国家人勇担国家责，积极推动中国生物经济与生物产业发展

作为国家级研究机构,中国科学院各级研究所一直以来的重要使命就是心系国家事、肩扛国家责、永做国家人,站在国际科学发展前沿的高度,紧抓国家社会发展中重大需求的科学与技术问题,布局研究所及其项目和吸引人才。本文以个人视角,回顾了2004年回国接任微生物研究所所长后,开始思考工业生物技术的发展,布局天津研发中心,经过多年努力,在院党组的领导与支持下,中国科学院天津工业生物技术研究所建成,已经取得了重要成果;还回顾了建所初衷和早期成长发展历程以及与微生物研究所的关系。通过思考科学、技术、工程(医学)之间的关系,提出从事基础科学研究的科研人员进行转化应用的路径,即“想法-假说-实验-概念-论文-技术-样品-产品-商品”的9层逻辑关系,希望科学家能够做出解决实际问题的实用工作,并展望了未来工业生物技术的远景。     

Managing the excessive proliferation of glycogen accumulating organisms in industrial activated sludge by nitrogen supplementation: A FISH-NanoSIMS approach

Defluviicoccus vanus-related glycogen accumulating organisms (GAO) regularly proliferate in industrial wastewater treatment plants handling high carbon but nitrogen deficient wastes. When GAO dominate, they are associated with poor performance, characterised by slow settling biomass and turbid effluents. Although their ecophysiology has been studied thoroughly in domestic waste treatment plants, little attention has been paid to them in aerobic industrial systems.In this study, the effect of nitrogen addition on GAO carbon metabolism was investigated during an 8 h cycle. Activated sludge dominated by GAO from a winery wastewater sequencing batch reactor was incubated under different carbon to nitrogen (COD:N) ratios (100:1, 60:1 and 20:1) using ¹³C — acetate and ¹⁵N — urea. GAO cell assimilation was quantified using FISH-NanoSIMS. The activated sludge community was assessed by 16S rRNA gene profiling, DNA and storage polymer production. Carbon and nitrogen quantification at the cellular level by NanoSIMS revealed that low (COD:N of 100:1) or null nitrogen concentrations enhanced GAO carbon uptake. COD:N ratios of 60:1 and 20:1 reduced GAO carbon uptake and promoted whole microbial community DNA production. Nitrogen dosing at COD:N ratios of 60:1 or higher was demonstrated as feasible strategy for controlling the excessive GAO growth in high COD waste treatment plants.     

Impact of a diamond mining industry on metabolites in Larix gmelinii

We studied the technogenic impact of a diamond mining company on the content of metabolites in the needles of Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Kuzen. The samples of larch needles were collected in the Arctic zone in the restricted area where the diamond mining company works. The studied sites are located in Anabarsky district of Yakutia (Russia). An activity of the diamond mining company did not have a significant impact on the characteristics of the forest stand. But at the same time, near the sorting and enriching plants of the diamond mining company, the concentrations of Si, Ca, Fe, Mn, Al, Na, Sr, Ba, Zn, Pb, Ni, V were higher in the needles of L. gmelinii than those in the control zone. The activity of the diamond mining industry resulted in: intensification of the lipid peroxidation process, growth of a content of resin acids and amino acids, activation of cellular respiration processes, thickening of the cell wall, and a decline in the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants. We have concluded that some observable biochemical changes occur in the trees as a resulting effect of adaptive processes to the technogenic load despite the absence of significant changes in the forest stand.     

Microbial production of bacteriocins: Latest research development and applications

Bacteriocins are low molecular weight peptides secreted by the predator bacterial cells to kill sensitive cells present in the same ecosystem competing for food and other nutrients. Exceptionally few bacteriocins along with their native antibacterial property also exhibit additional anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. Bacteriocins are generally produced by Gm+, Gm– and archaea bacteria. Bacteriocins from Gm?+?bacteria especially from lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been thoroughly investigated considering their great biosafety and broad industrial applications. LAB expressing bacteriocins were isolated from fermented milk and milk products, rumen of animals and soil using deferred antagonism assay. Nisin is the only bacteriocin that has got FDA approval for application as a food preservative, which is produced by Lactococcus lactis subsp. Lactis. Its crystal structure explains that its antimicrobial properties are due to the binding of NH₂ terminal to lipid II molecule inhibiting the peptidoglycan synthesis and carboxy terminal forming pores in bacterial cell membrane leading to cell lysis. The hinge region connecting NH₂ and carboxy terminus has been mutated to generate mutant variants with higher antimicrobial activity. In a 50 ton fermentation of the mutant strain 3807 derived from L. lactis subsp. lactis ATCC 11454, 9,960?IU/mL of nisin was produced. Currently, high purity of nisin (>99%) is very expensive and hardly commercially available. Development of more advanced tools for cost-effective separation and purification of nisin would be commercially attractive. Chemical synthesis and heterologous expression of bacteriocins ended in low yields of pure proteins. At present, bacteriocins are almost solely applied in food industries, but they have a great potential to be used in other fields such as feeds, organic fertilizers, environmental protection and personal care products. The future of bacteriocins is largely dependent on getting FDA approval for use of other bacteriocins in addition to nisin to promote the research and applications.     

Mobility and emplacement in north coast Papua New Guinea: Worlding the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone

On the north coast of Papua New Guinea, the construction of the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone is catalysing movements of people, capital and things, as well as of the ideas and imaginings which accompany and make them meaningful. Drawn from literary and postcolonial studies, the concept of worlding offers a narrative framework through which to think through these movements and the ways in which they complicate prevailing narratives of globalisation. At the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone, the neoliberal worldings that inform the project do not simply catalyse movements, but also act to impose barriers to movement. Local communities assert connection to place, but also generate new circuits of mobility, and rearticulate ideas of kastom (custom) that have movement at their core. An emphasis on worlding—drawing particularly on Heidegger's distinction between world and earth—allows for a more complex reflection on the relationship between mobility and emplacement, one that more fully illuminates the complexity of the relationship itself, and the way it is experienced at the PMIZ site.     

Extracellular vesicles concentration is a promising and important parameter for industrial bioprocess monitoring

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane vesicles that are produced by cells to be released into their microenvironment. In this study, we present the EV concentration as a new factor for optimization of industrial bioprocess control. The release of EVs depends on many cell properties, including cell activation and stress status, and cell death. Therefore, the EV concentration might provide a readout for identification of the cell state and the conditions during a bioprocess. Our data show that the EV concentration increased during the bioprocess, which indicated deteriorating conditions in the bioreactor. This increase in EV concentration in the fermentation broth was the consequence of two different processes: cell activation, and cell death. However, the release of EVs from activated living cells had a much weaker impact on EV concentration in the bioreactor than those released during cell death. EVs and cells in the bioprocess environment were quantified by flow cytometry. The most accurate data were obtained directly from unprocessed samples, making the monitoring of the EV concentration a rapid, easy, and cheap method. These EV concentrations reflect the conditions in the bioreactor and provide new information regarding the state of the bioprocess. Therefore, we suggest EV concentration as a new and important parameter for the monitoring of industrial bioprocesses.     

Exploring mild enzymatic sustainable routes for the synthesis of bio‐degradable aromatic‐aliphatic oligoesters

The application of Candida antarctica lipase B in enzyme‐catalyzed synthesis of aromatic‐aliphatic oligoesters is here reported. The aim of the present study is to systematically investigate the most favorable conditions for the enzyme catalyzed synthesis of aromatic‐aliphatic oligomers using commercially available monomers. Reaction conditions and enzyme selectivity for polymerization of various commercially available monomers were considered using different inactivated/activated aromatic monomers combined with linear polyols ranging from C₂ to C₁₂. The effect of various reaction solvents in enzymatic polymerization was assessed and toluene allowed to achieve the highest conversions for the reaction of dimethyl isophthalate with 1,4‐butanediol and with 1,10‐decanediol (88 and 87% monomer conversion respectively). M_w as high as 1512 Da was obtained from the reaction of dimethyl isophthalate with 1,10‐decanediol. The obtained oligomers have potential applications as raw materials in personal and home care formulations, for the production of aliphatic‐aromatic block co‐polymers or can be further functionalized with various moieties for a subsequent photo‐ or radical polymerization.     

Analyzing network topological characteristics of eco-industrial parks from the perspective of resilience: A case study

Realizing the stable operation of an eco-industrial park (EIP) as a complex system consisting of a variety of the enterprises and embedded relations is challenging. The topological structure plays an important role to understand the balance of network resilience and eco-efficiency in the operation process of a given EIP. In this paper, Ningdong Coal Chemical Eco-industrial Park (Ningdong CCEIP) is used as a case study in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China. Based on complex network theory, we focus on topological characteristics analysis of symbiotic network from the perspective of resilience. Results reveal that Ningdong CCEIP has scale-free characteristics as well as the small world ones. Compared with the node-level metrics, the important degree of node considering ecological factor is a more crucial index measuring the importance of a particular node in the network. The removal of top 10% node contributes to 60% decrease of network efficiency, which indicates the decline of resilience in the studied case. Protecting the most important nodes is critical to safeguard the potential “vulnerability” in the development of EIPs. This study can help us better understand the strategies for avoiding disruptions, improving the resilience of EIP and safeguarding the stable operation.