Articles

Long-term efficacy and safety of monotherapy with a single fresh fecal microbiota transplant for recurrent active ulcerative colitis: a prospective randomized pilot study

To assess the long-term safety and efficacy of monotherapy with a single fresh fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) for recurrent ulcerative colitis (UC).

Authors: Haiming Fang, Lian Fu, Xuejun Li, Chunxia Lu, Yuan Su, Kangwei Xiong and Lijiu Zhang

Production of biologically active human interleukin-10 by Bifidobacterium bifidum BGN4

Bifidobacterium spp. are representative probiotics that play an important role in the health of their hosts. Among various Bifidobacterium spp., B. bifidum BGN4 exhibits relatively high cell adhesion to colonic c...

Authors: Nayoun Hong, Seockmo Ku, Kyungjin Yuk, Tony V. Johnston, Geun Eog Ji and Myeong Soo Park

Molecular, structural and biochemical characterization of a novel recombinant chlorophyllase from cyanobacterium Oscillatoria acuminata PCC 6304

Chlorophyllase catalyzes the hydrolysis of chlorophyll and produces chlorophyllide and phytol. Cyanobacterial chlorophyllases are likely to be more highly heterologously expressed than plant chlorophyllases....

Authors: Sitian Gu, Xiaojun Dai, Zhengjun Xu, Qiwen Niu, Jiang Jiang and Yuanfa Liu

Protein over-expression in Escherichia coli triggers adaptation analogous to antimicrobial resistance

The E. coli pET system is the most widely used protein over-expression system worldwide. It relies on the assumption that all cells produce target protein and it is generally believed that integral membrane prote...

Authors: Jack James, Benjamin Yarnall, Andy Koranteng, Jane Gibson, Tahmina Rahman and Declan A. Doyle

Quantitative proteomic analysis to reveal expression differences for butanol production from glycerol and glucose by Clostridium sp. strain CT7

Clostridium sp. strain CT7 is a new emerging microbial cell factory with high butanol production ratio owing to its non-traditional butanol fermentation mode with uncoupled acetone and 1,3-propanediol formation....

Authors: Yujia Jiang, Ruofan Wu, Jiasheng Lu, Weiliang Dong, Jie Zhou, Wenming Zhang, Fengxue Xin and Min Jiang

Highly selective synthesis of d-amino acids via stereoinversion of corresponding counterpart by an in vivo cascade cell factory

d-Amino acids are increasingly used as building blocks to produce pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. However, establishing a universal biocatalyst for the general synthesis of d-amino acids from cheap and readil...

Authors: Dan-Ping Zhang, Xiao-Ran Jing, Lun-Jie Wu, An-Wen Fan, Yao Nie and Yan Xu

Effect of overexpression of SNF1 on the transcriptional and metabolic landscape of baker’s yeast under freezing stress

Freezing stress is the key factor that affecting the cell activity and fermentation performance of baker’s yeast in frozen dough production. Generally, cells protect themselves from injury and maintain metabol...

Authors: Lu Meng, Xu Yang, Xue Lin, Huan-Yuan Jiang, Xiao-Ping Hu and Si-Xin Liu

Effective production of human growth factors in Escherichia coli by fusing with small protein 6HFh8

Growth factors (GFs) are signaling proteins that affect cellular processes such as growth, proliferation, and differentiation. GFs are used as cosmeceuticals, exerting anti-wrinkle, anti-aging, and whitening e...

Authors: Young Su Kim, Hye-Jeong Lee, Man-ho Han, Nam-kyung Yoon, Yeu-chun Kim and Jungoh Ahn

Synergistic optimisation of expression, folding, and secretion improves E. coli AppA phytase production in Pichia pastoris

Pichia pastoris (Komagataella phaffii) is an important platform for heterologous protein production due to its growth to high cell density and outstanding secretory capabilities. Recent developments in synthetic ...

Authors: Laura Navone, Thomas Vogl, Pawarisa Luangthongkam, Jo-Anne Blinco, Carlos Luna-Flores, Xiaojing Chen, Juhani von Hellens and Robert Speight

Improved production of germacrene A, a direct precursor of ß-elemene, in engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae by expressing a cyanobacterial germacrene A synthase

The sesquiterpene germacrene A is a direct precursor of ß-elemene that is a major component of the Chinese medicinal herb Curcuma wenyujin with prominent antitumor activity. The microbial platform for germacrene ...

Authors: Weixin Zhang, Junqi Guo, Zheng Wang, Yanwei Li, Xiangfeng Meng, Yu Shen and Weifeng Liu

Study on the isoprene-producing co-culture system of Synechococcus elongates–Escherichia coli through omics analysis

The majority of microbial fermentations are currently performed in the batch or fed-batch manner with the high process complexity and huge water consumption. The continuous microbial production can contribute ...

Authors: Hui Liu, Yujin Cao, Jing Guo, Xin Xu, Qi Long, Lili Song and Mo Xian

The damage and tolerance mechanisms of Phaffia rhodozyma mutant strain MK19 grown at 28 °C

Phaffia rhodozyma has many desirable properties for astaxanthin production, including rapid heterotrophic metabolism and high cell densities in fermenter culture. The low optimal temperature range (17–21 °C) for...

Authors: Li-Li Miao, Shuang Chi, Ting-Ting Hou, Zhi-Pei Liu and Ying Li

Construction and characterization of a novel glucose dehydrogenase-leucine dehydrogenase fusion enzyme for the biosynthesis of l-tert-leucine

Biosynthesis of l-tert-leucine (l-tle), a significant pharmaceutical intermediate, by a cofactor regeneration system friendly and efficiently is a worthful goal all the time. The cofactor regeneration system of l...

Authors: Langxing Liao, Yonghui Zhang, Yali Wang, Yousi Fu, Aihui Zhang, Ruodian Qiu, Shuhao Yang and Baishan Fang

Heterologous expression of Phanerochaete chrysosporium cellobiose dehydrogenase in Trichoderma reesei

Cellobiose dehydrogenase from Phanerochaete chrysosporium (PcCDH) is a key enzyme in lignocellulose depolymerization, biosensors and biofuel cells. For these applications, it should retain important molecular and...

Authors: Lena Wohlschlager, Florian Csarman, Hucheng Chang, Elisabeth Fitz, Bernhard Seiboth and Roland Ludwig

Rhamnolipid the Glycolipid Biosurfactant: Emerging trends and promising strategies in the field of biotechnology and biomedicine

Rhamnolipids (RLs) are surface-active compounds and belong to the class of glycolipid biosurfactants, mainly produced from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Due to their non-toxicity, high biodegradability, low surface ten...

Authors: Priyanka Thakur, Neeraj K. Saini, Vijay Kumar Thakur, Vijai Kumar Gupta, Reena V. Saini and Adesh K. Saini

Whole genome sequencing and metabolomics analyses reveal the biosynthesis of nerol in a multi-stress-tolerant Meyerozyma guilliermondii GXDK6

Nerol (C₁₀H₁₈O), an acyclic monoterpene, naturally presents in plant essential oils, and is used widely in food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals as the valuable fragrance. Meanwhile, chemical synthesis is the only ...

Authors: Xueyan Mo, Xinghua Cai, Qinyan Hui, Huijie Sun, Ran Yu, Ru Bu, Bing Yan, Qian Ou, Quanwen Li, Sheng He and Chengjian Jiang

Maximizing PHB content in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803: a new metabolic engineering strategy based on the regulator PirC

PHB (poly-hydroxy-butyrate) represents a promising bioplastic alternative with good biodegradation properties. Furthermore, PHB can be produced in a completely carbon–neutral fashion in the natural producer cy...

Authors: Moritz Koch, Jonas Bruckmoser, Jörg Scholl, Waldemar Hauf, Bernhard Rieger and Karl Forchhammer

Heterologous expression of the atypical tetracycline chelocardin reveals the full set of genes required for its biosynthesis

Chelocardin (CHD) exhibits a broad-spectrum antibiotic activity and showed promising results in a small phase II clinical study conducted on patients with urinary tract infections. Importantly, CHD was shown t...

Authors: Tadeja Lukežič, Špela Pikl, Nestor Zaburannyi, Maja Remškar, Hrvoje Petković and Rolf Müller

Manipulating the position of DNA expression cassettes using location tags fused to dCas9 (Cas9-Lag) to improve metabolic pathway efficiency

Deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) led to significant improvement of CRISPR/Cas9-based techniques because it can be fused with a variety of functional groups to form diverse molecular devices, which can manipulate or mo...

Authors: Qianwen Xie, Siwei Li, Dongdong Zhao, Lijun Ye, Qingyan Li, Xueli Zhang, Li Zhu and Changhao Bi

Engineering the Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle and hydrogen utilization pathway of Ralstonia eutropha for improved autotrophic growth and polyhydroxybutyrate production

CO₂ is fixed by all living organisms with an autotrophic metabolism, among which the Calvin–Benson–Bassham (CBB) cycle is the most important and widespread carbon fixation pathway. Thus, studying and engineering ...

Authors: Zhongkang Li, Xiuqing Xin, Bin Xiong, Dongdong Zhao, Xueli Zhang and Changhao Bi

Designing next generation recombinant protein expression platforms by modulating the cellular stress response in Escherichia coli

A cellular stress response (CSR) is triggered upon recombinant protein synthesis which acts as a global feedback regulator of protein expression. To remove this key regulatory bottleneck, we had previously pro...

Authors: Richa Guleria, Priyanka Jain, Madhulika Verma and Krishna J. Mukherjee

Expressing a cytosolic pyruvate dehydrogenase complex to increase free fatty acid production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is being exploited as a cell factory to produce fatty acids and their derivatives as biofuels. Previous studies found that both precursor supply and fatty acid metabolism deregulation are...

Authors: Yiming Zhang, Mo Su, Ning Qin, Jens Nielsen and Zihe Liu

Engineering Lactococcus lactis as a multi-stress tolerant biosynthetic chassis by deleting the prophage-related fragment

In bioengineering, growth of microorganisms is limited because of environmental and industrial stresses during fermentation. This study aimed to construct a nisin-producing chassis Lactococcus lactis strain with ...

Authors: Wanjin Qiao, Yu Qiao, Fulu Liu, Yating Zhang, Ran Li, Zhenzhou Wu, Haijin Xu, Per Erik Joakim Saris and Mingqiang Qiao

Enhancement of Monascus yellow pigments production by activating the cAMP signalling pathway in Monascus purpureus HJ11

Monascus azaphilone pigments (MonAzPs), which were produced by Monascus species, have been used as important food colorant and food supplements for more than one billion people during their daily life. Moreover, ...

Authors: Jiawei Liu, Yun Du, Hongmin Ma, Xiaolin Pei and Mu Li

Engineering of a genome-reduced strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens for enhancing surfactin production

Genome reduction and metabolic engineering have emerged as intensive research hotspots for constructing the promising functional chassis and various microbial cell factories. Surfactin, a lipopeptide-type bios...

Authors: Fang Zhang, Kaiyue Huo, Xingyi Song, Yufen Quan, Shufang Wang, Zhiling Zhang, Weixia Gao and Chao Yang

Single-step dynamic dewatering of microalgae from dilute suspensions using flocculant assisted filtration

Dewatering constitutes a major challenge to the production of microalgae, accounting for 20–30% of the product cost. This presents a setback for the applicability of microalgae in the development of several su...

Authors: Mutah Musa, Andrew Ward, Godwin A. Ayoko, Christine Rösch, Richard Brown and Thomas J. Rainey 

Gut microbiome as a response marker for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy in a porcine model of exocrine pancreas insufficiency

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is characterized by the loss of active pancreatic enzymes and a resulting severely reduced food digestion. EPI therapy requires orally applied pancreatic enzyme replacem...

Authors: Sabrina Ritz, Daniela Hahn, Haleluya T. Wami, Karin Tegelkamp, Ulrich Dobrindt and Juergen Schnekenburger

The generation of metabolic changes for the production of high-purity zeaxanthin mediated by CRISPR-Cas9 in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Zeaxanthin, a major xanthophyll pigment, has a significant role as a retinal pigment and antioxidant. Because zeaxanthin helps to prevent age-related macular degeneration, its commercial use in personalized nu...

Authors: Inhwa Song, Jongrae Kim, Kwangryul Baek, Young Choi, ByongCheol Shin and EonSeon Jin

Effect of diet and intestinal AhR expression on fecal microbiome and metabolomic profiles

Diet, loss of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) expression and their modification of the gut microbiota community composition and its metabolites affect the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the c...

Authors: Fang Yang, Jennifer A. A. DeLuca, Rani Menon, Erika Garcia-Vilarato, Evelyn Callaway, Kerstin K. Landrock, Kyongbum Lee, Stephen H. Safe, Robert S. Chapkin, Clinton D. Allred and Arul Jayaraman

Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for high-level production of gastrodin from glucose

The natural phenolic glycoside gastrodin is the major bioactive ingredient in the well-known Chinese herb Tianma and is widely used as a neuroprotective medicine in the clinic. Microbial production from sustai...

Authors: Hua Yin, Tiandong Hu, Yibin Zhuang and Tao Liu

Dual and mutual interaction between microbiota and viral infections: a possible treat for COVID-19

All of humans and other mammalian species are colonized by some types of microorganisms such as bacteria, archaea, unicellular eukaryotes like fungi and protozoa, multicellular eukaryotes like helminths, and v...

Authors: Taha Baghbani, Hossein Nikzad, Javid Azadbakht, Fatemeh Izadpanah and Hamed Haddad Kashani

Efficient protection of microorganisms for delivery to the intestinal tract by cellulose sulphate encapsulation

Gut microbiota in humans and animals play an important role in health, aiding in digestion, regulation of the immune system and protection against pathogens. Changes or imbalances in the gut microbiota (dysbio...

Authors: Walter H. Gunzburg, Myo Myint Aung, Pauline Toa, Shirelle Ng, Eliot Read, Wee Jin Tan, Eva Maria Brandtner, John Dangerfield and Brian Salmons

TLR-2 expression and dysregulated human Treg/Th17 phenotype in Aspergillus flavus infected patients of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis

T helper (Th)17 and regulatory T (Treg) cells with toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 have been acknowledged to play a critical role in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP). However, its pathogenesis h...

Authors: Gargi Rai, Shukla Das, Mohammad Ahmad Ansari, Praveen Kumar Singh, Sajad Ahmad Dar, Shafiul Haque, Neelima Gupta, Sonal Sharma, Vishnampettai Ganapathysubramanian Ramachandran, Sanskriti Sharma, Charu Jain and Shipra Sharma

Isolation, heterologous expression, and purification of a novel antifungal protein from Bacillus subtilis strain Z-14

Wheat sheath blight, a soil borne fungal disease caused by Rhizoctonia cerealis, is considered as one of the most serious threats to wheat worldwide. Bacillus subtilis Z-14 was isolated from soil sampled from a w...

Authors: Xuechao Zhang, Xiaojun Guo, Cuihong Wu, Chengcui Li, Dongdong Zhang and Baocheng Zhu

Metabolite secretions of Lactobacillus plantarum YYC-3 may inhibit colon cancer cell metastasis by suppressing the VEGF-MMP2/9 signaling pathway

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major clinical challenge, and the gut microbiome plays important roles in the occurrence and metastasis of CRC. Lactobacillus and their metabolites are thought to be able to suppress ...

Authors: Yuan-Chun Yue, Bao-Yu Yang, Jing Lu, Shu-Wen Zhang, Liu Liu, Khaled Nassar, Xiao-Xi Xu, Xiao-Yang Pang and Jia-Ping Lv

Formulation of traditional Chinese medicine and its application on intestinal flora of constipated rats

In this study, the self-extracted constipation treatment of traditional Chinese medicine extracts was applied to constipated rats. To explore the mechanism and role of the Chinese medicine for the treatment of...

Authors: Sihan Li, Youcheng He, Haiou Zhang, Rong Zheng, Ruoying Xu, Qihong Liu, Shuihua Tang, Xiao Ke and Minghan Huang

Different transcriptional responses of haploid and diploid S. cerevisiae strains to changes in cofactor preference of XR

Xylitol accumulation is a major barrier for efficient ethanol production through heterologous xylose reductase-xylitol dehydrogenase (XR-XDH) pathway in recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mutated NADH-preferri...

Authors: Cai-Yun Xie, Bai-Xue Yang, Qing-Ran Song, Zi-Yuan Xia, Min Gou and Yue-Qin Tang

Current insights into the relationship between the gut microbiome and Sjögren’s syndrome

Authors: Taco A. van der Meulen, Frans G. M. Kroese, Hendrika Bootsma, Fred K. L. Spijkervet and Arjan Vissink

Engineering nature for gaseous hydrocarbon production

The development of sustainable routes to the bio-manufacture of gaseous hydrocarbons will contribute widely to future energy needs. Their realisation would contribute towards minimising over-reliance on fossil...

Authors: Mohamed Amer, Helen Toogood and Nigel S. Scrutton

Conversion of poplar biomass into high-energy density tricyclic sesquiterpene jet fuel blendstocks

In an effort to ensure future energy security, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create domestic jobs, the US has invested in technologies to develop sustainable biofuels and bioproducts from renewable carbo...

Authors: Gina M. Geiselman, James Kirby, Alexander Landera, Peter Otoupal, Gabriella Papa, Carolina Barcelos, Eric R. Sundstrom, Lalitendu Das, Harsha D. Magurudeniya, Maren Wehrs, Alberto Rodriguez, Blake A. Simmons, Jon K. Magnuson, Aindrila Mukhopadhyay, Taek Soon Lee, Anthe George…

Rational engineering of Kluyveromyces marxianus to create a chassis for the production of aromatic products

The yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus offers unique potential for industrial biotechnology because of useful features like rapid growth, thermotolerance and a wide substrate range. As an emerging alternative platform...

Authors: Arun S. Rajkumar and John P. Morrissey

An automated oxystat fermentation regime for microoxic cultivation of Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense

Magnetosomes produced by magnetotactic bacteria represent magnetic nanoparticles with unprecedented characteristics. However, their use in many biotechnological applications has so far been hampered by their c...

Authors: Cornelius N. Riese, René Uebe, Sabine Rosenfeldt, Anna S. Schenk, Valérie Jérôme, Ruth Freitag and Dirk Schüler

Construction and description of a constitutive plipastatin mono-producing Bacillus subtilis

Plipastatin is a potent Bacillus antimicrobial lipopeptide with the prospect to replace conventional antifungal chemicals for controlling plant pathogens. However, the application of this lipopeptide has so far b...

Authors: Maliheh Vahidinasab, Lars Lilge, Aline Reinfurt, Jens Pfannstiel, Marius Henkel, Kambiz Morabbi Heravi and Rudolf Hausmann

Conversion of sugar beet residues into lipids by Lipomyces starkeyi for biodiesel production

Lipids from oleaginous yeasts emerged as a sustainable alternative to vegetable oils and animal fat to produce biodiesel, the biodegradable and environmentally friendly counterpart of petro-diesel fuel. To dev...

Authors: Francesca Martani, Letizia Maestroni, Mattia Torchio, Diletta Ami, Antonino Natalello, Marina Lotti, Danilo Porro and Paola Branduardi

Vaginal microbiota and the potential of Lactobacillus derivatives in maintaining vaginal health

Human vagina is colonised by a diverse array of microorganisms that make up the normal microbiota and mycobiota. Lactobacillus is the most frequently isolated microorganism from the healthy human vagina, this inc...

Authors: Wallace Jeng Yang Chee, Shu Yih Chew and Leslie Thian Lung Than

Intelligent microbial cell factory with genetic pH shooting (GPS) for cell self-responsive base/acid regulation

In industrial fermentation, pH fluctuation resulted from microbial metabolism influences the strain performance and the final production. The common way to control pH is adding acid or alkali after probe detec...

Authors: Chenyi Li, Xiaopeng Gao, Xiao Peng, Jinlin Li, Wenxin Bai, Jiadong Zhong, Mengchao He, Ke Xu, Ying Wang and Chun Li

Challenging microalgal vitamins for human health

Vitamins’ deficiency in humans is an important threat worldwide and requires solutions. In the concept of natural biofactory for bioactive compounds production, microalgae represent one of the most promising t...

Authors: Angelo Del Mondo, Arianna Smerilli, Elisabet Sané, Clementina Sansone and Christophe Brunet

Enhanced production of taxadiene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Cost-effective production of the highly effective anti-cancer drug, paclitaxel (Taxol^®), remains limited despite growing global demands. Low yields of the critical taxadiene precursor remains a key bottleneck in ...

Authors: Behnaz Nowrouzi, Rachel A. Li, Laura E. Walls, Leo d’Espaux, Koray Malcı, Lungang Liang, Nestor Jonguitud-Borrego, Albert I. Lerma-Escalera, Jose R. Morones-Ramirez, Jay D. Keasling and Leonardo Rios-Solis

Differential role of segments of α-mating factor secretion signal in Pichia pastoris towards granulocyte colony-stimulating factor emerging from a wild type or codon optimized copy of the gene

The methylotrophic yeast, Pichia pastoris has been widely used for the production of human therapeutics, but production of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in this yeast is low.The work reported here...

Authors: Sakshi Aggarwal and Saroj Mishra

Engineering cofactor metabolism for improved protein and glucoamylase production in Aspergillus niger

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) is an important cofactor ensuring intracellular redox balance, anabolism and cell growth in all living systems. Our recent multi-omics analyses of glucoamyla...

Authors: Yu-fei Sui, Tabea Schütze, Li-ming Ouyang, Hongzhong Lu, Peng Liu, Xianzun Xiao, Jie Qi, Ying-Ping Zhuang and Vera Meyer