Fusion of Bacillus stearothermophilus leucine aminopeptidase II with the raw-starch-binding domain of Bacillus sp strain TS-23 alpha-amylase generates a chimeric enzyme with enhanced thermostability and catalytic activity

Bacillus stearothermophilus leucine aminopeptidase 11 (LAPII) was fused at its C-terminal end with the raw-starch-binding domain of Bacillus sp. strain TS-23 alpha-amylase. The chimeric enzyme (LAPsbd), with an apparent molecular mass of approximately 61 kDa, was overexpressed in IPTG-induced Escherichia coli cells and purified to homogeneity by nickel-chelate chromatography. The purified enzyme retained LAP activity and adsorbed raw starch. LAPsbd was stable at 70degreesC for 10 min, while the activity of wild-type enzyme was completely abolished under the same environmental condition. Compared with the wild-type enzyme, the twofold increase in the catalytic efficiency for LAPsbd was due to a 218% increase in the k(cat) value

Fusion of Bacillus stearothermophilus leucine aminopeptidase II with the raw-starch-binding domain of Bacillus sp strain TS-23 alpha-amylase generates a chimeric enzyme with enhanced thermostability and catalytic activity

Bacillus stearothermophilus leucine aminopeptidase 11 (LAPII) was fused at its C-terminal end with the raw-starch-binding domain of Bacillus sp. strain TS-23 alpha-amylase. The chimeric enzyme (LAPsbd), with an apparent molecular mass of approximately 61 kDa, was overexpressed in IPTG-induced Escherichia coli cells and purified to homogeneity by nickel-chelate chromatography. The purified enzyme retained LAP activity and adsorbed raw starch. LAPsbd was stable at 70degreesC for 10 min, while the activity of wild-type enzyme was completely abolished under the same environmental condition. Compared with the wild-type enzyme, the twofold increase in the catalytic efficiency for LAPsbd was due to a 218% increase in the k(cat) value

Strategies for Controlled Placement of Nanoscale Building Blocks

The capability of placing individual nanoscale building blocks on exact substrate locations in a controlled manner is one of the key requirements to realize future electronic, optical, and magnetic devices and sensors that are composed of such blocks. This article reviews some important advances in the strategies for controlled placement of nanoscale building blocks. In particular, we will overview template assisted placement that utilizes physical, molecular, or electrostatic templates, DNA-programmed assembly, placement using dielectrophoresis, approaches for non-close-packed assembly of spherical particles, and recent development of focused placement schemes including electrostatic funneling, focused placement via molecular gradient patterns, electrodynamic focusing of charged aerosols, and others

The water lily genome and the early evolution of flowering plants

Water lilies belong to the angiosperm order Nymphaeales. Amborellales, Nymphaeales and Austrobaileyales together form the so-called ANA-grade of angiosperms, which are extant representatives of lineages that diverged the earliest from the lineage leading to the extant mesangiosperms1–3. Here we report the 409-megabase genome sequence of the blue-petal water lily (Nymphaea colorata). Our phylogenomic analyses support Amborellales and Nymphaeales as successive sister lineages to all other extant angiosperms. The N. colorata genome and 19 other water lily transcriptomes reveal a Nymphaealean whole-genome duplication event, which is shared by Nymphaeaceae and possibly Cabombaceae. Among the genes retained from this whole-genome duplication are homologues of genes that regulate flowering transition and flower development. The broad expression of homologues of floral ABCE genes in N. colorata might support a similarly broadly active ancestral ABCE model of floral organ determination in early angiosperms. Water lilies have evolved attractive floral scents and colours, which are features shared with mesangiosperms, and we identified their putative biosynthetic genes in N. colorata. The chemical compounds and biosynthetic genes behind floral scents suggest that they have evolved in parallel to those in mesangiosperms. Because of its unique phylogenetic position, the N. colorata genome sheds light on the early evolution of angiosperms.Supplementary Tables: This file contains Supplementary Tables 1-21.National Natural Science Foundation of China, the open funds of the State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement (ZW201909) and State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, the Fujian provincial government in China, the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under European Research Council Advanced Grant Agreement and the Special Research Fund of Ghent University.http://www.nature.com/naturecommunicationsam2021BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Process development and prototyping for the assembly of LED arrays on flexible printed circuit tape for general solid state lighting

The objective of the present study is to develop a robust high-throughput assembly process of light emitting diode arrays for wide area general lighting. Topics to be covered in this paper include the conceptual design, the flexible printed circuit substrate, flip chip assembly, yellow phosphor coating, and encapsulation. All these are integrated into one reel-toreel assembly process. A prototype with the proposed process has been developed. A sample strip of packaged LED array has been produced as well to validate the developed assembly process. © 2009 IEEE

Effects of Si(001) surface amorphization on ErSi2 thin film

10.1016/j.tsf.2005.09.067Thin Solid Films5041-2157-160THSF