Human milk and related oligosaccharides as prebiotics

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Highlights► The intestinal microbiome is recognized as an important determinant of health. ► Galacto-oligosaccharides are non-digestible carbohydrates. ► Galacto-oligosaccharides stimulate growth and activity of gut bacteria. ► Subtle differences in structure can result in significant differences in activity. ► Less abundant oligosaccharides from bovine milk are similar to those from human milk.     

The emerging field of transport engineering of plant specialized metabolites

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Highlights► Transport engineering has the potential to increase nutritional value of crops. ► Transport engineering can increase yield of synthetic biology approaches. ► Neo-functionalization of primary metabolite transporters to specialized metabolism. ► Elimination of glucosinolate seed accumulation is achieved via transport engineering. ► Glucosinolates in Arabidopsis: a model for transport of specialized metabolites.     

The role of membrane transport in metabolic engineering of plant primary metabolism

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Highlights► The plastidial pyruvate transporter in plants is driven by sodium symport. ► The mitochondrial pyruvate transporter MPC has been identified. ► All transporters needed for a synthetic PEP-CK/C₄ photosynthetic cycle are now known. ► The SWEET proteins define a new class of sugar efflux carriers in plants.     

Progress in understanding and engineering primary plant metabolism

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Highlights► Crop yield depends on efficiency of conversion of light energy into biomass. ► Models have estimated energy conversion efficiency in photosynthesis and metabolism. ► Research is exploring strategies to modify or suppress photorespiration. ► Energy loss during conversion of photosynthate to biomass is also large ► Research is addressing uncertainties over where these losses occur.     

Metagenomics of microbial life in extreme temperature environments

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Highlights► Metagenomic microbial community characterization. ► Extreme environment microbiology. ► High and low temperature adaptation.     

Lipid metabolism in microalgae distinguishes itself

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Highlights► Triacylglycerol assembly in microalgae might occur at plastid envelopes. ► Starch-less mutants provide clues for the engineering of carbon partitioning in algae. ► New algal species emerge as models for lipid and biofuel research.     

Pangenomics – an avenue to improved industrial starter cultures and probiotics

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Highlights► Genome sequencing is an efficient, cost-effective way of characterizing microbes. ► Pangenome analysis gives new insight into texture formation in yoghurt. ► Pangenome analysis of probiotic strains has identified new effect or molecules. ► Pangenome analysis gives insight into probiotic–host specificity. ► Future perspectives include improved strains for food fermentations and probiotics.     

Clawing back: broadening the notion of metal chelators in medicine

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Highlights► Not all chelators are the same: more than metal sequestration and elimination. ► Metal chelates can redistribute metals across biological membranes. ► Metal-chelating fragments provide leads for metalloenzyme inhibition. ► Metal chelation can enhance metal reactivity and thus cytotoxicity. ► Prochelators provide site-activated metal chelation and passivation.     

The interplay between microevolution and community structure in microbial populations

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Highlights► The action of industrial processes depends on microbial community structure. ► Microbes evolve very rapidly. ► Microbial evolution is affected by community structure. ► Community structure is affected by microbial evolution. ► This feedback may be crucial when considering microbial communities in industry.     

Enzyme and metabolic engineering for the production of novel biopolymers: crossover of biological and chemical processes

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Highlights► Poly(ω-hydroxy fatty acids) are polyethylene-like biobased polyester. ► Medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate homopolymers are processed to stretchy film. ► Microbial lactate-based polyesters exhibit transparent and flexible properties. ► Enzyme and metabolic engineering facilitates the expanding of bio-based polymers.     

The challenges of cellular compartmentalization in plant metabolic engineering

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Highlights► Targeting enzymes to organelles with highest precursor pool affects product yield. ► Targeting of nonendogenous enzymes to organelles is a useful tool for engineering. ► Identification of transporters is central for effective metabolic engineering. ► Advances in metabolomics of isolated organelles will impact engineering strategies. ► Future plant metabolic engineering will include introduction of entire pathways.     

Perspectives on the contribution of lactic acid bacteria to cheese flavor development

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Highlights► This review covers current know-how on cheese flavor development. ► Proteolysis, autolysis and amino acid catabolism by lactic acid bacteria are discussed. ► Systems biology approaches will drive future technology improvements. ► Next-generation sequencing holds promise for fast increase in exploitable knowledge. ► Culture heterogeneity may be significant for industrial flavor production by LAB.     

Prodrugs as self-assembled hydrogels: a new paradigm for biomaterials

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Highlights► Development of prodrug-based self-assembled hydrogels as a new class of biomaterials. ► Design of prodrugs that can self-assemble to form hydrogels. ► These hydrogels overcome limitations such as low-drug loading and burst release of drugs. ► Locally injectable self-assembled hydrogels exhibit potential as effective therapeutics.     

Traditional biotechnology for new foods and beverages

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Highlights► Fermentation is being adopted by many companies for new and natural products. ► Fermentation is increasingly used as sustainable alternative for existing food processing. ► Innovation is achieved by applying traditional fermentation processes for novel substrates.     

Nanotechnology meets electrophysiology

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Highlights► We focus on the latest developments in nanotechnology-based electrophysiology. ► Methods for extracellular recording via nanoFET-based devices are described. ► Metal nanoelectrodes for the recording of electrogenic cells are reviewed. ► The latest developments of intracellular FET-based probes are shortly covered. ► Pioneering electrical scaffold devices for the interfacing with tissues are described.     

In situ microbial metabolism of aromatic-hydrocarbon environmental pollutants

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Highlights► Microorganisms play a crucial role in detoxifying environmental pollutants. ► Proving that biodegradation processes occur in the real world (in situ) is important. ► Genetics, biochemistry, and physiology advance the science of microbial metabolism. ► Such advances provide new molecular-biomarker tools for documenting biodegradation. ► Applying new tools to contaminated sites reveals new microbial processes and diversity.     

Biodegradation of gasoline ether oxygenates

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Highlights► The different types of MTBE and TBA-degrading microorganisms are summarized. ► The pathways involved in aerobic and anaerobic MTBE biodegradation are described. ► The roles of key and novel enzymes in these processes are highlighted. ► The impacts of biochemical studies on stable isotope-based analyses are discussed.     

Modern X-ray scattering studies of complex biological systems

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Highlights► We review modern advances to characterize biological nano-complexes using X-ray scattering. ► X-ray scattering is used to study both the structures and macro-molecular interactions. ► Contemporary techniques include integration of complementary techniques together with X-ray scattering. ► Novel computational and technological advances, including coherent scattering technique, will be discussed.     

Metabolomics platforms for genome wide association studies—linking the genome to the metabolome

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Highlights► Genome-wide association studies with metabolomics constitute mGWAS. ► mGWAS provide insights into genetic and environmental impact on metabolic processes. ► We review essential strategies for mGWAS. ► Examples of mGWAS in large cohort studies are discussed.