Low-coordinate bis-phosphine and monophosphine Ni(0) complexes: synthesis and reactivity in C-S cross-coupling.

Preformed Ni(0) complexes are rarely used as precatalysts in cross-coupling reactions, although they can incorporate catalytically active nickel directly into the reaction. In this work, we focus on the preparation and the catalytic application of low-coordinate Ni(0) complexes supported by bulky monophosphine ligands in C-S cross-coupling reactions. We have prepared two families of Ni(0) complexes, bis-phosphine aducts of the type [Ni(PRAr')] (Ar' = -terphenyl group) and monophosphine derivatives of the type [Ni(PRAr')(DVDS)] (DVDS = divinyltetramethyldisiloxane).

Tailoring the structural and physicochemical properties of rice straw cellulose-based cryogels by cell-mediated polyhydroxyalkanoate deposition.

This study presents a novel biotechnological approach for creating water vapor-resistant cryogels with improved integrity. Rice straw cellulose was transformed into nanofibrils through TEMPO-mediated oxidation and high-pressure homogenization. The resulting cryogels remained firm even when immersed in aqueous media, whose pores were used by live cell to deposit polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) particles inside them.

Hints from nature for a PHA circular economy: Carbon synthesis and sharing by Pseudomonas solani GK13.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a well-known group of biodegradable and biocompatible bioplastics that are synthesised and stored by microorganisms as carbon and energy reservoirs. Extracellular PHA depolymerases (ePhaZs), secreted by a limited range of microorganisms, are the main hydrolytic enzymes responsible for their environmental degradation. Pseudomonas sp.

3D Melt-Extrusion Printing of Medium Chain Length Polyhydroxyalkanoates and Their Application as Antibiotic-Free Antibacterial Scaffolds for Bone Regeneration.

In this work, we investigated, for the first time, the possibility of developing scaffolds for bone tissue engineering through three-dimensional (3D) melt-extrusion printing of medium chain length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA) (i.e., poly(3-hydroxyoctanoate--hydroxydecanoate--hydroxydodecanoate), P(3HO--3HD--3HDD)).

Controlling the expression of heterologous genes in Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus using synthetic biology strategies.

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100 is an obligate predatory bacterium that preys upon Gram-negative bacteria. It has been proposed to be applied as a "living antibiotic" in several fields such as agriculture or even medicine, since it is able to prey upon bacterial pathogens. Its interesting lifestyle makes this bacterium very attractive as a microbial chassis for co-culture systems including two partners.

Boosting hydrogen production in Rhodospirillum rubrum by syngas-driven photoheterotrophic adaptive evolution.

Rhodospirillum rubrum is a photosynthetic purple non-sulphur bacterium with great potential to be used for complex waste valorisation in biotechnological applications due to its metabolic versatility. This study investigates the production of hydrogen (H) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) by R. rubrum from syngas under photoheterotrophic conditions.

Can bioplastics always offer a truly sustainable alternative to fossil-based plastics?

Bioplastics, comprised of bio-based and/or biodegradable polymers, have the potential to play a crucial role in the transition towards a sustainable circular economy. The use of biodegradable polymers not only leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions but also might address the problem of plastic waste persisting in the environment, especially when removal is challenging. Nevertheless, biodegradable plastics should not be considered as substitutes for proper waste management practices, given that their biodegradability strongly depends on environmental conditions.

A model-driven approach to upcycling recalcitrant feedstocks in Pseudomonas putida by decoupling PHA production from nutrient limitation.

Bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) have emerged as promising eco-friendly alternatives to petroleum-based plastics since they are synthesized from renewable resources and offer exceptional properties. However, their production is limited to the stationary growth phase under nutrient-limited conditions, requiring customized strategies and costly two-phase bioprocesses. In this study, we tackle these challenges by employing a model-driven approach to reroute carbon flux and remove regulatory constraints using synthetic biology.

Exploring Rhodospirillum rubrum response to high doses of carbon monoxide under light and dark conditions.

Environmental concerns about residues and the traditional disposal methods are driving the search for more environmentally conscious processes, such as pyrolysis and gasification. Their main final product is synthesis gas (syngas) composed of CO, CO, H, and methane. Syngas can be converted into various products using CO-tolerant microorganisms.

A singular PpaA/AerR-like protein in rules beyond the boundaries of photosynthesis in response to the intracellular redox state.

vast metabolic versatility places it as a remarkable model bacterium and an excellent biotechnological chassis. The key component of photosynthesis (PS) studied in this work (HP1) stands out among the other members of PpaA/AerR anti-repressor family since it lacks the motif they all share: the cobalamin B-12 binding motif. Despite being reduced and poorly conserved, HP1 stills controls PS as the other members of the family, allowing a fast response to changes in the redox state of the cell.

Heterologous constitutive production of short-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates in KT2440: the involvement of IbpA inclusion body protein.

Designing cell factories for the production of novel polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) via smart metabolic engineering is key to obtain materials with tailored physicochemical properties. To this end, we used the model medium-chain-length-PHA producing bacterium, KT2440 as a chassis, which is characterized by its metabolic versatility and stress tolerance. Different PHA biosynthetic modules were assembled in expression plasmids using the Golden gate/MoClo modular assembly technique to implement an orthogonal short-chain-lengh-PHA (scl-PHA) switch in a "deaf" PHA mutant.

Production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)/poly(lactic acid) from industrial wastewater by wild-type Cupriavidus necator H16.

The massive production of urban and industrial wastes has created a clear need for alternative waste management processes. One of the more promising strategies is to use waste as raw material for the production of biopolymers such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). In this work, a lactate-enriched stream obtained by anaerobic digestion (AD) of wastewater (WW) from a candy production plant was used as a feedstock for PHA production in wild-type Cupriavidus necator H16.

Golden Standard: a complete standard, portable, and interoperative MoClo tool for model and non-model proteobacteria.

Modular cloning has become a benchmark technology in synthetic biology. However, a notable disparity exists between its remarkable development and the need for standardization to facilitate seamless interoperability among systems. The field is thus impeded by an overwhelming proliferation of organism-specific systems that frequently lack compatibility.

Nature-inspired material binding peptides with versatile polyester affinities and binding strengths.

Biodegradable polyesters, such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), are having a tremendous impact on biomedicine. However, these polymers lack functional moieties to impart functions like targeted delivery of molecules. Inspired by native GAPs, such as phasins and their polymer-binding and surfactant properties, we generated small material binding peptides (MBPs) for polyester surface functionalization using a rational approach based on amphiphilicity.

Broad-Scope Amination of Aryl Sulfamates Catalyzed by a Palladium Phosphine Complex.

Among phenol-derived electrophiles, aryl sulfamates are attractive substrates since they can be employed as directing groups for C-H functionalization prior to catalysis. However, their use in C-N coupling is limited only to Ni catalysis. Here, we describe a Pd-based catalyst with a broad scope for the amination of aryl sulfamates.

Enzybiotic-mediated antimicrobial functionalization of polyhydroxyalkanoates.

Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) present some ideal properties as biomedical nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery such as enhanced translocation through body barriers. Biopolymers, such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are gaining attention as nanocarrier biomaterials due to their inherent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and ability to be vehiculized through hydrophobic media, such as the lung surfactant (LS). Upon colonization of the lung alveoli, below the LS layer, , causes community-acquired pneumonia, a severe respiratory condition.

Aerobic-anaerobic transition boosts poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) synthesis in Rhodospirillum rubrum: the key role of carbon dioxide.

Background: Microbially produced bioplastics are specially promising materials since they can be naturally synthesized and degraded, making its end-of-life management more amenable to the environment. A prominent example of these new materials are polyhydroxyalkanoates. These polyesters serve manly as carbon and energy storage and increase the resistance to stress.

A study on Sr/Zn phytate complexes: structural properties and antimicrobial synergistic effects against Streptococcus mutans.

Phytic acid (PA) is an abundant natural plant component that exhibits a versatility of applications benefited from its chemical structure, standing out its use as food, packing and dental additive due to its antimicrobial properties. The capacity of PA to chelate ions is also well-established and the formation and thermodynamic properties of different metallic complexes has been described. However, research studies of these compounds in terms of chemistry and biological features are still demanded in order to extend the application scope of PA complexes.

Gaining control of bacterial cellulose colonization by polyhydroxyalkanoate-producing microorganisms to develop bioplasticized ultrathin films.

Synergistic methodological strategies based on the fields of microbial biotechnology and materials science open up an enormous range of possibilities for the sustainable production of advanced materials with predictable properties. This study shows how naturally produced polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) particles are introduced into bacterial cellulose (BC) driven by their bacterial producers. Thanks to an extensive knowledge of the internal structure of BC, it was possible to control the colonization process, i.

Strain-specific predation of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus on Pseudomonas aeruginosa with a higher range for cystic fibrosis than for bacteremia isolates.

This work aimed to evaluate the predatory activity of Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus 109J on clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa selected from well-characterized collections of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung colonization (n = 30) and bloodstream infections (BSI) (n = 48) including strains selected by genetic lineage (frequent and rare sequence types), antibiotic resistance phenotype (susceptible and multidrug-resistant isolates), and colony phenotype (mucoid and non-mucoid isolates). The intraspecies predation range (I-PR) was defined as the proportion of susceptible strains within the entire collection. In contrast, the predation efficiency (PE) is the ratio of viable prey cells remaining after predation compared to the initial inoculum.

Synthetic Control of Metabolic States in Pseudomonas putida by Tuning Polyhydroxyalkanoate Cycle.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polyesters produced by numerous microorganisms for energy and carbon storage. Simultaneous synthesis and degradation of PHA drives a dynamic cycle linked to the central carbon metabolism, which modulates numerous and diverse bacterial processes, such as stress endurance, pathogenesis, and persistence. Here, we analyze the role of the PHA cycle in conferring robustness to the model bacterium P.

When microbial biotechnology meets material engineering.

Bacterial biopolymers such as bacterial cellulose (BC), alginate or polyhydroxyalkanotes (PHAs) have aroused the interest of researchers in many fields, for instance biomedicine and packaging, due to their being biodegradable, biocompatible and renewable. Their properties can easily be tuned by means of microbial biotechnology strategies combined with materials science. This provides them with highly diverse properties, conferring them non-native features.

MIXed plastics biodegradation and UPcycling using microbial communities: EU Horizon 2020 project MIX-UP started January 2020.

This article introduces the EU Horizon 2020 research project MIX-UP, "Mixed plastics biodegradation and upcycling using microbial communities". The project focuses on changing the traditional linear value chain of plastics to a sustainable, biodegradable based one. Plastic mixtures contain five of the top six fossil-based recalcitrant plastics [polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PUR), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS)], along with upcoming bioplastics polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and polylactate (PLA) will be used as feedstock for microbial transformations.