Biochemical characterization of an esterase from Thermobifida fusca YX with acetyl xylan esterase activity.

Background: Esterases (EC 3.1.1.

Tributyltin degrading microbial enzymes: A promising remediation approach.

Brazil is one of the countries most impacted along the entire coastline by the presence of tributyltin (TBT), a biocide used in antifouling paints. Despite being banned since 2008, its use is still registered in the country, and it is possible to find recent inputs of this substance in places under the influence of shipyards, marinas, and fishing ports. In this study, a bacterium isolated from TBT-contaminated sediment from Santos and São Vicente Estuarine System (SESS) in Brazil, identified as Achromobacter sp.

The Patent Landscape of Polyhydroxyalkanoates Production by Algae and Cyanobacteria.

Background: As global awareness regarding climate change and environmental pollution outcomes arise, eco-friendly and negative emission technologies emerge.

Methods: In this scenario, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-accumulating microorganisms play an important role in the transition from the petrochemical-based non-biodegradable polymer to renewable, eco-friendly, and biocompatible materials. More specifically, CO can be converted to biopolymers through photosynthesis by cyanobacteria and algae, posing as a promising technology for renewable material, CO, and petroleum-dependence mitigations.

Copper mining bacteria: Converting toxic copper ions into a stable single-atom copper.

The chemical synthesis of monoatomic metallic copper is unfavorable and requires inert or reductive conditions and the use of toxic reagents. Here, we report the environmental extraction and conversion of CuSO ions into single-atom zero-valent copper (Cu) by a copper-resistant bacterium isolated from a copper mine in Brazil. Furthermore, the biosynthetic mechanism of Cu production is proposed via proteomics analysis.

Extracellular carotenoid production and fatty acids profile of Parachlorella kessleri under increased CO concentrations.

Large-scale cultivations of photoautotrophic microorganisms represent a very promising and potentially cost-effective alternative for climate change mitigation, when associated to the co-production of high value bioproducts, such as fatty acids and carotenoids, considering the growing demand for natural products. During microalgae cultivation, CO enrichment is a requirement to reach high productivities, although high CO levels are normally stressful to microalgae. On the other hand, cellular stress is a well reported strategy to induce carotenoid and fatty acids production.

Light excess stimulates Poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate yield in a mangrove-isolated strain of Synechocystis sp.

Poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a biodegradable biopolymer that may replace fossil-based plastics reducing its negative environmental impact. One highly sustainable strategy to produce these biopolymers is the exploitation of photosynthetic microorganisms that use sunlight and CO to produce biomass and subsequently, PHB. Exploring environmental biological diversity is a powerful tool to find resilient microorganisms potentially exploitable to produce bioproducts.

A rheological approach to identify efficient biopolymer producing bacteria.

This study investigates the relationship between collective motion and propulsion of bacterial consortia and their biopolymer production efficiency. Rheological tests were conducted for suspensions of two different methanotrophic bacterial consortia obtained after enrichment of sediment samples from mangrove sites in Brazil. We considered the linear viscoelasticity region and analyzed the values of storage and loss moduli as functions of days of cultivation, for different values of the volume fraction.

Biodegradation of diethyl-phthalate (DEP) by halotolerant bacteria isolated from an estuarine environment.

Phthalates are widely used as plasticizers in many industrial products due to their chemical properties that confer flexibility and durability to building materials, lubricants, solvents, insect repellents, clothing, cosmetics, being widely distributed in the environment. Besides persistent, they are also considered endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), causing a global concern about their release into the environment, once they can alter the reproductive and endocrine health of humans systems. Under natural conditions, photodegradation and hydrolysis rates of phthalates are often very slow; therefore, microbial degradation is a natural way to treat these pollutants.

Increased P3HB Accumulation Capacity of Methylorubrum sp. in Response to Discontinuous Methanol Addition.

An alternative for non-biodegradable oil-based plastics has been the focus of many researchers throughout the years. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are potential substitutes due to their biodegradable characteristic and diversity of monomers that allow different biopolymer compositions and physical-chemical properties suitable for a variety of applications. The most well-known biopolymer from this class, poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB), is already produced industrially, but its final price cannot compete with the oil-based plastics.

Isolation of Bisphenol A-Tolerating/degrading Shewanella haliotis Strain MH137742 from an Estuarine Environment.

The human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) occurs frequently. Once, this compound was one of the highest volume chemicals produced worldwide and used as a plasticizer in many products. However, even at low concentration, it can cause severe damage to the endocrine system because of its endocrine disruptor activity.

Analysis of copper response in Acinetobacter sp. by comparative proteomics.

Metal contamination exerts environmental pressure on several lifeforms. Since metals are non-biodegradable and recalcitrant, they accumulate in living beings and spread through the food chain. Thus, many life forms are affected by environmental metal contamination, such as plants and microorganisms.

MALDI-Biotyper as a tool to identify polymer producer bacteria.

The methylotrophs bacteria can use methane and methanol as carbon sources to produce biopolymers including the polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) a very promised substitute for the environment contaminant oil-derived polypropylene. This kind of bacteria can be very effective to help to decrease PHB price production and promote its use in substitution of several environment contaminant plastics. The search for methylotroph bacteria able to produce PHB is a very arduous job being necessary to grow all isolates and submit all of them to extraction processes and product characterization.

Rapid bacteria identification from environmental mining samples using MALDI-TOF MS analysis.

Copper mining has polluted soils and water, causing a reduction of the microbial diversity and a change in the structure of the resident bacterial communities. In this work, selective isolation combined with MALDI-TOF MS and the 16S rDNA method were used for characterizing cultivable bacterial communities from copper mining samples. The results revealed that MALDI-TOF MS analysis can be considered a reliable and fast tool for identifying copper-resistant bacteria from environmental samples at the genera level.

Phenol biodegradation by a microbial consortium: application of artificial neural network (ANN) modelling.

In this study, an effective microbial consortium for the biodegradation of phenol was grown under different operational conditions, and the effects of phosphate concentration (1.4 g L(-1), 2.8 g L(-1), 4.

Enzymatic profiling of tetanus and botulinum neurotoxins based on vesicle-associated-membrane protein derived fluorogenic substrates.

Botulinum (BoNT) and tetanus (TeNT) neurotoxins are bacterial zinc metalloproteases that cleave and inactivate cellular proteins essential for neurotransmitter release. There are seven serotypes of BoNT, while TeNT is found in one serotype. In order to characterize their enzymatic activities and to propose serotype-differentiation an enzymatic assay based on their metalloprotease activity was developed.

Analysis of secreted protein profile and enzymatic activities from Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Bordetella pertussis on production batch media using peptide quenched fluorescent substrates.

Proteases were identified and characterized from the culture supernatant of the C. diphtheriae and B. pertussis bacteria.

Biochemical and pharmacological aspects of two bradykinin-potentiating peptides obtained from tryptic hydrolysis of casein.

Peptides that display bradykinin-potentiating activity have been obtained from a number of distinct sources, such as snake venoms, fibrinogen, and casein. This paper describes the characterization of two new peptides generated by tryptic hydrolysis of casein. No homology was found with other known vasoactive or vasopotentiating peptides, especially by the lack of Ile-Pro-Pro motif.

Development of an operational synaptobrevin-based fluorescent substrate for tetanus neurotoxin quantification.

Tetanus neurotoxin (TTx), produced by Clostridium tetani, is a two-chain polypeptide with a heavy molecular chain (HC; 100 kDa) and a light molecular chain (LC; 50 kDa) linked by a disulphide bridge. The low-molecular-mass chain is classified as a zinc metalloprotease (EC 3.4.