Towards metagenome-scale models for industrial applications — the case of Lactic Acid Bacteria

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Highlights► Genome-scale metabolic modelling is being increasingly applied in LAB research. ► Novel techniques that broaden applicability of models remain to be applied to LAB. ► Additional constraints allow better predictions of genome-scale metabolic models. ► Novel approaches to move from modelling monocultures to mixed cultures are being developed. ► The feasibility of metagenome-based modelling approaches is being appreciated.     

trans-Cyclooctene — a stable,voracious dienophile for bioorthogonal labeling

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Electronegativity—a perspective

Electronegativity is a very useful concept but it is not a physical observable; it cannot be determined experimentally. Most practicing chemists view it as the electron-attracting power of an atom in a molecule. Various formulations of electronegativity have been proposed on this basis, and predictions made using different formulations generally agree reasonably well with each other and with chemical experience. A quite different approach, loosely linked to density functional theory, is based on a ground-state free atom or molecule, and equates electronegativity to the negative of an electronic chemical potential. A problem that is encountered with this approach is the differentiation of a noncontinuous function. We show that this approach leads to some results that are not chemically valid. A formulation of atomic electronegativity that does prove to be effective is to express it as the average local ionization energy on an outer contour of the atom’s electronic density.     

RNA epigenetics — chemical messages for posttranscriptional gene regulation

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Making connections — strategies for single molecule fluorescence biophysics

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Protein homeostasis — more than resisting a hot bath

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ACE for all – a molecular perspective

Angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE, EC 3.4.15.1) is a zinc dependent dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase with an essential role in mammalian blood pressure regulation as part of the renin-angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS). As such, it has long been targeted in the treatment of hypertension through the use of ACE inhibitors. Although ACE has been studied since the 1950s, only recently have the full range of functions of this enzyme begun to truly be appreciated. ACE homologues have been found in a host of other organisms, and are now known to be conserved in insects. Insect ACE homologues typically share over 30 % amino acid sequence identity with human ACE. Given that insects lack a mammalian type circulatory system, they must have crucial roles in other physiological processes. The first ACE crystal structures were reported during the last decade and have enabled these enzymes to be studied from an entirely different perspective. Here we review many of these key developments and the implications that they have had on our understanding of the diverse functions of these enzymes. Specifically, we consider how structural information is being used in the design of a new generation of ACE inhibitors with increased specificity, and how the structures of ACE homologues are related to their functions. The Anopheles gambiae genome is predicted to code for ten ACE homologues, more than any genome studied so far. We have modelled the active sites of some of these as yet uncharacterised enzymes to try and infer more about their potential roles at the molecular level.     

The microbial cell — functional unit for energy dependent multistep biocatalysis

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Novel screening methods — biosensors

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