Narrow Results

AUSTRALIA – Successful FDA end-of-Phase-2 for Hatchtech head lice product DeOVO^™

AUSTRALIA – Senz Oncology secures seed funding for promising cancer drug.

AUSTRALIA – Geneworks develops DNA barcodes for international security.

INDIA – Stress hormones: Good or Bad for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder risk?

SINGAPORE – New study shows fertility knowledge gaps may exacerbate Singapore's declining birth rate challenge.

SINGAPORE – World's first wearable robotic device for stroke rehabilitation comes to Singapore.

SRI LANKA – Conflicting reports highlight scientific data gaps in Sri Lanka's chronic kidney disease.

EUROPE – InDex Pharmaceuticals strengthens IP position for Kappaproct.

EUROPE – Novozymes and Terranol to market advanced biofuel yeast.

EUROPE – The world's first (official) biosimilar antibody goes to… Rheumatoid Arthritis.

USA – MRI reveals brain's response to reading.

USA – Novozymes partner Chemtex receives USDA commitment to build advanced biofuels plant in United States.

USA – Fossil fuel and renewable energy subsidies on the rise.

AUSTRALIA — Childhood CT scans slightly raise cancer risk.

AUSTRALIA — There's a very simple solution to your lack of vitamin D.

INDIA — India develops cheap rotavirus vaccine.

JAPAN — 'Tug of war' method to measure the copy number limits of all genes in budding yeast.

SINGAPORE — SG Austria co-edits just released book on living cell bioencapsulation.

SINGAPORE — Nano Today's 2013 impact factor increases from 15.355 to 17.689.

SINGAPORE — Cholesterol beats coronaviruses, Avian flu and Swine flu.

THE PHILIPPINES — Philippines maps out plan to switch to 100% renewables in 10 years.

EUROPE — Roche launches first sugar-transferase for new glyco-engineering portfolio.

EUROPE — Older liver cancer patients respond to radioembolization equally as well as younger patients.

NORTH AMERICA — Protein helps colon cancer move and invade.

NORTH AMERICA — FDA approval of VIBATIV(R) (telavancin) for the treatment of bacterial pneumonia.

NORTH AMERICA — “On Demand Medical Research” is up and running.

UNITED KINGDOM — Diabetes rises sharply among UK's young adults.

UNITED KINGDOM — 'Mental illness' isn't all about brain chemistry: it's about life.

UNITED KINGDOM — Public to see impact of medical research funding.

Single-cell proteins (SCPs) have the potential to mitigate the global pressures of food waste and protein demand. Food waste can be used as a feedstock and growth substrate for microorganisms that produce SCPs. SCPs can be produced through submerged fermentation, semisolid fermentation, or solid-state fermentation, which differ in substrate preparation and cultivation conditions, depending on the species selected (i.e., algae, bacteria, fungi, or yeast). Innovative technologies have been adopted for SCP analysis, but traditional methods mainly rely on spectrometry. The SCPs generated from food waste are nutritious and contain amino acids, vitamins, minerals, glucose, and other nutrients. Due to their high nutritional value, SCPs can replace plant- and meat-derived proteins in animal feed and also in human diet. However, SCPs may contain toxic substances, such as nucleic acids, mycotoxins, and bacterial toxins, generated during production. Therefore, further purification steps are often required. SCP production offers a potential alternative to traditional food production pathways given its economic and nutritional value.

The population dynamics of yeasts in oleic ecosystems in the Castilla la Mancha region (Spain) was analysed for two consecutive years (2007 to 2008) in two different varieties (Cornicabra and Arbequina respectively). Yeasts were isolated from of fresh olives (Olea europaea L.) fruits, olive pomace (solid waste) and olive paste (crush olives). All yeast species were identified by RFLPs of their rDNA but in some species sequence analysis of the 5.8S rDNA gene was necessary. This study allowed to identify 108 yeast isolated which belonging to seven different genera (Zygosaccharomyces, Pichia, Lachancea, Kluyveromyces, Saccharomyces, Candida, Torulaspora) and fourteen species. The most representative species were Pichia caribbica, Zygosaccharomyces fermentati and Pichia holstii. The yeast characterization was studied by means of several enzymes how β-glucosidase, β-glucanase, carboxymethylcellulase, polygalacturonase, peroxydase and lipase and was observed that the mayority of them presented β-glucanase, β-glucosidase and peroxidase activities, a few had cellulase and polygalacturonase activities and none of species showed lipase activity.

We have developed a 2-day lab-practice to present microbiology and biotechnology to science secondary school students. This initiative seeks to familiarize students with microbial physiology and fermentation technology and to stimulate debate between students and researchers. This project has strengthened the relationship between secondary school science (students and teachers) and university teachers and researchers.

The YARE (Yeast AP1-Recognition Element) is the DNA binding site for YAp1 and YAp2 transcriptional activators in the presence of cadmium. The roles of three sequences matching the YARE consensus on the KlHIS4 promoter are analysed to determine their implication in cadmium transcriptional regulation. A specific band, Cd2, is characterised by EMSA in the region encompassing positions -283 to -276, which disappears in the presence of cadmium or when the YARE consensus is mutated. The factor causing Cd2 is named CSP1 (Cadmium Sensitive Protein 1). The binding of a second factor (P3) producing the band Cd3, also dependent on the YARE consensus, but insensitive to cadmium, is also characterised in the same region. The gel-shift pattern of region -384 to -323 with no YARE consensus is also altered by cadmium, thus, the cadmium transcriptional response of KlHIS4 appears to be modulated by multiple promoter elements. The presence of YARE regulatory elements is not a guarantee of a specific cadmium transcriptional regulation in K. lactis.

Two genomic fragments containing the KlADE2 and the KlPUT2 genes were isolated from Kluyveromyces lactis genomic library by functional complementation of the corresponding ade2 and put2 mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The deduced KlAde2p and KlPut2p amino acid sequences displayed strong similarities to their counterparts in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (75% and 72% identity respectively) with highly conserved domains. Thus, we report the isolation and characterization of ADE2 and PUT2 genes from Kluyveromyces lactis, including their protein structure, flanking sequence regions, and transcriptional gene regulation by different nutrients in the medium.

Cell membranes have the ability to bend and curve, thus providing clathrine-coated pits and plasmalemma caveolae, and facilitating many cell functions such as receptor-mediated endocytosis. On the other hand all intracellular membranes are highly deformable, producing cargo vesicles destined to organelles and plasma membrane. Generation of membrane curvature is currently believed to involve the penetration of amphipathic helix into the cytosolic face of the membrane bilayer, producing an asymmetry between the two membrane leaflets and generating bending and curvature towards the cytosol. Here we show, using thin section and freeze-fracture electron microscopy, that ethidium bromide is able to produce negative curvature toward the cytosol in Candida utilis yeast cells. The curvatures were produced in grooves area, resulting in cup-shaped structures with centrally located groove or in polymorph structures with laterally located grooves; these structures were termed "nanocups". Apparently the curvatures were not able to generate vesicles and tubules, suggesting that they were not involved in intracellular trafficking. Thus besides mechanically- or biologically-produced curvature, we can add chemically-produced curvature the function of which remains to be elucidated.

Yeasts are present throughout the spontaneous fermentation of table olives, and can have a great influence on the final product. For this reason, yeasts could be used as starter cultures in order to improve the quality of table olives. The aim of the present work was to study the effect of the growth conditions on the behaviour of yeast isolated from table olives. In this study, 17 yeast strains obtained from table olives, and belonging to various species of the Candida, Debaryomyces, Kluyveromyces, Pichia and Saccharomyces genera, were characterized by their behaviour in different culture conditions (NaCl and pH). Moreover, the flocculation capacity was studied, and interactions between yeasts and lactic acid bacteria were analyzed. Significant differences were found when yeasts were grown in culture media with salt concentrations between 7% and 12%, and pH between 3.5 and 7. Most of the yeasts analyzed could be useful as starter cultures to enhance the control of table olive fermentation, and hence obtain a high quality final product.

The effect was studied of several yeast strains of the genera Saccharomyces, Pichia, and Kluyveromyces on the persistence of four pesticides (pyraclostrobin, dimethoate, oxamyl, and pymetrozine) in brine during the fermentation process of vegetable products. The growth of yeast strains in a synthetic brine in the presence of the pesticides was recorded with a Bioscreen C kinetic growth reader and compared with their growth in a control brine without pesticides. After incubation for 7 days with the yeast strains, the concentration of pesticides in the synthetic brine was determined. Prior to this pesticide assay, the brines were centrifuged to removing the yeast pellets. The pesticides were determined in both yeast-free brine and yeast pellets and compared with the control consisting of sterile brine with pesticides. A modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) method was used to extract the pesticides, which were assayed by LC-MS. The effect of the yeasts on the concentration of the four pesticides in synthetic brine depended on the yeast strain, and was clearest on pymetrozine and pyraclostrobin.

This paper present the Tropical Culture Collection CCT to show how it is and the areas it is involved: Applied microbiology, Culture and preservation methods, Environmental protection, Industrial microbiology, Fermentation, Freeze drying and so on, and also about the services and training courses it offers: Management of a culture collection, Culture and preservation methods, Propagation, Preservation, Storage services (Bacteria, Yeasts, Fungi), Distribution (Bacteria, Yeasts, Fungi).

The new Saccharomyces cerevisiae killer toxin (Klus) killed all the previously known S. cerevisiae killer strains, in addition to other yeast species. The Klus phenotype is encoded by a medium-size dsRNA virus, ScV-Mlus, whose genome size ranged from 2.1 to 2.3 kb. Its genome structure is similar to those of M1, M2, or M28 dsRNAs with a 5’ terminal coding region followed by two internal A-rich sequences and a 3’ terminal region without coding capacity. Mlus positive strands carry cis acting signals at their 5’ and 3’ termini for transcription and replication similar to those of killer viruses. The ORF at the 5’ portion codes for a putative preprotoxin with an N-terminal secretion signal, potential Kex2p/Kexlp processing sites and N-glycosylation sites. No sequence homology was found either between the Mlus dsRNA and M1, M2, or M28 dsRNAs, or between Klus and K1, K2, or K28 toxins. The Klus amino acid sequence showed a significant degree of conservation with the host chromosomally-encoded ORF YFR020W of unknown function.

Among the four types of Saccharomyces killer yeasts already described (K1, K2, K28, and Klus), we found K2 and Klus killer yeasts in south-western Spain. The K2 yeasts were found in all the wine producing sub-areas during all the vintages analyzed, while the Klus yeasts were found in the warmest locations and mostly in the warmest vintages. The killer yeasts were present in most spontaneous fermentations. Most were K2 with Klus being the minority. The proportion of killer yeasts increased during fermentation, while the proportion of sensitive yeasts decreased. The fermentation speed, malic acid, ethanol yield, and wine organoleptic quality decreased in those fermentations where the killer yeasts replaced at least 15% of a dominant population of sensitive yeasts.