Biotechnological Improvement Research Articles

Моральное совершенствование и биотехнологическое улучшение

<p>В статье проведен сравнительный анализ таких феноменов, как моральное совершенство (совершенствование) и биотехнологическое улучшение. Современная историческая ситуация характеризуется мощным прогрессом в развитии биотехнологий, которые помимо решения традиционных задач в медицине, промышленности и сельском хозяйстве, все чаще выступают в качестве фактора преобразования самого человека, вторгаются в интимные механизмы его жизнедеятельности. Одновременно происходит технологическое улучшение самого человека: он получает все больше возможностей не только исправлять ошибки природы (принимать терапевтические меры в случае болезни), но и улучшать (усиливать) свои интеллектуальные, физические способности и, предположительно, моральные качества.</p><p>Показано существенное отличие общих характеристик феноменов морального совершенствования и биотехнологического улучшения. Если моральное совершенствование человека основывается на внутренней потребности субъекта в бесконечном процессе нравственного самопреобразования и осуществляется его внутренними усилиями, то биотехнологическое улучшение реализуется в системе внешних координат и невозможно без использования физически представимых средств улучшения (когнитивных усилителей, генетического допинга, электростимуляции мозга и т.д.). В основе аргументации апологетов биотехнологического улучшения человека и их оппонентов лежат базовые мировоззренческие предпосылки, связанные с диаметрально противоположными подходами к пониманию человеческой природы. В зависимости от того, рассматривается ли она в качестве сырья (что характерно для технократов) или реальности, обладающей ценностью и являющейся нормативным руководством для осуществления тех или иных манипуляций над человеком, будет обеспечиваться легитимность биотехнологических практик улучшения человека или накладываться ограничения на их развитие. </p>

Recreating the synthesis of starch granules in yeast.

Starch, as the major nutritional component of our staple crops and a feedstock for industry, is a vital plant product. It is composed of glucose polymers that form massive semi-crystalline granules. Its precise structure and composition determine its functionality and thus applications; however, there is no versatile model system allowing the relationships between the biosynthetic apparatus, glucan structure and properties to be explored. Here, we expressed the core Arabidopsis starch-biosynthesis pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae purged of its endogenous glycogen-metabolic enzymes. Systematic variation of the set of biosynthetic enzymes illustrated how each affects glucan structure and solubility. Expression of the complete set resulted in dense, insoluble granules with a starch-like semi-crystalline organization, demonstrating that this system indeed simulates starch biosynthesis. Thus, the yeast system has the potential to accelerate starch research and help create a holistic understanding of starch granule biosynthesis, providing a basis for the targeted biotechnological improvement of crops.

Applications of transition metal nanoparticles in antimicrobial therapy

Nanotechnology is expected to open some new aspects to fight and prevent diseases using atomic scale tailoring of materials. The ability to uncover the structure and function of bio systems at the nanoscale, stimulates research leading to improvement in biology, biotechnology, medicine and healthcare. The size of nanomaterials is similar to that of most biological molecules and structures; therefore, nanomaterials can be useful for both in vivo and in vitro biomedical research and applications. The integration of nanomaterials with biology has led to the development of diagnostic devices, contrast agents, analytical tools, physical therapy applications, and drug delivery vehicles. In all the nanomaterials with antibacterial properties, metallic nanoparticles are the best. Nanoparticles increase chemical activity due to crystallographic surface structure with their large surface to volume ratio. The importance of bactericidal nanomaterials study is because of the increase in new resistant strains of bacteria against most potent antibiotics. This has promoted research in the well known activity of silver ions and silver-based compounds, including Cu, Ag, Zn, Cd and Ni nanoparticles. This effect was size and dose dependent and was more pronounced against gram-negative bacteria than grampositive organisms. Also, Biosynthesis of nanoparticles is under exploration is due to wide biomedical applications and research interest in nanotechnology. The biological approach for the synthesis of nanoparticles is considered as more eco-friendly and cost effective as compared to the other chemical and physical approaches. This review detailed view about the Nanostructures antimicrobial Therapy of metal nanoparticles.

Recent Advances in Sugarcane Industry Solid By-Products Valorization

Sugarcane is among the leading agricultural crop cultivated in tropical regions of the world. Industrial processing of sugarcane generates sugar; as well as various solid wastes (i.e. sugarcane bagasse, pressmud). Improvement of biotechnology in industrial level, offers opportunities for economic utilization of these solid residues. In the last few decades, sugarcane bagasse and pressmud have been explored in the theme of lignocellulosic bioconversion. The recalcitrance of biomass is a major drawback towards successful exploitation of lignocellulosic residues. Pretreatment by suitable/efficient processes can overcome this limitation. In this regards; physical, chemical and biological treatment systems are brought into our perspective. Chemical and physicochemical methods are capital-intensive but not environment-friendly, in contrast, method like biological treatment is eco-friendly but extremely slow. There are still major technological and economic challenges need to be addressed; e.g. bioprospecting, established more reliable genetically modified microorganisms, upgrade gene cloning and sequencing processes, yield improvement at large scale etc. Productions of value-added products from these solid wastes are discussed in such a way that pinpoints the most recent trends and the future directions. Biofuels, enzymes, organic acids and bio-sorbents production draw a clear sketch of the current and future bio-based products. Nano-biotechnology and genetic engineering could be future trends to improved processes and products. This review serves as a valuable reference material for a wide range of scientists and technologists in the relevant fields.

Higher Flexibililty of Recongurable Digital Micro/Nano Fluidic Biochips using an FPGA-Inspired Architecture

Significant improvements in bio-technology and bio-engineering have composed wonderful opportunities to understand and manipulate the bio-structures. Biochips are known as electronic platform for automating the bio-chemical operations in order to decrease time, cost and increase flexibility of operations. Digital micro/nano fluidic biochips are two dimensional arrays of controllable electrodes that can convey droplets around the chip to perform the assays. Each electrode is controlled via an external pins and decreasing the number of pins is very critical in feasibility of biochip construction. In this paper, a new FPGA-inspired architecture is proposed for micro-fluidic biochips in order to create the ability for configurability to improve the flexibility of biochip and reduce the number of controlling pins. Our simulations show that in the new architecture, number of required pins is improved 6.35x rather to than direct addressing method Griffith (2005) and total experiment time is reduced by 34% with higher level of configurability, flexibility.

De novo Transcriptome Assembly and Dynamic Spatial Gene Expression Analysis in Red Clover.

Red clover ( L.) is a cool-season forage legume grown throughout the northeastern United States and is the most widely planted forage legume after alfalfa ( L.). Red clover provides high-value feed to the livestock because of high protein content and easy digestibility. To date, genomic resources for red clover are scarce. In the current study, a de novo transcriptome assembly of red clover was constructed representing different tissue types. The draft assembly consists of 37,565 contigs with N50 and average contig length of 1707 and 1262 bp, respectively. A comparative study with three other legume species displayed a high degree of sequence conservation between red clover and other legumes. The assembled transcriptome was annotated to allow identification of desirable genes. In particular, a genome-wide identification of red clover transcripts encoding putative transcription factors was performed. A comparative gene expression analysis between different tissue types was performed using the assembled transcriptome as the reference, which revealed dynamic gene expression patterns across different tissue types and also identified spatially dynamic gene coexpression clusters. Genes representing tissue-enriched clusters were subjected to gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis to identify over-represented functional groups. Identification of these tissue-enriched gene coexpression clusters can help in future research focusing on developmental studies across tissues or in biotechnological improvement of red clover.

Physiological importance and possible applications of β-substituted alanine synthase in plants

Cysteine, as well as its precursors and derivatives, plays important roles in plant development and stress responses. In plants, a diverse range of reactions affecting cysteine content are catalyzed by the β-substituted alanine synthase (BSAS) enzyme family. Individual BSAS family members use similar reaction mechanisms involving pyridoxal phosphate cofactors and show catalytic preferences for biosynthesis, degradation, or modification of the cysteine amino acid. In Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) of the Brassicaceae family, four distinct biochemical activities are characterized at the gene level, namely, O-acetylserine sulfhydrylase, β-cyanoalanine synthase, l-cysteine desulfhydrase, and S-sulfocysteine synthase activities. Reverse genetic approaches in Arabidopsis were used to elucidate the physiological roles of metabolites of cysteine metabolism (O-acetylserine, sulfide, cysteine, cyanide, and S-sulfocysteine) during the processes of root hair development, pollen tube germination, heavy metal tolerance, defense responses, stomatal closure, and autophagy. Key catalytic residues determining reaction specificities in different BSAS enzymes are being identified, along with the roles of macromolecular complexes involving BSAS. The biochemical properties of BSAS active sites are being investigated in various organisms, including plants, for possible application to the development of new biological materials and drugs. Systematic and comparative genomic studies of BSAS enzymes in Brassica plants, close relatives of Arabidopsis, requiring high cysteine production for optimum growth and disease resistance, will be useful for the future study of the diversification of BSAS and the biotechnological improvement of these important crop plants.

Exploiting Laboratory Insights to Improve Outcomes of Pediatric Central Nervous System Tumors.

Over a relatively short period of time, owing to improvements in biotechnology, our ability to identify the molecular mechanisms within pediatric brain tumors has dramatically increased. These findings have reshaped the way that we describe these diseases and have provided insights into how to better treat these often devastating diseases. Although still far from reaching the full therapeutic potential these advancements hold, the impact of these findings is steadily taking hold of pediatric brain tumor management. In this article, we summarize the major discoveries within three common pediatric brain tumor categories; medulloblastoma, ependymoma, and low-grade glioma. We discuss the current impact of these findings on treatment and the direction these findings may take the field of pediatric neuro-oncology.

Establishment of in vitro regeneration system for Acaciella angustissima (Timbe) a shrubby plant endemic of México for the production of phenolic compounds

Native plants with ecological, medical and industrial potential, as Timbe tree (Acaciella angustissima), are categorized as specific targets for biotechnological improvement. The establishment of a tissue culture system as an alternative system of production of secondary metabolites of chemical and pharmaceutical interest was made in this investigation. An in vitro method was developed for the production of phenolic compounds from callus cultures of A. angustissima. Friable and light yellow colored callus was induced from epicotyl explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2% sucrose, 0.3% of phytagel, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (1.5mg/l) and Benzylaminopurine (5mg/l). In order to increase the biomass these calli were repeatedly subcultured (3–4 week interval) onto MS medium supplemented with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid at 2mg/l and coconut water at 10%. High frequency shoot regeneration was achieved from epicotyl explants of A. angustissima. Adventitious shoots were produced from organogenic callus when it was transferred to MS medium supplemented with Naphthaleneacetic acid at 0.4mg/l and Benzylaminopurine at 7mg/l, with shoot induction frequency of 60% and 1.4 shoots by explant. The absence of plant growth regulators allowed a maximum percentage of rooting (85%) and a good number of roots (2.23) per shoot. The total phenolic content varied significantly (p<0.05) in callus of A. angustissima in a range between 40.17 and 81.36mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE/g), 12.95–74.11mg rutin equivalent (RE/g), and 0.16–0.72mg catechin equivalents (CE/g) per g dry weight (DW) compared with previous reports in the plant of A. angustissima. The shoots with presence of roots were acclimatized to obtain plants, the acclimatized plants were conserved in a growth chamber and nourished with MS medium at 25% for 3–4 weeks, this was essential for optimal survival of the plants (40%). Forty plants were produced per explant over a period of 4–5 months. The result indicates that the callus system could serve like alternative system of production of phenolic compounds for pharmacological, cosmetic, and agronomic industries, based in antioxidant, antimicrobial and antimutagenic properties previously reported.

Cloning, Expression Profiling and Functional Analysis of CnHMGS, a Gene Encoding 3-hydroxy-3-Methylglutaryl Coenzyme A Synthase from Chamaemelum nobile.

Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile L.) is renowned for its production of essential oils, which major components are sesquiterpenoids. As the important enzyme in the sesquiterpenoid biosynthesis pathway, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A synthase (HMGS) catalyze the crucial step in the mevalonate pathway in plants. To isolate and identify the functional genes involved in the sesquiterpene biosynthesis of C. nobile L., a HMGS gene designated as CnHMGS (GenBank Accession No. KU529969) was cloned from C. nobile. The cDNA sequence of CnHMGS contained a 1377 bp open reading frame encoding a 458-amino-acid protein. The sequence of the CnHMGS protein was highly homologous to those of HMGS proteins from other plant species. Phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that CnHMGS clustered with the HMGS of Asteraceae in the dicotyledon clade. Further functional complementation of CnHMGS in the mutant yeast strain YSC6274 lacking HMGS activity demonstrated that the cloned CnHMGS cDNA encodes a functional HMGS. Transcript profile analysis indicated that CnHMGS was preferentially expressed in flowers and roots of C. nobile. The expression of CnHMGS could be upregulated by exogenous elicitors, including methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid, suggesting that CnHMGS was elicitor-responsive. The characterization and expression analysis of CnHMGS is helpful to understand the biosynthesis of sesquiterpenoid in C. nobile at the molecular level and also provides molecular wealth for the biotechnological improvement of this important medicinal plant.

PlantPReS: A database for plant proteome response to stress

About 75% of plant yield potential has been estimated to be lost to environmental stresses, even in developed agricultures. To facilitate the biotechnological improvement of crop productivity, genes and proteins that control crop adaptation to a wide range of environments will need to be identified. Due to the challenges faced in text/data mining, there is a large gap between the data available to researchers and the hundreds of published plant stress proteomics articles. Plant stress proteome database (PlantPReS; www.proteome.ir) is an open online proteomic database, which currently (as of October 2015) comprises >20,413 entries from 456 manually curated articles, and contains >10,600 unique stress responsive proteins. Since every aspect of the experiments, including protein name, accession number, plant type, tissue, stress types, organelles, and developmental stage has been digitized, experimental data can be rapidly accessed and integrated. Furthermore, PlantPReS enables researchers to perform multiple analyses on the database using the filtration mode, and the results of each query indicate a series of proteins for which a set of selected criteria is met. The query results can be displayed in either text or graphical format. SignificanceThe promise of text and data mining to facilitate and enhance research fundamentally has not yet been achieved, mainly because great numbers of stress-associated proteins are not deposited in databases. PlantPReS is a valuable database for the vast majority of researchers working in proteomics and plant stress areas. It has a user-friendly interface with a number of useful features, including a search engine, analysis tools, gene ontology, a function for cross-referencing useful external databases, and the expression pattern of stress associated proteins.

A toolbox of genes, proteins, metabolites and promoters for improving drought tolerance in soybean includes the metabolite coumestrol and stomatal development genes.

BackgroundThe purpose of this project was to identify metabolites, proteins, genes, and promoters associated with water stress responses in soybean. A number of these may serve as new targets for the biotechnological improvement of drought responses in soybean (Glycine max).ResultsWe identified metabolites, proteins, and genes that are strongly up or down regulated during rapid water stress following removal from a hydroponics system. 163 metabolites showed significant changes during water stress in roots and 93 in leaves. The largest change was a root-specific 160-fold increase in the coumestan coumestrol making it a potential biomarker for drought and a promising target for improving drought responses. Previous reports suggest that coumestrol stimulates mycorrhizal colonization and under certain conditions mycorrhizal plants have improved drought tolerance. This suggests that coumestrol may be part of a call for help to the rhizobiome during stress. About 3,000 genes were strongly up-regulated by drought and we identified regulators such as ERF, MYB, NAC, bHLH, and WRKY transcription factors, receptor-like kinases, and calcium signaling components as potential targets for soybean improvement as well as the jasmonate and abscisic acid biosynthetic genes JMT, LOX1, and ABA1. Drought stressed soybean leaves show reduced mRNA levels of stomatal development genes including FAMA-like, MUTE-like and SPEECHLESS-like bHLH transcription factors and leaves formed after drought stress had a reduction in stomatal density of 22.34 % and stomatal index of 17.56 %. This suggests that reducing stomatal density may improve drought tolerance. MEME analyses suggest that ABRE (CACGT/CG), CRT/DRE (CCGAC) and a novel GTGCnTGC/G element play roles in transcriptional activation and these could form components of synthetic promoters to drive expression of transgenes. Using transformed hairy roots, we validated the increase in promoter activity of GmWRKY17 and GmWRKY67 during dehydration and after 20 μM ABA treatment.ConclusionsOur toolbox provides new targets and strategies for improving soybean drought tolerance and includes the coumestan coumestrol, transcription factors that regulate stomatal density, water stress-responsive WRKY gene promoters and a novel DNA element that appears to be enriched in water stress responsive promoters.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2420-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Exploiting Laboratory Insights to Improve Outcomes of Pediatric Central Nervous System Tumors

Over a relatively short period of time, owing to improvements in biotechnology, our ability to identify the molecular mechanisms within pediatric brain tumors has dramatically increased. These findings have reshaped the way that we describe these diseases and have provided insights into how to better treat these often devastating diseases. Although still far from reaching the full therapeutic potential these advancements hold, the impact of these findings is steadily taking hold of pediatric brain tumor management. In this article, we summarize the major discoveries within three common pediatric brain tumor categories; medulloblastoma, ependymoma, and low-grade glioma. We discuss the current impact of these findings on treatment and the direction these findings may take the field of pediatric neuro-oncology.

Potential for Genetic Improvement of Sugarcane as a Source of Biomass for Biofuels.

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) has great potential as a major feedstock for biofuel production worldwide. It is considered among the best options for producing biofuels today due to an exceptional biomass production capacity, high carbohydrate (sugar + fiber) content, and a favorable energy input/output ratio. To maximize the conversion of sugarcane biomass into biofuels, it is imperative to generate improved sugarcane varieties with better biomass degradability. However, unlike many diploid plants, where genetic tools are well developed, biotechnological improvement is hindered in sugarcane by our current limited understanding of the large and complex genome. Therefore, understanding the genetics of the key biofuel traits in sugarcane and optimization of sugarcane biomass composition will advance efficient conversion of sugarcane biomass into fermentable sugars for biofuel production. The large existing phenotypic variation in Saccharum germplasm and the availability of the current genomics technologies will allow biofuel traits to be characterized, the genetic basis of critical differences in biomass composition to be determined, and targets for improvement of sugarcane for biofuels to be established. Emerging options for genetic improvement of sugarcane for the use as a bioenergy crop are reviewed. This will better define the targets for potential genetic manipulation of sugarcane biomass composition for biofuels.

A survey of computational tools for downstream analysis of proteomic and other omic datasets.

Proteomics is an expanding area of research into biological systems with significance for biomedical and therapeutic applications ranging from understanding the molecular basis of diseases to testing new treatments, studying the toxicity of drugs, or biotechnological improvements in agriculture. Progress in proteomic technologies and growing interest has resulted in rapid accumulation of proteomic data, and consequently, a great number of tools have become available. In this paper, we review the well-known and ready-to-use tools for classification, clustering and validation, interpretation, and generation of biological information from experimental data. We suggest some rules of thumb for the reader on choosing the best suitable learning method for a particular dataset and conclude with pathway and functional analysis and then provide information about submitting final results to a repository.

Developing xylem-preferential expression of PdGA20ox1, a gibberellin 20-oxidase 1 from Pinus densiflora, improves woody biomass production in a hybrid poplar.

Woody biomass has gained popularity as an environmentally friendly, renewable and sustainable resource for liquid fuel production. Here, we demonstrate biotechnological improvement of the quantity and quality of woody biomass by employing developing xylem (DX)-preferential production of gibberellin (GA), a phytohormone that positively regulates stem growth. First, for the proof of concept experiment, we produced transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing GA20-oxidase, a key enzyme in the production of bioactive GAs, from Pinus densiflora (PdGA20ox1) under the control of either a constitutive 35S promoter, designated 35S::PdGA20ox1, or a DX-specific promoter (originated from poplar), designated DX15::PdGA20ox1. As we hypothesized, both transgenic Arabidopsis plants (35S::PdGA20ox1 and DX15::PdGA20ox1) exhibited an accelerated stem growth that resulted in a large increase of biomass, up to 300% compared to wild-type control plants, together with increased secondary wall thickening and elongation of fibre cells. Next, we applied our concept to the production of transgenic poplar trees. Both transgenic poplar trees (35S::PdGA20ox1 and DX15::PdGA20ox1) showed dramatic increases in biomass, up to 300%, with accelerated stem growth and xylem differentiation. Cell wall monosaccharide composition analysis revealed that in both Arabidopsis and poplar, glucose and xylose contents were significantly increased. However, undesirable phenotypes of 35S::PdGA20ox1 poplar, including poor root growth and leaf development, were found. Interestingly, DX15::PdGA20ox1 poplar resulted in a reduction of undesirable phenotypes. Our results indicate that the controlled production of GAs through a tissue-specific promoter can be utilized as an efficient biotechnological tool for producing enhanced plant biomass, minimizing unwanted effects.

Editorial: Marine biomolecules.

Even before the development of the idea to exploit marine biomolecules for human needs (pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc.), the interest for such compounds is implicit when one ponders the astonishingly basic definition of marine biotechnology as “a natural extension of cultural practices of garnering food from the ocean” by the anthropologist Helmreich who beautifully summarizes the origins of marine biotechnology and its deep significance to human society (Helmreich, 2003). Free from any sectarian, discipline-directed bias for a particular type of molecules and, as a consequence of this inclusive unfiltered consideration of all types of molecule, is the great flexibility of the biological adaptation of marine organisms to the wide range of environmental conditions found (temperature, salinity, tides, pressure, radiation, light, etc.). Indeed this adaptation has empowered marine livings with an enormous reservoir of any type of precious biological material for both basic research and biotechnological improvements. Relative to the terrestrial well-known ecosystem, the prevalent and unknown marine environment is valued as a source of enzymes exhibiting new functions and activities to fulfill human needs (Trincone, 2013), as well as other biomolecules such as important polysaccharides which are the most abundant renewable biomaterial found in oceans. This list cannot be completed without the inclusion of small molecular weight compounds characterized by various molecular skeletons isolated from marine organisms (sponges, corals, and other marine invertebrates), which possess interesting activities. Moreover, it is still widely accepted that the assignment of precise biological functions to genes, proteins, and enzymes in marine environment is the least developed aspect.

Biotechnological improvement of wheat nutrition by substituting the synthetic nitrogen with biologically fixed nitrogen

Biotechnological improvement of wheat nutrition by substituting the synthetic nitrogen with biologically fixed nitrogen

Leaf expansion in Arabidopsis is controlled by a TCP-NGA regulatory module likely conserved in distantly related species.

The NGATHA (NGA) clade of transcription factors (TFs) forms a small subfamily of four members in Arabidopsis thaliana. NGA genes act redundantly to direct the development of apical tissues in the gynoecium, where they have been shown to be essential for style and stigma specification. In addition, NGA genes have a more general role in controlling lateral organ growth. The four NGA genes in Arabidopsis are expressed in very similar domains, although little is known about the nature of their putative regulators. Here, we have identified a conserved region within the four NGA promoters that we have used as a bait to screen a yeast library, aiming to identify such NGA regulators. Three members of the TCP family of TFs, named after the founding factors TEOSINTE BRANCHED 1, CYCLOIDEA and PROLIFERATING CELL FACTOR 1 AND 2), were recovered from this screening, of which two [TCP2 and TCP3, members of the CINCINNATA (CIN) family of TCP genes (CIN-TCP) subclade] were shown to activate the NGA3 promoter in planta. We provide evidence that support that CIN-TCP genes are true regulators of NGA gene expression, and that part of the CIN-TCP role in leaf development is mediated by NGA upregulation. Moreover, we have found that this TCP-NGA regulatory interaction is likely conserved in angiosperms, including important crop species, for which the regulation of leaf development is a target for biotechnological improvement.

Long noncoding RNA transcriptome of plants.

Since their discovery more than two decades ago, animal long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as important regulators of many biological processes. Recently, a large number of lncRNAs have also been identified in higher plants, and here, we review their identification, classification and known regulatory functions in various developmental events and stress responses. Knowledge gained from a deeper understanding of this special group of noncoding RNAs may lead to biotechnological improvement of crops. Some possible examples in this direction are discussed.