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Agricultural biocatalysis is of immense scientific interest nowadays owing to its increasing importance in the efforts for more sustainable agriculture while optimizing environmental impacts. Plant compatibility is essential for developing eco-friendly and sustainable microbial products. Therefore, our search for novel technologies ought to be in the foreground, for which a thorough understanding of biochemical processes, application of agricultural enzymes, traits, and viruses get the highest priority. Volumes 8 to 10 in this series compile the recent research on agricultural biocatalysis by interdisciplinary teams from international institutes for chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology, and materials and chemical engineering, who have been investigating agricultural-biocatalytic topics related to biochemical conversions or bioremediation, and modern biological and chemical applications exemplified by the use of selected and highly innovative agricultural enzymes, traits, and viruses. The editors are prominent researchers in agrochemistry and theoretical biophysical chemistry, and these three volumes are useful references for the students and researchers in the fields of agrochemistry, biochemistry, biology, biophysical chemistry, natural product chemistry, materials, and drug design. Volume 9 covers the research on plant and soil enzymes, herbicide tolerant traits, biochemical conversions, including aspects from bioremediation, plant viruses, and evaluation of the agricultural enzymes market.

The discovery of enzymes as biocatalysts has led to various biotechnological developments. The capability of enzymes to catalyse various chemical reactions both in vivo and in vitro has led them to applications in various industries, such as food, feed, pharmaceutical, diagnostics, detergent, textile, paper, leather, and fine chemical industries. Microbial Fermentation and Enzyme Technology mainly focuses on production and application of enzymes in various industries. Further, it also discusses recent developments in enzyme engineering particularly those involved in creating and improving product formations through enzyme and fermentation technology.Salient features:Includes current research and developments in the area of microbial aspects in different fields like food, chemicals, pharmaceutical, bioprocess, etc.Discusses various enzymes that are used in refinement of environmental pollutions and its application in different industrial sectorsFocuses on production and application of enzymes in various industriesHighlights recent developments in enzyme engineering with respect to its application in textile, pharmaceutical, nanobiotechnology, bioremediation and many other related fields.

This book is an accessible resource offering practical information not found in more database-oriented resources. The first chapter lists acronyms with definitions, and a glossary of terms and subjects used in biochemistry, molecular biology, biotechnology, proteomics, genomics, and systems biology. There follows chapters on chemicals employed in biochemistry and molecular biology, complete with properties and structure drawings. Researchers will find this book to be a valuable tool that will save them time, as well as provide essential links to the roots of their science.Key selling features:Contains an extensive list of commonly used acronyms with definitionsOffers a highly readable glossary for systems and techniquesProvides comprehensive information for the validation of biotechnology assays and manufacturing processesIncludes a list of Log P values, water solubility, and molecular weight for selected chemicalsGives a detailed listing of protease inhibitors and cocktails, as well as a list of buffers

Bioethanol and Natural Resources: Substrates, Chemistry and Engineered Systems provides a comprehensive review of feedstocks, physiochemical and biological pretreatments, molecular substrates, cellulolytic and ligninolytic enzymes, and advanced technologies for producing bioethanol.Although this book provides a review of first-generation bioethanol feedstocks, chemistry, and processes, there is an emphasis on second-generation'cellulosic'ethanol production. With rapid advances in biofuels technologies and the continued global dependency on unsustainable extraction of fossil fuels, this text is timely. Although it is intended to be used as a supplemental text for advanced undergraduate or graduate level courses, the book is accessible to a non-academic audience. This book provides a unique opportunity to understand bioethanol production from the basic concepts and processes to the most cutting-edge technologies under development.

This book provides an actual overview of the structure, function, and application of carbohydrate-modifying biocatalysts. Carbohydrates have been disregarded for a long time by the scientific community, mainly due to their complex structure. Meanwhile, the situation changed with increasing knowledge about the key role carbohydrates play in biological processes such as recognition, signal transduction, immune responses, and others. An outcome of research activities in glycoscience is the development of several new pharmaceuticals against serious diseases such as malaria, cancer, and various storage diseases. Furthermore, the employment of carbohydrate-modifying biocatalysts—enzymes as well as microorganisms—will contribute significantly to the development of environmentally friendly processes boosting a shift of the chemical industry from petroleum- to bio-based production of chemicals from renewable resources. The updated content of the second edition of this book has been extended by discussing the current state of the art of using recombinantly expressed carbohydrate-modifying biocatalysts and the synthesis of minicellulosomes in connection with consolidated bioprocessing of lignocellulosic material. Furthermore, a synthetic biology approach for using DAHP-dependent aldolases to catalyze asymmetric aldol reactions is presented.

Understanding Enzymes: Function, Design, Engineering, and Analysis focuses on the understanding of enzyme function and optimization gained in the past decade, past enzyme function analysis, enzyme engineering, and growing insights from the simulation work and nanotechnology measurement of enzymes in action in vitro or in silico. The book also prese

Muscle contraction has been the focus of scientific investigation for more than two centuries, and major discoveries have changed the field over the years. Early in the twentieth century, Fenn (1924, 1923) showed that the total energy liberated during a contraction (heat + work) was increased when the muscle was allowed to shorten and perform work. The result implied that chemical reactions during contractions were load-dependent. The observation underlying the “Fenn effect” was taken to a greater extent when Hill (1938) published a pivotal study showing in details the relation between heat production and the amount of muscle shortening, providing investigators with the force-velocity relation for skeletal muscles. Subsequently, two papers paved the way for the current paradigm in the field of muscle contraction. Huxley and Niedergerke (1954), and Huxley and Hanson (1954) showed that the width of the A-bands did not change during muscle stretch or activation. Contraction, previously believed to be caused by shortening of muscle filaments, was associated with sliding of the thick and thin filaments. These studies were followed by the classic paper by Huxley (1957), in which he conceptualized for the first time the cross-bridge theory; filament sliding was driven by the cyclical interactions of myosin heads (cross-bridges) with actin. The original cross-bridge theory has been revised over the years but the basic features have remained mostly intact. It now influences studies performed with molecular motors responsible for tasks as diverse as muscle contraction, cell division and vesicle transport.

When I was invited to edit this volume, I wanted to take the opportunity to assemble reviews of different biophysical methodologies for protein interactions at a level suf?ciently detailed to understand how complex systems can be studied. There are several excellent introductory texts for biophysical methodologies, many with hands-on descriptions or embedded in general introductions to physical b- chemistry. The goal of the present volume was to present state-of-the-art reviews that do not necessarily enable the reader to carry out these techniques, but to gain a deep understanding of the biophysical observables, to stimulate creative thought on how the techniques may be applied to study a particular biological system, and to foster collaboration and multidisciplinary work. Reversible protein interactions involve noncovalent chemical bonds, pro- cing protein complexes with free energies not far from the order of magnitude of the thermal energy kT. As a consequence, they can be highly dynamic and may be controlled, for example, by protein expression levels and changes in the intracel- lar or microenvironment. Reversible protein complexes may have suf?cient stab- ity to be puri?ed for study, but frequently their short lifetime essentially limits their existence to solutions of mixtures of the binding partners in which they remain populated through dissociation and reassociation processes. To understand the function of such protein complexes, it is important to study their structure and dynamics.

Edited by two of the most distinguished pioneers in genetic manipulation and bioprocess technology, this bestselling reference presents a comprehensive overview of current cell culture technology used in the pharmaceutical industry. Contributions from several leading researchers showcase the importance of gene discovery and genomic technology devel

Protein engineering has proved to be one of the more fruitful technological approaches in biotechnology, being both very powerful and able to generate valuable intellectual property. This book aims to present examples in which the application of protein engineering has successfully solved problems arising in industrial biotechnology. There is a section on its use to enhance purification of recombinant proteins. The use of protein engineering to modify the activity or the stability of industrial enzymes from lipases to proteases, from carboxypeptidases to glucanases and glucosidases, and from pectin modifying enzymes to enzymes able to degrade recalcitrant compounds is extensively covered. It is shown how areas as diverse as agrofood technology, fine chemistry, detergents, bioremediation and biosensors receive significant contributions from protein and solvent engineering.The application of protein engineering to health care is also covered, from the development of new vaccines to new potential therapeutic proteins. A specific notation is given to protein engineering in the development of target molecules for drug discovery.International in scope, the many contributions are drawn from academia and industry. The text should be of interest to students and researchers in industrial biotechnology as well as to everybody interested in basic research in protein structure, molecular genetics, bio-organic chemistry, biochemistry, agrobiotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences and medicine.