Upconversion-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for the Biomimetic Detection of the Mycotoxin Cyclopiazonic Acid.

The neurotoxin α-cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) is an emerging mycotoxin produced as a secondary metabolite by several fungi species (., spp. and spp.

Developing a separation system to enable real-time recovery of acetone-butanol during fermentation.

Methods such as gas stripping and vacuum-assisted gas stripping (VAGS) result in significant removal of water from the bioreactor, thus requiring continuous water replenishment in the bioreactor. In this study, we developed a hydrophobic stainless steel meshes capable of selectively recovering concentrated ABE stream from the bioreactor during VAGS. Three stainless steel meshes with pore sizes of 180 µm, 300 µm, and 425 µm were made hydrophobic and oleophilic with zinc oxide (ZnO) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).

Protection of α-Tocopherol from UV-Induced Degradation by Encapsulation into Zein Nanoparticles.

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin with several forms. Among these, α-tocopherol (TOC) is preferentially absorbed and accumulated in humans. In the body, it acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals.

A Strain near Isogenic to the Sequenced FGSC7600 Strain for Producing Homozygous Multigene Mutants.

Fungal genetic systems ideally combine molecular tools for genome manipulation and a sexual reproduction system to create an informative assortment of combinations of genomic modifications. When employing the sexual cycle to generate multi-mutants, the background genotype variations in the parents may result in progeny phenotypic variation obscuring the effects of combined mutations. Here, to mitigate this variation in , we generated a strain that was near isogenic to the sequenced wild-type strain, FGSC7600.

Biophysical characterization of -glucan nanoparticles encapsulating feruloylated soy glycerides (FSG).

Water insoluble -glucans that were enzymatically synthesized using glucansucrase that was cloned from NRRL B-1118 were previously shown to form nanoparticles via high pressure homogenization. These -glucan nanoparticles were previously shown capable of encapsulating a small hydrophobic molecule. This work demonstrates that the same -glucan can be formed into nanoparticles that encapsulate feruloylated soy glycerides from modified soybean oil, a product of interest to the cosmetic and skin care industries because of the UV absorbance and antioxidant properties of the feruloyl moiety.

Discovery of new strains for furfural degradation using adaptive laboratory evolution in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In industrial production, the excessive discharge of furfural can pose harm to soil microorganisms, aquatic animals and plants, as well as humans. Therefore, it is crucial to develop efficient and cost-effective methods for degrading furfural in the environment. Currently, the use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for furfural degradation in water has shown effectiveness, but there is a need to explore improved efficiency and tolerance in S.

Potential Biocontrol Agents of Corn Tar Spot Disease Isolated from Overwintered Stromata.

Tar spot disease in corn, caused by , can reduce grain yield by limiting the total photosynthetic area in leaves. Stromata of are long-term survival structures that can germinate and release spores in a gelatinous matrix in the spring, which are thought to serve as inoculum in newly planted fields. In this study, overwintered stromata in corn leaves were collected in Central Illinois, surface sterilized, and caged on water agar medium.

Proof-of-Concept study of ion-exchange method for the recycling of LiFePO cathode.

Recycling spent lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes in an economically sustainable way remains a great challenge due to their low-value elemental composition. Thus, both low-cost technology together with a high-value product are critical for the recovery of the LFP materials. In this study, the commercially mature ion-exchange (IX) method was explored to recover Li from LFP material for the first time.

Combining TEMPO and methyl undecenoate to produce an effective anti-mosquito compound with convenient spin-labeling.

A general method to spin-label a fatty acid was demonstrated as well as an assay of the effectiveness of methyl 10-undecenoate and the spin-labeled version, against the larvae of Aedes aegypti. The LCs were 66 and 58 μL/120 mL (55 and 48 ppm) respectively, and the LCs were 108 and 90 μL/120 mL (113 and 90) ppm. This shows that the spin-label has very little effect on the larvicidal activity of the compound.

Assessing the diversity of anthocyanin composition in various tissues of purple corn (Zea mays L.).

Anthocyanins are natural pigments used in various foods, beverages, textiles, and nutraceuticals. Anthocyanins in the grain of purple corn (Zea mays L., Poaceae) have been a focus of many studies, but not much is known about anthocyanins in other maize tissues.

Effects of Atmospheric CO and Temperature on Wheat and Corn Susceptibility to and Deoxynivalenol Contamination.

This work details the impact of atmospheric CO and temperature conditions on two strains of their disease damage, pathogen growth, mycotoxin accumulation, and production per unit fungal biomass in wheat and corn. An elevated atmospheric CO concentration, 1000 ppm CO, significantly increased the accumulation of deoxynivalenol in infected plants. Furthermore, growth in cool growing conditions, 20 °C/18 °C, day and night, respectively, resulted in the highest amounts of pathogen biomass and toxin accumulation in both inoculated wheat and corn.

, sp. nov, a novel type A trichothecene-producing species from native grasses in a wetland ecosystem in Argentina.

The Chaco wetland is among the most biologically diverse regions in Argentina. In collections of fungi from asymptomatic native grasses (Poaceae) from the wetlands, we identified isolates of that were morphologically similar to , but distinct from it by their production of abundant microconidia. All the isolates had identical, or nearly identical, partial sequences of and .

Detoxification and Excretion of Trichothecenes in Transgenic Expressing Trichothecene 3--acetyltransferase.

, the causal agent of Fusarium head blight (FHB), produces trichothecenes including deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV), and 3,7,15-trihydroxy-12,13-epoxytrichothec-9-ene (NX-3). These toxins contaminate grains and cause profound health problems in humans and animals. To explore exploiting a fungal self-protection mechanism in plants, we examined the ability of trichothecene 3--acetyltransferase () to detoxify several key trichothecenes produced by : DON, 15-ADON, NX-3, and NIV.

Reasons for 2-furaldehyde and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: current state of knowledge and perspectives for further improvements.

Common toxic compounds 2-furaldehyde (furfural) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) are formed from dehydration of pentose and hexose, respectively, during decomposition of lignocellulosic biomass polymers. Furfural and HMF represent a major class of aldehyde toxic chemicals that inhibit microbial growth and interfere with subsequent fermentation for production of renewable fuels and chemicals. Understanding mechanisms of yeast tolerance aids development of tolerant strains as the most economic means to overcome the toxicity.

Synthesis and Characterization of Hydrophobically Modified Xylans.

Xylan is a major type of hemicellulose that has attracted a lot of research and development activities. It is often derivatized in order to improve its properties. In the literature, hydrophobic modification of polymers is often used to produce surfactant-like materials and associative thickeners.

Development and Physical Characterization of α-Glucan Nanoparticles.

α-Glucans that were enzymatically synthesized from sucrose using glucansucrase cloned from NRRL B-1118 were found to have a glass transition temperature of approximately 80 °C. Using high-pressure homogenization (~70 MPa), the α-glucans were converted into nanoparticles of ~120 nm in diameter with a surface potential of ~-3 mV. Fluorescence measurements using 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) indicate that the α-glucan nanoparticles have a hydrophobic core that remains intact from 10 to 85 °C.

Hydrophobic Modification of Cashew Gum with Alkenyl Succinic Anhydride.

Cashew gum (CG) shows promise of being useful as an agro-based raw material for the production of eco-friendly and biodegradable polymers. In this work, we modified this water-soluble polymer with alkenyl succinic anhydride in order to attach a hydrophobic group to it. The modification used two reagents: octenyl succinic anhydride and tetrapropenyl succinic anhydride.

Pathway-based signature transcriptional profiles as tolerance phenotypes for the adapted industrial yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae resistant to furfural and HMF.

The industrial yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has a plastic genome with a great flexibility in adaptation to varied conditions of nutrition, temperature, chemistry, osmolarity, and pH in diversified applications. A tolerant strain against 2-furaldehyde (furfural) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) was successfully obtained previously by adaptation through environmental engineering toward development of the next-generation biocatalyst. Using a time-course comparative transcriptome analysis in response to a synergistic challenge of furfural-HMF, here we report tolerance phenotypes of pathway-based transcriptional profiles as components of the adapted defensive system for the tolerant strain NRRL Y-50049.

Enzymatic Synthesis and Flash Chromatography Separation of 1,3-Diferuloyl--Glycerol and 1-Feruloyl--Glycerol.

Ethyl ferulate was transesterified with Enova Oil (a soy-based vegetable oil containing 80-85% diacylglycerol) using Novozym 435 at 60 °C. The resultant feruloylated vegetable oil reaction product produced a precipitate (96.4 g, 4.

Development and characterization of vectors for tunable expression of both xylose-regulated and constitutive gene expression in Saccharomyces yeasts.

Synthetic hybrid promoters for xylose-regulated gene expression in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have recently been developed. However, the narrow range of expression level from these new hybrid promoters limits their utility for pathway optimization in engineered strains. To expand the range of xylose-regulated gene expression, a series of expression vectors was created using a xylose derepressible promoter (P) and varied termination regions from several S.

Determination of pH Effects on Phosphatidyl-Hydroxytyrosol and Phosphatidyl-Tyrosol Bilayer Behavior.

A robust method was developed to investigate the liposomal behavior of novel enzymatically-synthesized hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol phospholipids. Bilayer characteristic obtained by this method, including bilayer formation stability and adsorption properties, were explored using dynamic light scattering, zeta-potential measurements, and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCMD), respectively. Liposome diameters were found to typically increase from pH 5.

Protein expression analysis revealed a fine-tuned mechanism of in situ detoxification pathway for the tolerant industrial yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Inhibitory compounds liberated from lignocellulose pretreatment are representative toxic chemicals that repress microbial growth and metabolism. A tolerant strain of the industrial yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is able to detoxify a major class of toxic compounds while producing ethanol. Knowledge on the yeast tolerance was mostly obtained by gene expression analysis and limited protein expression evidence is yet available underlying the yeast adaptation.

Immunoassay utilizing imaging surface plasmon resonance for the detection of cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) in maize and cheese.

α-Cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) is a tremorgenic mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium fungal species, commonly found on agricultural commodities or fermented food products. A sensitive and rapid imaging surface plasmon resonance (iSPR) assay was developed to detect CPA in maize and cheese by combining an indirect competitive immunoassay and signal amplification based upon a secondary antibody (Ab) conjugated with gold nanoparticles. Matrix-matched calibration curves were used to determine CPA content in maize and cheese samples.