Window to China
Prochlooroccus is the most abundant phototroph on earth. Based on extensive transcriptome analysis, it was found that gene expression, gene necessity, and mRNA turnover contribute to core genome maintenance during cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus genus evolution. Bang WANG et al., BMC Microbiology 2014, 14:11
Corn is China’s largest crop and maintains an important position in China’s grdain security. The program which covers more than 10 R&D institutions including CAAS Institute of Crop Science and CAAS Institute of Biotechnology will focus on corn yield and quality traits based on genome analysis. CAS news release, February 27, 2014
The study was done by Professor ZHANG Xueli’s group at TIB. The pathway engineering involved is based on a synergistic effect of transhydrogenase and NAD kinase to increase NADPH supply and led to 10.8 g/L isobutanol production in 24 hrs with a yield of 0.62 mol/mol glucose CAS news release, February 26, 2014
Rapeseed oil is China’s largest source of edible vetetable oil (55 % of total), but oil content of rape is 4 % lower compared to Canadian rapeseed oil (41 %). The Hubei institute has started a breeding program to bridge this gap and reports good progress, with up to 65 % oil content varieties. China Bio news release, February 25, 2014
Jilin Fuel Ethanol LLC is a joint venture of China Petroleum (55 %), Jilin Alcohol Industry (25 %) and the COFCO group (20 %) started in 2001. By the end of 2003, a 300.000 to fuel ethanol plant was started with a total investment of 2.09 billion Yuan. Meanwhile, proprietary technology has been developed for whole-corn pretreatment, transformation efficiency, vapor permeation technology and waste reuse. Today, production is 540.000 to and trends are towards the development of cellulose-based bioethanol China Bio news release, February 25, 2014
Jiangsu Province Enviromental Industry Technology Research Institute published a report indicating that the number of soil remediation sites in China will grow quickly from 42 in 2013 (2 billion Yuan) to 685 billion Yuan in 2020. A group of well-capitalized companies have already started to get involved in soil remediation industry. China Bio news release, February 24, 2014
“Yellow warning” implies reduced outdoor activities and health protection. It is a level 2 warning which can be aggravated to “orange” or “red” alerts. Science and Technology Daily, February 20, 2103
Using Candida antarctica lipase B as a model, researchers around Yan FENG have shown that increasing the rigidity of flexible segments within the active site of the enzyme improved enzymatic kinetic stability. Yuan XIE et al., JBC 2014, 10.1074/jbc.M113.536045
With an annual increase of over 25 % for three consecutive years, China has now established leadership in 21 out of 35 WIPO technology areas. Invention patent applications in 2013 were 825.000, domestic invention patents were 144.000, 4.02 per million people. Science and Technology News, February 20, 2013
Based on a comprehensive analyses based of a large variety of bacteria by integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic and metagenomic data it is suggested that a single-gene sweep, that is, the emergence of dnaE2 derived from an early duplication event of the primordial dnaE, followed by a series of niche-specific genomic adaptations, including GC content increase, intensive horizontal gene transfer and constant genome expansion, led to successful bacterial land colonization. Hao WU et al., ISME Journal 2014, doi: 10.1038/ismej.2013.247