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In the present work, sustainable and green method was used to prepare silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), followed with incorporation into tertiary nanocomposite consisted of starch, oxidized cellulose and ethyl cellulose. The prepared tertiary silver-nanocomposite (Ag-NC) was fully characterized via instrumental analysis (UV-vis, FT-IR, XRD, SEM, EDX and TEM) and evaluated for antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activities. Ag-NC significantly suppressed growth of tested bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis)  as compared with controls. Antifungal activity revealed that the prepared tertiary Ag-NC has a promising antifungal activity towards unicellular (Candida albicans) and multicellular fungi  ( Aspergillus niger, A. terreus, A. flavus and A. fumigatus). In same line, both Ag-NC and free Ag-NPs have shown a dose-dependent reduction in Vero cell line with maximum non-toxic dose at 6.25 and 12.5 μg/mL, respectively. Both Ag-NPs and Ag-NC exhibited antiviral effects against Herpes simplex virus, Adenovirus and Coxsackie B virus in a dose-dependent manner. Combined treatment of Ag-NPs incorporated into tertiary nanocomposite based on starch, oxidized cellulose and ethyl cellulose opens new possibilities to be more efficient nanomaterials for preventing microbial growth. In conclusion, the prepared tertiary Ag-NC has a promising antibacterial, antifungal as well as antiviral activities., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

We recently reported that a genetic transformation of the RNA-Binding-Protein (McRBP), an RNA chaperone gene derived from common ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum), alleviated injury and loss of biomass production by salt stress in Eucalyptus camaldulensis in a semi-confined screen house trial. In this study, we assessed the potential environmental impact of the transgenic Eucalyptus in a manner complying with Japanese biosafety regulatory framework required for getting permission for experimental confined field trials. Two kinds of bioassays for the effects of allelopathic activity on the growth of other plants, i.e., the sandwich assay and the succeeding crop assay, were performed for three transgenic lines and three non-transgenic lines. No significant differences were observed between transgenic and non-transgenic plants. No significant difference in the numbers of cultivable microorganisms analyzed by the spread plate method were observed among the six transgenic and non-transgenic lines. These results suggested that there is no significant difference in the potential impact on biodiversity between the transgenic McRBP-E. camaldulensis lines and their non-transgenic comparators.

The purpose of this study was to assess the possible protective role of exogenous salicylic acid (SA), sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a donor of nitric oxide, and their combination on 21-day-old safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) seedlings grown under zinc (Zn) stress. The results revealed that exposure to 500 µM ZnSO 4 .7H 2 O for 10 days markedly reduced the root and shoot dry weights in Zn-treated plants, while the application of SA, SNP and specially SA + SNP significantly increased the root and shoot dry weights in seedlings subjected to Zn stress. Addition of SA, SNP and SA + SNP interestingly reduced root-to-shoot translocation of zinc and increased significantly the level of glutathione (GSH) and ascorbate (ASC) in leaves of Zn-stressed plants. The Zn-treated plants supplemented with SA and SNP revealed an improved activity of ascorbate-glutathione cycle enzymes and those enzymes which are involved in glyoxalase system as compared to the plants treated with Zn only. However, no significant relationship was found between SA or SNP supplementation and glutathione S-transferase activity in Zn-stressed plants. These findings demonstrate that exogenous application of SA or SNP could ameliorate the negative effects of Zn on safflower plants probably by stimulation of antioxidant defense and glyoxalase systems.

We report recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE), which can permit integration of transgenes into pre-defined chromosomal loci with no co-expressed marker gene by using Agrobacterium -mediated transformation. Transgenic tobacco plants which have a single copy of negative marker genes ( codA ) at target loci in heterozygous and homozygous conditions were used for gene exchange by the RMCE method. By negative selection, we were able to obtain five heterozygous and four homozygous transgenic plants in which the genes were exchanged from 64 leaf segments of heterozygous and homozygous target plants, respectively. Except for one transgenic plant with an extra copy, the other eight plants had only a single copy of marker-free transgenes, and no footprint of random integrated copies was detected in half of the eight plants. The RMCE re-transformation frequencies were calculated as 6.25 % per explant and were approximately the same as the average percentage of intact single-copy transformation events for standard tobacco Agrobacterium -mediated transformation.

Chemical and surface characteristics of sulfite-pretreated royal palm sheath (RPS) fibers and parenchyma cells were investigated in order to study cell-type-dependent biomass hydrolysis by cellulase. Size, chemical composition, cellulose crystallinity and the exposure of cellulose microfibrils in pretreated RPS biomass affected the enzymatic accessibility and digestibility of different cell-type substrates.

Cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) of β-glucosidase were prepared and characterized. Under the optimum conditions, the activity recovery of CLEAs reached 84 %. The reduction by NaBH(4) resulted in slightly lower activities of CLEAs, while their thermostability was enhanced. CLEAs were more thermally stable than free enzyme (half lives, 973 vs. 518 min at 50 °C), while less stable than seed meal (half life, 1,090 min). In 90 % (v/v) t-butanol, the half lives of CLEAs and free enzyme were 53 and 6.7 h, respectively. Besides, the catalytic efficiency (V (max)/K (m)) of CLEAs was comparable to free enzyme (0.42 vs. 0.47 min(-1) mg(-1)). This carrier-free immobilized enzyme had a network structure with multiple layers. The productivity of salidroside using CLEAs reached 150 g/l g catalyst, while being 6.3 g/l g with seed meal.

In vivo detoxification of furfural by the oleaginous yeast, Trichosporon fermentans, under lipid-producing (i.e., nitrogen-limited) conditions was evaluated for the first time. During the initial fermentation phase, furfural was rapidly reduced to furfuryl alcohol, which is more toxic to T. fermentans than furfural. Furfuryl alcohol was subsequently oxidized to furoic acid which has low toxicity to T. fermentans and is the end product of the in vivo detoxification of furfural in this organism. These observations explain how T. fermentans can grow and accumulate lipids in medium containing furfural. They also indicate that strategies to minimize the transient production of furfuryl alcohol could further improve the capacity of the strain to produce lipids from furfural-containing lignocellulosic hydrolysates.

Regioselective undecylenoylation of purine nucleosides as potential dual prodrugs was achieved by Candida antarctica lipase B using adenosine as a model reactant. The optimum organic solvent, molar ratio of vinyl ester to nucleoside, enzyme dosage, reaction temperature and molecular sieve amount were anhydrous THF, 5:1, 20 U/ml, 45°C and 75 mg/ml, respectively. Under the optimum conditions, the initial reaction rate, yield and 5'-regioselectivity were 1.1 mM/h, 90% and >99%, respectively. The enzymatic acylation of various nucleosides furnished the desired 5'-ester derivatives with the yields of 60-95% and 5'-regioselectivities of >99%. In addition, the lipase displayed excellent operational stability in THF, and retained 96% of its initial activity after reused for five batches.

Cationic polyelectrolytes can increase the cellulase-induced hydrolysis rates of bleached wood fiber. We show that the polymer associates mainly with the amorphous region of fiber and acts principally on endoglucanase. Fiber/water partitioning of the enzyme follows a Langmuir isotherm for the untreated fiber but a Freundlich isotherm is obeyed for the polymer-treated fiber., (© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011)

Biotreatment of bagasse effluent using Phanerochaete chrysosporium (white rot fungus) is investigated. This study confirmed that lignin is the major pollutant component in this effluent followed by different carbohydrates. The treatment conditions must be very proper, especially in terms of biomass culture to achieve a successful treatment. The best conditions of temperature, biomass concentration, pH and duration for biotreatment of this effluent were 35°C, 552 mg l(-1), 6 and 5 to 9 days, respectively. Under these conditions, a 9 days long treatment reduced by 98.7% the original biochemical oxygen demand (of 2,780 mg l(-1)) and by 98.5% the dissolved chemical oxygen demand (initial 4,200 mg l(-1)). Moreover, fungal treatment reduced total dissolved solids from 3,950 to 575 mg l(-1) and color from 560 mg l(-1) PtCo to 111 mg l(-1) PtCo.

5'-O-beta-D-Galactosyl-floxuridine, a potential novel prodrug, was synthesized with a yield of 75% through beta-galactosidase-catalyzed transgalactosylation. This enzyme displayed absolute regioselectivity toward the 5'-position of floxuridine. For the reaction, the optimal conditions were pH 6.5 at 45 degrees C for 60 h with floxuridine to o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactoside at 2:1 (mol/mol). Under these conditions, the initial reaction rate and the maximum yield were 0.28 mM h(-1) and 75%, respectively.

Adding a cationic polyacrylamide (c-PAM) to either the amylase mediated hydrolysis of corn starch or the hydrolysis of wood fiber by cellulase can enhance the initial hydrolysis rates, although a rate decrease can occur under some conditions. Several c-PAMs can serve as catalysts and the same c-PAM can improve the efficiency of both amylase and cellulase. The initial amylase rate approximately doubles; the analogous cellulase hydrolysis rate increases by about 40%. c-PAMs increase the binding of enzyme to substrate.

Recently, site-specific recombination methods in plants have been developed to delete selection markers to produce marker-free transgenic plants or to integrate the transgene into a pre-determined genomic location to produce site-specific transgenic plants. However, these methods have been developed independently, and although the strategies of producing marker-free site-specific integration plants have been discussed, the concept has not been demonstrated. In the present study, we combined two approaches to site-specific recombination and demonstrated the concepts for removing the marker after site-specific integration for producing marker-free site-specific transgenic plants.

Preparations of arabinofuranosidase and xylanase, respectively from Aureobasidium pullulans and Trichoderma longibrachiatum, were used to remove selectively xylose and arabinose from kraft pulp. The equilibrium moisture content of pulps treated with both enzymes, at varying relative humidities, revealed a consistently lower percent moisture content at all humidity set points. Shorter fiber lengths indicated some deterioration when pulp was exposed to high concentrations of both enzymes.

A stilbene dye (Direct Yellow 11) and a methine dye, Basazol 46L, recalcitrant to common chemical bleaches, were treated with horseradish and soybean peroxidases. Both enzymes were effective at chromophore removal. When compared to laccase in combination with a mediator (ABTS), soybean peroxidase was more effective at oxidative dye removal, especially for the methine dye.