@article{DruckenmuellerGuentherElbers2018, author = {Druckenm{\"u}ller, Katharina and G{\"u}nther, Klaus and Elbers, Gereon}, title = {Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a tool to monitor exhaust air from poultry operations}, series = {Science of the Total Environment}, volume = {630}, journal = {Science of the Total Environment}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0048-9697}, doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.072}, pages = {536 -- 543}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Intensive poultry operation systems emit a considerable volume of inorganic and organic matter in the surrounding environment. Monitoring cleaning properties of exhaust air cleaning systems and to detect small but significant changes in emission characteristics during a fattening cycle is important for both emission and fattening process control. In the present study, we evaluated the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with chemometric techniques as a monitoring tool of exhaust air from poultry operation systems. To generate a high-quality data set for evaluation, the exhaust air of two poultry houses was sampled by applying state-of-the-art filter sampling protocols. The two stables were identical except for one crucial difference, the presence or absence of an exhaust air cleaning system. In total, twenty-one exhaust air samples were collected at the two sites to monitor spectral differences caused by the cleaning device, and to follow changes in exhaust air characteristics during a fattening period. The total dust load was analyzed by gravimetric determination and included as a response variable in multivariate data analysis. The filter samples were directly measured with NIR spectroscopy. Principal component analysis (PCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and factor analysis (FA) were effective in classifying the NIR exhaust air spectra according to fattening day and origin. The results indicate that the dust load and the composition of exhaust air (inorganic or organic matter) substantially influence the NIR spectral patterns. In conclusion, NIR spectroscopy as a tool is a promising and very rapid way to detect differences between exhaust air samples based on still not clearly defined circumstances triggered during a fattening period and the availability of an exhaust air cleaning system.}, language = {en} } @article{MolinnusMuschallikGonzalezetal.2018, author = {Molinnus, Denise and Muschallik, Lukas and Gonzalez, Laura Osorio and Bongaerts, Johannes and Wagner, Torsten and Selmer, Thorsten and Siegert, Petra and Keusgen, Michael and Sch{\"o}ning, Michael Josef}, title = {Development and characterization of a field-effect biosensor for the detection of acetoin}, series = {Biosensors and Bioelectronics}, volume = {115}, journal = {Biosensors and Bioelectronics}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, doi = {10.1016/j.bios.2018.05.023}, pages = {1 -- 6}, year = {2018}, abstract = {A capacitive electrolyte-insulator-semiconductor (EIS) field-effect biosensor for acetoin detection has been presented for the first time. The EIS sensor consists of a layer structure of Al/p-Si/SiO₂/Ta₂O₅/enzyme acetoin reductase. The enzyme, also referred to as butane-2,3-diol dehydrogenase from B. clausii DSM 8716T, has been recently characterized. The enzyme catalyzes the (R)-specific reduction of racemic acetoin to (R,R)- and meso-butane-2,3-diol, respectively. Two different enzyme immobilization strategies (cross-linking by using glutaraldehyde and adsorption) have been studied. Typical biosensor parameters such as optimal pH working range, sensitivity, hysteresis, linear concentration range and long-term stability have been examined by means of constant-capacitance (ConCap) mode measurements. Furthermore, preliminary experiments have been successfully carried out for the detection of acetoin in diluted white wine samples.}, language = {en} } @article{AboulnagaZouSelmeretal.2018, author = {Aboulnaga, E. A. and Zou, H. and Selmer, Thorsten and Xian, M.}, title = {Development of a plasmid-based, tunable, tolC-derived expression system for application in Cupriavidus necator H16}, series = {Journal of Biotechnology}, volume = {274}, journal = {Journal of Biotechnology}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0168-1656}, doi = {10.1016/j.jbiotec.2018.03.007}, pages = {15 -- 27}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Cupriavidus necator H16 gains increasing attention in microbial research and biotechnological application due to its diverse metabolic features. Here we present a tightly controlled gene expression system for C. necator including the pBBR1-vector that contains hybrid promoters originating from C. necator native tolC-promoter in combination with a synthetic tetO-operator. The expression of the reporter gene from these plasmids relies on the addition of the exogenous inducer doxycycline (dc). The novel expression system offers a combination of advantageous features as; (i) high and dose-dependent recombinant protein production, (ii) tight control with a high dynamic range (On/Off ratio), which makes it applicable for harmful pathways or for toxic protein production, (iii) comparable cheap inducer (doxycycline, dc), (iv) effective at low inducer concentration, that makes it useful for large scale application, (v) rapid, diffusion controlled induction, and (vi) the inducer does not interfere within the cell metabolism. As applications of the expression system in C. necator H16, the growth ability on glycerol was enhanced by constitutively expressing the E. coli glpk gene-encoding for glycerol kinase. Likewise, we used the system to overcome the expression toxicity of mevalonate pathway in C. necator H16. With this system, the mevalonate-genes were successfully introduced in the host and the recombinant strains could produce about 200 mg/l mevalonate.}, language = {en} }