Extraction of Natural Nanostructured Hydroxyapatite from Pacific Cod(Gadus macrocephalus)Bone with a Thermostable Collagenolytic Protease and Its ex vivo Intestinal Bioavailability

Natural nano-hydroxyapatite(HA)was extracted from Pacific cod(Gadus macrocephalus)bone with a thermostable col-lagenolytic protease in the present study.Conditions for the enzymatic reaction were optimized to be 60℃and pH 7.0,and a desir-able extraction efficiency was achieved by using the crude collagenolytic protease.Dynamic light scattering,transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis revealed that nano-HA are anionic spherical(about 110nm)particles mainly com-prised of calcium and phosphorus at an approximate ratio of 5:3.As evaluated with the mouse ex vivo intestinal segments,the extracted nano-HA displayed comparable level of intestinal bioavailability to the positive control CaCl_(2).By treating with inhibitors(NaN3,ami-loride)and low temperature(4℃),clathrin-mediated endocytosis was assumed to involve the intestinal absorption of nano-HA.Over-all,the application of thermostable collagenolytic protease is proved to be a promising alternative method for nano-HA extraction from natural resource with improved ecological and biological value.

Thermostable ethanol tolerant xylanase from a cold-adapted marine species Acinetobacter johnsonii

A xylanase-producing bacterium, isolated from deep sea sediments, was identified as the cold-adapted marine species Acinetobacter Johnsonii. A cold-adapted marine species Acinetobacter Johnsonii could grow at 4 ℃. The optimum temperature and pH of xylanase from a cold-adapted marine species Acinetobacter Johnsonii were 55 ℃ and pH 6.0. Xylanase from a cold-adapted marine species Acinetobacter Johnsonii remained at 80% activity after incubation for 1 h at 65 ℃. The xylanase activity was 1.2-fold higher in 4% ethanol solution than in ethanol free solution. Gibbs free energy of denaturation, ΔG, was higher in 4% ethanol solution than in ethanol free solution. Thermostable ethanol tolerant xylanase was valuable for bioethanol production by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process with xylan as a carbon source.

Purification and Characterization of a Novel Thermostable Chitinase from Thermomyces lanuginosus SY2 and Cloning of Its Encoding Gene

A novel thermostable extracellular chitinase was purified from the culture filtrate of Thermomyces lanuginosus SY2 by using diethylaminoethyl Sepharose chromatography and Phenyl-Sepharose chromatography. The molecular size of the purified chitinase was estimated to be 48 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The chitinase exhibited optimum catalytic activity at pH 4.5 and 55℃. The enzyme was stable at 50℃, and its half-life time at 65℃ was 25 rain. The thermostable chitinase was obtained with 60% of the full activity, when it was incubated in the buffer （pH 2.5）. The enzyme showed the unique properties for thermostability and pH stability since it was one of the most thermostable chitinases so far isolated in fungi. Ca^2＋, Ba^2＋, Na^＋, and K^＋ enhanced the enzyme activity, whereas Fe^2＋, Ag^＋, Hg^2＋, and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid caused obvious inhibition. The N-terminal amino acids were AQGYLSVQYFVNWAI. Degenerate primers based on the N-terminal sequences of purified chitinase and a cDNA fragment encoding the chitinase gene were obtained through reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction amplication. The RACE was used to generate full-length cDNA clones. The cDNA of chit contained an open reading frame of 1 326 bp encoding 442 amino acids. The gene chit has been registered in GenBank with accession number DQ092332. The alignment results of putative amino acid sequence showed the lower similarity to other chitinases in family-18 except for the catalytic domain containing two conserved motifs related with catalytic activity of chitinase.

Thermostable Broad Band Polarizing PVA-Film: Theoretical and Experimental Investigations

In the present work, for the first time on the basis ofpoly （vinyl alcohol） （PVA）, 2- （4-dimethylaminostyryl）-l-ethylquinolinium iodide （quinaldine red （QR）） and trisodium （4E）-5-oxo- 1-（4-sulfonatophenyl）-4-[（4-sulfonatophenyl）hydrazono]-3 pyrazolecarboxylate （tartrazine （T））, thermostable polarizing film in a wide range of spectra （λmax=394-511 nm） with polarization efficiency （PE） = 98% in absorption maximum and stretching degree （Rs） = 3.5 was developed. The basic spectral-polarization parameters （polarization efficiency and transmittance） of oriented colored PVA-films were measured and discussed. During the work it was found that oriented PVA-films are the phenomenon of anisotropy of thermal conductivity （λ｜/λ⊥）. It is a very important parameter for the development of thermostable PVA-polarizing films. For the first time quantum-chemical calculations using density functional theory （DFT） approach for structural analysis and electronic spectrum of the QR were carried out via the B3LYP/dgdzvp and TDB3LYP/dgdzvp methods. Interpretation of absorption strips in visible region of spectrum was also reported. The excitation energies, electronic transitions and oscillator strengths for the studied structures have also been calculated （B3LYP/dgdzvp）. The NBO analysis and Mulliken atomic charges of the QR were carried out.

Discovery and Characterization of a Thermostable Esterase from an Oil Reservoir Metagenome

With the aim of identifying novel thermostable esterases, comprehensive sequence databases and cloned fosmid libraries of metagenomes derived from an offshore oil reservoir on the Norwegian Continental Shelf were screened for enzyme candidates using both sequence-and function-based screening. From several candidates identified in both approaches, one enzyme discovered by the functional approach was verified as a novel esterase and subjected to a deeper characterization. The enzyme was successfully over-produced in Escherichia coli and was shown to be thermostable up to 90°C, with the highest esterase activity on short-chain ester substrates and with tolerance to solvents and metal ions. The fact that the thermostable enzyme was solely found by functional screening of the oil reservoir metagenomes illustrates the importance of this approach as a complement to purely sequence-based screening, in which the enzyme candidate was not detected. In addition, this example indicates the large potential of deep-sub-surface oil reservoir metagenomes as a source of novel, thermostable enzymes of potential relevance for industrial applications.

Optimized production and properties of thermostable alkaline protease from Bacillus subtilis SHS-04 grown on groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) meal

Production of alkaline protease from Bacillus subtilis SHS-04 was investigated under different fermentation conditions involving low-cost substrates with the aim of optimizing yield of enzyme. Maximum enzyme production (1616.21 U/mL) was achieved using groundnut meal (0.75%) as nitrogen source and 0.5% glucose as carbon source at 48 h cultivation period, pH 9, 45 ° C and 200 rpm. The yield was 348% increase over comparable control samples. The alkaline protease had optimum temperature of 60 ° C and remarkably exhibited 80% relative activity at 70 ° C. It was highly thermostable showing 98.7% residual activity at 60 ° C after 60 minutes of incubation at pH 9.0 and was stable in the presence of organic solvents studied. These properties indicate the viability of the protease for biotechnological and industrial applications. The optimized yield of enzyme achieved in this study establishes groundnut meal as potential low-cost substrate for alkaline protease production by B. subtilis SHS-04.

Overexpression and characterization of a thermostable β-agarase producing neoagarotetraose from a marine isolate Microbulbifer sp.AG1

An agarase gene containing 1 302 bp was cloned from Microbulbifer sp. AG1. It encoded a mature protein of 413 amino acids plus a 20-residue signal peptide. The recombinant enzyme without the signal peptide was expressed and purified from Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). When agarose was used as a substrate, the optimal temperature and pH for the enzyme were 60℃ and 7.5, respectively. The recombinant agarase showed excellent thermostability with 67% and 19% of residual activities after incubation at 50℃ and 60℃ for 1 h, respectively.Except SDS, the recombinant agarase had a relatively good resistance against the detected inhibitors, detergents and urea denaturant. Thin layer chromatography analysis and enzyme assay using p-nitrophenyl-α/β-Dgalactopyranoside revealed that the recombinant agarase was a β-agarase that degraded agarose into neoagarotetraose as the main end product. The enzymatic hydrolysis products with different degree of polymerization exhibited the antioxidant activities.

Optimization of Growth Conditions to Identify the Superior Bacillus Strain Which Produce High Yield of Thermostable Alpha Amylase

Thermostable α-amylases hold a very important place in commercial industrial applications in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to identify superior Bacillus strain and optimize growth conditions that could yield high α-amylase production. Three Bacillus strains, B. amyloliquefaciens ATCC 23350, B. licheniformis ATCC 14580 and B. megaterium ATCC 14581 were used for the study. Shake flask culture experiments were conducted to identify the effect of various fermentation conditions such as growth temperature, incubation period, carbon source, nitrogen source, initial pH and carbon concentration on extracellular α-amylase production. DNSA assay was carried out to determine the enzyme activity. The highest temperature for enzyme activity was reported by B. licheniformis at 85°C, followed by B. amyloliquefaciens at 75°C and B. megaterium at 45°C. Both B. amyloliquefaciens and B. licheniformis were able to give their optimum enzyme production at 37°C, while B. megaterium at 30°C in 150 rpm with initial pH of 7. B. licheniformis and B. amyloliquefaciens gave their optimum yield of the enzyme after 48 h of incubation while B. megaterium gave after 24 h of incubation. Among the carbon sources tested cassava starch was able to give the highest enzyme production. For B. amyloliquefaciens, the highest yield of the enzyme was obtained with 2% of starch, tryptone as a nitrogen source and initial pH of 7. Maximum enzyme production for B. licheniformis was obtained with 1.5% of starch, KNO3 as a nitrogen source and initial pH of 6. For B. megaterium 1% of starch, tryptone and pH 7.5 induced the optimum α-amylase production. According to the results obtained, B. amyloliquefaciens is the highest thermostable alpha amylase producer. However, according to the industrial requirement, B. licheniformis can also be used as an enzyme producer due to its stability in higher temperatures.

A thermostable serralysin inhibitor from marine bacterium Flavobacterium sp. YS-80-122

Serralysin inhibitors have been proposed as potent drugs against many diseases and may help to prevent further development of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria. In this study, a novel serralysin inhibitor gene, l up I, was cloned from the marine bacterium F lavobacterium sp. YS-80-122 and expressed in Escherichia coli. The deduced serralysin inhibitor, Lup I, shows <40% amino acid identity to other reported serralysin inhibitors. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of Lup I with other serralysin inhibitors indicated that Lup I was a novel type of serralysin inhibitor. The inhibitory constant for Lup I towards its target metalloprotease was 0.64 μmol/L. Lup I was thermostable at high temperature, in which 35.6%–90.7% of its inhibitory activity was recovered after treatment at 100°C for 1–60 min followed by incubation at 0°C. This novel inhibitor may represent a candidate drug for the treatment of serralysin-related infections.

Thermostable alkaline protease production from Bacillus pumilus D-6 by using agro-residues as substrates

Proteases due to their wide range of applications in biotechnological processes have been the??focus of intense research for many decades. However, from industrial?application view point most of the available proteases lack desired properties;?therefore, search for better and efficient thermostable alkaline proteases are?always on.?Bacillus pumilus?D-6, isolated from dairy plant soil sample, in the?current study produced protease which showed activity and stability at high?alkaline?pH (8 - 12) and high?temperatures (70。C- 100。C). Enzyme activity remained unfazed even in presence?of inhibitors like Pb2+and Hg2+which are considered?universal inhibitors of enzyme activity. Besides, the organism successfully?utilized crude agriculture based substrates as carbon and nitrogen source and?produced substantial enzyme titre.

Field Trial of a Thermostable Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) Vaccine in a Semi-Arid Zone of Nigeria

The field trial of a candidate thermostable Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) vaccine was carried out in flocks of sheep and goats under the extensive system of management. The immune response of vaccinated animals was determined using the neutralisation test to detect PPR virus specific antibody. Vaccinated animals seroconverted and a four-fold or more rise in antibody titre were observed between pre-vaccination and post-vaccination antibodies. The vaccine elicited significant antibody response in goats through the different routes of administration (intramuscular, intranasal, intraocular, subcutaneous and orally), but was poorly transmitted between the vaccinees and in-contact animals. The sheep responded poorly to the vaccine administered through most of the routes, except for those vaccinated through intramuscular and subcutaneous routes that seroconverted significantly (≥4 fold rise). The vaccine retained a potent titre of 3.1 log10 TCID50 for more than 8 hours after reconstitution in PBS at room temperature. Based on the response of goats to oral vaccination, it is suggested that the vaccine could be administered on the field through the oral routes and has the potential to be adapted to a feed-based administration for wider application to the scattered livestock populations under the extensive system of management.

Characterization of a thermostable manganese-containing superoxide dismutase from inshore hot spring thermophile Thermus sp.JM1

A thermostable superoxide dismutase （SOD） from the inshore thermophile Thermus sp. JM1 was purified to homogeneity by steps of fractional ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Sepharose chromatography and Phenyl-Sepharose chromatography. The specific activity of the purified native enzyme was 1 656 U/mg. A sod gene from this strain was cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli （E. coli）. The prepared apo-enzyme of the purified recombinant SOD （rSOD） was reconstituted with either Fe or Mn by means of incubation with appropriate metal salts. As a result, only Mn 2＋ - reconstituted rSOD （Mn-rSOD） exhibited the specific activity of 1 598 U/mg. SOD from Thermus sp. JM1 was Mn-SOD, judging by the specific activities analysis of Fe or Mn reconstituted rSODs and the insensitivity of the native SOD to both cyanide and H 2 O 2 . Both the native SOD and Mn- rSOD were determined to be homotetramers with monomeric molecular mass of 26 kDa and 27.5 kDa, respectively. They had high thermostability at 50 ° C and 60 ° C, and showed striking stability across a wide pH span from 4.0 to 11.0.

Reactive molecular dynamics insight into the thermal decomposition mechanism of 2,6-Bis(picrylamino)-3,5-dinitropyridine

2,6-bis(picrylamino)-3,5-dinitropyridine(PYX)has excellent thermostability,which makes its thermal decomposition mechanism receive much attention.In this paper,the mechanism of PYX thermal decomposition was investigated thoroughly by the ReaxFF-lg force field combined with DFT-B3LYP(6-311++G)method.The detailed decomposition mechanism,small-molecule product evolution,and cluster evolution of PYX were mainly analyzed.In the initial stage of decomposition,the intramolecular hydrogen transfer reaction and the formation of dimerized clusters are earlier than the denitration reaction.With the progress of the reaction,one side of the bitter amino group is removed from the pyridine ring,and then the pyridine ring is cleaved.The final products produced in the thermal decomposition process are CO_(2),H_(2)O,N_(2),and H_(2).Among them,H_(2)O has the earliest generation time,and the reaction rate constant(k_(3))is the largest.Many clusters are formed during the decomposition of PYX,and the formation,aggregation,and decomposition of these clusters are strongly affected by temperature.At low temperatures(2500 K-2750 K),many clusters are formed.At high temperatures(2750 K-3250 K),the clusters aggregate to form larger clusters.At 3500 K,the large clusters decompose and become small.In the late stage of the reaction,H and N in the clusters escaped almost entirely,but more O was trapped in the clusters,which affected the auto-oxidation process of PYX.PYX's initial decomposition activation energy(E_(a))was calculated to be 126.58 kJ/mol.This work contributes to a theoretical understanding of PYX's entire thermal decomposition process.

Crystal structure of thermostable catechol 2,3-dioxygenase determined by multiwavelength anomalous dispersion method

The selenomethionyl derivative of the thermo-stable catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (SeMet-TC23O) is expressed, purified and crystallized. By using multiwave length anoma-lous dispersion (MAD) phasing techniques, the crystal structure of TC23O at 0.3 nm resolutions is determined. TC23O is a homotetramer. Each monomer is composed of N-terminal and C-terminal domains (residues 1-153 and 153-319, respectively). The two domains are proximately symmetric by a non-crystallographic axis. Each domain contains two characteristic motifs which are found in almost all of extradial dioxygenases.

Gene Clone and Characterization of a Novel Thermostable β-Galactosidase with Transglycosylation Activity from Thermotoga naphthophila RUK-10

We cloned and expressed a new recombinant β-galactosidase（TN0949） from Thermotoga naphthophila RKU-10 with the pET28a（＋） vector system in Escherichia coli BL21（DE3）, and determined its catalytic capability to synthesize alkyl glucosides. The recombinant enzyme was purified to a single band via heat treatment and Ni2＋-NTA affinity chromatography. The molecular mass of the recombinant enzyme was estimated to be 79 kDa with sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis（SDS-PAGE）. TN0949 can hydrolyze o-nitrophenylβ-D- galactopyranoside at the optimum pH and temperature of 6.5 and 80 ℃, respectively. TN0949 can also hydrolyze lactose at the optimum pH and temperature of 5.2 and 80 ℃, respectively. The Km values for the hydrolyses of o-nitrophenyl fl-D-galactopyranoside and lactose were 0.82 and 83.65 mmol/L, respectively. TN0949 was stable over a wide range of pH（3.0 to 7.0） after 24 h of incubation. The half-lives of TN0949 at 75, 80 and 85 ℃ were 22, 6 and 1.33 h, respectively. The enzyme displayed the capability to use lactose as the transglycosylation substrate to synthesize butyl galactopyranoside and hexyl galactopyranoside, indicating its suitability as a candidate industrial biocatalyst.

Thermostable α-Diimine Nickel Complexes with Substituents on Acenaphthequinone-backbone for Ethylene Polymerization

In order to promote the thermostability of a-diimine nickel complex by ligand backbone structure,a series of α-diimine nickel complexes with substituents on acenaphthequinone backbone were synthesized and used as catalysts for ethylene polymerization.When the hydroxyethyl phenoxyl group was introduced to the acenaphthequinone-backbone,the thermal stability and activity of the catalyst could be significantly improved.The catalytic activity of complex C2[5-(4-(2-hydroxyethyl)phenoxyl)-N,N-bis(2,6-diisopropyl)acenaphthylene-1,2-diimine]nickel(Ⅱ)dibromide with isopropyl substituents on N-aryl reached 8.2×10^6g/(molNi·h)at 70℃and 2 MPa.The activity of[5-(4-(2-hydroxyethyl)phenoxyl)-N,N-bis(2,6-dibenzhydryl-4-menthylphenyl)acenaphthylene-1,2-diimine]nickel(Ⅱ)dibromide(C3)still maintained at 6.7×10^5 g/(molNi·h)at 120℃.Compared with C3 containing bulky dibenzhydryl substituents,the activity of C2 was sensitive to the change of the polymerization pressure.However,the polyethylenes obtained from complex C3 had lower branching density.Meanwhile,the molecular weight could reach 971 kg/mol,which is almost 5 times as much as that of the polyethylene obtained from complex C2.

Purification and Characterization of Two Thermostable Glucoamylases Produced from Aspergillus niger B-30

Two thermostable glucoamylases were produced from Aspergillus niger B-30 by submerged fermentation. The two glueoamylases GAM-1 and GAM-2 were purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, diethylaminoethyl- cellulose fast flow（DEAE FF） and Superdex G-75 gel filtration columns. The molecular weights of GAM-1 and GAM-2 were determined as 9.72x 104 and 7.83x104 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis （SDS-PAGE）, while the molecular weights of GAM-1 and GAM-2 were determined to be 8.05x 104 and 7.04x 104 by matrix assisted laser desorption ionizationtime-of-flight（MALDI-TOF） mass spectrometry, respectively. Both the enzymes were glycosylated, with 10.4% and 11.4% carbohydrate content, respectively. The optimal pH and tempera- ture were 4.0--4.6 and 70 ℃ for both. The two glucoamylases were maintained 100% relative activity after incuba- tion at 60 ℃ for 120 min. After the hydrolysis of starch for 120 min, glucose was the only product, confirming that the two enzymes were of high efficiency towards starch. The GAM-2 exhibited higher catalytic activity towards oli- gosaccharides such as maltose than GAM-1, and the kinetic analysis shows that the affinity of GAM-2 to starch was lower than that of GAM-1. The high thermostability and effectiveness make the two glucoamylases potentially attrac- tive for biotechnological application.

Clone, Purification and Characterization of Thermostable Aminopeptidase ST1737 from Sulfolobus tokodaii

The aminopeptidase gene from thermophilic archaea Sulfolobustokodaii was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 codon-plus（DE3）. To overexpress the aminopeptidase, the vector pET32a was constructed, in which the target gene was fused with the genes of histidine-tag and thioredoxin（Trx）. The expressed protein was purified using Ni^2＋-column affinity chromatography and ion exchange chromatography and cleft with enterokinase（EK） to obtain the purified aminopeptidase（ST1737）. The biochemical and enzymic properties of the expressed ST1737 were characterized. The results show that its optimal pH and temperature are 8 and 80 ℃, respectively. The half-life of ST1737（0.2 mg/mL） is about 85 h at 90 ℃, indicating that the enzyme exhibits an excellent thermostability. The activity of ST1737 could still maintain over 85% after its treatment at 25 ℃ in different buffers with a pH range of from 6.0 to 10.5 for 24 h, demonstrating that ST1737 is stable in neutral or slight alkali environment. The enzyme shows a high activity for the substrates such as unmodified peptide Asp-Ala, while the pNPC8 shows an optimal esterase substrate specificity. These results indicate that the enzyme is a bifunctional enzyme, and different from the aminopeptidase reported before.

Functional characterization of a thermostable methionine adenosyltransferase from Thermus thermophilus HB27

MATTt （a thermostable methionine adenosyl- transferase from Thermus thermophilus HB27） was over- expressed in Escherchia coli and purified using Ni-NTA affinity column. The enzymatic activity of MATTt was investigated in a temperature range from 30 ℃ to 90 ℃, showing that MATTt exhibited a high enzymatic activity and good thermostability at 80 ℃. Circular dichroism spectra reveals that MATTt contains high portion of β- sheet structures contributing to the thermostability of MATTt. The kinetic parameter, Km is 4.19 mmoFL and 1.2 mmol/L for ATP and methionine, respectively. MATTt exhibits the highest enzymatic activity at pH 8. Cobalt （Co^2＋） and zinc ion （Zn^2＋） enhances remarkably the activity of MATTt compared to the magnesium ion （Mg^2＋）. All these results indicated that the thermostable MATTt has great potential for industry applications.

A Novel Thermostable β-Galactosidase from Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA42

A novel thermostable β-galactosidase gene, designated as GkGallA, from the thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus kaustophilus HTA426 was cloned and heterologously overexpressed in Escherichia coli（E, coli）. Based on the sequence analysis, GkGallA belongs to the glycosyl hydrolase family 1 that was the first β-galactosidase of bacterial origins expressed by us in this family. The apparent molecular weight of GkGallA determined by sodium deodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is 52000. It exhibited the highest activity toward p-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactopyranoside at pH 7.8 and 70℃ and displayed high thermal stability, Divalent cations are prerequisite for the activity of GKGallA, with the highest activity in the presence of Mn2＋. Moreover, the three-dimensional structure of GkGaI1A was modeled to speculate the structure of the catalytic residues and the reac- tion mechanism. The catalytic residues consisting of Glu166 and Glu355 were verified by site-directed mutagenesis.