Enzyme Technology

The US Patent and Trademark Office has granted an enzyme that improves the synthesis of biofuels from agricultural waste a patent to scientists from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in New Delhi.

They interfered with an enzyme that controls the fungus Penicillium funiculus (PF) metabolism.

By disrupting this carbon catabolite repression system, scientists could increase the production of enzymes that turn cellulose into sugar. This increased biofuel production.

Biofuels are produced from renewable resources and used in transportation, stationary appliances, portable equipment, and various other applications in place of and in combination with fossil fuels such as diesel, petrol, and heating oil.

Carbon catabolite repression

• A worldwide regulatory mechanism called carbon catabolite repression (CCR) limits the expression and activity of processes using secondary carbon sources when a preferred carbon source is present. This allows bacteria to consume carbon from various sources selectively
• A variety of processes in bacteria accomplishes CCR. In enteric bacteria like Escherichia coli, CCR occurs without transcription activation of secondary catabolic genes. Although transcription is repressed in Bacillus subtilis, CCR occurs in Firmicutes
• Other bacteria have less knowledge of the mechanisms that drive CCR. A protein binds to RNA and represses translation in pseudomonads. Actinobacteria are induced to produce CCR by a method unknown to scientists
• The global mechanisms that govern CCR are stacked with various operon-specific processes. Induction prevention can be accomplished by inhibiting transporters and catabolic enzymes and inactivating transcription factors
• The CCR often develops Virulence-specific activities in many pathogenic bacteria. Many of the agents that affect the global CCR pathway are non-virulent and can be used for live vaccination. Additionally, antimicrobial treatments targeting the regulatory proteins implicated in CCR are attractive in the future
• Mathematical models have been developed for CCR in E. coli. Studies have shown that minor parameters, like the number of proteins involved in CCR play a big role in the process. The CCR mechanisms involved in each gene system can also differ depending on whether they are global or operon-specific

Converting cellulose into sugars

As part of the two-step cellulose conversion process to glucose, Trichoderma reesei produces cellobiose from cellulose feedstock. Aspergillus terreus cellobiase converts the cellobiose from the first stage to glucose in the second stage.

By contacting cellulose with a compound that can catalytically cleave its ether bonds. The possible candidates include vitamins, porphyrins, flavins, pyridoxal-containing compounds, and substances with a ylide functional group. The cellulose could be carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), an acid and a base that reacts with cellulose to produce CMC.

The compounds that compounds include are vitamins (B1, B2, B6, or B12), phosphonium ylides, sulfonium ylides, sulfoxonium ylides, and carbonyl ylides, azomethine ylides, iminium ylides, and halonium ylides. Biofuels, fermentation, and other applications using free glucose can all be carried out.

Limited Availability of Enzyme and High Cost

• Several reasons have been cited for noncompliance with gluten-free diets. However, these haven’t been thoroughly explored. We wanted to find out what gluten-free products are available and how much they cost at different retailers
• A survey was conducted in 30 different stores across five different categories to determine the affordability and availability of 20 goods (both wheat-based and daily foods)
• In each store, up to 80 products were sampled (branded gluten-free, cheapest gluten-free, branded standard, cheapest standard) from a selection of 80 products
• In general, gluten-free items were not readily available in stores, with an average of just 8.2 of the 20 (41%) foods available. The availability of gluten-free products was higher in regular supermarkets (18/20, 90%), while budget supermarkets (1.8/20, 9%) and corner shops (1.8/20, 9%) offered virtually no gluten-free products (P 0.001)
• There were 76-518 per cent more expensive gluten-free wheat-based goods than their conventional counterparts (P 0.001). Gluten-free versions of common items have also been more expensive (ranging from 21-224 per cent)
• The US Patent and Trademark Office has granted a patent to scientists in New Delhi for a process that produces a cocktail of enzymes that increases the production of biofuels from agricultural waste