Integrating cellulose by recombinant molecular biology techniques

At a time when the demand for the demand renewable is growing at the rate of 30 billion gallons of biofuels by the end of 2020, it is time to explore new technologies that are capable of generating cellulosic ethanol. This can be done by breaking down cellulose into cellulase enzyme. However, this cannot be the mostable and degrades at higher temperatures in bioreactors. A study was conducted to create eco-friendly bioethanol from cellulosic waste recombinant that can be used at higher temperature in bioreactors. The project involved molecular cloning of genes for cellulose-degrading enzymes based on bacterial source, expressing the recombinant proteins in E. coli and optimized the enzymatic activity. The study could generate in vitro bacterial expression systems to produce recombinant His-tag purified protein which showed cellulase like activity.

Cheap, clean, green energy production is a goal of Department of energy and EPA. Biofuels are made by converting renewable materials- -for example, corn kernels, wood chips left over from pulp and paper production, prairie grasses, and even garbage--into fuels and chemicals. Most biofuels used today are made from the fermentation of starch from corn kernels. That process, although simple, is costly because of the high price of the corn kernels themselves.

The Fresh Petal of Persian Musk Rose (Rosa moschata Hermm) as Sources of Nutraceutical Foods

The Rosaceae family is one of the largest flowering plant families with more than 100 genera and 2000 species of trees, shrubs and herbs. The genus Rosa that comprises approximately 200 Species and thousands of cultivars is commercially important for its essential oil fragrance and for its rosewater, which is used traditionally as flavoring agent. R. moschata commonly known as Persian muskrose, Nastrana in Persian, is native to Iran and is widely grown in Iran as alandscape plant or for essence and related products. Its flowers have been traditionally used for ‘attar of roses’ and ‘rose water’ production. As a medicinal plant, the flowers, leaves, fruits of Persian musk rose is used for eyes’ disorders, diarrhea, wounds healing, stomach disorders, gout, hydronephrosis delivery cases and in bilious diseases. An antimicrobial effect of the Persian musk rose essential oil has been recently reported. Hence, the current study was conducted to determine the effect of harvest time on total phenol, ascorbic acid and some mineral elements of Persian musk rose flowers.

Fresh flowers of Persian musk rose were collected from the campus landscape of the College of Agriculture of Shiraz University (59°35’ E, 29° 43’ N, Altitude 1810 m) duringtheir flowering period at May 11, May 21 and June 1, 2014. The flowers were handpicked from 6:00 to 9:00 am. A specimen (Voucher Number: PC 87-23) has been deposited in the Herbarium of the Faculty of Sciences, Shiraz University.

Optimizing Urine Processing Protocols for Protein and Metabolite Detection

There is significant interest in studying urine proteins and metabolites as potential biomarkers for clinical diseases. Urine serves as an easily accessible biologic fluid that can be accessed usingnoninvasive methods. Urine is proximate to the bladder wall, and also contains renally-cleared systemic compounds and metabolites. Thus urinary biomarkers may be helpful in distinguishing pathologic versus normal biologic processes for renal, genitourinary, and other medical conditions.

In clinically obtained urine samples, multiple factors may introduce variability and affect the predictive value of urine protein and metabolite data. In general, normal (non-proteinuric) urine has low quantities of protein. Some would argue that 1st morning voids, containing the highest protein concentrations, are helpful for proteomic studies. However, logistically there is an obligate time delay when study participants collect their 1st morning void, and factors such as time at room temperature, ongoing protease activity, or bacterial contamination from urethral microbes may affect data quality. Thus prior studies have suggestedcollecting the 2nd morning or other random “spot” urine. However, it remains unclear if the addition of protease inhibitors or bacteriostatic agents may preserve proteins and metabolites in 1st morning samples and facilitate their use. This is relevant since urinary proteomic studies require maximal concentrations of protein from urine with minimal loss.

Metabolomics Applications in Plant Biotechnology

Metabolomics, the comprehensive analysis in which all the metabolites of an organism are identified and quantified, has recently emerged as a functional genomicsmethodology that contributes to the knowledge of the many complex molecularinteractions in different biological systems. Thus, the study of a metabolome represents the logical progression from large-scale analysis of RNA and proteins at the systems level.

Currently, there are many metabolomics applications in different areas for example Medicine, Systems Biology, Food technology and Microbial and Plant Biotechnology, among others.

Metabolites found in plants are involved in many functions such as development, growth,germination, aroma and scent of flowers, taste of fruits, stress responses andpathogen resistance. Thus, one of the aims of metabolomics is to determine variations in the concentration of metabolites in different metabolic networks and relate these changes with the phenotype, physiological and/or developmental state of a cell, tissue or organism.

The Need for Commercially Available Defined Oxidized (Phospho)lipids

Phospholipids are essential components of cell membranes and organelles. Furthermore, they are present in body fluids, particularly in the blood, where lipids are made "water-soluble" in the form of lipoproteins to enable their transport in an aqueous environment. The ubiquitous occurrence of lipids led to thedevelopment of different analytical "lipidomics" techniques, whereby the majority of these methods are based on mass spectrometry (MS). Although there was an enormous progress in this field, lipid analysis is still considered to be challenging due to the extreme structural variability of lipids which leads to the appearance of hundreds of different lipid species in a typical biological sample . This is due to the different headgroups such as phosphorylcholine or -ethanolamine, the different fatty acyl residues ranging from saturated residues such as myristic acid (14:0) up to highly unsaturated residues such as docosahexaenoic acid (22:6) and the linkage types (acyl-acyl-, alkylacyl-, and alkenyl-acyl).

All these structural aspects cannot be assessed in a single MS experiment using the m/z ratios only. Either LC separation priorto MS, sophisticated MS/MS techniques and/or additional methods such as ionmobility spectroscopy is mandatory. It must also be emphasized that quantitative data can only be (if at all) obtained when suitable lipid standards are used: one stableisotope- labelled (deuterated or 13C-labelled) standard per lipid class is normally needed. These standards are also useful to correct losses of dedicated lipid classes upon the extraction process which is necessary for the enrichment of lipids as well as the removal of salts and other contaminations. Although such isotope-labelled standards are quite expensive, they are nowadays commercially available from many companies. Unfortunately, the situation is much more difficult when oxidized lipids are of interest.

Characterization of the Venom Proteome for the Wandering Spider, Ctenus hibernalis (Aranea: Ctenidae)

Spider venoms are a multicomponent mixture of polypeptides that contain a diverse array of structure and function that is used for both the immobilization of prey as well as a defense mechanism. To date, the venom composition of less than 100 of the nearly 40,000 characterized species of spiders has been investigated. Although certain venom protein families are highly conserved across spider taxa, there are several instances of novel taxa-specific venom proteins, such as latrotoxins in Latrodectus, Sphyngomyelinase D in Loxosceles, and μ-ctenitoxin-Pn1a in Phoneutria. Spidervenom has been shown to have several therapeutic applications due to the vastarray of biological functionality such as neurotoxic, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, cytolytic, hemolytic, and antiarrhythmic activities; it is thus likely that undiscovered peptides of novel importance are likely to be found in previously unexplored venoms.

Spiders in the Ctenidae family, a group containing nearly 500 species in 42 genera that range mostly in tropical terrains, is home to the most venomous spider in the world Phoneutrianigriventer, and a nonlethal spider that has become the model species for arachnological studies on evolution and development Cuppienius salei; both of which are South American spiders whose venom has been highly studied.