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ABSTRACT: A novel thermostable isoamylase, IAM, was purified to homogeneity from the newly isolated thermophilic bacterium Bacillus sp. CICIM 304. The purified monomeric protein with an estimated molecular mass of 100 kDa displayed its optimal temperature and pH at 70 °C and 6.0, respectively, with excellent thermostability between 30 and 70 °C and pH values from 5.5 to 9.0. Under the conditions of temperature 50 °C and pH 6.0, the K m and V max on glycogen were 0.403 ± 0.018 mg/mg and 0.018 ± 0.001 mg/(min mg), respectively. Gene encoding IAM, BsIam was identified from genomic DNA sequence with inverse PCRs. The open reading frame of the BsIam gene was 2,655 base pairs long and encoded a polypeptide of 885 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 101,155 Da. The deduced amino acid sequence of IAM shared less than 40 % homology with that of microbial isoamylase ever reported, which indicated it was a novel isoamylase. This enzyme showed its obvious superiority in the industrial starch conversion process.
Journal of Industrial Microbiology 03/2013; · 1.80 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Glycerol from oil hydrolysis industry is being considered as one of the abundent raw materials for fermentation industry. In present study, the aerobic and anaerobic metabolism and growth properties on glycerol by Esherichia coli CICIM B0013-070, a D-lactate over-producing strain constructed previously, at different temperatures were investigated, followed by a novel fermentation process, named temperature-switched process, was established for D-lactate production from glycerol. Under the optimal condition, lactate yield was increased from 64.0% to 82.6%. Subsequently, the yield of D-lactate from glycerol was reached up to 88.9% while a thermo-inducible promoter was used to regulate D-lactate dehydrogenase transcription.
Sheng wu gong cheng xue bao = Chinese journal of biotechnology 01/2013; 29(1):111-4.
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ABSTRACT: The pulA1 gene, encoding a novel thermostable type I pullulanase PulA1 from Bacillus sp. CICIM 263, was identified from genomic DNA. The open reading frame of the pulA1 gene was 2655 base pairs long and encoded a polypeptide (PulA1) of 885 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 100,887 Da. The pulA1 gene was expressed in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Recombinant PuLA1 showed optimal activity at pH 6.5 and 70 °C. The enzyme demonstrated moderate thermostability as PuLA1 maintained more than 88% of its acitivity when incubated at 70 °C for 1 h. The enzyme could completely hydrolyze pullulan to maltotriose, and hydrolytic activity was also detected with glycogen, starch and amylopection, but not with amylose, which is consistent with the property of type I pullulanase. PulA1 may be suitable for industrial applications to improve the yields of fermentable sugars for bioethanol production.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 10/2012; · 2.82 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A ceramic membrane with pore size of 0.2 μm was used to percolate grain stillage of very high gravity (VHG) ethanol fermentation
from corn, and the micro-filtration permeate was completely recycled for the cooking step in the next fermentation process.
The concentrations of solids, sugars, total nitrogen and Na+ in the grain stillage and permeate reached a relative steady state after two or three batches of filtration and recycling
process. There are no negative effects of by-products on VHG ethanol fermentation, and the final ethanol yield was above 15%
(v/v). The conditions of filtration were examined to determine the optimum conditions for the process and included an initial
flux of clean water above 550 L·m−2·h−1 (0.1 MPa), an operating differential pressure of 0.15 MPa, an operating temperature above 70 °C, and a permeation flux greater
than 136 L·m−2·h−1. It could be concluded that full permeate recycling during ethanol production was an efficient process that resulted in less
pollution and less energy consumption.
Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering 04/2012; 26(3):719-723. · 0.99 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In this study, a novel rapid and efficient DNA extraction method based on alkaline lysis, which can deal with a large number of filamentous fungal isolates in the same batch, was established. The filamentous fungal genomic DNA required only 20 min to prepare and can be directly used as a template for PCR amplification. The amplified internal transcribed spacer regions were easy to identify by analysis. The extracted DNA also can be used to amplify other protein-coding genes for fungal identification. This method can be used for rapid systematic identification of filamentous fungal isolates.
The Journal of Microbiology 08/2011; 49(4):675-9. · 1.10 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In order to successfully express the carbonyl reductase gene mldh in Bacillus subtilis and complete coenzyme regeneration by B. subtilis glucose dehydrogenase, the promoter PrpsD and the terminator TrpsD from B. subtilis rpsD gene were used as the expression cassette to be a recombinant plasmid pHY300plk-PrpsD-TrpsD. After that, the carbonyl reductase gene mldh was inserted into the previous plasmid and a plasmid pHY300plk-PrpsD-mldh-TrpsD was achieved, followed by transformed into B. subtilis Wb600 to obtain a recombinant B. subtilis Wb600 (pHY300plk-PrpsD-mldh-TrpsD). Subsequently, the results for whole-cell biotransformation from recombinant B. subtilis showed that it could be used to catalyze MAK (1-phenyl- 1-keto-2-methylaminopropane) to d-pseudoephedrine in the presence of glucose. The yield of d-pseudoephedrine could be up to 97.5 mg/L and the conversion rate of MAK was 24.1%. This study indicates the possibility of biotransformation production of d-pseudoephedrine from recombinant B. subtilis.
Sheng wu gong cheng xue bao = Chinese journal of biotechnology 07/2011; 27(7):1082-91.
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ABSTRACT: In order to obtain a yeast strain able to produce L-lactic acid under the condition of low pH and high lactate content, one wild acid-resistant yeast strain isolated from natural samples, was found to be able to grow well in YEPD medium (20 g/L glucose, 20 g/L tryptone, 10 g/L yeast extract, adjusted pH 2.5 with lactic acid) without consuming lactic acid. Based on further molecular biological tests, the strain was identified as Candida magnolia. Then, the gene ldhA, encoding a lactate dehydrogenase from Rhizopus oryzae, was cloned into a yeast shuttle vector containing G418 resistance gene. The resultant plasmid pYX212-kanMX-ldhA was introduced into C. magnolia by electroporation method. Subsequently, a recombinant L-lactic acid producing yeast C. magnolia-2 was obtained. The optimum pH of the recombinant yeast is 3.5 for lactic acid production. Moreover, the recombinant strain could grow well and produce lactic acid at pH 2.5. This recombinant yeast strain could be useful for producing L-lactic acid.
Sheng wu gong cheng xue bao = Chinese journal of biotechnology 07/2011; 27(7):1024-31.
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Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering 06/2011; 16(3):457-461. · 1.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Kluyveromyces lactis is a non-conventional yeast species extensively used in the expression of heterologous genes. In this study, a genetically modified K. lactis with high-level expression of -amylase from Rhizopus oryzae was obtained, which could successfully hydrolyze and use starch for growth very well. Shake flask fermentation indicated that, the recombinant yeast was able to produce the -amylase at considerable secretion levels using a variety of carbon sources. The highest level of amylase expression was 22.4 U/ml when cultivated at 30°C and pH 7.0 in the presence of galactose. Moreover, it was shown that the recombinant yeast, which could efficiently degrade starch, yielded a final biomass of 12.25 g/l with enzyme activity of 11 U/ml in the culture medium using 20 g soluble starch/l as the sole carbon source.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY 04/2011; 1020:4190-4196. · 0.57 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A putative α-amylase gene, designated as RoAmy, was cloned from Rhizopus oryzae. The deduced amino acid sequence showed the highest (42.8%) similarity to the α-amylase from Trichoderma viride. The RoAmy gene was successfully expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115 under the induction of methanol. The molecular weight of the purified RoAmy determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was approximately 48 kDa. The optimal pH and temperature were 4-6 and 60 °C, respectively. The enzyme was stable at pH ranges of 4.5-6.5 and temperatures below 50 °C. Purified RoAmy had a K(m) and V(max) of 0.27 mg/ml and 0.068 mg/min, respectively, with a specific activity of 1,123 U/mg on soluble starch. Amylase activity was strongly inhibited by 5 mM Cu(2+) and 5 mM Fe(2+), whereas 5 mM Ca(2+) showed no significant effect. The RoAmy hydrolytic activity was the highest on wheat starch but showed only 55% activity on amylopectin relative to soluble corn starch, while the pullulanase activity was negligible. The main end products of the polysaccharides tested were glucose and maltose. Maltose reached a concentration of 74% (w/w) with potato starch as the substrate. The enzyme had an extremely high affinity (K(m) = 0.22 mM) to maltotriose. A high ratio of glucose/maltose of 1:4 was obtained when maltotriose was used at an initial concentration of 40 mM.
Applied biochemistry and biotechnology 01/2011; 164(5):581-92. · 1.94 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: When Escherichia coli CICIM B0013-030 (B0013, ack-pta, pps, pflB) was used for D-lactate production, succinate and acetate were the main byproducts (as much as 11.9 and 7.1% the amount of lactate respectively). In order to decrease the byproduct levels, we inactivated succinate and acetate synthesis in B0013-030. Two recombinant plasmids containing mutation cassettes of frdA::difGm and tdcDE::difGm respectively were constructed first. The mutation cassettes were used to delete the target genes on the chromosomal by Red recombination. Subsequently, the antibiotic resistance gene was excised from the chromosomal by Xer recombination. Thereby, mutants B0013-040B (B0013-030, frdA) and B0013-050B (B0013-040B, tdcDE) were produced. D-lactate producing abilities of the engineered strains were tested both in shake flasks and in bioreactors using two-phase fermentation (aerobic growth and anaerobic fermentation) with glucose as the sole carbon source. When fermentation was carried out in shake flasks, inactivation of frdA in B0013-030 to produce B0013-040B reduced succinate accumulation by 80.8%. When tested in a 7-liter bioreactor, B0013-040B accumulated 114.5 g/L D-lactate of over 99.9% optical purity. However, 1.0 g/L succinate and 5.4 g/L acetate still remained in the broth. Further inactivation of tdcD and tdcE genes in B0013-040B to produce B0013-050B decreased acetate and succinate accumulation to 0.4 g/L and 0.4 g/L respectively, and lactate titer was as much as 111.9 g/L (tested in the 7-liter bioreactor). In lightof the lower byproduct levels and high lactate production, strain B00 13-050B may prove useful for D-lactate production.
Sheng wu gong cheng xue bao = Chinese journal of biotechnology 01/2011; 27(1):31-40.
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ABSTRACT: Biochemical networks play an essential role in systems biology. Rapidly growing network data and versatile research activities call for convenient visualization tools to aid intuitively perceiving abstract structures of networks and gaining insights into the functional implications of networks. There are various kinds of network visualization software, but they are usually not adequate for visual analysis of complex biological networks mainly because of the two reasons: 1) most existing drawing methods suitable for biochemical networks have high computation loads and can hardly achieve near real-time visualization; 2) available network visualization tools are designed for working in certain network modeling platforms, so they are not convenient for general analyses due to lack of broader range of readily accessible numerical utilities.
We present LucidDraw as a visual analysis tool, which features (a) speed: typical biological networks with several hundreds of nodes can be drawn in a few seconds through a new layout algorithm; (b) ease of use: working within MATLAB makes it convenient to manipulate and analyze the network data using a broad spectrum of sophisticated numerical functions; (c) flexibility: layout styles and incorporation of other available information about functional modules can be controlled by users with little effort, and the output drawings are interactively modifiable.
Equipped with a new grid layout algorithm proposed here, LucidDraw serves as an auxiliary network analysis tool capable of visualizing complex biological networks in near real-time with controllable layout styles and drawing details. The framework of the algorithm enables easy incorporation of extra biological information, if available, to influence the output layouts with predefined node grouping features.
BMC Bioinformatics 01/2010; 11:31. · 2.75 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Many real-world systems can be described by networks whose structures relate to functional properties. An important way to reveal topology–function correlations is to detect the community structures, which can be well evaluated by graph modularity. By maximizing modularity, large networks can be divided into naturally separated groups. Here, we propose a contraction–dilation algorithm based on single-node-move operations and a perturbation strategy. Tests on artificial and real-world networks show that the algorithm is efficient for discovering community structures with high modularity scores and accuracies at low expenses of both time and memory.
New Journal of Physics 04/2009; 11(4):043025. · 4.18 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase (BLA) is one of the most important enzymes involved in starch hydrolysis and many biotechnological processes. To improve the BLA productivity, an integrative plasmid pBL-amyL carrying amyL gene encoding a thermophilic alpha-amylase of B. licheniformis was constructed and transformed into B. licheniformis B0204, an industrial alpha-amylase producer. The transformants harboring different copies of amyL were developed on kanamycin by using homolog-mediated chromosomal amplification of alpha-amylase gene. The recombinants with different multiple copies of amyL integrated in the chromosome were identified by real-time PCR and evaluated by shake-flask fermentation. Recombinants harboring 2-5 multiple copies of amyL produced more alpha-amylase comparison to the parental strain B0204.
Sheng wu gong cheng xue bao = Chinese journal of biotechnology 04/2009; 25(3):375-80.
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ABSTRACT: One yeast strain, which was isolated from 256 natural samples, was found to be able to utilize D-xylose effectively. On the basis of assimilation physiological and molecular biological tests, the yeast strain was identified as a strain of Candida tropicalis. Furthermore, metabolic engineering breeding strategy was applied to change the metabolic flux in order to increase ethanol productivity. In this study, the C. tropicalis was used as the host strain and the plasmid pYX212-XYL2, which was formerly constructed for over expression of XYL2 gene encoding xylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) from Pichia stipitis, was used as the backbone of the recombinant vector. A hygro gene was inserted into downstream position of XYL2 gene, meanwhile, the result plasmid pXY212-XYL2-Hygro transformed into C. tropicalis by electroporation. Thus, a recombinant yeast C. tropicalis XYL2-7 was obtained through hygromycin B resistance screening and its specific XDH activity was 0.5 u/mg protein, which was 3 times more than that of the parent strain. Additionally, the recombinant yeast was applied in the fermentation of xylose. Compared with the parent yeast, it was concluded that the xylitol yield in the broth decreased by 3 times, however, the ethanol yield increased by 5 times. The feasibility of ethanol production from xylose by C. tropicalis was firstly studied in this paper. These research results are helpful to advance the bioconversion of renewable resources (e. g. straw, wheat bran, and husk) to fuel ethanol.
Sheng wu gong cheng xue bao = Chinese journal of biotechnology 07/2008; 24(6):950-6.
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04/2008: pages 68 - 75; , ISBN: 9780470390412
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ABSTRACT: Two thermophilic bacterial isolates, strain 173 and strain 174, with raw starch-digesting activities were selected from thermophilic bacteria growing in hot spring of Tengchong County, Yunnan Province, China. By amplification, sequencing and alignment analysis of 16S ribosomal DNAs, they were identified as members of genus Geobacillus. In shaker flask culture Geobacillus sp. 173 produced 14.5 U/mL amylase and for Geobacillus sp. 174 with 12.9 U/mL. Both amylases were purified by starch absorption-desorption and chromatograph. The amylases from strain 173 and strain 174 purified to about 50 and 29 folds were respectively achieved with an overall yield of 34% and 41%. The maximum gelatinized-starch-digesting activity of the purified amylases were at 70 degrees C and pH 5.0 - 5.5. The high raw-starch-digesting activity of these enzymes were observed at 50 degrees C - 60 degrees C (from strain 173) and 40 degrees C - 60 degrees C (from strain 174). Both enzymes were not sensitive to ions including mental ions (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Mn2+, Zn2+) and others (EDTA, Citrate), but were slightly inhibited by ions such as Co2+, Cu2+ for amylase from strain 173 and Cu2+ for amylase from strain 174. Both enzyme had specificity of starch substrates.
ACTA MICROBIOLOGICA SINICA 03/2008; 48(2):169-75.
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ABSTRACT: Simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography is a modernized separation technology. The history of its development and principle operation are introduced in details. The major applications of SMB chromatography are also reviewed.
Se pu = Chinese journal of chromatography / Zhongguo hua xue hui 04/2004; 22(2):111-5.
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ABSTRACT: Remote homology detection between protein sequences is a central problem in computational biology. This may help to identify functional and structural classes of proteins. This paper uses a modularity-based method, which maximizes the modularity of protein network to find the partitioning with strong community structure, for clustering protein sequences. The experiments based on the superfamily level of SCOP (Structure Classification of Proteins) database show that the approach is able to identify correctly the superfamilies to which the sequences belong.
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