Construction and screening of a functional metagenomic library to identify novel enzymes produced by Antarctic bacteria

A metagenomic fosmid library of approximately 52 000 clones was constructed to identify functional genes encoding cold-adapted enzymes. Metagenomic DNA was extracted from a sample of glacial meltwater, collected on the Antarctic Peninsula during the ANTARKOS XXIX Expedition during the austral summer of 2012-2013. Each clone contained an insert of about 35-40 kb, so the library represented almost 2 Gb of genetic information from metagenomic DNA. Activity-driven screening was used to detect the cold-adapted functions expressed by the library. Fifty lipase/esterase and two cellulase-producing clones were isolated, and two clones able to grow on Avicel as the sole carbon source. Interestingly, three clones formed a brown precipitate in the presence of manganese （II）. Accumulation of manganese oxides was determined with a leucoberbelin blue assay, indicating that these three clones had manganese-oxidizing activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a manganese oxidase activity detected with a functional metagenomic strategy.

Functional Metagenomics from the Rumen Environment—A Review

The rumen microbiome plays an essential role in ruminant physiology, nutrition and pathology as well as host immunity. A better understanding of rumen microbial processes and identification of which populations are responsible for specific functions within the rumen microbiome will lead to better management and sustainable utilization of the available feed base while maintaining a low environmental impact. Recent advance in the culture independent method of microbiology such as metagenomics, unravels potentially the rumen microbial process. There are two basic types of metagenomics studies: Sequence-based and function-based metagenomics. Sequence-based metagenomics involves sequencing and analysis of DNA from environmental samples. Its purpose is to assemble genomes, identify genes, find complete metabolic pathways, and compare organisms of different communities. Whereas functional metagenomics is the study of the collective genome of a microbial community by expressing it in a foreign host usually Escherichia coli (E. coli). It is a promising approach unearthing novel enzymes even from yet to culture rumen microbiota. Further advances in the screening techniques promise vast opportunities to rumen microbiologists, and animal nutritionist. The identification of novel enzyme through functional metagenomics consists of three parts: rumen sample collection;DNA library construction and screening of individual clone. Functional metagenomics was successfully applied to identify different antibiotics, hydrolytic enzymes, antibiotic resistance genes, and many other functions;moreover, it allowed characterization of genes encoding enzymes with a particular activity, which represents completely novel sequence. There are a number of outputs from functionally screened rumen product such as carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes) that can break down plant cell walls. Company involved commercialization of metagenomics research such as Syngenta, Genencor International, BRAIN etc., has produced many biological molecules of commercial interest. The aim of this paper is to elucidate functional metagenomics, from rumen environment and its potential for commercial purpose.

First-principles study of structure and nonlinear optical properties of CdHg(SCN)_4 crystal

The geometric structure,electronic structure,and optical properties of CdHg（SCN）4 crystal are calculated by using the density functional perturbation theory and Green function screening Coulomb interaction approximation.The band gap of CdHg（SCN）4 crystal is calculated to be 3.198 eV,which is in good agreement with the experimental value 3.265 eV.The calculated second-order nonlinear optical coefficients are d14 = 1.2906 pm/V and d15 = 5.0928 pm/V,which are in agreement with the experimental results（d14=（1.4 ±0.6） pm/V and d15=（6.0 ±0.9） pm/V）.Moreover,it is found that the contribution to the valence band mainly comes from Cd-4d,Hg-5d states,and the contributions to the valence band top and the conduction band bottom predominantly come from C-2p,N-2p,and S-3p states.The second-order nonlinear optical effect of CdHg（SCN）_4 crystal results mainly from the internal electronic transition of（SCN）^-.

Recent advances in the culture-independent discovery of natural products using metagenomic approaches

Natural products derived from bacterial sources have long been pivotal in the discovery of drug leads.However,the cultivation of only about 1%of bacteria in laboratory settings has left a significant portion of biosynthetic diversity hidden within the genomes of uncultured bacteria.Advances in sequencing technologies now enable the exploration of genetic material from these metagenomes through culture-independent methods.This approach involves extracting genetic sequences from environmental DNA and applying a hybrid methodology that combines functional screening,sequence tag-based homology screening,and bioinformatic-assisted chemical synthesis.Through this process,numerous valuable natural products have been identified and synthesized from previously uncharted metagenomic territories.This paper provides an overview of the recent advancements in the utilization of culture-independent techniques for the discovery of novel biosynthetic gene clusters and bioactive small molecules within metagenomic libraries.

A novel strategy to protect prokaryotic cells from virus infection

The recent discovery of the CRISPR-Cas-mediated acquired immunity system highlights the fact that our knowl-edge of phage/virus defense mechanisms encoded in bacterial and archaeal genomes is far from complete.Indeed,new prokaryotic immune systems are now continually being discovered.A recent report described a novel glyco-sylase that recognizesα-glycosyl-hydroxymethyl cytosin(α-Glu-hmC),a modified base observed in the T4 phage genome,where it produces an abasic site,thereby inhibiting the phage propagation.

360° light field 3D display system based on a triplet lenses array and holographic functional screen

A 360° light field 3D display system is presented, which consists of a liquid crystal display, a novel triplet lenses array, and a holographic functional screen （HFS）. The mapping relationship among pixels, 3D objects, and view- ing positions are investigated. The aberration analysis of the single lens is carried out both in the simulation and the experiment, which shows that it cannot provide an excellent 3D image to the viewers. In order to suppress the aberrations, ＂the primary aberration theory＂ and ＂the damped least-squares method＂ are used for optical analysis and lens design. A 3D image with aberration correction can be viewed around the proposed display system.