Fungal GH25 muramidases : New family members with applications in animal nutrition and a crystal structure at 0.78Å resolution

Muramidases/lysozymes hydrolyse the peptidoglycan component of the bacterial cell wall. They are found in many of the glycoside hydrolase (GH) families. Family GH25 contains muramidases/lysozymes, known as CH type lysozymes, as they were initially discovered in the Chalaropsis species of fungus. The characterized enzymes from GH25 exhibit both β-1,4-N-acetyl- and β-1,4-N,6-O-diacetylmuramidase activities, cleaving the β-1,4-glycosidic bond between N-acetylmuramic acid (NAM) and N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) moieties in the carbohydrate backbone of bacterial peptidoglycan. Here, a set of fungal GH25 muramidases were identified from a sequence search, cloned and expressed and screened for their ability to digest bacterial peptidoglycan, to be used in a commercial application in chicken feed. The screen identified the enzyme from Acremonium alcalophilum JCM 736 as a suitable candidate for this purpose and its relevant biochemical and biophysical and properties are described. We report the crystal structure of the A. alcalophilum enzyme at atomic, 0.78 Å resolution, together with that of its homologue from Trichobolus zukalii at 1.4 Å, and compare these with the structures of homologues. GH25 enzymes offer a new solution in animal feed applications such as for processing bacterial debris in the animal gut

Handbook of Comparative Oriental Manuscripts Studies. An Introduction

The present volume is the main achievement of the Research Networking Programme funded by the European Science Foundation in the years 2009–2014. It is the first attempt to introduce a wide audience to the entirety of the manuscript cultures of the Mediterranean East. The chapters reflect the state of the art in such fields as codicology, palaeography, textual criticism and text editing, cataloguing, and manuscript conservation as applied to a wide array of language traditions including Arabic, Armenian, Avestan, Caucasian Albanian, Christian Palestinian Aramaic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Persian, Slavonic, Syriac, and Turkish. Seventy-seven scholars from twenty-one countries joined their efforts to produce the handbook. The resulting reference work can be recommended to both scholars and students of classical and oriental studies as well as all those involved in manuscript research, digital humanities, and preservation of cultural heritage. The volume is enriched with maps, illustrations, indexes and an extensive bibliography

Arbeitsbericht 1971 der Zentralabteilung Strahlenschutz

The "Zentralabteilung Strahlenschutz - ZST" (Health Physics Division) of the Nuclear Research Establishment Jülich is responsible for an adequate and a proper performance of the radiation protection of installations, personnel and environment. This does include the introduction of the necessary organizing conditions as well as the permanent development of the measuring methods and procedures according to the most recent knowledge of science and research. The chapters 1 to 6 of the present annual report refer to the service activities done in 1971 as well as to the results of investigations and developments in connection with the improvement of methods and procedures. Chapter 7 gives a complete bibliography of all the published and internal literature of the ZST in 1971