Publications by authors named "Mikiko Tsudome"

Cells from strain GE09, isolated from an artificially immersed nanofibrous cellulose plate in the deep sea, were Gram-stain-negative, motile, aerobic cells that could grow with cellulose as their only nutrient. Strain GE09 was placed among members of , in the , with Z1, a marine degrader of agar, as the closest relative (97.4 % similarity).

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Assaying enzymatic degradation of water-insoluble substrates like cellulose is challenging because only the substrate surface is accessible to the enzymes resulting in low reaction rates. Here, we describe a protocol for surface pitting observation technology (SPOT), an ultra-sensitive quantitative assay for analyzing enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. We describe the use of a porous substrate to accelerate the hydrolysis rate of cellulose.

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Substrates for enzymatic reactions, such as cellulose and chitin, are often insoluble in water. The enzymatic degradation of these abundant organic polymers plays a dominant role in the global carbon cycle and has tremendous technological importance in the production of bio-based chemicals. In addition, biodegradation of plastics is gaining wide attention.

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Advances in spatial resolution and detection sensitivity of scientific instrumentation make it possible to apply small reactors for biological and chemical research. To meet the demand for high-performance microreactors, we developed a femtoliter droplet array (FemDA) device and exemplified its application in massively parallel cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) reactions. Over one million uniform droplets were readily generated within a finger-sized area using a two-step oil-sealing protocol.

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Inkjet printing is of growing interest due to the attractive technologies for surface patterning. During the printing process, the solutes are transported to the droplet periphery and form a ring-like deposit, which disturbs the fabrication of high-resolution patterns. Thus, controlling the uniformity of particle coating is crucial in the advanced and extensive applications.

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It is well known that prokaryotic life can withstand extremes of temperature, pH, pressure, and radiation. Little is known about the proliferation of prokaryotic life under conditions of hyperacceleration attributable to extreme gravity, however. We found that living organisms can be surprisingly proliferative during hyperacceleration.

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Solidified media that employ a porous matrix of nanofibrous cellulose are described. The physicochemical stability of the porous structure allows the development of solidified media that can support the growth of extremophiles, such as acidophilic Acidiphilium, alkaliphilic Bacillus, thermophilic Geobacillus and Thermus, alkalithermophilic Bacillus, and acidothermophilic Sulfolobus microbes. The cellulose-supported media have several advantages over agar- and gellan gum-derived media, including versatility and stability.

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Porous plates made of nanofibrous crystalline cellulose were prepared, and used as a solid support for microbial cultures. Representative mesophilic microorganisms (, , and ) grew on the cellulose plate, just as well as they did on the conventional agar plate. optical microscopic examination revealed that the cellulose plate remained unchanged up to 280 °C at a constant pressure of 25 MPa.

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Flotillins are markers of lipid microdomains, and have emerged as a key concept in cellular biology. However, it remains unclear whether flotillin proteins exist in prokaryotic cells. The amino acid sequence of the BH3500 protein from Bacillus halodurans was 30% identical to that of flotillin-1.

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