TY - JOUR A1 - Engel, Mareike A1 - Holtmann, Dirk A1 - Ulber, Roland A1 - Tippkötter, Nils T1 - Increased Biobutanol Production by Mediator‐Less Electro‐Fermentation JF - Biotechnology Journal N2 - A future bio-economy should not only be based on renewable raw materials but also in the raise of carbon yields of existing production routes. Microbial electrochemical technologies are gaining increased attention for this purpose. In this study, the electro-fermentative production of biobutanol with C. acetobutylicum without the use of exogenous mediators is investigated regarding the medium composition and the reactor design. It is shown that the use of an optimized synthetic culture medium allows higher product concentrations, increased biofilm formation, and higher conductivities compared to a synthetic medium supplemented with yeast extract. Moreover, the optimization of the reactor system results in a doubling of the maximum product concentrations for fermentation products. When a working electrode is polarized at −600 mV vs. Ag/AgCl, a shift from butyrate to acetone and butanol production is induced. This leads to an increased final solvent yield of Yᴀᴃᴇ = 0.202 gg⁻¹ (control 0.103 gg⁻¹), which is also reflected in a higher carbon efficiency of 37.6% compared to 23.3% (control) as well as a fourfold decrease in simplified E-factor to 0.43. The results are promising for further development of biobutanol production in bioelectrochemical systems in order to fulfil the principles of Green Chemistry. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.201800514 SN - 1860-7314 VL - 14 IS - 4 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Druckenmüller, Katharina A1 - Günther, Klaus A1 - Elbers, Gereon T1 - Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a tool to monitor exhaust air from poultry operations JF - Science of the Total Environment N2 - 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. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.072 SN - 0048-9697 VL - 630 SP - 536 EP - 543 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pilas, Johanna A1 - Yazici, Y. A1 - Selmer, Thorsten A1 - Keusgen, M. A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Application of a portable multi-analyte biosensor for organic acid determination in silage JF - Sensors N2 - Multi-analyte biosensors may offer the opportunity to perform cost-effective and rapid analysis with reduced sample volume, as compared to electrochemical biosensing of each analyte individually. This work describes the development of an enzyme-based biosensor system for multi-parametric determination of four different organic acids. The biosensor array comprises five working electrodes for simultaneous sensing of ethanol, formate, d-lactate, and l-lactate, and an integrated counter electrode. Storage stability of the biosensor was evaluated under different conditions (stored at +4 °C in buffer solution and dry at −21 °C, +4 °C, and room temperature) over a period of 140 days. After repeated and regular application, the individual sensing electrodes exhibited the best stability when stored at −21 °C. Furthermore, measurements in silage samples (maize and sugarcane silage) were conducted with the portable biosensor system. Comparison with a conventional photometric technique demonstrated successful employment for rapid monitoring of complex media. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/s18051470 SN - 1424-8220 VL - 18 IS - 5 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wilson, C. E. A1 - Dickie, A. P. A1 - Schreiter, K. A1 - Wehr, R. A1 - Wilson, E. M. A1 - Bial, J. A1 - Scheer, Nico A1 - Wilson, I. D. A1 - Riley, R. J. T1 - The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of diclofenac in chimeric humanized and murinized FRG mice JF - Archives of Toxicology N2 - The pharmacokinetics of diclofenac were investigated following single oral doses of 10 mg/kg to chimeric liver humanized and murinized FRG and C57BL/6 mice. In addition, the metabolism and excretion were investigated in chimeric liver humanized and murinized FRG mice. Diclofenac reached maximum blood concentrations of 2.43 ± 0.9 µg/mL (n = 3) at 0.25 h post-dose with an AUCinf of 3.67 µg h/mL and an effective half-life of 0.86 h (n = 2). In the murinized animals, maximum blood concentrations were determined as 3.86 ± 2.31 µg/mL at 0.25 h post-dose with an AUCinf of 4.94 ± 2.93 µg h/mL and a half-life of 0.52 ± 0.03 h (n = 3). In C57BL/6J mice, mean peak blood concentrations of 2.31 ± 0.53 µg/mL were seen 0.25 h post-dose with a mean AUCinf of 2.10 ± 0.49 µg h/mL and a half-life of 0.51 ± 0.49 h (n = 3). Analysis of blood indicated only trace quantities of drug-related material in chimeric humanized and murinized FRG mice. Metabolic profiling of urine, bile and faecal extracts revealed a complex pattern of metabolites for both humanized and murinized animals with, in addition to unchanged parent drug, a variety of hydroxylated and conjugated metabolites detected. The profiles in humanized mice were different to those of both murinized and wild-type animals, e.g., a higher proportion of the dose was detected in the form of acyl glucuronide metabolites and much reduced amounts as taurine conjugates. Comparison of the metabolic profiles obtained from the present study with previously published data from C57BL/6J mice and humans revealed a greater, though not complete, match between chimeric humanized mice and humans, such that the liver humanized FRG model may represent a model for assessing the biotransformation of such compounds in humans. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-018-2212-1 SN - 1432-0738 VL - 92 IS - 6 SP - 1953 EP - 1967 PB - Springer ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Raupp, Sebastian M. A1 - Schmitt, Marcel A1 - Walz, Anna-Lena A1 - Diehm, Ralf A1 - Hummel, Helga A1 - Scharfer, Philip A1 - Schabel, Wilhelm T1 - Slot die stripe coating of low viscous fluids JF - Journal of Coatings Technology and Research N2 - Slot die coating is applied to deposit thin and homogenous films in roll-to-roll and sheet-to-sheet applications. The critical step in operation is to choose suitable process parameters within the process window. In this work, we investigate an upper limit for stripe coatings. This maximum film thickness is characterized by stripe merging which needs to be avoided in a stable process. It is shown that the upper limit reduces the process window for stripe coatings to a major extent. As a result, stripe coatings at large coating gaps and low viscosities are only possible for relatively thick films. Explaining the upper limit, a theory of balancing the side pressure in the gap region in the cross-web direction has been developed. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-017-0039-y SN - 1935-3804 VL - 15 IS - 5 SP - 899 EP - 911 PB - Springer ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Alexander A1 - Rudolph, Tobias A1 - Guo, Jiaqi A1 - Mang, Thomas A1 - Walther, Andreas T1 - Exceptionally Ductile and Tough Biomimetic Artificial Nacre with Gas Barrier Function JF - Advanced Materials N2 - Synthetic mimics of natural high-performance structural materials have shown great and partly unforeseen opportunities for the design of multifunctional materials. For nacre-mimetic nanocomposites, it has remained extraordinarily challenging to make ductile materials with high stretchability at high fractions of reinforcements, which is however of crucial importance for flexible barrier materials. Here, highly ductile and tough nacre-mimetic nanocomposites are presented, by implementing weak, but many hydrogen bonds in a ternary nacre-mimetic system consisting of two polymers (poly(vinyl amine) and poly(vinyl alcohol)) and natural nanoclay (montmorillonite) to provide efficient energy dissipation and slippage at high nanoclay content (50 wt%). Tailored interactions enable exceptional combinations of ductility (close to 50% strain) and toughness (up to 27.5 MJ m⁻³). Extensive stress whitening, a clear sign of high internal dynamics at high internal cohesion, can be observed during mechanical deformation, and the materials can be folded like paper into origami planes without fracture. Overall, the new levels of ductility and toughness are unprecedented in highly reinforced bioinspired nanocomposites and are of critical importance to future applications, e.g., as barrier materials needed for encapsulation and as a printing substrate for flexible organic electronics. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201802477 VL - 30 IS - 32 SP - Article number 1802477 PB - Wiley-VCH ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Röhlen, Desiree A1 - Pilas, Johanna A1 - Dahmen, Markus A1 - Keusgen, Michael A1 - Selmer, Thorsten A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Toward a Hybrid Biosensor System for Analysis of Organic and Volatile Fatty Acids in Fermentation Processes JF - Frontiers in Chemistry N2 - Monitoring of organic acids (OA) and volatile fatty acids (VFA) is crucial for the control of anaerobic digestion. In case of unstable process conditions, an accumulation of these intermediates occurs. In the present work, two different enzyme-based biosensor arrays are combined and presented for facile electrochemical determination of several process-relevant analytes. Each biosensor utilizes a platinum sensor chip (14 × 14 mm²) with five individual working electrodes. The OA biosensor enables simultaneous measurement of ethanol, formate, d- and l-lactate, based on a bi-enzymatic detection principle. The second VFA biosensor provides an amperometric platform for quantification of acetate and propionate, mediated by oxidation of hydrogen peroxide. The cross-sensitivity of both biosensors toward potential interferents, typically present in fermentation samples, was investigated. The potential for practical application in complex media was successfully demonstrated in spiked sludge samples collected from three different biogas plants. Thereby, the results obtained by both of the biosensors were in good agreement to the applied reference measurements by photometry and gas chromatography, respectively. The proposed hybrid biosensor system was also used for long-term monitoring of a lab-scale biogas reactor (0.01 m³) for a period of 2 months. In combination with typically monitored parameters, such as gas quality, pH and FOS/TAC (volatile organic acids/total anorganic carbonate), the amperometric measurements of OA and VFA concentration could enhance the understanding of ongoing fermentation processes. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2018.00284 IS - 6 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Svaneborg, Carsten A1 - Karimi-Varzaneh, Hossein Ali A1 - Hojdis, Nils A1 - Fleck, Franz A1 - Everaers, Ralf T1 - Kremer-Grest Models for Universal Properties of Specific Common Polymer Species JF - Soft Condensed Matter N2 - The Kremer-Grest (KG) bead-spring model is a near standard in Molecular Dynamic simulations of generic polymer properties. It owes its popularity to its computational efficiency, rather than its ability to represent specific polymer species and conditions. Here we investigate how to adapt the model to match the universal properties of a wide range of chemical polymers species. For this purpose we vary a single parameter originally introduced by Faller and Müller-Plathe, the chain stiffness. Examples include polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, cis-polyisoprene, polydimethylsiloxane, polyethyleneoxide and styrene-butadiene rubber. We do this by matching the number of Kuhn segments per chain and the number of Kuhn segments per cubic Kuhn volume for the polymer species and for the Kremer-Grest model. We also derive mapping relations for converting KG model units back to physical units, in particular we obtain the entanglement time for the KG model as function of stiffness allowing for a time mapping. To test these relations, we generate large equilibrated well entangled polymer melts, and measure the entanglement moduli using a static primitive-path analysis of the entangled melt structure as well as by simulations of step-strain deformation of the model melts. The obtained moduli for our model polymer melts are in good agreement with the experimentally expected moduli. Y1 - 2018 IS - 1606.05008 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Molinnus, Denise A1 - Muschallik, Lukas A1 - Gonzalez, Laura Osorio A1 - Bongaerts, Johannes A1 - Wagner, Torsten A1 - Selmer, Thorsten A1 - Siegert, Petra A1 - Keusgen, Michael A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef T1 - Development and characterization of a field-effect biosensor for the detection of acetoin JF - Biosensors and Bioelectronics N2 - 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. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2018.05.023 VL - 115 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Teumer, T. A1 - Capitain, C. A1 - Ross-Jones, J. A1 - Tippkötter, Nils A1 - Rädle, M. A1 - Methner, F.-J. T1 - In-line Haze Monitoring Using a Spectrally Resolved Back Scattering Sensor JF - BrewingScience N2 - In the present work an optical sensor in combination with a spectrally resolved detection device for in-line particle-size-monitoring for quality control in beer production is presented. The principle relies on the size and wavelength dependent backscatter of growing particles in fluids. Measured interference structures of backscattered light are compared with calculated theoretical values, based on Mie-Theory, and fitted with a linear least square method to obtain particle size distributions. For this purpose, a broadband light source in combination with a process-CCD-spectrometer (charge ? coupled device spectrometer) and process adapted fiber optics are used. The goal is the development of an easy and flexible measurement device for in-line-monitoring of particle size. The presented device can be directly installed in product fill tubes or vessels, follows CIP- (cleaning in place) and removes the need of sample taking. A proof of concept and preliminary results, measuring protein precipitation, are presented. Y1 - 2018 SN - 1613-2041 VL - 71 IS - 5/6 SP - 49 EP - 55 PB - Fachverlag Hans Carl CY - Nürnberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aboulnaga, Elhussiny A. A1 - Zou, Huibin A1 - Selmer, Thorsten A1 - Xian, Mo T1 - Development of a plasmid-based, tunable, tolC-derived expression system for application in Cupriavidus necator H16 JF - Journal of Biotechnology N2 - 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. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2018.03.007 SN - 0168-1656 VL - 274 SP - 15 EP - 27 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Engel, Mareike A1 - Bayer, Hendrik A1 - Holtmann, Dirk A1 - Tippkötter, Nils A1 - Ulber, Roland T1 - Flavin secretion of Clostridium acetobutylicum in a bioelectrochemical system - Is an iron limitation involved? JF - Bioelectrochemistry Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioelechem.2019.05.014 SN - 1567-5394 IS - In Press, Accepted Manuscript PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Engel, Mareike A1 - Gemünde, Andre A1 - Holtmann, Dirk A1 - Müller-Renno, Christine A1 - Ziegler, Christiane A1 - Tippkötter, Nils A1 - Ulber, Roland T1 - Clostridium acetobutylicum’s connecting world: cell appendage formation in bioelectrochemical systems JF - ChemElectroChem N2 - Bacterial cell appendix formation supports cell-cell interaction, cell adhesion and cell movement. Additionally, in bioelectrochemical systems (BES), cell appendages have been shown to participate in extracellular electron transfer. In this work, the cell appendix formation of Clostridium acetobutylicum in biofilms of a BES are imaged and compared with conventional biofilms. Under all observed conditions, the cells possess filamentous appendages with a higher number and density in the BES. Differences in the amount of extracellular polymeric substance in the biofilms of the electrodes lead to the conclusion that the cathode can be used as electron donor and the anode as electron acceptor by C. acetobutylicum. When using conductive atomic force microscopy, a current response of about 15 nA is found for the cell appendages from the BES. This is the first report of conductivity for clostridial cell appendices and represents the basis for further studies on their role for biofilm formation and electron transfer. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/celc.201901656 SN - 2196-0216 VL - 7 IS - 2 SP - 414 EP - 420 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Delaittre, Guillaume T1 - Telechelic Poly(2-Oxazoline)s JF - European Polymer Journal Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2019.109281 SN - 0014-3057 IS - In Press, Journal Pre-proof, 109281 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schiffels, Johannes A1 - Selmer, Thorsten T1 - Combinatorial assembly of ferredoxin‐linked modules in Escherichia coli yields a testing platform for Rnf‐complexes JF - Biotechnology and Bioengineering Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.27079 IS - accepted article SP - 1 EP - 36 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schiedermeier, Maximilian A1 - Rettner, Cornelius A1 - Heilmann, Marcel A1 - Schneider, Felix A1 - Marz, Martin T1 - Interference of automotive HV-DC-systems by traction voltage-source-inverters (VSI) JF - 2019 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference (ITEC-India) Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/ITEC-India48457.2019.ITECINDIA2019-37 SP - 1 EP - 6 PB - IEEE CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kapelyukh, Yury A1 - Henderson, Colin James A1 - Scheer, Nico A1 - Rode, Anja A1 - Wolf, Charles Roland T1 - Defining the contribution of CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 to drug metabolism using humanized CYP1A1/1A2 and Cyp1a1/Cyp1a2 KO mice JF - Drug Metabolism and Disposition Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.119.087718 IS - Early view ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scheer, Nico A1 - Henderson, Colin James A1 - Kapelyukh, Yury A1 - Rode, Anja A1 - Mclaren, Aileen W. A1 - MacLeod, Alastair Kenneth A1 - Lin, De A1 - Wright, Jayne A1 - Stanley, Lesley A1 - Wolf, C. Roland T1 - An extensively humanised mouse model to predict pathways of drug disposition, drug/drug interactions, and to facilitate the design of clinical trials JF - Drug Metabolism and Disposition Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1124/dmd.119.086397 IS - Early view ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Muschallik, Lukas A1 - Kipp, Carina Ronja A1 - Recker, Inga A1 - Bongaerts, Johannes A1 - Pohl, Martina A1 - Gelissen, Melanie A1 - Schöning, Michael Josef A1 - Selmer, Thorsten A1 - Siegert, Petra T1 - Synthesis of α-hydroxy ketones and vicinal diols with the Bacillus licheniformis DSM 13T butane-2, 3-diol dehydrogenase JF - Journal of Biotechnology N2 - The enantioselective synthesis of α-hydroxy ketones and vicinal diols is an intriguing field because of the broad applicability of these molecules. Although, butandiol dehydrogenases are known to play a key role in the production of 2,3-butandiol, their potential as biocatalysts is still not well studied. Here, we investigate the biocatalytic properties of the meso-butanediol dehydrogenase from Bacillus licheniformis DSM 13T (BlBDH). The encoding gene was cloned with an N-terminal StrepII-tag and recombinantly overexpressed in E. coli. BlBDH is highly active towards several non-physiological diketones and α-hydroxyketones with varying aliphatic chain lengths or even containing phenyl moieties. By adjusting the reaction parameters in biotransformations the formation of either the α-hydroxyketone intermediate or the diol can be controlled. Y1 - 2020 SN - 2590-1559 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2020.09.016 VL - 202 IS - Vol. 324 SP - 61 EP - 70 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Capitain, Charlotte A1 - Ross-Jones, Jesse A1 - Möhring, Sophie A1 - Tippkötter, Nils T1 - Differential scanning calorimetry for quantification of polymer biodegradability in compost JF - International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation N2 - The objective of this study is the establishment of a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) based method for online analysis of the biodegradation of polymers in complex environments. Structural changes during biodegradation, such as an increase in brittleness or crystallinity, can be detected by carefully observing characteristic changes in DSC profiles. Until now, DSC profiles have not been used to draw quantitative conclusions about biodegradation. A new method is presented for quantifying the biodegradation using DSC data, whereby the results were validated using two reference methods. The proposed method is applied to evaluate the biodegradation of three polymeric biomaterials: polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), cellulose acetate (CA) and Organosolv lignin. The method is suitable for the precise quantification of the biodegradability of PHB. For CA and lignin, conclusions regarding their biodegradation can be drawn with lower resolutions. The proposed method is also able to quantify the biodegradation of blends or composite materials, which differentiates it from commonly used degradation detection methods. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2020.104914 SN - 0964-8305 VL - 149 SP - In Press, Article number 104914 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -