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Genetically modified and organic crops in developing countries: A review of options for food security.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Discussion has been especially vigorous when organic farming was introduced as an alternative method. There are in fact, a few tradeoffs in developing countries. On the one hand, farmers are encouraged to accept and implement GM crops because of their higher productivity, while on the other hand, organic farming is encouraged because of socio-economic and environmental considerations. A crucial question facing such countries is therefore, whether GM crops can co-exist with organic farming. This paper aims to review the main considerations and tradeoffs. PMID: 19913085 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Biotechnology Advances)
Source: Biotechnology Advances - November 12, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Azadi H, Swart S, Ho P Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Inducing drought tolerance in plants: Recent advances.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Undoubtedly, drought is one of the prime abiotic stresses in the world. Crop yield losses due to drought stress are considerable. Although a variety of approaches have been used to alleviate the problem of drought, plant breeding, either conventional breeding or genetic engineering, seems to be an efficient and economic means of tailoring crops to enable them to grow successfully in drought-prone environments. During the last century, although plant breeders have made ample progress through conventional breeding in developing drought tolerant lines/cultivars of some selected crops, the approach is, in fact, highly time...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - November 12, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Ashraf M Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Novel chitin and chitosan nanofibers in biomedical applications.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article reviews the recent reports on the preparation, properties and biomedical applications of chitin and chitosan based nanofibers in detail. PMID: 19913083 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Biotechnology Advances)
Source: Biotechnology Advances - November 10, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Jayakumar R, Prabaharan M, Nair SV, Tamura H Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Toward next-generation sequencing of mitochondrial genomes - focus on parasitic worms of animals and biotechnological implications.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Helminths (worms) include parasitic nematodes (roundworms) and platyhelminths (flatworms). These worms are abundant, and many of them are of agricultural, aquacultural, veterinary and medical importance and cause substantial socioeconomic losses worldwide. The genetic characterization of parasitic nematodes using advanced molecular tools is central to the diagnosis of infections and the control of parasitism. The accurate analysis of genetic variation also underpins studies of their taxonomy, epidemiology and evolutionary history. Although the nuclear genome contains suitable genetic markers (e.g., in ribosomal DNA) fo...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - November 10, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Jex AR, Littlewood DT, Gasser RB Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Current status and conservation of Pistacia germplasm.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The genetic erosion of Pistacia germplasm has been highlighted in many reports. In order to emphasize this and to focus more attention on this subject, national and international (especially IPGRI and IFAR) institutions have initiated projects proposing to characterize, collect and conserve Pistacia germplasm. Therefore, this paper reviews recent researchs concerning conventional (in situ and ex situ) and unconventional biotechnological conservation strategies applied to the preservation of Pistacia germplasm. As regards conventional conservation, the majority of germplasm collections of Pistacia species are preserved ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - November 5, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Ozden-Tokatli Y, Akdemir H, Tilkat E, Onay A Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Induction of EPC homing on biofunctionalized vascular grafts for rapid in vivo self-endothelialization - A review of current strategies.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
For years intensive research has been done to improve the hemocompatibility of blood contacting vascular devices. Despite the enormous progress in physicochemical surface optimization technologies, the native endothelium still represents the ideal surface for blood contact. Numerous tissue engineering strategies aspired towards the endothelialization of graft surfaces to generate a non-thrombogenic barrier on artificial materials. A paradigm change in surface modification concepts is the in vivo endothelialization of vascular grafts by capturing circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) directly from the blood st...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - October 28, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Avci-Adali M, Ziemer G, Wendel HP Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Light signaling genes and their manipulation towards modulation of phytonutrient content in tomato fruits.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Due to its economic importance, ease of genetic manipulation, cultivation and processing, the tomato plant has been a target for increasing and diversifying content of fruit phytonutrients by transgenic and non-transgenic approaches. The tomato high pigment (hp) mutations exemplify the latter alternative and due to their positive effect on fruit lycopene content, they were introgressed into elite tomato germplasm for cost effective extraction of this important carotenoid. Interestingly, hp mutant fruits are also characterized by higher fruit levels of other functional metabolites, phenotypes caused by mutations in cent...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - October 19, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Azari R, Tadmor Y, Meir A, Reuveni M, Evenor D, Nahon S, Shlomo H, Chen L, Levin I Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Ripening of fleshy fruit: Molecular insight and the role of ethylene.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Development and ripening in fruit is a unique phase in the life cycle of higher plants which encompasses several stages progressively such as fruit development, its maturation, ripening and finally senescence. During ripening phase, several physiological and biochemical changes take place through differential expression of various genes that are developmentally regulated. Expression and/or suppression of these genes contribute to various changes in the fruit that make it visually attractive and edible. However, in fleshy fruit massive losses accrue during post harvest handling of the fruit which may run into billions o...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - October 19, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Bapat VA, Trivedi PK, Ghosh A, Sane VA, Ganapathi TR, Nath P Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Vaccine protocols optimization: In silico experiences.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Vaccines represent a special class of drugs, capable of stimulating immune system responses against pathogens and tumors. Vaccine development is a lengthy process that includes expensive laboratory experiments in order to assess safety and effectiveness. As the efficacy of a vaccine was demonstrated by biological/chemical investigations and pre-clinical studies, then a major problem is represented by the search for an optimal vaccination dosage. Optimality here assumes the meaning of assuring a high degree of efficacy and safety (lack of toxic or side effects). In lack of quantitative methods, this is usually achieved ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - October 9, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Pappalardo F, Pennisi M, Castiglione F, Motta S Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Overview on current status of biotechnological interventions on Yellow Stem Borer Scirpophaga incertulas (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) resistance in rice.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Yellow stem borer (YSB), Scirpophaga incertulas (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), a monophagous pest of paddy is considered as most important pest of rain fed low land and flood prone rice eco-systems. Breeding of yellow stem borer resistance in rice is difficult owing to the complex genetics of the trait, inherent difficulties in screening and poor understanding of the genetics of resistance. On the other hand, a good level of resistance against the widespread yellow stem borer has been rare in the rice germplasm. Resistance to insects has been demonstrated in transgenic plants expressing genes for delta -endotoxins from Baci...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - October 3, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Deka S, Barthakur S Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Biotechnological strategies applied to the decontamination of soils polluted with heavy metals.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Soils have been submitted to several contaminants that vary in concentration and composition. Heavy metals can be widely spread and accumulated in those environments due to some inappropriate actions. In this present review some remedation techniques to remediate soils are presented, focusing on the use of plants that are capable of surviving in soils with heavy metals along with the function of some microorganisms in the restoration process. PMID: 19778598 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Biotechnology Advances)
Source: Biotechnology Advances - September 20, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Kavamura VN, Esposito E Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Elucidating ANTs in worms using genomic and bioinformatic tools - biotechnological prospects?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Adenine nucleotide translocators (ANTs) belong to the mitochondrial carrier family (MCF) of proteins. ATP production and consumption are tightly linked to ANTs, the kinetics of which have been proposed to play a key regulatory role in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. ANTs are also recognized as a central component of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore associated with apoptosis. Although ANTs have been investigated in a range of vertebrates, including human, mouse and cattle, and invertebrates, such as Drosophila melanogaster (vinegar fly), Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) and Caenorhabditis elegans ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - September 17, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Hu M, Zhong W, Campbell BE, Sternberg PW, Pellegrino MW, Gasser RB Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Chilli peppers - A review on tissue culture and transgenesis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Biotechnology techniques involving plant tissue culture and recombinant DNA technologies are powerful tools that can complement conventional breeding and expedite Capsicum improvement. The rate of progress in Capsicum is relatively slow than other members of Solanaceae because of its high genotypic dependence and recalcitrant nature. Capsicum is recalcitrant plant in terms of in vitro cell, tissue and organ differentiation, plant regeneration and genetic transformation which makes it difficult to apply recombinant DNA technologies aimed at genetic improvement against pests, diseases and abiotic stress. Despite this, ap...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - September 6, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Kothari SL, Joshi A, Kachhwaha S, Ochoa-Alejo N Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and its applications in biotechnology.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Saccharomycopsis fibuligera is found to actively accumulate trehalose from starch and the gene responsible for biosynthesis of trehalose has been cloned and its expression has been characterized. This yeast is also found to secrete a large amount of amylases, acid protease and beta-glucosidase which have highly potential applications in fermentation industry. The genes encoding amylases, acid protease and beta-glucosidase in S. fibuligera have been cloned and characterized. It is also used to produce ethanol from starch, especially cassava starch by co-cultures of Saccharomyces cereviase or Zymomonas mobilis. PMID:...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Chi Z, Chi Z, Liu G, Wang F, Ju L, Zhang T Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Peptide-mediated DNA condensation for non-viral gene therapy.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The construction of non-viral, virus-like vehicles for gene therapy involves the functionalization of multipartite constructs with nucleic acid-binding, cationic agents. Short basic peptides, alone or as fusion proteins, are appropriate DNA binding and condensing elements, whose incorporation into gene delivery vehicles results in the formation of protein-DNA complexes of appropriate size for cell internalization and intracellular trafficking. We review here the most used cationic peptides for artificial virus construction as well as the recently implemented strategies to control the architecture and biological activit...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Saccardo P, Villaverde A, González-Montalbán N Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Advanced in silico analysis of expressed sequence tag (EST) data for parasitic nematodes of major socio-economic importance--fundamental insights toward biotechnological outcomes.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Parasitic nematodes infect humans, other animals and plants, and impose a significant public health and economic burden worldwide due to the diseases that they cause. A better understanding of parasite genomes, host-parasite relationships and the molecular biology of parasites themselves will enable the rational development of diagnostic tests and/or safe anti-parasitic compounds, following the functional annotation of parasite genomic sequences. With only a few completely sequenced nematode genomes, expressed sequence tag (EST) datasets provide a low-cost alternative ("poor man's genome") to whole genome sequences and...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Ranganathan S, Menon R, Gasser RB Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Plants as bioreactors for the production of vaccine antigens.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This article reviews the current status of developments in the area of use of plants for the development of vaccine antigens. PMID: 19356740 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Biotechnology Advances)
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Tiwari S, Verma PC, Singh PK, Tuli R Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Transgenic plants for enhanced biodegradation and phytoremediation of organic xenobiotics.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Phytoremediation--the use of plants to clean up polluted soil and water resources--has received much attention in the last few years. Although plants have the inherent ability to detoxify xenobiotics, they generally lack the catabolic pathway for the complete degradation of these compounds compared to microorganisms. There are also concerns over the potential for the introduction of contaminants into the food chain. The question of how to dispose of plants that accumulate xenobiotics is also a serious concern. Hence the feasibility of phytoremediation as an approach to remediate environmental contamination is still som...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Abhilash PC, Jamil S, Singh N Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Genetic and molecular basis of fragrance in rice.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Fragrance or aroma in rice is considered as a special trait with huge economic importance that determines the premium price in global trade. With the availability of molecular maps and genome sequences, a major gene for fragrance (badh2) was identified on chromosome 8. An 8-bp deletion in the exon 7 of this gene was reported to result in truncation of betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme whose loss-of-function lead to the accumulation of a major aromatic compound, 2-acetyl 1-pyrroline (2AP) in fragrant rice. However, several studies have reported exceptions to this mutation and indicated the involvement of other genet...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Sakthivel K, Sundaram RM, Shobha Rani N, Balachandran SM, Neeraja CN Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Glucose oxidase--an overview.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Glucose oxidase (beta-D-glucose:oxygen 1-oxidoreductase; EC 1.1.2.3.4) catalyzes the oxidation of beta-D-glucose to gluconic acid, by utilizing molecular oxygen as an electron acceptor with simultaneous production of hydrogen peroxide. Microbial glucose oxidase is currently receiving much attention due to its wide applications in chemical, pharmaceutical, food, beverage, clinical chemistry, biotechnology and other industries. Novel applications of glucose oxidase in biosensors have increased the demand in recent years. Present review discusses the production, recovery, characterization, immobilization and applications ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Bankar SB, Bule MV, Singhal RS, Ananthanarayan L Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Applications of single-chain variable fragment antibodies in therapeutics and diagnostics.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Antibodies (Abs) are some of the most powerful tools in therapy and diagnostics and are currently one of the fastest growing classes of therapeutic molecules. Recombinant antibody (rAb) fragments are becoming popular therapeutic alternatives to full length monoclonal Abs since they are smaller, possess different properties that are advantageous in certain medical applications, can be produced more economically and are easily amendable to genetic manipulation. Single-chain variable fragment (scFv) Abs are one of the most popular rAb format as they have been engineered into larger, multivalent, bi-specific and conjugated...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Weisser NE, Hall JC Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Biotechnological and industrial significance of cyanobacterial secondary metabolites.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Cyanobacteria are considered to be a rich source of novel metabolites of a great importance from a biotechnological and industrial point of view. Some cyanobacterial secondary metabolites (CSMs), exhibit toxic effects on living organisms. A diverse range of these cyanotoxins may have ecological roles as allelochemicals, and could be employed for the commercial development of compounds with applications such as algaecides, herbicides and insecticides. Recently, cyanobacteria have become an attractive source of innovative classes of pharmacologically active compounds showing interesting and exciting biological activities...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Rastogi RP, Sinha RP Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Cadmium tolerance and accumulation in eight potential energy crops.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study investigated the cadmium (Cd) accumulation and tolerance of eight potential energy crops. After growth for 28 days in substrates containing 0, 50, 100 or 200 mg Cd x kg(-1), seedlings were evaluated for growth parameters, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and Cd accumulation. All eight crops were moderately tolerant to Cd toxicity, with four [i.e., hemp (Cannabis sativa), flax (Linum usitatissimum), castor (Ricinus communis) and peanut (Arachis hypogaea)] being more tolerant than the others. Three of these crops (hemp, flax and peanut) had higher Cd accumulation capacities. The roots of pe...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Shi G, Cai Q Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Yeast strains for ethanol production from lignocellulosic hydrolysates during in situ detoxification.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Yeast strains Y1, Y4 and Y7 demonstrated high conversion efficiencies for sugars and high abilities to tolerate or metabolize inhibitors in dilute-acid lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Strains Y1 and Y4 completely consumed the glucose within 24 h in dilute-acid lignocellulosic hydrolysate during in situ detoxification, and the maximum ethanol yields reached 0.49 g and 0.45 g ethanol/g glucose, equivalent to maximum theoretical values of 96% and 88.2%, respectively. Strain Y1 could metabolize xylose to xylitol with a yield of 0.64 g/g xylose, whereas Y4 was unable to utilize xylose as a substrate. Strain Y7 was able to con...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Tian S, Zhou G, Yan F, Yu Y, Yang X Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Scale study of direct synthesis of dimethyl ether from biomass synthesis gas.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We investigated the synthesis of dimethyl ether (DME) from biomass synthesis gas using a kind of hybrid catalyst consisting of methanol and HZSM-5 zeolite in a fixed-bed reactor in a 100 ton/year pilot plant. The biomass synthesis gas was produced by oxygen-rich gasification of corn core in a two-stage fixed bed. The results showed that CO conversions reached 82.00% and 73.55%, the selectivities for DME were 73.95% and 69.73%, and the space-time yields were 124.28 kg m(-3) h(-1) and 203.80 kg m(-3) h(-1) when gas hourly space velocities were 650 h(-1) and 1200 h(-1), respectively. Deoxidation and tar removal from bioma...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Lv Y, Wang T, Wu C, Ma L, Zhou Y Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Hydrogen-producing capability of anaerobic activated sludge in three types of fermentations in a continuous stirred-tank reactor.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
A continuous stirred-tank reactor was used as an anaerobic sludge system and the hydrogen production capabilities of three typical fermentations, in terms of specific hydrogen production rates, were investigated under the same hydraulic retention times (8 h) and influent chemical oxygen demand (5000 mg/L) at 35 degrees C. The reactor was continuously fed with diluted molasses, while the pH and oxidation reduction potential in the reactor were regulated to control the type of fermentation. The specific hydrogen production rate of the anaerobic sludge reached 2.96 mol/kg mixed liquid volatile suspended solid (MLVSS)/day,...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Li J, Zheng G, He J, Chang S, Qin Z Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Study on biomass circulation and gasification performance in a clapboard-type internal circulating fluidized bed gasifier.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We investigated the solid particle flow characteristics and biomass gasification in a clapboard-type internal circulating fluidized bed reactor. The effect of fluidization velocity on particle circulation rate and pressure distribution in the bed showed that fluidization velocities in the high and low velocity zones were the main operational parameters controlling particle circulation. The maximum internal circulation rates in the low velocity zone came almost within the range of velocities in the high velocity zone, when u(H)/u(mf)=2.2-2.4 for rice husk and u(H)/u(mf)=3.5-4.5 for quartz sand. In the gasification exper...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Zhou ZQ, Ma LL, Yin XL, Wu CZ, Huang LC, Wang C Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Kinetics of biomass catalytic pyrolysis.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The Coats-Redfern method was used to analyze the kinetic characteristics of biomass catalytic pyrolysis, indicating that it can be described by multi-step reactions, rather than as a simple first-order reaction. Friedman model-free calculations were used to describe the starting reaction types and the corresponding initial kinetic parameters. Finally, nonlinear regression of biomass catalytic pyrolysis showed that the reaction mechanism of the whole process could be kinetically characterized by three successive reactions: a one-dimensional diffusion reaction, followed by an apparent first-order reaction, and then by a ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Lu C, Song W, Lin W Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Process simulation of single-step dimethyl ether production via biomass gasification.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study, we simulated the single-step process of dimethyl ether (DME) synthesis via biomass gasification using ASPEN Plus. The whole process comprised four parts: gasification, water gas shift reaction, gas purification, and single-step DME synthesis. We analyzed the influence of the oxygen/biomass and steam/biomass ratios on biomass gasification and synthesis performance. The syngas H(2)/CO ratio after water gas shift process was modulated to 1, and the syngas was then purified to remove H(2)S and CO(2), using the Rectisol process. Syngas still contained trace amounts of H(2)S and about 3% CO(2) after purification, ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Ju F, Chen H, Ding X, Yang H, Wang X, Zhang S, Dai Z Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Water-based woody biorefinery.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study, we discuss three elements of a wood-based biorefinery, as proposed by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF): hot-water extraction, hydrolysis, and membrane separation/concentration. Hemicelluloses are the most easily separable main component of woody biomass and thus form the bulk of the extracts obtained by hot-water extraction of woody biomass. Hot-water extraction is an important step in the processes of woody biomass and product generation, replacing alternative costly pre-treatment methods. The hydrolysis of hemicelluloses produces 5-carbon sugars (mainly xylose), 6-carbon sugars ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Amidon TE, Liu S Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Copper tolerance of the biomass crops Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach), Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides) and the upland reed (Phragmites australis) in soil culture.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Pot trials were conducted to study the influence of copper (Cu) on the growth and biomass of Elephant grass (EG, Pennisetum purpureum Schumach), Vetiver grass (VG, Vetiveria zizanioides) and the upland reed (UR, Phragmites australis). Cu toxicity in EG, VG and UR was positively correlated with the total and bioavailable Cu concentrations in the soil. Based on the EC50, dry weights, Cu contents, chlorophyll contents and photosynthesis rates, the Cu tolerance of the three species followed the trend EGNVGNUR. There were no significant differences in the unit calorific values among the different plants, though the total ca...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Liu X, Shen Y, Lou L, Ding C, Cai Q Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Biomass-oxygen gasification in a high-temperature entrained-flow gasifier.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The technology associated with indirect biomass liquefaction is currently arousing increased attention, as it could ensure a supply of transportation fuels and reduce the use of petroleum. The characteristics of biomass-oxygen gasification in a bench-scale laminar entrained-flow gasifier were studied in the paper. Experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of some key factors, including reaction temperature, residence time and oxygen/biomass ratio, on the gasification. The results indicated that higher temperature favored H2 and CO production. Cold gas efficiency was improved by N10% when the temperature...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Zhou J, Chen Q, Zhao H, Cao X, Mei Q, Luo Z, Cen K Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Effects of metal catalysts on CO2 gasification reactivity of biomass char.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The effects of five metal catalysts (K, Na, Ca, Mg, and Fe) on CO(2) gasification reactivity of fir char were studied using thermal gravimetric analysis. The degree of carbonization, crystal structure and morphology of char samples was characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The CO(2) gasification reactivity of fir char was improved through the addition of metal catalysts, in the order K>Na>Ca>Fe>Mg. XRD analysis indicated that Na and Ca improved the formation of crystal structure, and that Mg enhanced the degree of carbon structure ordering. SEM analysis showed t...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Huang Y, Yin X, Wu C, Wang C, Xie J, Zhou Z, Ma L, Li H Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Comparison of the pyrolysis behavior of lignins from different tree species.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Despite the increasing importance of biomass pyrolysis, little is known about the pyrolysis behavior of lignin--one of the main components of biomass--due to its structural complexity and the difficulty in its isolation. In the present study, we extracted lignins from Manchurian ash (Fraxinus mandschurica) and Mongolian Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) using the Bjorkman procedure, which has little effect on the structure of lignin. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry was used to characterize the microstructure of the Bjorkman lignins, i.e., milled wood lignins (MWLs), from the different tree spe...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Wang S, Wang K, Liu Q, Gu Y, Luo Z, Cen K, Fransson T Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Operational characteristics of a 1.2-MW biomass gasification and power generation plant.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study, we analyzed the operational characteristics of a 1.2-MW rice husk gasification and power generation plant located in Changxing, Zhejiang province, China. The influences of gasification temperature, equivalence ratio (ER), feeding rate and rice husk water content on the gasification characteristics in a fluidized bed gasifier were investigated. The axial temperature profile in the dense phase of the gasifier showed that inadequate fluidization occurred inside the bed, and that the temperature was closely related to changes in ER and feeding rate. The bed temperature increased linearly with increasing ER when ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Wu CZ, Yin XL, Ma LL, Zhou ZQ, Chen HP Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Kinetic study of hydrolysis of xylan and agricultural wastes with hot liquid water.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We investigated the kinetics of hot liquid water (HLW) hydrolysis over a 60-min period using a self-designed setup. The reaction was performed within the range 160-220 degrees C, under reaction conditions of 4.0 MPa, a 1:20 solid:liquid ratio (g/mL), at 500 rpm stirring speed. Xylan was chosen as a model compound for hemicelluloses, and two kinds of agricultural wastes-rice straw and palm shell-were used as typical feedstocks representative of herbaceous and woody biomasses, respectively. The hydrolysis reactions for the three kinds of materials followed a first-order sequential kinetic model, and the hydrolysis activa...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Zhuang X, Yuan Z, Ma L, Wu C, Xu M, Xu J, Zhu S, Qi W Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Optimization of metabolic pathways for bioconversion of lignocellulose to ethanol through genetic engineering.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The optimization of metabolic pathways is of fundamental importance for strategies aimed at improving the economics and yield of the lignocellulose-to-ethanol processes. Although Escherichia coli is capable of metabolizing a wide variety of substrates including hexoses and pentoses, its hexose metabolism is inferior to that of Zymomonas mobilis, an obligate, ethanologenic bacterium. We therefore inserted and expressed Z. mobilis genes encoding essential enzymes involved in the fermentation pathway, alcohol dehydrogenase II (adh II) and pyruvate decarboxylase (pdc), into E. coli, resulting in increased cell growth and e...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Chen J, Zhang W, Tan L, Wang Y, He G Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Construction of combustion models for rapeseed methyl ester bio-diesel fuel for internal combustion engine applications.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study, we developed combustion models based on ones developed previously. We compiled the liquid fuel properties, and the existing detailed mechanism of methyl butanoate ester (MB, C(5)H(10)O(2)) oxidation was supplemented by sub-mechanisms for two proposed fuel constituent components, C(7)H(16) and C(7)H(8)O (and then, by mp2d, C(4)H(6)O(2) and propyne, C(3)H(4)) to represent the combustion model for rapeseed methyl ester described by the chemical formula, C(19)H(34)O(2) (or C(19)H(36)O(2)). The main fuel vapor thermal properties were taken as those of methyl palmitate C(19)H(36)O(2) in the NASA polynomial form of...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Golovitchev VI, Yang J Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Clean conversion of cellulose into fermentable glucose.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We studied the process of conversion of microcrystalline-cellulose into fermentable glucose in the formic acid reaction system using cross polarization/magic angle spinning (13)C-nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that formic acid as an active agent was able to effectively penetrate into the interior space of the cellulose molecules, thus collapsing the rigid crystalline structure and allowing hydrolysis to occur easily in the amorphous zone as well as in the crystalline zone. The microcrystalline-cellulose was hydrolyzed using formic acid an...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Sun Y, Zhuang J, Lin L, Ouyang P Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Experimental study of the spray characteristics of biodiesel based on inedible oil.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We studied the spray characteristics of inedible oil using experimental and simulation methods. Spray penetration, spray cone angle and spray tip speed were measured at different biodiesel ratios in a constant volume vessel with wide visualization and high back pressure, using a high-speed camera. The characteristics of biodiesel spray were simulated under the same conditions using Star-CD software. The experimental results showed that, as the ratio of biodiesel in the blends increased, spray penetration and spray speed increased, but the spray cone angle decreased. Throughout the spray injection period, the region at ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Gao Y, Deng J, Li C, Dang F, Liao Z, Wu Z, Li L Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Immobilized invertase.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Invertase is a commercially important enzyme used for the hydrolysis of sucrose. The hydrolysis of sucrose yields an equimolar mixture of glucose and fructose, known as invert syrup, is widely used in food and beverage industries. This enzyme is also used for the manufacture of artificial honey, plasticizing agents used in cosmetics, pharmaceutical and paper industries as well as enzyme electrodes for the detection of sucrose. Immobilization of invertase and its biotechnological applications are reviewed. PMID: 19472508 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Biotechnology Advances)
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Kotwal SM, Shankar V Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

A decade of improvements in quantification of gene expression and internal standard selection.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Major improvements have been made in mRNA quantification and internal standard selection over the last decade. Our aim in this paper is to present the main developments that are of interest for practical laboratory work, contrasting the situation as it is now with the one of ten years ago, and presenting some excellent examples of what can be done today. Specifically, we will mainly discuss Real-Time RT-PCR major improvements that have been performed in the following areas: the most commonly used quantification techniques, the mathematical and software tools created to help researchers in their work on internal standar...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Thellin O, ElMoualij B, Heinen E, Zorzi W Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Gene duplication, transfer, and evolution in the chloroplast genome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In addition to the nuclear genome, organisms have organelle genomes. Most of the DNA present in eukaryotic organisms is located in the cell nucleus. Chloroplasts have independent genomes which are inherited from the mother. Duplicated genes are common in the genomes of all organisms. It is believed that gene duplication is the most important step for the origin of genetic variation, leading to the creation of new genes and new gene functions. Despite the fact that extensive gene duplications are rare among the chloroplast genome, gene duplication in the chloroplast genome is an essential source of new genetic functions...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Xiong AS, Peng RH, Zhuang J, Gao F, Zhu B, Fu XY, Xue Y, Jin XF, Tian YS, Zhao W, Yao QH Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Molecular mechanisms of tolerance in tardigrades: new perspectives for preservation and stabilization of biological material.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Certain organisms found across a range of taxa, including bacteria, yeasts, plants and many invertebrates such as nematodes and tardigrades are able to survive almost complete loss of body water. The dry organisms may remain in this state, which is known as anhydrobiosis, for decades without apparent damage. When water again becomes available, they rapidly rehydrate and resume active life. Research in anhydrobiosis has focused mainly on sugar metabolism and stress proteins. Despite the discovery of various molecules which are involved in desiccation and water stress, knowledge of the regulatory network governing the st...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 13, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Schill RO, Mali B, Dandekar T, Schnölzer M, Reuter D, Frohme M Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

The myth of plant transformation.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Technology development is innovative to many aspects of basic and applied plant transgenic science. Plant genetic engineering has opened new avenues to modify crops, and provided new solutions to solve specific needs. Development of procedures in cell biology to regenerate plants from single cells or organized tissue, and the discovery of novel techniques to transfer genes to plant cells provided the prerequisite for the practical use of genetic engineering in crop modification and improvement. Plant transformation technology has become an adaptable platform for cultivar improvement as well as for studying gene functio...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 6, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Rao AQ, Bakhsh A, Kiani S, Shahzad K, Shahid AA, Husnain T, Riazuddin S Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Improving salinity tolerance of plants through conventional breeding and genetic engineering: An analytical comparison.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Last century has witnessed a substantial improvement in yield potential, quality and disease resistance in crops. This was indeed the outcome of conventional breeding, which was achieved with little or no knowledge of underlying physiological and biochemical phenomena related to a trait. Also the resources utilized on programs involving conventional breeding were not of great magnitude. Plant breeders have also been successful during the last century in producing a few salt tolerant cultivars/lines of some potential crops through conventional breeding, but this again has utilized modest resources. However, this approac...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - June 2, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Ashraf M, Akram NA Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Ecological risk assessment of genetically modified crops based on cellular automata modeling.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The assessment of ecological risk in genetically modified (GM) biological systems is critically important for decision-making and public acceptance. Cellular automata (CA) provide a potential modeling and simulation framework for representing relationships and interspecies interactions both temporally and spatially. In this paper, a simple subsystem contains only four species: crop, target pest, non-target pest and enemy insect, and a three layer arrangement of LxL stochastic cellular automata with a periodic boundary were established. The simulation of this simplified system showed abundant and sufficient complexity i...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - May 27, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Yang J, Wang ZR, Yang DL, Yang Q, Yan J, He MF Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Testing for genetically modified organisms (GMOs): Past, present and future perspectives.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19477261 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Biotechnology Advances)
Source: Biotechnology Advances - May 27, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Holst-Jensen A Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Developing genomic platforms for Chinese hamster ovary cells.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are widely used in recombinant protein production, yet despite their importance in bioprocessing, few genomic resources have been developed for this cell line. Over the past several years, we have made considerable progress in the development of genomic tools for CHO. Using Sanger-based sequencing technology, we have accrued a sequence repertoire of more than 68,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs), representing more than 28,000 unique CHO transcripts. Using closely related species, we have functionally annotated this sequence set and have currently achieved significant representation in...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - May 24, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Kantardjieff A, Nissom PM, Chuah SH, Yusufi F, Jacob NM, Mulukutla BC, Yap M, Hu WS Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals

Systems biology of the cell cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: From network mining to system-level properties.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Following a brief description of the operational procedures of systems biology (SB), the cell cycle of budding yeast is discussed as a successful example of a top-down SB analysis. After the reconstruction of the steps that have led to the identification of a sizer plus timer network in the G1 to S transition, it is shown that basic functions of the cell cycle (the setting of the critical cell size and the accuracy of DNA replication) are system-level properties, detected only by integrating molecular analysis with modelling and simulation of their underlying networks. A detailed network structure of a second relevant ...
Source: Biotechnology Advances - May 22, 2009 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Alberghina L, Coccetti P, Orlandi I Tags: Biotechnol Adv Source Type: journals