| 1. |
- Aevarsson, Arnthór, et al.
(författare)
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Going to extremes - a metagenomic journey into the dark matter of life
- 2021
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Ingår i: FEMS Microbiology Letters. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1574-6968. ; 368:12
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Virus-X-Viral Metagenomics for Innovation Value-project was a scientific expedition to explore and exploit uncharted territory of genetic diversity in extreme natural environments such as geothermal hot springs and deep-sea ocean ecosystems. Specifically, the project was set to analyse and exploit viral metagenomes with the ultimate goal of developing new gene products with high innovation value for applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical, and the life science sectors. Viral gene pool analysis is also essential to obtain fundamental insight into ecosystem dynamics and to investigate how viruses influence the evolution of microbes and multicellular organisms. The Virus-X Consortium, established in 2016, included experts from eight European countries. The unique approach based on high throughput bioinformatics technologies combined with structural and functional studies resulted in the development of a biodiscovery pipeline of significant capacity and scale. The activities within the Virus-X consortium cover the entire range from bioprospecting and methods development in bioinformatics to protein production and characterisation, with the final goal of translating our results into new products for the bioeconomy. The significant impact the consortium made in all of these areas was possible due to the successful cooperation between expert teams that worked together to solve a complex scientific problem using state-of-the-art technologies as well as developing novel tools to explore the virosphere, widely considered as the last great frontier of life.
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| 2. |
- Daugbjerg Christensen, Monica, et al.
(författare)
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Cloning and Characterization of a Novel N-Acetyl-D-galactosamine-4-O-sulfate Sulfatase, SulA1, from a Marine Arthrobacter Strain
- 2024
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Ingår i: Marine Drugs. - 1660-3397. ; 22:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sulfation is gaining increased interest due to the role of sulfate in the bioactivity of many polysaccharides of marine origin. Hence, sulfatases, enzymes that control the degree of sulfation, are being more extensively researched. In this work, a novel sulfatase (SulA1) encoded by the gene sulA1 was characterized. The sulA1-gene is located upstream of a chondroitin lyase encoding gene in the genome of the marine Arthrobacter strain (MAT3885). The sulfatase was produced in Escherichia coli. Based on the primary sequence, the enzyme is classified under sulfatase family 1 and the two catalytic residues typical of the sulfatase 1 family—Cys57 (post-translationally modified to formyl glycine for function) and His190—were conserved. The enzyme showed increased activity, but not improved stability, in the presence of Ca2+, and conserved residues for Ca2+ binding were identified (Asp17, Asp18, Asp277, and Asn278) in a structural model of the enzyme. The temperature and pH activity profiles (screened using p-nitrocatechol sulfate) were narrow, with an activity optimum at 40–50 °C and a pH optimum at pH 5.5. The Tm was significantly higher (67 °C) than the activity optimum. Desulfation activity was not detected on polymeric substrates, but was found on GalNAc4S, which is a sulfated monomer in the repeated disaccharide unit (GlcA–GalNAc4S) of, e.g., chondroitin sulfate A. The position of the sulA1 gene upstream of a chondroitin lyase gene and combined with the activity on GalNAc4S suggests that there is an involvement of the enzyme in the chondroitin-degrading cascade reaction, which specifically removes sulfate from monomeric GalNAc4S from chondroitin sulfate degradation products.
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| 3. |
- Kobayashi, Yumi, et al.
(författare)
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Life-cycle assessment of yeast-based single-cell protein production with oat processing side-stream
- 2023
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-1026 .- 0048-9697. ; 873
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Production of fish meal and plant-based feed proteins continues to increase to meet the growing demand for seafood, leading to impacts on marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Microbial proteins such as single-cell proteins (SCPs) have been introduced as feed alternatives since they can replace current fish feed ingredients, e.g., soybean, which are associated with negative environmental impacts. Microbial protein production also enables utilization of grain processing side-streams as feedstock sources. This study assesses the environmental impacts of yeast-based SCP using oat side-stream as feedstock (OS-SCP). Life-cycle assessment with a cradle-to-gate approach was used to quantify global warming, freshwater eutrophication, marine eutrophication, terrestrial acidification, land use, and water consumption of OS-SCP production in Finland. Dried and wet side-streams of oat were compared with each other to identify differences in energy consumption and transportation effects. Sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the difference in impacts at various locations and fermentation times. Benchmarking was used to evaluate the environmental impacts of OS-SCP and other feed products, including both conventional and novel protein products. Results highlight the importance of energy sources in quantifying the environmental performance of OS-SCP production. OS-SCP produced with dried side-streams resulted in higher global warming (16.3 %) and water consumption (7.5 %) than OS-SCP produced from wet side-streams, reflecting the energy and water requirements for the drying process. Compared with conventional products, such as soy protein concentrates, OS-SCP resulted in 61 % less land use, while exacerbating the environmental impacts in all the other categories. OS-SCP had more impact on global warming (205-754 %), water consumption (166-1401 %), freshwater eutrophication (118-333 %), and terrestrial acidification (85-340 %) than other novel products, including yeast protein concentrate, methanotrophic bacterial SCP, and insect meal, while lowering global warming (11 %) and freshwater eutrophication (20 %) compared with dry microalgae biomass.
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