Author Correction: Predictive evolution of metabolic phenotypes using model-designed environments.

[Image: see text]

Chemical-genomic profiling identifies genes that protect yeast from aluminium, gallium, and indium toxicity.

Aluminium, gallium, and indium are group 13 metals with similar chemical and physical properties. While aluminium is one of the most abundant elements in the Earth's crust, gallium and indium are present only in trace amounts. However, the increased use of the latter metals in novel technologies may result in increased human and environmental exposure.

A High-Throughput Method for Screening for Genes Controlling Bacterial Conjugation of Antibiotic Resistance.

The rapid horizontal transmission of antibiotic resistance genes on conjugative plasmids between bacterial host cells is a major cause of the accelerating antibiotic resistance crisis. There are currently no experimental platforms for fast and cost-efficient screening of genetic effects on antibiotic resistance transmission by conjugation, which prevents understanding and targeting conjugation. We introduce a novel experimental framework to screen for conjugation-based horizontal transmission of antibiotic resistance between >60,000 pairs of cell populations in parallel.

Study on montmorillonite/insulin/TiO hybrid nanocomposite as a new oral drug-delivery system.

This study was conducted in two main stages. In the first stage, drug-loaded montmorillonite nanocomposites were prepared by intercalation of insulin into the montmorillonite layers in acidic deionized (DI) water. In the second stage, to increase the release of insulin from the prepared nanocomposites they were coated with TiO, an inorganic porous coating, by using titanium (IV) butoxide, as precursor.

Biofuels. Altered sterol composition renders yeast thermotolerant.

Ethanol production for use as a biofuel is mainly achieved through simultaneous saccharification and fermentation by yeast. Operating at ≥40°C would be beneficial in terms of increasing efficiency of the process and reducing costs, but yeast does not grow efficiently at those temperatures. We used adaptive laboratory evolution to select yeast strains with improved growth and ethanol production at ≥40°C.

Production of 2-butanol through meso-2,3-butanediol consumption in lactic acid bacteria.

2-Butanol has been an issue of industries in many areas, for example, biofuel production (as an advanced alternate fuel), fermented beverages, and food (as taste-altering component). Thus, its source of production, the biological pathway, and the enzymes involved are of high interest. In this study, 42 different isolates of lactic acid bacteria from nine different species were screened for their capability to consume meso-2,3-butanediol and produce 2-butanol.

2-Butanol and butanone production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae through combination of a B12 dependent dehydratase and a secondary alcohol dehydrogenase using a TEV-based expression system.

2-Butanol and its chemical precursor butanone (methyl ethyl ketone--MEK) are chemicals with potential uses as biofuels and biocommodity chemicals. In order to produce 2-butanol, we have demonstrated the utility of using a TEV-protease based expression system to achieve equimolar expression of the individual subunits of the two protein complexes involved in the B12-dependent dehydratase step (from the pdu-operon of Lactobacillus reuteri), which catalyze the conversion of meso-2,3-butanediol to butanone. We have furthermore identified a NADH dependent secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (Sadh from Gordonia sp.

Physiological adaptations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae evolved for improved butanol tolerance.

Background: Butanol is a chemical with potential uses as biofuel and solvent, which can be produced by microbial fermentation. However, the end product toxicity is one of the main obstacles for developing the production process irrespective of the choice of production organism. The long-term goal of the present project is to produce 2-butanol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.