Optimizational production of phenyllactic acid by a Lactobacillus buchneri strain via uniform design with overlay sampling methodology

A Lactobacillus buchneri GBS3 strain isolated from the traditional Chinese pickles was used for the production of 3-phenyllactic acid(PLA), an important compound with antimicrobial activities against a wide species of grampositive and gram-negative bacteria and some fungi. The growth performance of this strain in the de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe(MRS) medium, the production of metabolites of valuable organic acids, and the biosynthesis of PLA using this strain as the whole-cell biocatalyst and phenylpyruvic acid(PPA) as the precursor, were investigated experimentally. The uniform design method with overlay sampling was developed for the optimization of the biotransformation conditions. The results showed that although it produced naturally lactic acid with the maximum concentration of 1.84 g·L^(-1) and PLA with the concentration of 0.015 g·L^(-1) after 66 to 72 h cultivation in MRS broth by fermentation, the present strain displayed an effective utilization ability by transforming PPA to PLA. By the uniform design method with overlay sampling for the design and optimization of transformation conditions, a maximum yield of 10.93 g·L^(-1) PLA with the mole conversion ratio of 83.07% from PPA to PLA was achieved under the optimized condition, i.e., 20 g·L^(-1) glucose, 270 g·L^(-1) cells, 13 g·L^(-1) PPA, pH 8.0 and the reaction time of 15 h, indicating that Lactobacillus buchneri GBS3 was an interesting strain for the biosynthesis of PLA via the microbial transformation. The prediction of PLA yield under different conditions was achieved successfully based on the limited information of only a small number of experiments by the uniform design with overlay sampling. Therefore, the present methodology is effective and helpful for the optimization of the biosynthesis processes of PLA.

Cryo-copolymerization preparation of dextran-hyaluronate based supermacroporous cryogel scaffolds for tissue engineering applications

Dextran-hyaluronate （Dex-HA） based supermacroporous cryogel scaffolds for soft tissue engineering were prepared by free radical cryo-copolymerization of aqueous solutions containing the dextran methacrylate （Dex-MA） and hyaluronate methacrylate （HA-MA） at various macromonomer concentrations under the freezing condition. It was observed that the suitable total concen- tration of macromonomers for the preparation of Dex-HA cryogel scaffold with satisfied properties was 5% （w/w） at the HA-MA concentration of 1% （w/v）, which was then used to produce the test scaffold. The obtained cryogel scaffold with 5% （w/w） macromonomer solution had high water permeability （5.1 × 10 ^-2m2） and high porosity （92.4%）. The pore diameter examined by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） was in a broad range of 50-135 um with the mean pore diameter of 91 um. Furthermore, the cryogel scaffold also had good elastic nature with the elastic modulus of 17.47±1.44 kPa. The culture of 3T3-L1 preadipocyte within the scaffold was investigated and observed by SEM. Cells clustered on the pore walls and grew inside the scaffold indicating the Dex-HA cryogel scaffold could be a promising porous biomaterial for applications in tissue engineering.

Preparation and properties of a silver particle-coated and 1-dodecanethiol-modified superhydrophobic melamine sponge for oil/water separation

A Ag particle-coated and 1-dodecanethiolmodified melamine sponge(Ag-DDT-MS)was prepared through surface roughness by coating silver particles and subsequent grafting of a hydrophobic long hydrocarbon chain.Superhydrophobic and 3D porous Ag-DDT-MS was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,scanning electron microscope,energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy,and X-ray diffraction.The water contact angle of Ag-DDT-MS reached 159.2°.Ag-DDT-MS exhibited excellent absorption capacity for high viscous oils and organic solvents,ranging from 42.8 to 105.2 g∙g−1.The absorbed oils can be easily collected by the mechanical pressing process,and the oil recovery rate was satisfactory,more than 90%after 20 recycles.Ag-DDT-MS material also demonstrated good stability and excellent compressionrecovery ability,keeping 88.6%of the initial height after ten compression-release cycles.