75∶25 (v/v) and 65∶35 (v/v) was 0.88 and 0.47 μmol of esterified dihydrocaffeic acid/(g of solid enzyme·min), respectively, with a corresponding esterification yield of 76 and 58%, respectively. However, the esterification of ferulic acid with linolenyl alcohol in the reaction medium of hexane/2-butanone of 65∶35 (v/v) resulted in a low yield (16%). Using the reaction medium of hexane/2-butanone of 75∶25 (v/v), an increase in linolenyl alcohol concentration with a concomitant use of a constant amount of dihydrocaffeic acid resulted in an increase in esterification yield. The highest esterification yield of 99% was obtained with a ratio of dihydrocaffeic acid to linolenyl alcohol of 1∶8 after 7 d of reaction. Biosynthesis of the end product, linolenyl dihydrocaffeate, was confirmed by electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy structural analysis; the esterproduct demonstrated an antiradical activity close to that of α-tocopherol.
Keywords: Lipase; esterification; organic media; linolenyl alcohol; phenolic acids
Stability of immobilized soybean lipoxygenase in selected organic solvent media by Mireille Vega; Salwa Karboune; Selim Kermasha (pp. 29-42).
The immobilization and biocatalysis of commercially purified soybean lipoxygenase (LOX) type I-B (EC 1.13.11.12) were investigated in organic solvent media. The results showed that the highest immobilization efficiencies of LOX, 30.6 and 29.3%, were obtained with DEAE-cellulose and modified Eupergit® C250L supports, respectively. The biocatalysis of free and immobilized (Eupergit® C250L/EDA) LOXs was investigated in different mixtures of hexane and a selected cosolvent (95∶5 [v/v]). The results showed a 1.5 and a 1.6 increase in the activity of free and immobilized LOXs, respectively, using a mixture of hexane and 1,4-dioxane compared with that in hexane alone; however, cosolvents, including 2-octanone, 2-heptanone, 2-butanone, and cyclohexanone, displayed an inhibitory effect on LOX activity. In the mixture of 1,4-dioxane and hexane, LOX activity was dependent on the cosolvent concentration, which was increased with 1,4-dioxane up to 5% (v/v). The threshold 1,4-dioxane concentration (C50) and the incubation period (T 50) at which 50% of the maximal enzyme activity was obtained for the free and immobilized LOXs were 6.7 and 8.9% (v/v) and 9.1 and 17.0 min, respectively.
Keywords: Soybean lipoxygenase; immobilization; biocatalysis; organic solvent media; stability
Relationship between a stress membrane protein of Oenococcus oeni and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases by Ramon Carreté; Cristina Reguant; Albert Bordons; Magda Constantí (pp. 43-51).
The goal of this study was to analyze how the profiles of membrane proteins of Oenococcus oeni change under particular stress conditions of wine. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protein profiles of membrane fraction showed that a 40-kDa protein was overexpressed in the presence of SO2. The sequence of its N-terminal fragment showed a significant identity with glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases (GAPDHs), but the protein showed no GAPDH activity. This sequence was compared with those of other GAPDHs with ClustalW alignment, and it was found to be somewhat similar to that of the cell-wall and membrane proteins of other lactic acid bacteria.
Keywords: Glyceral dehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; malolactic fermentation; Oenococcus oeni ; stress; SO2 ; wine
High-level expression of soluble human β-defensin-2 fused with green fluorescent protein in Escherichia coli cell-free system by Zhinan Xu; Haiqin Chen; Xiufei Yin; Naizheng Xu; Peilin Cen (pp. 53-62).
Human β-defensin-2 (hBD2), a small cationic peptide, exhibits a broad range of antimicrobial activity and does not acquire any microbial resistance. To produce this uneasily detectable, degradable, and toxic polypeptide efficiently, an alternative approach based on the Escherichia coli cell-free biosynthesis system was proposed. The approach implies that a polypeptide of interest is synthesized as a fusion protein linked to a green fluorescent protein (GFP) through a cleavable spacer. With batch-mode operation, a significant amount of hBD2 fused with GFP (0.25 mg/mL) can be expressed in this cell-free system. The productivity of the fusion protein can be improved up to 1.2 mg/mL by employing a continuous-exchange cell-free system. Furthermore, the GFP moiety provides directly visible and quantitative monitoring of the polypeptide synthesis, and the product is soluble and stable. This work will be helpful in allowing the rapid and visible expression of other similar defensins using an in vitro cell-free system.
Keywords: Antimicrobial peptide; human β-defensin-2; cell-free system; green fluorescent protein; fusion protein
A new flavanone, reflexin, from Cuscuta reflexa and its selective sensing of nitric oxide by V. J. Tripathi; S. B. Yadav; A. K. Upadhyay (pp. 63-67).
A new compound, reflexin, 5-hydroxy-7-methoxy-6-(2,3-epoxy-3-methylbutyl)-flavanone, is isolated from the stems of Cuscuta reflexa along with three other known compounds. This new compound has good potential for application especially in the photoactivity of reflexin. It was found to be sensitive to glutathione, forming a fluorescent product that is utilized for sensing nitric oxide (NO). The lowest detection limit of NO analysis was found to be 0.05 μM.
Keywords: Reflexin; Nitric oxide; Cuscuta reflexa ; glutathione; nitrosothiol