Current Research in Biotechnology最新文献

{"title":"A conductive film produced by the supernatant from Serratia marcescens cultivation containing prodigiosin increases electricity generation in a microbial fuel cell","authors":"Ana Clara Bonizol Zani ,&nbsp;João Carlos de Souza ,&nbsp;João Pedro Rueda Furlan ,&nbsp;Eliana Guedes Stehling ,&nbsp;Adalgisa Rodrigues de Andrade ,&nbsp;Valeria Reginatto","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100215","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100215","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Although <em>Serratia marcescens</em> is known for its natural ability to produce the red pigment prodigiosin, it has been little explored as a biocatalyst in bioelectrochemical systems (BES). Here, we have employed an environmental <em>S. marcescens</em> isolate S734 as biocatalyst in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) anode to oxidize glycerol and to produce energy; we have evaluated how the anode behaves in three conditions: (i) as an abiotic electrode (FC-A); (ii) as a biotic electrode after <em>S. marcescens</em> biofilm growth (MFC-B); and (iii) as an abiotic electrode added with the supernatant containing prodigiosin (FC-P). Scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical measurements indicated that prodigiosin formed a conductive film over FC-P, which increased charge transfer by 424 times compared to FC-A. The maximum power density during the FC-P operation was 10.0 mW/m⁻². Nevertheless, only in the presence of <em>S. marcescens</em> (MFC-B) was glycerol oxidized and electricity generated. Cyclic voltammetry indicated that the prodigiosin was the electrochemical active substance in the supernatant, and that its process was irreversible and controlled by adsorption. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirmed that the prodigiosin-containing supernatant decreased the load resistance from 8396.3 Ω in FC-A to 58.10 Ω in FC-P. Genomic analysis showed that the prodigiosin biosynthesis gene cluster in strain S734 belonged to the <em>Serratia</em> 274 type, which contains <em>pigA</em> to <em>pigN</em> genes flanked by <em>cueR</em> and <em>copA</em> homologues. In conclusion, the supernatant produced by <em>S. marcescens</em> strain S734, containing prodigiosin could be explored as a green conductor in BES without further purification steps.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100215"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262824000418/pdfft?md5=582cba5ad88091764dde6770499a9e46&pid=1-s2.0-S2590262824000418-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140644559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Expanding the chitin oligosaccharide portfolio by engineering NodC chitin synthases in Escherichia coli","authors":"Chiara Guidi ,&nbsp;Xevi Biarnés ,&nbsp;Antoni Planas ,&nbsp;Marjan De Mey","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100255","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100255","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Synthetic biology greatly accelerated the building process of potential microbial cell factories for the production of industrially relevant compounds, e.g., chitooligosaccharides (COS) which have an enormous application potential in multiple industries, i.e., pharma, cosmetics and agrifood. COS are produced by the heterologous expression of the chitin oligosaccharide synthase, NodC, in <em>Escherichia coli,</em> mainly yielding mixtures of chitintetraose (A4) and/or chitinpentaose (A5). We rationalised here product formation limitations based on molecular modelling of the structures of several NodC enzymes. We used this information to protein engineer NodC, rendering longer COS. Hence, an in vivo platform of defined COS-producing strains with different degrees of polymerisation was developed and experimentally characterised. Significantly, several strains were producing long COS, such as chitinhexaose (A6) and −heptaose (A7), not identified in any other natural producer. Additionally, other engineered strains efficiently produce almost 100% specific A4 or A5 product. Altogether, our results indicate that electrostatics-driven dynamics effects are to be considered in the molecular ruler hypothesis. Charge density at the transmembrane helices of NodC affects the opening of the integral binding pocket and in this way the length of the produced chitin oligomers can be modulated. As a result, the internal ruler mechanism elaborated and validated in this manuscript can serve as a guideline to perform site-directed mutagenesis at positions in related NodC and chitin synthase enzymes for both industrial applications as for identification of therapeutic targets.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100255"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262824000819/pdfft?md5=bba3a7e17025b0c8fbb38a83b56b1df2&pid=1-s2.0-S2590262824000819-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142240033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Engineering protein translocation pathway to improve recombinant proteins in Pichia pastoris","authors":"Shengyan Wang ,&nbsp;Huijia Dai ,&nbsp;Qingling Tang ,&nbsp;Yujing Yu ,&nbsp;Yaying Xie ,&nbsp;Tao Wang ,&nbsp;Yide Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100182","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100182","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><em>Pichia pastoris</em> is one of the most commonly used hosts for producing heterologous proteins, whereas production levels vary depending on the protein of interest and are also regulated by regulatory factors. We conducted RNA-seq by expressing the reporter EGFP and observed significant upregulation of certain subunits (Sec61p, Sbh1p, Sss1p, Sec66p and Sec72p) of the Sec complex in the high-expression recombinant GS115 stains. The overexpression of these genes may increase the expression levels of heterogeneous proteins. In this study, the endogenous promoters of the Sec complex subunits Sbh1p, Sss1p, Sec66p and Sec72p were isolated and verified their activity using the <em>Lac-Z</em> reporter gene. <em>Sss1</em>, <em>Sbh1</em>, <em>Sec66</em> and <em>Sec72</em> were overexpressed under the control of their own promoters in <em>Pichia pastoris</em>, respectively. The overexpression of <em>Sss1</em>, <em>Sbh1</em>, <em>Sec66</em> and <em>Sec72</em> in cells was confirmed by fluorescent microscope and Western blot analysis. The α-amylase was employed to evaluate the effect of overexpression of the Sec subunits on the heterologous protein expression. The results demonstrated that the α-amylase activity increased by 16%, 58%, 16% and 17% in the strains overexpressing <em>Sss1</em>, <em>Sbh1, Sec66</em> and <em>Sec72</em>, respectively. Engineering the protein translocation pathway can be an alternative to enhance heterogeneous proteins in <em>Pichia pastoris</em> expression system.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100182"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259026282400008X/pdfft?md5=eb38d0464d385675025ebfc06b6a2987&pid=1-s2.0-S259026282400008X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139687650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metagenomics analysis of sediments of river Ganga, India for bacterial diversity, functional genomics, antibiotic resistant genes and virulence factors","authors":"Ajaya Kumar Rout ,&nbsp;Partha Sarathi Tripathy ,&nbsp;Sangita Dixit ,&nbsp;Dibyajyoti Uttameswar Behera ,&nbsp;Bhaskar Behera ,&nbsp;Basanta Kumar Das ,&nbsp;Bijay Kumar Behera","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100187","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100187","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The river Ganges in India has faced considerable issues due to water quality degradation caused by various anthropogenic activities. This study employs metagenomic analysis to comprehensively characterize bacterial communities, explore functional genomics, and investigate the prevalence of virulence factors and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) within the sediment environment of the river Ganges. Taxonomic profiling revealed that <em>Proteobacteria</em> were the most dominating phyla found in all samples, whereas the abundance of <em>Pseudomonas</em> at the genus level was the highest in all the samples. Functional annotation and pathway analysis uncover the genomic potential of sediment associated bacteria, shedding light on metabolic pathways, biogeochemical processes, human diseases and adaptive mechanisms within the riverine ecosystem. Moreover, identifying the highest number of genes related to virulence factors was observed in K1 samples (3), and the highest number of genes related to ARGs found in K3 (25) samples emphasizes the need to understand potential pathogenicity in these environments. Characterization of ARGs provides crucial insights into the prevalence of resistance determinants, their genetic contexts, and potential sources of antibiotic resistance in this vital aquatic ecosystem. Overall metagenomics analysis in different sampling sites of river Ganga observed nearly the same OTUs at microbial communities at the taxonomic level but not at a functional level. This research can be a critical foundation for assessing the ecological implications of microbial communities, functional genomics, and the resistome in the river Ganges sediments. The findings underscore the importance of metagenomic approaches in elucidating the intricate microbial ecology and the prevalence of genetic elements relevant to environmental health and antimicrobial resistance in aquatic ecosystems. Further investigation would be required to understand the underlying cause behind the restoration of microbial functional profiles, including ARGs and VFs, to unravel the rejuvenation aspects of this unique ecosystem.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100187"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262824000133/pdfft?md5=e740d72e4853c9d0e2b6beb3b8bacc9b&pid=1-s2.0-S2590262824000133-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139719288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microplastics contamination in food products: Occurrence, analytical techniques and potential impacts on human health","authors":"Suman Giri ,&nbsp;Gopal Lamichhane ,&nbsp;Dipendra Khadka ,&nbsp;Hari Prasad Devkota","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100190","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100190","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Chemically, microplastics (MPs) are synthetic materials composed of plastic monomers and additives and vary in size from 0.1-5,000 μm. Due to their chemical stability and the widespread use of plastics for various purposes, MPs pollution of the environment has increased dramatically, leading to the contamination of daily consumer products as well. Although previous studies have reported the environmental impacts of MPs, only a few studies have highlighted the occurrence of MPs in food products and their possible effects on human health. Recent investigations have identified MP particles in drinking water and other beverages, seafood, plant products, salt, sugar, and honey, raising an alarm over the safety and quality of these food items. Ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact of such food and other consumer goods are the common routes through which MPs may enter the human body and can have several deleterious health impacts including oxidative stress, inflammation, immunotoxicity, increased risk of neoplasia, cellular metabolism impairment, neurotoxicity, gut microbiome dysbiosis, disruption of reproductive system among others. A collective approach employing source control, recycling, biodegradable plastics, strengthening legislation, and bioremediation could be a promising and sustainable solution to control the MPs pollution. The key challenge appears to standarize detection methods along with reducing the MPs contamination from the food products as well as from the environment. Therefore, this review focuses on the occurrence of MPs in several food products, current methods of analysis, potential health impacts, and strategies to mitigate the widespread MPs pollution. It also adds novel findings, knowledge gaps, and recommendations that can guide future research in this field.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100190"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262824000169/pdfft?md5=d3a8de7d49ca85356a1c5e66a7e45d64&pid=1-s2.0-S2590262824000169-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140024440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of field portable potentiostat using electrochemical aptasensing technology for detection of Cr(VI) in aquatic environment","authors":"Jyotsna Dei ,&nbsp;Soumyadeb Bhattacharyya ,&nbsp;Koustuv Ghosh ,&nbsp;Subrata Sarkar ,&nbsp;Souvik Pal ,&nbsp;Subhankar Mukherjee ,&nbsp;Dhruba Jyoti Sarkar ,&nbsp;Alokesh Ghosh ,&nbsp;Rajib Bandyopadhyay ,&nbsp;Basanta Kumar Das ,&nbsp;Bijay Kumar Behera","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100193","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100193","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Hexavalent chromium or Cr(VI) is highly toxic for humans as it causes high oxidative reactions inside cells, leading to diseases like chronic ulcers and damage to the kidneys, mucous membranes, throat, skin, and respiratory tract. Due to rapid urbanization, Cr(VI) comes into our food chain through unmonitored and uncontrolled application in agriculture fields, refineries, mills, the tanning industry, automobiles, road works, etc. Presently, the standard Cr(VI) detection is done using conventional processes, which, though accurate, has severe drawbacks in on-the-spot rapid detection in the field. Here, we have represented a handheld potentiostat towards trace-level Cr(VI) detection in aquatic environments. A Cr(VI) specific DNA aptamer immobilized screen printed electrode (SPE) has been used as the main biosensor. The device operates on an electronic peak current dumping event through mass deposition in the presence of an aptamer coupled with Cr(VI) onto the working electrode. The working range of the developed prototype is in the range of 0–1000 ppb Cr(VI), where the maximum linearity has been observed in the range of 0–500 ppb with a limit of Detection (LOD) as low as 10 ppb. The device has exhibited an excellent correlation with commercially available electrochemical workstations with a coefficient of 0.972. Moreover, the applicability of the developed device has been validated for 7 different types of water samples. To our knowledge, this is the first-ever reported simplistic resource-limited on-spot aptasensing device for Cr(VI) detection in an aquatic environment.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100193"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262824000194/pdfft?md5=fe1a4ec25f5718704121e5b717e7fe7c&pid=1-s2.0-S2590262824000194-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140042236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biooxidation of refractory sulfide-bearing ore using feroplasma acidophilum: Efficiency assessment and machine learning based prediction","authors":"Mohammad Hossein Karimi Darvanjooghi,&nbsp;Usman T. Khan,&nbsp;Sara Magdouli,&nbsp;Satinder Kaur Brar","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100179","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100179","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The adhesive properties of microorganisms on the surface of minerals play an important role in the biooxidation efficiency of sulfidic refractory gold ores. In this research, the simultaneous effects of monosaccharides, ore content, pyrite content, and time on the activity and growth rate of <em>Ferroplasma acidiphilum</em>-from native Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)- was investigated during biooxidization alongside finding the best machine learning approach for the prediction of process efficiency using the independent variables. The results revealed that the optimum condition for reaching the highest pyrite dissolution (∼75 %) is 15 days of operating time, pyrite content of 7.2 wt%, and ore content of 5 wt%, pH of 1.47, and D-+-sucrose, D-+-galactose, and D-+-fructose concentrations of 0.52, 0.09, and 0.12 wt%, respectively. The results of the model comparison indicated that the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was able to predict the experimental results of this study with acceptable accuracy and better than Genetic Programming (GP) and Polynomial Regression informed by Response Surface Methodology (PR-RSM) from experimental data. Finally, the results showed that the change in D-+-fructose and D-+-galactose concentration has no significant effect on ferric ions concentration and pyrite dissolution content, while the influence of alteration in D-+-sucrose concentration is significantly high.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100179"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262824000054/pdfft?md5=698019b9b35d453a1ab67520afe7de81&pid=1-s2.0-S2590262824000054-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139636460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heterodimeric studies of β-galactosidase genes as biocatalyst of lactose from Lactobacillus acidophilus MR-24","authors":"Arifullah ,&nbsp;Dilara Abbas Bukhari ,&nbsp;Zuhra Bibi ,&nbsp;Habiba Ramzan ,&nbsp;Samina Younas ,&nbsp;Abdul Rehman","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100261","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100261","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The current study characterized β-galactosidase-producing bacteria isolated from dairy products, in Lahore, Pakistan. Biochemical tests and the 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactoside (X-gal) hydrolysis test identified 50 <em>Lactobacillus</em> isolates. Fifteen isolates with blue color on X-gal plates, L. acidophilus MR-24 displayed the highest enzyme activity (905.15 U/l), characterized based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The enzymatic activity was enhanced 10-fold by using a Sephadex G-75 column. The highest enzyme production was obtained at pH 7.0 and a temperature of 37 °C. The β-galactosidase (<em>lac M, L,</em> and <em>LM</em> with molecular weight 951 bp, 1887 bp, and 2.8 kb respectively), was extracted from L. acidophilus MR-24. It was ligated to the pTZ57R cloning vector after Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and agarose gel analysis. The confirmation of cloning was done via colony PCR and restriction digestion analysis. Sequencing data indicated that the enzyme consists of two overlapping regions; <em>lac L</em> and <em>M</em> encoding 70 kDa and 35 kDa protein respectively. The β-galactosidase shows significant homology with the gene from other Lactobacillus sp. Compared to crude enzymes, the co-expression of lac L and M in <em>E. coli</em> produced active proteins with a 30-fold increase in activity after purification via ion-exchange chromatography. The purified enzyme revealed its maximal activity at pH 7 while pH 3.0 and 9.0 showed minimal activity. The optimum temperature was 60 °C for native and 45 °C for expressed enzyme, remaining 40 % activity at 90 °C. The enzyme’s 3-dimensional (3D) structure<!--> <!-->showed Domain N, A, and C. The <em>L. acidophilus</em> MR-24 strain, as a probiotic in dairy products, can provide benefits to individuals with lactose intolerance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100261"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142526262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcriptional response of the white-rot fungus Dichomitus squalens to polysaccharides reveals a co-expression network of plant biomass conversion related genes","authors":"Victor M. Gonzalez Ramos ,&nbsp;Astrid Mueller ,&nbsp;Mao Peng ,&nbsp;Megan Pawlowski ,&nbsp;Anna Lipzen ,&nbsp;Vivian Ng ,&nbsp;Vasanth Singan ,&nbsp;Mei Wang ,&nbsp;Ronald P. de Vries ,&nbsp;Igor V. Grigoriev ,&nbsp;Joanna E. Kowalczyk ,&nbsp;Miia R. Mäkelä","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100198","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Wood-degrading white-rot fungi can efficiently degrade all plant biomass components, but the molecular mechanisms behind the degradation of plant polysaccharides remain poorly understood. For example, the gene sets and expression levels induced by the plant polysaccharide-derived monosaccharides in white-rot fungi do not reflect those induced by crude plant biomass substrates. To explore the molecular response of the white-rot fungus <em>Dichomitus squalens</em> to plant-derived oligo- and polysaccharides, we investigated the transcriptomes from mono- and dikaryotic strains of the fungus on 10 substrates and compared the expression of carbohydrate-active enzyme-encoding genes to that previously reported for different monosaccharides and cellobiose. Our results revealed that in <em>D. squalens</em>, a robust response to cellulose leads to its effective depolymerization, with an orthologue of the ascomycete <em>Trichoderma reesei</em> ACE3 likely acting as a central transcriptional regulator. The conserved response between cellulose and cellobiose further confirms cellobiose as the main cellulase inducer in <em>D. squalens</em>. Surprisingly, despite low abundance of pectin in the natural wood substrate of <em>D. squalens</em>, we identified polygalacturonic acid as a major inducer of a broad-targeted pectinolytic response including pectinase, pectin-related sugar transporter and catabolism genes, and four fungal specific transcription factors. This indicates that <em>D. squalens</em> has not only maintained its ability to degrade minor polysaccharide components in its biotope, but also a regulatory system spanning from extracellular degradation to metabolic conversion. Our study contributes to a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind white-rot fungal plant polysaccharide degradation and provides leads for functional studies of potential transcriptional regulators in basidiomycetes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"7 ","pages":"Article 100198"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262824000248/pdfft?md5=f22ac3cfbdbe7ae6473c42f97b43451a&pid=1-s2.0-S2590262824000248-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140160679","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antimicrobial activity of (KLAKLAK)–NH2 analogs against pathogenic microbial strains","authors":"Sirine Jaber ,&nbsp;Yana Evstatieva ,&nbsp;Veronica Nemska ,&nbsp;Dilyana Nikolova ,&nbsp;Emilia Naydenova ,&nbsp;Nelly Georgieva ,&nbsp;Dancho Danalev","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100236","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2024.100236","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Many microorganisms pose a threat to human health due to the ever-increasing bacterial resistance to conventional drugs. Nowadays, searching for new alternatives to conventional antibiotics to fight bacterial resistance is a main task. Thus, natural molecules such as amino acids and peptides arise as possible solutions to the problem. The antimicrobial activity of targeted compounds was studied by the agar-diffusion method, using the prepared working solutions of the targeted peptides with the corresponding concentrations. The results of the antimicrobial activity against different test pathogens show specificity, as antimicrobial activity against the used test microorganisms was not found in the investigated short-chain synthetic peptides <strong>Si6</strong>, <strong>Si3</strong> and <strong>Si13</strong>. Antimicrobial activity against <em>Bacillus cereus</em>, <em>Staphylococcus aureus</em>, <em>Staphylococcus epidermidis</em>, <em>Propionibacterium acnes</em>, <em>Escherichia coli</em>, <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em>, and the yeasts <em>Malassezia furfur</em> and <em>Candida albicans</em> was established for the long-chain synthetic peptides <strong>Si1</strong>, <strong>Si5</strong> and <strong>Si16,</strong> except <strong>Si5</strong> which does not show activity against pathogenic fungal strain <em>C. albicans</em>. The compound <strong>Si16</strong> where natural Leu in (KLAKLAK)₂-NH₂ is replaced by unnatural Nle is the best candidate for medical drug due to the combined antibacterial and antiproliferative effect as well as long hydrolytic stability.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100236"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262824000625/pdfft?md5=07b1b34ecb7b9a414f290ceda379d2ec&pid=1-s2.0-S2590262824000625-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141594523","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}