Articles

SimReg1 is a master switch for biosynthesis and export of simocyclinone D8 and its precursors

Analysis of the simocyclinone biosynthesis (sim) gene cluster of Streptomyces antibioticus Tü6040 led to the identification of a putative pathway specific regulatory gene simReg1. In silico analysis places the Si...

Authors: Liliya Horbal, Yuriy Rebets, Mariya Rabyk, Roman Makitrynskyy, Andriy Luzhetskyy, Victor Fedorenko and Andreas Bechthold

Could petroleum biodegradation be a joint achievement of aerobic and anaerobic microrganisms in deep sea reservoirs?

Several studies suggest that petroleum biodegradation can be achieved by either aerobic or anaerobic microorganisms, depending on oxygen input or other electron acceptors and appropriate nutrients. Evidence fr...

Authors: Georgiana F da Cruz, Suzan P de Vasconcellos, Célio FF Angolini, Bruna M Dellagnezze, Isabel NS Garcia, Valéria M de Oliveira, Eugenio V dos Santos Neto and Anita J Marsaioli

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Aspergillus aculeatus for insertional mutagenesis

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (AMT) was applied to Aspergillus aculeatus. Transformants carrying the T-DNA from a binary vector pBIG2RHPH2 were sufficiently mitotically stable to allow functi...

Authors: Emi Kunitake, Shuji Tani, Jun-ichi Sumitani and Takashi Kawaguchi

Modeling formalisms in Systems Biology

Systems Biology has taken advantage of computational tools and high-throughput experimental data to model several biological processes. These include signaling, gene regulatory, and metabolic networks. However...

Authors: Daniel Machado, Rafael S Costa, Miguel Rocha, Eugénio C Ferreira, Bruce Tidor and Isabel Rocha

Phyllosphere yeasts rapidly break down biodegradable plastics

The use of biodegradable plastics can reduce the accumulation of environmentally persistent plastic wastes. The rate of degradation of biodegradable plastics depends on environmental conditions and is highly v...

Authors: Hiroko K Kitamoto, Yukiko Shinozaki, Xiao-hong Cao, Tomotake Morita, Masaaki Konishi, Kanako Tago, Hideyuki Kajiwara, Motoo Koitabashi, Shigenobu Yoshida, Takashi Watanabe, Yuka Sameshima-Yamashita, Toshiaki Nakajima-Kambe and Seiya Tsushima

Highly stable meso-diaminopimelate dehydrogenase from an Ureibacillus thermosphaericus strain A1 isolated from a Japanese compost: purification, characterization and sequencing

We screened various thermophiles for meso-diaminopimelate dehydrogenase (meso-DAPDH, EC 1.4.1.16), which catalyzes the NAD(P)-dependent oxidative deamination of meso-diaminopimelate, and found the enzyme in a the...

Authors: Hironaga Akita, Yasuhiro Fujino, Katsumi Doi and Toshihisa Ohshima

Fermentation, Isolation, Structure, and antidiabetic activity of NFAT-133 produced by Streptomyces strain PM0324667

Type-2 diabetes is mediated by defects in either insulin secretion or insulin action. In an effort to identify extracts that may stimulate glucose uptake, similar to insulin, a high throughput-screening assay ...

Authors: Asha A Kulkarni-Almeida, Manoja K Brahma, Prabhu Padmanabhan, Prabhu D Mishra, Rajashri R Parab, Nitin V Gaikwad, Chandni S Thakkar, Pradipta Tokdar, Prafull V Ranadive, Amrutha S Nair, Anagha A Damre, Umakant A Bahirat, Nitin J Deshmukh, Lalit S Doshi, Amol V Dixit, Saji D George…

Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons to study the microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract of carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

The microbes in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are of high importance for the health of the host. In this study, Roche 454 pyrosequencing was applied to a pooled set of different 16S rRNA gene amplicons obtai...

Authors: Maartje AHJ van Kessel, Bas E Dutilh, Kornelia Neveling, Michael P Kwint, Joris A Veltman, Gert Flik, Mike SM Jetten, Peter HM Klaren and Huub JM Op den Camp

Feed-forward neural network assisted by discriminant analysis for the spectroscopic discriminantion of cracked spores Ganoderma lucidum: A prospective biotechnology production tool

A major problem for manufacturers of cracked spores Ganoderma lucidum, a traditional functional food/Chinese medicine (TCM), is to ensure that raw materials are consistent as received from the producer. To addres...

Authors: Chee Wei Lim, Sheot Harn Chan and Angelo Visconti

Differential Gene Expression to Investigate the Effects of Low-level Electrochemical Currents on Bacillus subtilis

With the emergence and spread of multidrug resistant bacteria, effective methods to eliminate both planktonic bacteria and those embedded in surface-attached biofilms are needed. Electric currents at μA-mA/cm² ra...

Authors: Robert Szkotak, Tagbo H R Niepa, Nikhil Jawrani, Jeremy L Gilbert, Marcus B Jones and Dacheng Ren

Production optimization of cyanophycinase ChpE_al from Pseudomonas alcaligenes DIP1

Pseudomonas alcaligenes DIP1 produces an extracellular cyanophycinase (CphE_al). The corresponding gene (cphE _al ) was identified from subclones of a genomic DNA gene library by...

Authors: Ahmed Sallam, Dimitar Kalkandzhiev and Alexander Steinbüchel

Glycerol conversion to 1, 3-Propanediol is enhanced by the expression of a heterologous alcohol dehydrogenase gene in Lactobacillus reuteri

In this work, Lactobacillus reuteri has been metabolically engineered for improving 1, 3-propanediol (1, 3-PD) production by the expression of an Escherichia coli alcohol dehydrogenase, yqhD, that is known to eff...

Authors: Hema Vaidyanathan, Vijayalakshmi Kandasamy, Gopi Gopal Ramakrishnan, KB Ramachandran, Guhan Jayaraman and Subramanian Ramalingam

Effects of rehydration nutrients on H₂S metabolism and formation of volatile sulfur compounds by the wine yeast VL3

In winemaking, nutrient supplementation is a common practice for optimising fermentation and producing quality wine. Nutritionally suboptimal grape juices are often enriched with nutrients in order to manipula...

Authors: Gal Winter, Paul A Henschke, Vincent J Higgins, Maurizio Ugliano and Chris D Curtin

Cultivation-independent methods applied to the microbial prospection of oil and gas in soil from a sedimentary basin in Brazil

The upper parts of oil field structures may leak gas which is supposed to be indirectly detected by the soil bacterial populations. Such microorganisms are capable of consuming this gas, supporting the Microbi...

Authors: Paula B Miqueletto, Fernando D Andreote, Armando CF Dias, Justo C Ferreira, Eugênio V dos Santos Neto and Valéria M de Oliveira

Superhydrophobic poly(L-lactic acid) surface as potential bacterial colonization substrate

Hydrophobicity is a very important surface property and there is a growing interest in the production and characterization of superhydrophobic surfaces. Accordingly, it was recently shown how to obtain a super...

Authors: Cláudia Sousa, Diana Rodrigues, Rosário Oliveira, Wenlong Song, João F Mano and Joana Azeredo

Comparative transcriptomic profile analysis of fed-batch cultures expressing different recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli

There is a need to elucidate the product specific features of the metabolic stress response of the host cell to the induction of recombinant protein synthesis. For this, the method of choice is transcriptomic ...

Authors: Ashish K Sharma, Shubhashree Mahalik, Chaitali Ghosh, Anuradha B Singh and Krishna J Mukherjee

Prevalence study of Bovine viral diarrhea virus by evaluation of antigen capture ELISA and RT-PCR assay in Bovine, Ovine, Caprine, Buffalo and Camel aborted fetuses in Iran

Bovine viral diarrhea virus is a pestivirus in the family Flaviviridae that cause abortions and stillbirths in livestock and its traditional diagnosis is based on cell culture and virus neutralization test. In...

Authors: Farhad Safarpoor Dehkordi

High-yield production of aromatic peroxygenase by the agaric fungus Marasmius rotula

An extracellular peroxygenase from Marasmius rotula was produced in liquid culture, chromatographically purified and partially characterized. This is the third aromatic peroxygenase (APO) that has been characteri...

Authors: Glenn Gröbe, René Ullrich, Marek J Pecyna, Danuta Kapturska, Stephanie Friedrich, Martin Hofrichter and Katrin Scheibner

Spatial and temporal dynamics of cellulose degradation and biofilm formation by Caldicellulosiruptor obsidiansis and Clostridium thermocellum

Cellulose degradation is one of the major bottlenecks of a consolidated bioprocess that employs cellulolytic bacterial cells as catalysts to produce biofuels from cellulosic biomass. In this study, we investig...

Authors: Zhi-Wu Wang, Seung-Hwan Lee, James G Elkins and Jennifer L Morrell-Falvey

PEGylating a bacteriophage endolysin inhibits its bactericidal activity

Bacteriophage endolysins (lysins) bind to a cell wall substrate and cleave peptidoglycan, resulting in hypotonic lysis of the phage-infected bacteria. When purified lysins are added externally to Gram-positive...

Authors: Gregory Resch, Philippe Moreillon and Vincent A Fischetti

The role of different methanogen groups evaluated by Real-Time qPCR as high-efficiency bioindicators of wet anaerobic co-digestion of organic waste

Methanogen populations and their domains are poorly understood; however, in recent years, research on this topic has emerged. The relevance of this field has also been enhanced by the growing economic interest...

Authors: Deborah Traversi, Silvia Villa, Marco Acri, Biancamaria Pietrangeli, Raffaella Degan and Giorgio Gilli

Process development for the elucidation of mycotoxin formation in Alternaria alternata

The black mould Alternaria alternata produces a wide diversity of mycotoxins which are of particular health concern. Since no maximum allowable limits are set for Alternaria toxins in food and feed, prevention of...

Authors: Katrin Brzonkalik, Tanja Herrling, Christoph Syldatk and Anke Neumann

Purification and characterization of novel fibrinolytic proteases as potential antithrombotic agents from earthworm Perionyx excavatus

Six protease fractions, namely FI, FII, FIII-1, FIII-2, FIII-3 and FIV, were isolated from Perionyx excavatus earthworm biomass by acetone precipitation, followed by serial chromatography using anion exchange, hy...

Authors: Tram Thi Bich Phan, Tien Duy Ta, Dung Thi Xuan Nguyen, Lambertus AM Van Den Broek and Giang Thi Huong Duong

Erratum to: A simple method to evaluate the number of bradyrhizobia on soybean seeds and its implication on inoculant quality control

Authors: Claudio Penna, Rosana Massa, Florencia Olivieri, Gabriel Gutkind and Fabricio Cassán

Reduction of exogenous ketones depends upon NADPH generated photosynthetically in cells of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC 7942

Effective utilization of photosynthetic microorganisms as potential biocatalysts is favorable for the production of useful biomaterials and the reduction of atmospheric CO₂. For example, biocatalytic transformati...

Authors: Rio Yamanaka, Kaoru Nakamura and Akio Murakami

Sensitivity to electrical stimulation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and MAGIC-5 cells

To determine the sensitivities to low electrical potential of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and its target cells, HIV-1 and MAGIC-5 cells were directly stimulated with a constant direct current p...

Authors: Etsuko Kumagai, Masato Tominaga and Shinji Harada

Analysis and application of Bacillus subtilis sortases to anchor recombinant proteins on the cell wall

Bacillus subtilis codes for two putative sortases, YhcS and YwpE, and two surface proteins, YhcR and YfkN, harboring sorting motifs supposed to be recognized by the putative sortase(s). However, there is no expe...

Authors: Hoang Duc Nguyen, Trang Thi Phuong Phan and Wolfgang Schumann

A simple method to evaluate the number of bradyrhizobia on soybean seeds and its implication on inoculant quality control

Soybean seeds are non-sterile and their bacterial population interferes with the enumeration of beneficial bacteria, making it difficult to assess survival under different conditions. Within this context, the ...

Authors: Claudio Penna, Rosana Massa, Florencia Olivieri, Gabriel Gutkind and Fabricio Cassán

Utilization capability of sucrose, raffinose and inulin and its less-sensitiveness to glucose repression in thermotolerant yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus DMKU 3-1042

Kluyveromyces marxianus possesses a useful potential to assimilate a wide variety of substrates at a high temperature, but the negative effect by coexisting glucose is critical for utilization of biomass contain...

Authors: Noppon Lertwattanasakul, Nadchanok Rodrussamee, Suprayogi, Savitree Limtong, Pornthap Thanonkeo, Tomoyuki Kosaka and Mamoru Yamada

Harnessing the self-harvesting capability of benthic cyanobacteria for use in benthic photobioreactors

Benthic species of algae and cyanobacteria (i.e., those that grow on surfaces), may provide potential advantages over planktonic species for some commercial-scale biotechnological applications. A multitude of ...

Authors: Diane Esson, Susanna A Wood and Michael A Packer

Escherichia coli inactivation kinetics in anaerobic digestion of dairy manure under moderate, mesophilic and thermophilic temperatures

Batch anaerobic digestion experiments using dairy manure as feedstocks were performed at moderate (25°C), mesophilic (37°C), and thermophilic (52.5°C) temperatures to understand E. coli, an indicator organism for...

Authors: Pramod K Pandey and Michelle L Soupir

Simultaneous polyhydroxyalkanoates and rhamnolipids production by Thermus thermophilus HB8

The ability of Thermus thermophilus HB8 to produce simultaneously two environmentally-friendly biodegradable products, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and rhamnolipids (RLs), using either sodium gluconate or glucose...

Authors: Anastasia A Pantazaki, Christos P Papaneophytou and Dimitra A Lambropoulou

Implications of various phosphoenolpyruvate-carbohydrate phosphotransferase system mutations on glycerol utilization and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) accumulation in Ralstonia eutropha H16

The enhanced global biodiesel production is also yielding increased quantities of glycerol as main coproduct. An effective application of glycerol, for example, as low-cost substrate for microbial growth in in...

Authors: Chlud Kaddor and Alexander Steinbüchel

Enhancement of β-xylosidase productivity in cellulase producing fungus Acremonium cellulolyticus

Enzymatic hydrolysis is one of the most important processes in bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Acremonium cellulolyticus is a filamentous fungus with high cellulase production but productivity...

Authors: Machi Kanna, Shinichi Yano, Hiroyuki Inoue, Tatsuya Fujii and Shigeki Sawayama

Study of enzymatic properties of phenol oxidase from nitrogen-fixing Azotobacter chroococcum

Azotobacter chroococcum is a widespread free-living soil bacterium within the genus of Azotobacter known for assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen and subsequent conversion into nitrogenous compounds, which hence...

Authors: Susanne Herter, Marlen Schmidt, Mark L Thompson, Annett Mikolasch and Frieder Schauer

Recombinant expression and purification of the 2,5-diketocamphane 1,2-monooxygenase from the camphor metabolizing Pseudomonas putida strain NCIMB 10007

Three different Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs) were reported to be involved in the camphor metabolism by Pseudomonas putida NCIMB 10007. During (+)-camphor degradation, 2,5-diketocamphane is formed servin...

Authors: Maria Kadow, Stefan Saß, Marlen Schmidt and Uwe T Bornscheuer

Serinol: small molecule - big impact

The amino alcohol serinol (2-amino-1,3-propanediol) has become a common intermediate for several chemical processes. Since the 1940s serinol was used as precursor for synthesis of synthetic antibiotics (chlora...

Authors: Björn Andreeßen and Alexander Steinbüchel

Production of polyhydroxyalkanoates from waste frying oil by Cupriavidus necator

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biopolymers, which can replace petrochemical plastics in many applications. However, these bioplastics are currently far more expensive than petrochemical plastics. Many resear...

Authors: Rob AJ Verlinden, David J Hill, Melvin A Kenward, Craig D Williams, Zofia Piotrowska-Seget and Iza K Radecka

Development of butanol-tolerant Bacillus subtilis strain GRSW2-B1 as a potential bioproduction host

As alternative microbial hosts for butanol production with organic-solvent tolerant trait are in high demands, a butanol-tolerant bacterium, Bacillus subtilis GRSW2-B1, was thus isolated. Its tolerance covered a ...

Authors: Naoya Kataoka, Takahisa Tajima, Junichi Kato, Wanitcha Rachadech and Alisa S Vangnai

Biosurfactant-mediated biodegradation of straight and methyl-branched alkanes by Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 55925

Accidental oil spills and waste disposal are important sources for environmental pollution. We investigated the biodegradation of alkanes by Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 55925 in relation to a rhamnolipid surfacta...

Authors: Carlos A Rocha, Ana M Pedregosa and Fernando Laborda

Purification and characterization of hydroquinone dioxygenase from Sphingomonas sp. strain TTNP3

Hydroquinone-1,2-dioxygenase, an enzyme involved in the degradation of alkylphenols in Sphingomonas sp. strain TTNP3 was purified to apparent homogeneity. The extradiol dioxygenase catalyzed the ring fission of h...

Authors: Boris A Kolvenbach, Markus Lenz, Dirk Benndorf, Erdmann Rapp, Jan Fousek, Cestmir Vlcek, Andreas Schäffer, Frédéric LP Gabriel, Hans-Peter E Kohler and Philippe FX Corvini

Breeding of a new wastewater treatment yeast by genetic engineering

We previously developed a host vector system for the wastewater treatment yeast Hansenula fabianii J640. The promoter and terminator regions of the gene encoding glucoamylase from H. fabianii J640 were used for a...

Authors: Miyoshi Kato and Haruyuki Iefuji

Enhanced Incorporation of 3-Hydroxy-4-Methylvalerate Unit into Biosynthetic Polyhydroxyalkanoate Using Leucine as a Precursor

Ralstonia eutropha PHB^-4 expressing Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase 1 (PhaC1_Ps) synthesizes PHA copolymer containing 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and a small amount (0.5 mol%) of 3-hydroxy-4-...

Authors: Azusa Saika, Yoriko Watanabe, Kumar Sudesh, Hideki Abe and Takeharu Tsuge

Advances in utilization of renewable substrates for biosurfactant production

Biosurfactants are amphiphilic molecules that have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties which partition preferentially at the interfaces such as liquid/liquid, gas/liquid or solid/liquid interfaces. Such ...

Authors: Randhir S Makkar, Swaranjit S Cameotra and Ibrahim M Banat

A mutated xylose reductase increases bioethanol production more than a glucose/xylose facilitator in simultaneous fermentation and co-fermentation of wheat straw

Genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains are able to ferment xylose present in lignocellulosic biomass. However, better xylose fermenting strains are required to reach complete xylose uptake in sim...

Authors: Kim Olofsson, David Runquist, Bärbel Hahn-Hägerdal and Gunnar Lidén

Identification and characterization of alkaline serine protease from goat skin surface metagenome

Metagenomic DNA isolated from goat skin surface was used to construct plasmid DNA library in Escherichia coli DH10B. Recombinant clones were screened for functional protease activity on skim milk agar plates. Upo...

Authors: Paul Lavanya Pushpam, Thangamani Rajesh and Paramasamy Gunasekaran

Alliinase from Ensifer adhaerens and Its Use for Generation of Fungicidal Activity

A bacterium Ensifer adhaerens FERM P-19486 with the ability of alliinase production was isolated from a soil sample. The enzyme was purified for characterization of its general properties and evaluation of its ap...

Authors: Masahiro Yutani, Hiroko Taniguchi, Hasibagan Borjihan, Akira Ogita, Ken-ichi Fujita and Toshio Tanaka

Characterization of diverse natural variants of CYP102A1 found within a species of Bacillus megaterium

An extreme diversity of substrates and catalytic reactions of cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes is considered to be the consequence of evolutionary adaptation driven by different metabolic or environmental demand...

Authors: Ji-Yeon Kang, So-Young Kim, Dooil Kim, Dong-Hyun Kim, Sun-Mi Shin, Sun-Ha Park, Keon-Hee Kim, Heung-Chae Jung, Jae-Gu Pan, Young Hee Joung, Youn-Tae Chi, Ho Zoon Chae, Taeho Ahn and Chul-Ho Yun