The genetic diversity by spa typing, the susceptibility to the sanitisers benzalkonium chloride (BC) and chlorhexidine (CHL) and the presence of efflux pump genes to resistance to sanitisers in 31 Staphylococcus aureus isolated from milk, were investigated. The spa type t127 was the most prevalent, which has a close genetic relationship with human isolates, and two new spa types (t18898 and t18899)

The minor lipids of human milk fat, mainly originating from the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), provide several nutritionally important components, including gangliosides, cholesteryl esters and polar lipids (PLs; e.g., phospholipids and sphingolipids). These components are typically lower in infant formula (IF) than in human milk, since the former primarily contain vegetable oils as lipid sources

Synthetic glucocorticoids are generally preferred over their natural counterparts as these compounds exhibit improved anti-inflammatory potency and glucocorticoid receptor selectivity. However, the biotechnological production of these molecules is often subject to limitations inferred by restricted enzyme stability, selectivity or inhibition thereof. The latter is particularly important during 6α-methylprednisolone

The protective effect of Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM436 (L. plantarum CCFM436) against acute Mn toxicity was studied in mice based on an evaluation of its administration as a therapy or as a prevention strategy. Viable and nonviable L. plantarum CCFM436 cells showed better Mn binding ability than the other 8 Lactobacillus strains. The levels of Mn in feces, liver, kidney, and brain suggested its potential

Two types of early spring Hungarian honeys, purchased as rape (Brassica napus L.) and ramson (Allium ursinum L.) honeys were identified and characterized. The 42 samples originated from various geographical locations, harvested in two different years. The unifloral origin of rape honeys was supported using melissopalynological analysis, while the samples marketed as ramson honeys were of multifloral

Continuous cropping obstacles, a replanting problem during celery production, is mainly due to Fusarium yellows caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. apii (Foa), but allelopathy could worsen the situation. To solve this problem in Taiwan, we examined AB2 and AB78 because of their strong inhibition of Foa hyphal growth (inhibition rates were 42±3.46% and 50±0%, respectively) and PdB5-1 because of its ability

The present study described the nutrient removal efficiency of two multi-zone biofilters with different working time, eight vs two years, focusing in metabolic and genetic characteristics of microbial communities. They are known as sequential sedimentation-biofiltration systems (SSBSs) for the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in urban rivers. Nutrient removal performances for both SSBSs

Chemical fertilizers and pesticides used are currently increasing alongside the human population grew and agriculture spread, resulting in high nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) contents in farmland soil and the surrounding water-bodies. Fabricating economic but effective metal impregnated biochar, as a sorbent to remove inorganic pollutants from water, is important to prevent eutrophication. In the

Freshwater mussels are ecosystem engineers that provide important ecosystem functions and services, such as bio-filtration. A method for quantifying filtration capacity in rivers was developed and applied in a case study that estimated the loss in filtration services provided by invasive alien dreissenid mussels following a mass mortality event in the river Meuse in the Netherlands. Mass mortality

An effective biodiversity conservation in Protected Areas (PAs) requires that they are seen as part of larger ecosystems and that the ecological connectivity is maintained beyond PA administrative boundaries. The study of ecological processes that link PAs to their surrounding landscapes is thus of great importance to understand which actions should be implemented to promote inside-outside ecological

In the last decade, with the combined application of high efficiency preparation techniques, high resolution HPLC MS/MS and sophisticated NMR technologies, novel bitter derivatives of α-, iso-α-, β-acids have been identified in beer and model solutions, which has updated our knowledge of hop chemistry. In this review, newly identified cyclic and oxidative products of α-, iso-α-, β-acids in hops and

The evolution of isohumulones, main bitter compound of beers, through storage and its bitter impact has been studied for many years. With the uprising of highly hopped and, especially, dry-hopped beers during the last decade, other compounds such as humulones, cis-humulinones and hulupones have been shown to participate in both the sensory and measured bitterness of these beers. However, the fate of

Storage conditions play an important role in maintaining the integrity of hop products during processing, transport and storage, and their ultimate quality when used to brew beer. Several groups have investigated variation in alpha acids, beta acids and polyphenols under different storage conditions, but there are few studies directly linking changes in hop acid composition under pro-oxidative conditions

β-Amylase is important to the malting and brewing industry because it is one of four main enzymes involved in fermentable sugar production during mashing. There are two functional barley β-amylases encoded by the Bmy1 and Bmy2 genes. Mashing is commonly performed at high temperatures and β-amylase1 (Bmy1) is vulnerable to thermal inactivation at these temperatures. Unlike Bmy1, Bmy2 is not stored at

Abstract Previous research demonstrates that barley genetics can influence beer flavor. However, the chemical basis for differences in beer flavor attributed to barley is not well defined. Here, the associations between beer volatile compounds and sensory descriptors were investigated in a controlled experiment, whereby barley genotype was the main driver of variation in the system. Beer was brewed

Beer subjected to forced aging by five (Medium) or ten (High) heat/chill cycles (60 °C 48 h/0 °C 24 h) showed increased turbidity from 5.4 ± 0.4 EBC units without forced aging to 12.9 ± 0.7 and 48 ± 2 EBC units for Medium and High forced aged beers, respectively. The particle size diameter increased from 100–200 nm to 10–30 µm. The colloidal changes were associated with modifications of the low molecular

Production of biologics in plants, or plant molecular pharming, is a promising protein expression technology that is receiving increasing attention from the pharmaceutical industry. Previously, low expression yields of recombinant proteins and the realization that certain post-translational modifications (PTMs) may not occur optimally limited the widespread acceptance of the technology. However, molecular

Materials exhibiting "bio-inert properties" are essential for developing medical devices, because they are less recognized as foreign substances by proteins and cells in the living body. We have reported that the presence of intermediate water (IW), the water molecules loosely bound to a polymer, is a useful index of the bio-inertness of materials. Here, we analyzed the hydration state and the responses

Abstract Metabolic engineering is usually focused on static control of microbial cell factories to efficient production of interested chemicals, though heterologous pathways compete with endogenous metabolism. However, products like carotenoids may cause metabolic burden on engineering strains, thus limiting product yields and influencing strain growth. Herein, a growth-phase-dependent regulation was

Abstract In this study, we constructed a coculture consortium comprising engineered Pseudomonas putida KT2440 and Escherichia coli MG1655. Provision of “related” carbon sources and synthesis of medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHAs) were separately assigned to these strains via a modular construction strategy. To avoid growth competition, a preference for the use of a carbon source was

Piscirickettsia salmonis is a facultative Gram-negative intracellular bacterium that produces piscirickettsiosis, disease that causes a high negative impact in salmonid cultures. The so-far-unidentified nutritional requirements have hindered its axenic culture at laboratory and industrial scales for the formulation of vaccines. The present study describes the development of a defined culture medium

Abstract Glutaric acid is an important organic acid applied widely in different fields. Most previous researches have focused on the production of glutaric acid in various strains using the 5-aminovaleric acid (AMV) or pentenoic acid synthesis pathways. We previously utilized a five-step reversed adipic acid degradation pathway (RADP) in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) to construct strain Bgl146. Herein

L-Methionine is an essential amino acid in humans, which plays an important role in the synthesis of some important amino acids and proteins. In this work, metabolic flux of batch fermentation of L-methionine with recombinant Escherichia coli W3110BL was analyzed using the flux balance analysis method, which estimated the intracellular flux distributions under different dissolved oxygen conditions

Escherichia coli, a model microorganism for which convenient metabolic engineering tools are available and that grows quickly in cheap media, has been widely used in the production of valuable chemicals, including aromatic amino acids. As the three aromatic amino acids, L-tryptophan, L-tyrosine, and L-phenylalanine, share the same precursors, to increase the titer of a specific aromatic amino acid

Abstract A highly efficient lycopene production system was constructed by assembling enzymes fused to zinc-finger motifs on DNA scaffolds in vitro and in vivo. Three key enzymes of the lycopene synthesis pathway, geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase, phytoene synthase, and phytoene desaturase, were fused with zinc-finger proteins, expressed and purified. Recombinant plasmids of the pS series containing

The goals of this study were to increase the production of antroquinonol (AQ) and to elucidate the response mechanism of the cell membrane during the in situ extractive fermentation (ISEF) of Antrodia camphorata S-29. Through ISEF, the concentration of AQ reached a maximum of 146.1 ± 2.8 mg/L, which was approximately (7.4 ± 0.1)-fold that of the control (coenzyme Q0-induced fermentation). Transcriptome

Abstract Maduramicin is the most efficient and possesses the largest market share of all anti-coccidiosis polyether antibiotics (ionophore); however, its biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) has yet to been identified, and the associated strains have not been genetically engineered. Herein, we performed whole-genome sequencing of a maduramicin-producing industrial strain of Actinomadura sp. J1-007 and identified

It is of great economic interest to produce succinate from low-grade carbon sources, e.g., lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysate, which mainly contains glucose and xylose. Inactivation of the glucose uptake system PtsG was evaluated for succinate production from xylose-rich feedstocks. Strains with integration of succinate production modules into the chromosome of Escherichia coli were then constructed

Abstract The creation of microbial cell factories for sustainable production of natural products is important for medical and industrial applications. This requires stable expression of biosynthetic pathways in a host organism with favorable fermentation properties such as Bacillus subtilis. The aim of this study is to construct B. subtilis strains that produce valuable terpenoid compounds by overexpressing

Lactobacillus plantarum colonizes a range of natural habitat. A phylogenomic analysis showed little association between the range of habitats and diversity in the core-genome. However, the functional genetic features and evolutionary strategies used by L. plantarum to adapt to its niches have not been well investigated using statistical methods. In this study, 140 genomes of L. plantarum recorded in

The effect of moisture content in surimi–canned corn mixed gels (SCG) was measured using different heating methods (water bath heating (WBH) and ohmic heating (OH)). The degree of moisture migration of canned corn embedded in surimi with 5, 20, and 100% (corn alone) corn content was measured using image analysis and moisture content after cooking in a water bath (WB) (90 °C). To investigate the effects

Abstract This study aims to optimize strong acid hydrolysis-based production of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) from pre-extracted and fully bleached kraft pulp of loblolly pinewood, the most abundant and commercially significant softwood species in southeastern United States. The effect of four parameters, including acid concentration, temperature, duration and pulp particle

Abstract Peatlands have acted as C-sinks for millennia, storing large amounts of carbon, of which a significant amount is yearly released as methane (CH4). Sphagnum mosses are a key genus in many peat ecosystems and these mosses live in close association with methane-oxidizing and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms. To disentangle mechanisms which may control Sphagnum-associated methane-oxidation and nitrogen-fixation

The predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot (Acari, Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae) has been used to control greenhouse pests including thrips, whiteflies and the two-spotted spider mite (TSSM), Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari, Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae). This study evaluated A. swirskii’s potential to control TSSM by determining the functional response, numerical response, mutual interference

How to pack materials into well-defined volumes efficiently has been a longstanding question of interest to physicists, material scientists, and mathematicians as these materials have broad applications ranging from shipping goods in commerce to seeds in agriculture and to spheroids in tissue engineering. How many marbles or gumball candies can you pack into a jar? Although these seem to be idle questions

Fabrication technique determines the physicochemical and biological properties of scaffold, including porosity, mechanical strength, osteoconductivity, and bone regenerative potential. Biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP)-based scaffolds are superior in bone tissue engineering due to their suitable physicochemical and biological properties. We developed an indirect selective laser sintering (SLS) printing

Cancer is the leading cause of mortality worldwide, and lung cancer is the most malignant. However, the high failure rate in oncology drug development from in vitro studies to in vivo preclinical models indicates that the modern methods of evaluating drug efficacies in vitro are not reliable. Traditional 2-dimensional (2D) cell culture has been proved inadequate to mimic real physiological conditions

Due to the increasing aging population and the high probability of sport injury among young people nowadays, it is of great demand to repair/regenerate diseased/defected osteochondral tissue. Given that osteochondral tissue mainly consists of a subchondral layer and a cartilage layer which are structurally heterogeneous and mechanically distinct, developing a biomimetic bi-phasic scaffold with excellent

The field of bioprinting has made significant recent progress towards engineering tissues with increasing complexity and functionality. It remains challenging, however, to develop bioinks with optimal biocompatibility and good printing fidelity. Here, we demonstrate enhanced printability of a polymer-based bioink based on dynamic covalent linkages between nanoparticles and polymers, which retains good

Improving the proliferation of probiotics (ca. Bifidobacterium) and inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria (ca. Escherichia coli) is crucial for human health. This study demonstrates the fabrication of core-shell structure fibers using electrohydrodynamic (EHD) 3D printing to help improve gastrointestinal tract microbial content. These fibers have various geometries and are capable of encapsulating

Extracellular matrixes (ECMs) are dynamically altered and remodeled during tissue development. How the dynamic remodeling of ECM affects stem cell functions remains poorly understood due to the difficulty of obtaining biomimetic ECMs. In this study, stepwise osteogenesis-mimicking ECM-deposited hybrid meshes were prepared by culturing human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in poly (lactic-coglycolic

The meniscus has critical functions in the knee joint kinematics and homeostasis. Injuries of the meniscus are frequent, and the lack of a functional meniscus between the femur and tibial plateau can cause articular cartilage degeneration leading to osteoarthritis development and progression. Regeneration of meniscus tissue has outstanding challenges to be addressed. In the current study, novel Entrapped

To achieve three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment for complex tissue regeneration is a great challenge in developing biomaterials as artificial extracellular matrix (ECM) with properties similar to that of native tissue. In this case, polysaccharide-based hydrogel shows the great potential as ECM in the regeneration of damaged tissues or reconstruction of the organ by demonstrating their properties

Woodchip denitrifying bioreactors mitigate nitrate loading from agricultural tile effluents. Biochar is considered as an amendment to woodchips. Research findings are contradictory regarding the effect of biochar on nitrate removal. The current study is aimed at investigating the effect of biochar on the removal of nitrate in denitrifying bioreactors. For this purpose, laboratory and field experiments

Glycoconjugate vaccines use protein carriers to improve the immune response to polysaccharide antigens. The protein component allows the vaccine to interact with T cells, providing a stronger and longer-lasting immune response than a polysaccharide interacting with B cells alone. Whilst in theory the mere presence of a protein component in a vaccine should be sufficient to improve vaccine efficacy

Abiotic stresses adversely affect the plant's growth and development leading to loss of crop plants and plant products in terms of both the quality and quantity. Two main strategies are adopted by plants to acclimatize to stresses; avoidance and tolerance. These adaptive strategies of plants at the cellular and metabolic level enable them to withstand such detrimental conditions. Acclimatization is

Staphylokinase (SAK), a 136 amino acid bacterial protein with profibrinolytic properties, has emerged as an important thrombolytic agent because of its fibrin specificity and reduced inhibition by α‐2 antiplasmin. In an attempt to enhance the clot dissolution ability of SAK, a 30 amino acid peptide (VEK‐30) derived from a plasminogen (Pg) binding protein (PAM), was fused at the C‐terminal end of SAK

Abstract This paper is a critical evaluation of the effect of mixing on biogas production rates in an anaerobic digester. Mixing plays a prominent role in determining the efficiency of the anaerobic digestion process. This review analyzes the miscellaneous effects of mixing (on the microbial community, methane content and volatile fatty acids) at various mixing intensities and during different stages

Antibacterial scaffolds are highly desirable for the repair and reconstruction of injured soft tissues. However, the direct fabrication of scaffolds with excellent biocompatibility, flexibility, and antibacterial capacity remains a challenge, especially those based on biomaterials. In this study, we report on the biomaterial-based antibacterial scaffolds based on regenerated silk fibroin (RSF), 2-