Redox and Energy Homeostasis Enabled by Photocatalytic Material-Microbial Interfaces.

Material-microbial interfaces offer a promising future in sustainable and efficient chemical-energy conversions, yet the impacts of these artificial interfaces on microbial metabolisms remain unclear. Here, we conducted detailed proteomic and metabolomic analyses to study the regulations of microbial metabolism induced by the photocatalytic material-microbial interfaces, especially the intracellular redox and energy homeostasis, which are vital for sustaining cell activity. First, we learned that the materials have a heavier weight in perturbing microbial metabolism and inducing distinctive biological pathways, like the expression of the metal-resisting system, than light stimulations.

Unexpected metabolic rewiring of CO fixation in H-mediated materials-biology hybrids.

A hybrid approach combining water-splitting electrochemistry and H-oxidizing, CO-fixing microorganisms offers a viable solution for producing value-added chemicals from sunlight, water, and air. The classic wisdom without thorough examination to date assumes that the electrochemistry in such a H-mediated process is innocent of altering microbial behavior. Here, we report unexpected metabolic rewiring induced by water-splitting electrochemistry in H-oxidizing acetogenic bacterium that challenges such a classic view.

Maximizing light-driven CO and N fixation efficiency in quantum dot-bacteria hybrids.

Integrating light-harvesting materials with microbial biochemistry is a viable approach to produce chemicals with high efficiency from the air, water, and sunlight. Yet it remains unclear whether all absorbed photons in the materials can be transferred through the material-biology interface for solar-to-chemical production and whether the presence of materials beneficially affect the microbial metabolism. Here we report a microbe-semiconductor hybrid by interfacing CO/N-fixing bacterium with CdTe quantum dots for light-driven CO and N fixation with internal quantum efficiencies of 47.

Co-pigmentation of strawberry anthocyanins with phenolic compounds from rooibos.

Anthocyanin-rich strawberry model solutions were co-pigmented with rooibos phenolics to enhance color and heat stability. The addition of green and fermented rooibos extracts at pigment-to-co-pigment molar ratios of 1:10, 1:50, and 1:100 pelargonidin-3-glucoside equivalents: orientin equivalents induced hyper- and bathochromic shifts at room temperature and during thermal processing at 80 °C for an hour. Co-pigmentation effects on hyperchromic shift were up to 96%, and bathochromic shift reached 19 nm when adding flavonoid-rich fractions of green rooibos phenolics.

Integrative metabolic flux analysis reveals an indispensable dimension of phenotypes.

Complete understanding of a biological system requires quantitation of metabolic fluxes that reflect its dynamic state. Various analytical chemistry tools, enzyme-based probes, and microscopy enable flux measurement. However, any method alone falls short of comprehensive flux quantitation.

Light-Independent Biological Conversion of CO.

Sevcan Erşan is a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA. Previously, she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Hohenheim in Germany. She received her PhD in biotechnology from Yeditepe University, Turkey, and her bachelor's and master's degrees in food engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey.

Physicochemical characteristics and phytochemical profiles of yellow and red Physalis (Physalis alkekengi L. and P. pubescens L.) fruits cultivated in China.

Physicochemical characteristics and phytochemical profiles of red (Physalis alkekengi L., RP) and yellow (P. pubescens L.

Subcritical water extraction of phenolic and antioxidant constituents from pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) hulls.

Pistachio hulls, important by-products of pistachio processing, were extracted using an environmentally friendly process with subcritical water (SCW) at a pressure of 6.9 MPa in the range of 110 and 190 °C, and a flow rate of 4 ml/min. Detailed HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS analyses allowed the identification of 49 phenolic compounds in the SCW extracts.

Identification of Phenolic Compounds in Red and Green Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) Hulls (Exo- and Mesocarp) by HPLC-DAD-ESI-(HR)-MS(n).

Phenolic constituents of the nonlignified red and green pistachio hulls (exo- and mesocarp) were assessed by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS(n) as well as by HR-MS. A total of 66 compounds was identified in the respective aqueous methanolic extracts. Among them, gallic acid, monogalloyl glucoside, monogalloyl quinic acid, penta-O-galloyl-β-d-glucose, hexagalloyl hexose, quercetin 3-O-galactoside, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, quercetin 3-O-glucuronide, and (17:1)-, (13:0)-, and (13:1)-anacardic acids were detected at highest signal intensity.