Microbial carboxylases and decarboxylases play important roles in the global carbon cycle and have many potential applications in biocatalysis and synthetic biology. The widespread family of reversible UbiD-like (de)carboxylases are of particular interest because these enzymes are active against a diverse range of substrates. Several characterized UbiD enzymes have been shown to catalyze reversible (de)carboxylation of aromatic and aliphatic substrates using the recently discovered prenylated FMN (prFMN) cofactor, which is produced by the associated family of UbiX FMN prenyltransferases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnzyme-based depolymerization of plastics, including polyesters, has emerged as a promising approach for plastic waste recycling and reducing environmental plastic pollution. Currently, most of the known polyester-degrading enzymes are represented by a few natural and engineered PETases from the carboxylesterase family V. To identify novel groups of polyesterases, we selected 25 proteins from the carboxylesterase family IV, which share 22 % to 80 % sequence identity to the metagenomic thermophilic polyesterase IS12.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe most abundant clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) type I systems employ a multisubunit RNA-protein effector complex (Cascade), with varying protein composition and activity. The Escherichia coli Cascade complex consists of 11 protein subunits and functions as an effector through CRISPR RNA (crRNA) binding, protospacer adjacent motif (PAM)-specific double-stranded DNA targeting, R-loop formation, and Cas3 helicase-nuclease recruitment for target DNA cleavage. Here, we present a biochemical reconstruction of the E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present first experimental results showing that single dust particles on a dielectric surface are mobilized and lofted due to exposure to an electron beam or ultraviolet radiation. It is shown that secondary electrons and/or photoelectrons emitted from a substrate surface are recollected on the surfaces within microcavities between a dust particle and the substrate surface, resulting in large negative charges and subsequently causing mobilization of the dust particle due to Coulomb repulsion. Dust mobility tested against the electron beam energy is shown to follow the secondary electron yield curve of the substrate surface in both the experimental and modeling results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFamily GH1 glycosyl hydrolases are ubiquitous in prokaryotes and eukaryotes and are utilized in numerous industrial applications, including bioconversion of lignocelluloses. In this study, hyperacidophilic archaeon Cuniculiplasma divulgatum (S5T=JCM 30642T) was explored as a source of novel carbohydrate-active enzymes. The genome of C.
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