Wiley
Refine
Year of publication
Keywords
- Bacillaceae (1)
- Biotechnological application (1)
- Broad pH spectrum (1)
- Subtilases (1)
- Subtilisin (1)
- elastomers (1)
- mechanical properties (1)
- rubber (1)
- supramolecular structures (1)
- theory and modeling (1)
Institute
- Fachbereich Chemie und Biotechnologie (30) (remove)
Subtilisins from microbial sources, especially from the Bacillaceae family, are of particular interest for biotechnological applications and serve the currently growing enzyme market as efficient and novel biocatalysts. Biotechnological applications include use in detergents, cosmetics, leather processing, wastewater treatment and pharmaceuticals. To identify a possible candidate for the enzyme market, here we cloned the gene of the subtilisin SPFA from Fictibacillus arsenicus DSM 15822ᵀ (obtained through a data mining-based search) and expressed it in Bacillus subtilis DB104. After production and purification, the protease showed a molecular mass of 27.57 kDa and a pI of 5.8. SPFA displayed hydrolytic activity at a temperature optimum of 80 °C and a very broad pH optimum between 8.5 and 11.5, with high activity up to pH 12.5. SPFA displayed no NaCl dependence but a high NaCl tolerance, with decreasing activity up to concentrations of 5 m NaCl. The stability enhanced with increasing NaCl concentration. Based on its substrate preference for 10 synthetic peptide 4-nitroanilide substrates with three or four amino acids and its phylogenetic classification, SPFA can be assigned to the subgroup of true subtilisins. Moreover, SPFA exhibited high tolerance to 5% (w/v) SDS and 5% H₂O₂ (v/v). The biochemical properties of SPFA, especially its tolerance of remarkably high pH, SDS and H₂O₂, suggest it has potential for biotechnological applications.
Molecular Modeling Approach to the Prediction of Mechanical Properties of Silica-Reinforced Rubbers
(2014)
Recently, we have suggested a nanomechanical model for dissipative loss in filled elastomer networks in the context of the Payne effect. The mechanism is based on a total interfiller particle force exhibiting an intermittent loop, due to the combination of short-range repulsion and dispersion forces with a long-range elastic attraction. The sum of these forces leads, under external strain, to a spontaneous instability of “bonds” between the aggregates in a filler network and attendant energy dissipation. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations to obtain chemically realistic forces between surface modified silica particles. The latter are combined with the above model to estimate the loss modulus and the low strain storage modulus in elastomers containing the aforementioned filler-compatibilizer systems. The model is compared to experimental dynamic moduli of silica filled rubbers. We find good agreement between the model predictions and the experiments as function of the compatibilizer's molecular structure and its bulk concentration.
Durch die Kombination von Oligonukleotid-Liganden (Aptameren) hoher Bindungsaffinitäten
mit hochselektiv abtrennbaren magnetisierbaren Mikropartikeln
wird eine einstufige Separation von Zielmolekülen aus mikrobiologischen
Produktionsansätzen möglich. Die Aptamere werden hierfür reversibel
auf den Partikeloberflächen gebunden und für die spezifische Isolierung von
Bioprodukten eingesetzt. Die Abtrennung der beladenen Partikel erfolgt
durch einen neuen Rotor-Stator-Separator mit Hochgradient-Magnetfeld.
Bei der Stärkeproduktion entstehendes Kartoffelfruchtwasser besitzt mit 2 – 3 % einen hohen Anteil an ernährungsphysiologisch interessanten Proteinen. Die industrielle Gewinnung dieser Proteinfracht liefert jedoch lediglich ein minderwertiges, denaturiertes Produkt. Mit Hilfe der Membranadsorber-Technologie lassen sich aus Kartoffelfruchtwasser unter milden Reaktionsbedingungen native bioaktive Proteinfraktionen gewinnen. Geeignete Trennbedingungen wurden im Labormaßstab entwickelt und in den Technikumsmaßstab übertragen. An Anionenaustauscher-Membranadsorbern mit einer Membranfläche von 10 000 cm2 wurde eine Patatinhaltige Fraktion (44 kDa) mit Bindungskapazitäten von 0,37 mg/cm2 isoliert. Eine niedermolekulare Proteinfraktion mit Protease-Inhibitoren konnte durch Kationenaustauscher-Membranadsorber mit Bindungskapazitäten von 1,00 mg/cm2 gewonnen werden. Sie ist für verschiedenste Applikationen in der pharmazeutischen, kosmetischen und der Nahrungsmittelindustrie interessant z. B. für Appetitzügler oder muskelaufbauende Proteinpräparate. Der Aufreinigung der nativen Proteinfraktionen durch Ultra-/Diafiltration schließt sich die Konfektionierung durch Sprühtrocknung an. Die bioanalytische Charakterisierung der Produkte belegt die Reinheit und die enzymatische Aktivität sowie die Abreicherung von Störkomponenten wie Glykoalkaloide und Polyphenoloxidasen.
Paracoccus denitrificans for the effluent recycling during continuous denitrification of liquid food
(2010)
Nitrate is an undesirable component of several foods. A typical case of contamination with high nitrate contents is whey concentrate, containing nitrate in concentrations up to 25 l. The microbiological removal of nitrate by Paracoccus denitrificans under formation of harmless nitrogen in combination with a cell retention reactor is described here. Focus lies on the resource-conserving design of a microbal denitrification process. Two methods are compared. The application of polyvinyl alcohol-immobilized cells, which can be applied several times in whey feed, is compared with the implementation of a two step denitrification system. First, the whey concentrate's nitrate is removed by ion exchange and subsequently the eluent regenerated by microorganisms under their retention by crossflow filtration. Nitrite and nitrate concentrations were determined by reflectometric color measurement with a commercially available Reflectoquant® device. Correction factors for these media had to be determined. During the pilot development, bioreactors from 4 to 250 mg·L-1 and crossflow units with membrane areas from 0.02 to 0.80 m2 were examined. Based on the results of the pilot plants, a scaling for the exemplary process of denitrifying 1,000 tons per day is discussed.
Grass silage provides a great potential as renewable feedstock. Two fractions of the grass silage, a press juice and the fiber fraction, were evaluated for their possible use for bioethanol production. Direct production of ethanol from press juice is not possible due to high concentrations of organic acids. For the fiber fraction, alkaline peroxide or enzymatic pretreatment was used, which removes the phenolic acids in the cell wall. In this study, we demonstrate the possibility to integrate the enzymatic pretreatment with a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation to achieve ethanol production from grass silage in a one-process step. Achieved yields were about 53 g ethanol per kg silage with the alkaline peroxide pretreatment and 91 g/kg with the enzymatic pretreatment at concentrations of 8.5 and 14.6 g/L, respectively. Furthermore, it was shown that additional supplementation of the fermentation medium with vitamins, trace elements and nutrient salts is not necessary when the press juice is directly used in the fermentation step.
Biotechnological downstream processing is usually an elaborate procedure, requiring a multitude of unit operations to isolate the target component. Besides the disadvantageous space-time yield, the risks of cross-contaminations and product loss grow fast with the complexity of the isolation procedure. A significant reduction of unit operations can be achieved by application of magnetic particles, especially if these are functionalized with affinity ligands. As magnetic susceptible materials are highly uncommon in biotechnological processes, target binding and selective separation of such particles from fermentation or reactions broths can be done in a single step. Since the magnetizable particles can be produced from iron salts and low priced polymers, a single-use implementation of these systems is highly conceivable. In this article, the principles of magnetizable particles, their synthesis and functionalization are explained. Furthermore, applications in the area of reaction engineering, microfluidics and downstream processing are discussed focusing on established single-use technologies and development potential.
Commercial materials with polyvinylpolypyrrolidone and polymeric amberlites (XAD7HP, XAD16) are commonly used for the adsorptive downstream processing of polyphenols from renewable resources. In this study, beta-zeolite-based adsorbent systems were examined, and their properties were compared to organic resins. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted with synthetic solutions of major polyphenols. Adsorption isotherms and desorption characteristics of individual adsorbent were determined based on these results. Maximum adsorption capacities were calculated using the Langmuir model. For example, the zeolites had capacities up to 203.2 mg/g for ferulic acid. To extend these results to a complex system, additional experiments were performed on rapeseed meal and wheat seed extracts as representative renewable resources. HPLC analysis showed that with 7.5% w/v, which is regarded as the optimum amount of zeolites, zeolites A and B could bind 100% of the major polyphenols as well as release polyphenols at high yields. Additionally, regeneration experiments were performed with isopropyl alcohol at 99°C to evaluate how zeolites regenerate under mild conditions. The results showed only a negligible loss of adsorption capacity and no loss of desorption capacity. In summary, it was concluded that beta-zeolites were promising adsorbents for developing new processes to isolate polyphenols from renewable resources.