Publications by authors named "Mu-Rong Kao"

Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated exopolysaccharides from the bacterium Clostridium ventriculi, which were previously thought to be mainly cellulose, but were found to contain (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans.
  • Researchers used the enzyme lichenase to break down these exopolysaccharides, confirming the presence of (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans rather than cellulose.
  • Genomic analysis identified two glycosyltransferase genes (CvGT2-1 and CvGT2-2) that were shown to encode enzymes responsible for synthesizing (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucans in yeast experiments.
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  • Eliminating core fucose from Fc antibody glycoforms can increase the efficacy of therapeutic antibodies, particularly enhancing ADCC, but traditional fucosidases have limitations in effectiveness.
  • A newly identified α-l-fucosidase (fucA) from a bacterium shows high reactivity to specific fucose linkages while demonstrating robust stability and activity under various conditions.
  • Using fucA in glycoengineering of the antibody adalimumab achieved efficient removal of core fucose, leading to a more effective afucosylated form with improved binding to Fcγ receptor IIIa.
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Plant-based expression systems have emerged as promising avenues for the production of recombinant N-linked glycoproteins. This review offers insights into the evolution and progress of plant glycoengineering. It delves into the distinctive features of plant-derived N-glycans, the diverse range of plant hosts employed for glycoprotein synthesis, and the advancements in glycoengineering strategies aimed at generating glycoproteins with N-glycan structures akin to those produced in mammalian cell lines.

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Barley (1,3;1,4)-β-d-glucanase is believed to have evolved from an ancestral monocotyledon (1,3)-β-d-glucanase, enabling the hydrolysis of (1,3;1,4)-β-d-glucans in the cell walls of leaves and germinating grains. In the present study, we investigated the substrate specificities of variants of the barley enzymes (1,3;1,4)-β-d-glucan endohydrolase [(1,3;1,4)-β-d-glucanase] isoenzyme EII (EII) and (1,3)-β-d-glucan endohydrolase [(1,3)-β-d-glucanase] isoenzyme GII (GII) obtained by protein segment hybridization and site-directed mutagenesis. Using protein segment hybridization, we obtained three variants of EII in which the substrate specificity was that of a (1,3)-β-d-glucanase and one variant that hydrolyzed both (1,3)-β-d-glucans and (1,3;1,4)-β-d-glucans; the wild-type enzyme hydrolyzed only (1,3;1,4)-β-d-glucans.

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Article Synopsis
  • Callose is a crucial carbohydrate polymer for plant growth and development, and recent scientific advancements have improved our understanding of how it is synthesized.
  • New research aims to clarify the components and mechanisms of callose synthase, focusing on both short-term and long-term objectives, such as defining the roles of subunits and developing recombinant synthases.
  • The review discusses the molecular processes involved in callose biosynthesis, highlighting the importance of regulatory elements and the assembly of synthase machinery.
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  • Hirudins are natural proteins that serve as anticoagulants by directly blocking thrombin, an important factor in blood coagulation.
  • They mainly inhibit thrombin through interactions at both its active and regulatory sites, with sulfate groups on certain amino acids enhancing their binding.
  • Research on synthesized hirudin peptides showed that adding sulfotyrosine or more negatively charged amino acids didn't significantly improve thrombin inhibition, even though one peptide showed better binding to thrombin.
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(1,3;1,4)-β-D-Glucans are widely distributed in the cell walls of grasses (family Poaceae) and closely related families, as well as some other vascular plants. Additionally, they have been found in other organisms, including fungi, lichens, brown algae, charophycean green algae, and the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti. Only three members of the Cellulose Synthase-Like (CSL) genes in the families CSLF, CSLH, and CSLJ are implicated in (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucan biosynthesis in grasses.

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The xyloglucans of all aquatic Araceae species examined had unusual structures compared with those of other non-commelinid monocotyledon families previously examined. The aquatic Araceae species Lemna minor was earlier shown to have xyloglucans with a different structure from the fucogalactoxyloglucans of other non-commelinid monocotyledons. We investigated 26 Araceae species (including L.

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Polygonatum odoratum is a perennial rhizomatous medicinal plant and different plant parts have been used in the treatment of various ailments. Herein, we have investigated the structural compositions of rhizome, leaf, and stem cell walls. We found 30-44% of polysaccharides in these wall preparations were cyclohexanediaminetetraacetic acid (CDTA) extractable, the proportion of heteromannans (HMs) in the rhizome is nearly three-fold compared to that of the leave and stem.

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To transform cellulose from biomass into fermentable sugars for biofuel production requires efficient enzymatic degradation of cellulosic feedstocks. The recently discovered family of oxidative enzymes, lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO), has a high potential for industrial biorefinery, but its energy efficiency and scalability still have room for improvement. Hematite (α-FeO) can act as a photocatalyst by providing electrons to LPMO-catalyzed reactions, is low cost, and is found abundantly on the Earth's surface.

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Background: β-1,4-endoglucanase (EG) is one of the three types of cellulases used in cellulose saccharification during lignocellulosic biofuel/biomaterial production. GsCelA is an EG secreted by the thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus sp. 70PC53 isolated from rice straw compost in southern Taiwan.

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Background: β-Glucosidases are essential for cellulose hydrolysis by catalyzing the final cellulolytic degradation of cello-oligomers and cellobiose to glucose. D2-BGL is a fungal glycoside hydrolase family 3 (GH3) β-glucosidase isolated from Chaetomella raphigera with high substrate affinity, and is an efficient β-glucosidase supplement to Trichoderma reesei cellulase mixtures for the saccharification of lignocellulosic biomass.

Results: We have carried out error-prone PCR to further increase catalytic efficiency of wild-type (WT) D2-BGL.

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Background: Lignocellulolytic enzymes are essential for agricultural waste disposal and production of renewable bioenergy. Many commercialized cellulase mixtures have been developed, mostly from saprophytic or endophytic fungal species. The cost of complete cellulose digestion is considerable because a wide range of cellulolytic enzymes is needed.

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Background: To produce second-generation biofuels, enzymatic catalysis is required to convert cellulose from lignocellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars. β-Glucosidases finalize the process by hydrolyzing cellobiose into glucose, so the efficiency of cellulose hydrolysis largely depends on the quantity and quality of these enzymes used during saccharification. Accordingly, to reduce biofuel production costs, new microbial strains are needed that can produce highly efficient enzymes on a large scale.

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Extraintestinal pathogenic (ExPEC) Escherichia coli strains of serotype O18:K1:H7 are mainly responsible for neonatal meningitis and sepsis in humans and belong to a limited number of closely related clones. The same serotype is also frequently isolated from the extraintestinal lesions of colibacillosis in poultry, but it is not well known to what extent human and avian strains of this particular serotype are related. Twenty-two ExPEC isolates of human origin and 33 isolates of avian origin were compared on the basis of their virulence determinants, lethality for chicks, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns, and classification in the main phylogenetic groups.

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