Search

β-Amino residues are regarded as extremely rare features among ribosomal products. They can be installed by a remarkable non-canonical enzymatic splicing process occurring in some Nif11-type ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptide (RiPP) pathways from select cyanobacteria. The functions of the final pathway products remained unknown. Here, a global bioinformatic analysis suggested an unexpectedly broad distribution of ribosomal β-amino acid products in diverse bacterial lineages as well as archaea. Characterization of 27 bacterial splicease-substrate pairs confirmed the modification in all cases. The “spliceotide” products include many previously unrecognized RiPP types as well as proteins, contain 35 to >600 residues, and feature single to multiple α-keto-β-amino acid moieties, with 15 different naturally occurring β units characterized and 20 predicted. Of three tested spliceotides, all exhibited exceptionally potent protease inhibitory activity, providing a potential rationale for the widespread splicease chemistry in prokaryotes and highlighting substantial potential for drug discovery and gene-based biomolecule diversification. ISSN:2451-9294 ISSN:2451-9308

A chip-based viscosity and density sensor which requires a sample volume of less than 10 colonl is presented. A resistive heater and a temperature sensor are provided for accurate and fast temperature dependent measurements. An inductive readout of the resonance frequency and the damping further facilitates the measurement procedure. Thereby high resolution measurements of fluid properties are easily made in view of their analysis in the context of thermorheologically simple materials., Procedia Engineering, 25, Eurosensors XXV

This paper describes a hybrid silicon/plastic chip which is used to analyze DNA samples without the need of fluorescence or surface functionalization. The viscosity and density of the solutions to be tested are measured using a vibrating silicon beam immersed in the fluid. The sensitivity of the chip with respect to DNA concentration and length is analyzed, yielding a limit of detection of 0.5 μg/μl. We show that the sensitivity of the chip is statistically significant for PCR end-point detection. State-of-the-art on-chip detection methods of DNA solutions need optical devices or specially designed reactions. With the viscometric method proposed in this paper, these drawbacks are avoided., Procedia Engineering, 47, 26th European Conference on Solid-State Transducers, EUROSENSOR 2012