20th Century Atmospheric Deposition and Acidification Trends in Lakes of the Sierra Nevada, California, USA

We investigated multiple lines of evidence to determine if observed and paleo-reconstructed changes in acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) in Sierra Nevada lakes were the result of changes in 20th century atmospheric deposition. Spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) (indicator of anthropogenic atmospheric deposition) and biogenic silica and δ(13)C (productivity proxies) in lake sediments, nitrogen and sulfur emission inventories, climate variables, and long-term hydrochemistry records were compared to reconstructed ANC trends in Moat Lake. The initial decline in ANC at Moat Lake occurred between 1920 and 1930, when hydrogen ion deposition was approximately 74 eq ha(-1) yr(-1), and ANC recovered between 1970 and 2005. Reconstructed ANC in Moat Lake was negatively correlated with SCPs and sulfur dioxide emissions (p = 0.031 and p = 0.009). Reconstructed ANC patterns were not correlated with climate, productivity, or nitrogen oxide emissions. Late 20th century recovery of ANC at Moat Lake is supported by increasing ANC and decreasing sulfate in Emerald Lake between 1983 and 2011 (p < 0.0001). We conclude that ANC depletion at Moat and Emerald lakes was principally caused by acid deposition, and recovery in ANC after 1970 can be attributed to the United States Clean Air Act

Biomimetic synthesis of 2-substituted N-heterocycle alkaloids by one-pot hydrolysis, transamination and decarboxylative Mannich reaction

Heterocycles based on piperidine and pyrrolidine are key moieties in natural products and pharmaceutically active molecules. A novel multi-enzymatic approach based on the combination of a lipase with an α,ω-diamine transaminase is reported, opening up the synthesis, isolation and characterisation of a broad range of 2-substituted N-heterocycle alkaloids

Immobilization of His6_6-tagged amine transaminases in microreactors using functionalized nonwoven nanofiber membranes

Enzyme immobilization is one of the essential tools that enables bioprocess intensification as it facilitates reuse of enzyme. Nanomaterials can be used as supports for enzyme immobilization because of their high surface to volume ratio. In his work a designed biocompatible non-woven nanofiber was used as a support for hexahistidine tagged amine transaminase immobilization in a microreactor. Four different nanofibers were tested and the one with surface immobilized Cu$^{2+}$ ions was proven to be the best. Additionally, direct immobilization of overexpressed enzymes in E. coli cell lysate was performed and yielded loads up to 1088 U mL$^{-1}$. The highest turnover number reached within the indicated time was 7.23 10$^6$

Characterisation of a putrescine transaminase from Pseudomonas putida and its application to the synthesis of benzylamine derivatives

The reductive amination of prochiral ketones using biocatalysts has been of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry in the last decade for integrating novel strategies in the production of chiral building blocks with the intent of minimizing impact on the environment. Amongst the enzymes able to catalyze the direct amination of prochiral ketones, pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) dependent ω-transaminases have shown great promise as versatile industrial biocatalysts with high selectivity, regioselectivity, and broad substrate scope. Herein the biochemical characterization of a putrescine transaminase from Pseudomonas putida (Pp-SpuC) was performed, which showed an optimum pH and temperature of 8.0 and 60°C, respectively. To gain further structural insight of this enzyme, we crystallized the protein in the apo form and determined the structure to 2.1 Å resolution which revealed a dimer that adopts a class I transaminase fold comparable to other class III transaminases. Furthermore we exploited its dual substrate recognition for biogenic diamines (i.e., cadaverine) and readily available monoamines (i.e., isopropylamine) for the synthesis of benzylamine derivatives with excellent product conversions and extremely broad substrate tolerance

Efficient synthesis of α-alkyl-β-amino amides by transaminase-mediated dynamic kinetic resolutions

Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, Project CTQ2016-75752-R) is gratefully acknowledged. A.M.-I. thanks MINECO for a predoctoral fellowship inside the FPI program

Coupling Droplet Microfluidics with Mass Spectrometry for Ultrahigh-Throughput Analysis up to and Above 30Hz.

High and ultra-high-throughput label-free sample analysis is required by many applications, extending from environ-mental monitoring to drug discovery and industrial biotechnology. HTS methods predominantly are based on a targeted workflow, which can limit their scope. Mass spectrometry readily provides chemical identity and abundance for complex mixtures and here, we use microdroplet generation microfluidics to supply picolitre aliquots for analysis at rates up to and including 33 Hz. This is demon-strated for small molecules, peptides and proteins up to 66 kDa on three commercially available mass spectrometers from salty solutions to mimic cellular environments. Designs for chip-based interfaces that permit this coupling are presented and the merits and challenges of these interfaces are discussed. On an Orbitrap platform droplet infusion rates of 6 Hz are used for the analysis of cytochrome c, on a DTIMS Q-TOF similar rates were obtained and on a TWIMS Q-TOF utilizing IM-MS software rates up to 33 Hz are demonstrated. The potential of this approach is demonstrated with proof of concept experiments on crude mixtures including egg white, unpurified recombinant protein and a biotransformation supernatant

Zymophore identification enables the discovery of novel phenylalanine ammonia lyase enzymes

AbstractThe suite of biological catalysts found in Nature has the potential to contribute immensely to scientific advancements, ranging from industrial biotechnology to innovations in bioenergy and medical intervention. The endeavour to obtain a catalyst of choice is, however, wrought with challenges. Herein we report the design of a structure-based annotation system for the identification of functionally similar enzymes from diverse sequence backgrounds. Focusing on an enzymatic activity with demonstrated synthetic and therapeutic relevance, five new phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) enzymes were discovered and characterised with respect to their potential applications. The variation and novelty of various desirable traits seen in these previously uncharacterised enzymes demonstrates the importance of effective sequence annotation in unlocking the potential diversity that Nature provides in the search for tailored biological tools. This new method has commercial relevance as a strategy for assaying the ‘evolvability’ of certain enzyme features, thus streamlining and informing protein engineering efforts.</jats:p