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Barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) is one of the most ancient crops in the world, and is mainly used in feed, as a grain and as industrial material for beer, medicine and health protection. Its purity can affect beer taste and quality, thus it is important to set up rapid and accurate identification methods for the malting industry. In this study, 27 domestic and imported malt barley varieties were studied. Three pair primers of EcoR I + 3/Mse I + 3 were selected from 64 different primer combinations for DNA-AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphisms) and an AFLP fingerprinting map of the 27 domestic and imported malt barley varieties was constructed, with the primer combination of E-AGG/M-CAA amplification after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. With this fingerprinting map, it was possible to distinguish all of the 27 malt barley varieties with 10 specific loci. This could be useful for the identification of malt barley varieties in the beer industry. Copyright © 2015 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microalgae have attracted significant attention for biofuel production and transcription factors that can effectively regulate lipid accumulation in higher plants. In this study we expressed the transcription factor LEAFY COTYLEDON 2 from Arabidopsis thaliana in Chlorella sorokiniana. The relative electron transport rate (rel.ETR) of C. sorokiniana-AtLEC2 improved significantly under high-intensity light. As a result, the total lipid content and main fatty acid composition (C16, C18) increased by more than onefold. Differentially expressed proteins were analyzed using a label-free strategy to elucidate the regulation mechanism of AtLEC2. The results showed upregulation of TAG biosynthesis (G3PDH) and photosynthesis-related proteins (e.g., ATP synthase F0, Photosystem II, Photosystem I P700, cytochrome b6, cytochrome b6f, chlorophyll a-b binding protein, Photosystem I assembly protein). Furthermore, AtLEC2 expression in C. sorokiniana led to fixed carbon flow in photosynthesis to TAG through G3PDH upregulation. The current study will provide a new direction for the cultivation of high-yield oil algae and will reveal the mechanism of regulation of AtLEC2 on TAG accumulation in C. sorokiniana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] P(3HP-co-3HB) copolymer with controllable monomer composition was biosynthesized. [•] The inexpensive glycerol was used as sole carbon source. [•] The highest P(3HP-co-3HB) production was achieved. [•] The copolymer properties were dependent on its composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Poly(3-hydroxypropionate) (P3HP) is a biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastic. In this study, a P3HP biosynthetic pathway from glycerol was constructed in recombinant Escherichia coli. The genes for glycerol dehydratase and its reactivating factor (dhaB123 and gdrAB, from Klebsiella pneumoniae), propionaldehyde dehydrogenase (pduP, from Salmonella typhimurium), and polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase (phaC1, from Cupriavidus necator) were cloned and expressed in E. coli. After culture condition optimization, the final engineered strain accumulated 10.1g/L P3HP (46.4% of the cell dry weight) using glycerol and glucose as cosubstrates in an aerobic fed-batch fermentation. To date, this is the highest P3HP production without addition of any expensive precursor. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]