l-amino acid ligase: A promising alternative for the biosynthesis of l-dipeptides.

Given their special action mechanisms and structural simplicity, -amino acid ligases (Lals) are considered to be desirable tools for the catalytic biosynthesis of dipeptides. Ywf E (BacD) was the first Lal identified and was shown to be involved in the biosynthesis of a potent antibacterial, bacilysin, since then, various novel Lals have been discovered. Each Lal has different substrate spectra and is capable of synthesizing different dipeptides.

Effect of xanthan gum on the prevention of intra-abdominal adhesion in rats.

Postoperative adhesions remain a significant concern following abdominal surgery. Polymer barriers are widely used to prevent adhesions, although none have been able to completely prevent adhesions in all situations. Therefore, it is still crucial to develop new products that are effective in a variety of surgical applications.

Role of foam drainage in producing protein aggregates in foam fractionation.

It is essential to obtain a clear understanding of the foam-induced protein aggregation to reduce the loss of protein functionality in foam fractionation. The major effort of this work is to explore the roles of foam drainage in protein aggregation in the entire process of foam fractionation with bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein. The results show that enhancing foam drainage increased the desorption of BSA molecules from the gas-liquid interface and the local concentration of desorbed molecules in foam.

[Enantioseparation of metalaxyl racemate by simulated moving bed chromatography].

Due to some advantages such as high precision, high efficiency and low consumption of organic solvents, chromatographic separation technique by simulated moving bed (SMB) has attracted considerable attention in the past decades. Herein, the enantioseparation of metalaxyl racemate on EnantioPak OD columns has been carried out by SMB chromatography with the mixture of hexane-ethanol (70 :30, v/v). The elution order of two metalaxyl enantiomers under current chromatographic conditions was determined by HPLC with the optical rotation detector.

Oral administration of heparin or heparosan increases the Lactobacillus population in gut microbiota of rats.

Heparin and heparosan have been confirmed to be effective blockers in inhibiting adhesion of pathogens in vitro. However, their effects on gut microbiota in vivo remain unknown. Here we have studied the effects of oral administration of heparin or heparosan on gut microbiota in rats by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE).