Pretreatment of Populus tomentosa with Trametes velutina supplemented with inorganic salts enhances enzymatic hydrolysis for ethanol production

Different nutrients were added into the solid fermentation of woody biomass, Populus tomentosa, to improve pretreatment by a white rot fungus, Trametes velutina. Fungal pretreatment supplemented with trace elements resulted in large amount of lignin loss but low degradation of carbohydrate. Only 12.6?% of Klason lignin was left in the residues pretreated by T. velutina for 8?weeks supplemented with 1?% trace elements (TE group). When fungal-pretreated residues were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis for 96?h, a maximum reducing sugar yield of 44?% was obtained from the TE group at the 8th week, 2.3 times higher than that of untreated samples. In addition, the highest ethanol yield of 22?% was observed by the fermentation of 8-week pretreated residues from the basic medium plus trace element group, which was five times more than that of untreated samples.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel potato starch derivative with cationic acetylcholine groups

A novel substance, cationic acetylcholine potato starch (CAPS), was developed for the first time. The synthesis process had three steps: first, carboxymethyl potato starch (CMPS) was synthesized under sodium hydroxide alkaline condition and in isopropyl alcohol organic media; second, bromocholine chloride (BCC) was synthesized with sulphuric acid as a catalytic agent; finally, CAPS was synthesized by the reaction of CMPS with BCC in N,N'-dimethylformamide (DMF). The degree of substitution (DS) of CAPS was determined by ammonia gas-sensing electrode and elemental analysis. CAPS was characterized by Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) and near infrared (FTNIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).     

Cloning, expression and characterization of meso-2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase from Klebsiella pneumoniae

The budC gene encoding the meso-2,3-BDH from Klebsiella pneumoniae XJ-Li was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLys. Hypothetical amino acid sequence alignments revealed that the enzyme belongs to the short chain dehydrogenase/reductase family. After purification and refolding, the recombinant enzyme had activities of 218 U/mg for reduction of acetoin and 66 U/mg for oxidation of meso-2,3-butanediol. Highest activities were at pH 8.0 and 9.0 respectively. These are higher than other meso-2,3-butanediol dehydrogenases from K. pneumoniae. The low K (m) value (0.65 mM) for acetoin indicated that the enzyme can easily reduce acetoin to meso-2,3-butanediol. There were no significant activities towards 2R,3R-2,3-butanediol, 1,4-butanediol and 2S,3S-2,3-butanediol, suggesting that the enzyme has a high stereospecificity for the meso-dihydric alcohol.     

Interaction of 3'-azido-3'-deamino daunorubicin with DNA: multispectroscopic and molecular modeling

In this paper, 3'-azido-3'-deamino daunorubicin (ADNR) was synthesized and the interaction of ADNR and calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) was investigated for the first time by using multi-spectroscopic techniques and molecular modeling study in vitro under simulated physiological conditions. Hypochromicity of the absorption spectra of ADNR were observed in the presence of ctDNA, and the fluorescence of ADNR was strongly quenched through static mechanism with the addition of ctDNA. Moreover, the fluorescence polarization was increased when ctDNA was added. From the experimental results, conclusion can be drawn that the binding mode of ADNR with ctDNA was an intercalative binding, and the calculated thermodynamic parameters suggested that the binding of ADNR to ctDNA was driven mainly by hydrogen bonding force. Furthermore, the results obtained from computational modeling further proved the experimental results obtained from spectroscopic investigations.     

Draft Genome Sequence of Yersinia pestis Strain 2501, an Isolate from the Great Gerbil Plague Focus in Xinjiang, China

We deciphered the genome of Yersinia pestis strain 2501, isolated from the Junggar Basin, a newly discovered great gerbil plague focus in Xinjiang, China. The total length of assembly was 4,597,322 bp, and 4,265 coding sequences were predicted within the genome. It is the first Y. pestis genome from this plague focus.     

Draft genome sequences of two Legionella dumoffii strains, TEX-KL and NY-23

Legionella (Fluoribacter) dumoffii is one of the agents causing Legionnaires' disease. Here, we used Illumina second-generation sequencing technology to decipher for the first time the whole-genome sequences of two strains of this species, TEX-KL and NY-23. The assembly results for both strains consist of one chromosome and two plasmids.     

Complete Genome Sequence of Brucella melitensis Biovar 3 Strain NI,Isolated from an Aborted Bovine Fetus

From an aborted bovine fetus in China, a bacterial strain named NI was isolated and identified as Brucella melitensis by a PCR assay. Strain NI was further characterized as B. melitensis biovar 3 using biochemical assays. Here we report the complete genome sequence of strain NI.