Month: December 2012

The group around Professor MA Yanghe activated transhydrogenase and NAD kinase in constitutively stable strains of E. coli. Under anaerobic conditions, isobutyl alcohol yield increased to 39% (0.92 mol/mol), close to the theoretical value. Under aerobic conditions, isobutyl alcohol yield increased by by 22%; within 24 hours, 10.8 g/l isobutanol were produced, and production rate was 0.62 mol/mol. Source: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2012.11.008

According to the University’s Director for the Center of Technical Engineering, Professor WANG Shuyang, this will be a solid development at a present straw prize in China of 250 RMB per ton. China Industrial Biotechnology Network, Dec. 24, 2012

Wind power will obtain 5,8 billion additional funds, followed by 2 billion for biomass-based power generation. Solar power funding is only 723 million RMB. Major budgets go to Shandong, Jiangsu and Inner Mongolia. China Industrial Biotechnology Network, Dec. 21, 2012

Professor ZHAO Liping from Jiaotong University, an expert in intestinal community studies, has found that Enterobacter cloacae B29 made up 1/3 of the intestinal bacteria of a highly obese volunteer and could be reduced to undetectable levels after 23 weeks on a diet of whole grains, traditional Chinese medicinal foods and prebiotics. The weight of the patient dropped by 51 kg, and the patient recovered from hyperglycemia and hypertension. If isolated Enterobacter cloacae B29 were fed to germ-free mice, they developed obesity and insulin resistance on a high-fat diet but not on normal chow diet, whereas the germfree control mice on a high-fat diet did not exhibit the same disease phenotypes. The ISME Journal advance online publication 13 December 2012; doi: 10.1038/ismej.2012.153

Researchers at the CAS Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology have shown that 3-D culture, compared with traditional two-dimensional (2-D) cell culture, can provide physical signals and 3-D matrix close to the in vivo microenvironments. Here, sponge-like collagen scaffolds were used to assess how 3-D culture would affect the differentiation and self-renewal of neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Cultured in differentiation medium without growth factors, cells in 3-D collagen scaffolds yielded much higher clone formation efficiency and expressed less neuron marker, TUJ1, compared with cells cultured on 2-D plates. mTOR inactivation was identified and showed to supported the self-renewal of NPCs in 3-D culture. At the same time, REDD1 was highly expressed in cells cultured in 3-D conditions, which blocks the activity of mTOR. Moreover, knocking-down REDD1 induced the differentiation of NPCs in 3-D collagen scaffolds. These results indicated that mTOR inactivation by REDD1 mediated the self-renewal regulation of NPCs in 3-D cultures. Thus, 3-D collagen scaffolds maintained self-renewal properties of NPCs, and the inhibitory regulator of mTOR (such as REDD1) played an important role in the regulation of self-renewal and differentiation of NPCs. Han JIN et al., DOI:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.11.063

Following a decision by the national development reform committee in January 2011, Shenzhen Huaqiao University’s Gene Research Institute set up national gene pool whose pool sample size has reached by now 1.3 million, of which of 1.15 million are human samples, and 150.000 are animals, plant, microorganisms and other samples. By the end of 2013, it is expected to achieve 10 million samples, and by the end of 2015, 30 million biological sample will be stored. China Industrial Biotechnology Network, Dec. 19, 2012

http://www.polyenzyme.com/template/about_en.html China Industrial Biotechnology Network, Dec. 18, 2012

A Chinese official from CAAS has predicted, at a Shanghai Conference on Agricultural Innovation, that by 2050 50 % of the energy required by humans will be derived from biomass. China’s biomass energy supply at present is number 4 in the world and 500 – 700 biomass power plants are under planning. According to the “1025” plan, installed capacity will reach 13 MW by the end of 2015, and 30 MW in the end of 2020. Of this, agricultural and forestry biomass contributes 8 MW, methane gas 2 MW, waste incineration 3 MW, straw briquette fuel 10 million tons, biomass ethanol million tons, biodiesel 1 million tons and aviation biofuels 100.000 tons. China Industrial Biotechnology Network, Dec. 17, 2012

Based on metabonomics, a team from CAS Institute of Northwestern Plant Resources and CAS Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics has found that besides uric acid, creatinine and tryptophan in human serum and creatinine, guanosine and hippuric acid in urine can all be used as biomarkers to differentiate between gout from non-gout. CAS English News, Dec. 13, 2012

The map contains 4.400 SNP markers and all 19 linage groups at a total genetic distance of about 2.000 centimorgans. CAS News, December 12, 2012