Large-scale production of lignocellulosic biofuel is a potential solution to sustainably meet global energy needs. One-step consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) is a potentially advantageous approach for the production of biofuels, but requires an organism capable of hydrolyzing biomass to sugars and fermenting the sugars to ethanol at commercially viable titers and yields. Clostridium thermocellum, a thermophilic anaerobe, can ferment cellulosic biomass to ethanol and organic acids, but low yield, low titer, and ethanol sensitivity remain barriers to industrial production. Here, we deleted the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase gene in ethanol tolerant strain of C. thermocellum adhE*(EA) in order to allow use of previously developed gene deletion tools, then deleted lactate dehydrogenase (ldh) to redirect carbon flux towards ethanol. Upon deletion of ldh, the adhE*(EA) Δldh strain produced 30% more ethanol than wild type on minimal medium. The adhE*(EA) Δldh strain retained tolerance to 5% v/v ethanol, resulting in an ethanol tolerant platform strain of C. thermocellum for future metabolic engineering efforts.

Microbial transglutaminase (MTG) is an enzyme isolated from a variant of Streptomyces mobaraensis that forms covalent cross-links between protein molecules. Studies are being conducted since last two decades on utilization of MTG in meat foods to improve their characteristics, such as gelation, water-binding, emulsion stability, purge loss, cooking loss, etc. MTG is one of the important topics of interest in meat processing industry due to its advantages in practical utilization and commercial exploitation. This review will discuss about the overall applications of MTG in manipulating the functional properties of meat and meat products by means of various processes such as restructuring, value addition, etc.

Polyphenols are naturally occurring organic compounds composed of several phenols' units. The polyphenols are the secondary metabolites produced by the plants which played an imperative role in industrial and therapeutic applications. The polyphenols are composed of the phenolic ring and structural element that bind these phenolic rings to one another. The polyphenols were categorized under different sub-categories according to their nature of action and their structural components. Different polyphenols were categorized under phenolics acids, flavonoids, stilbenes, lignans and other polyphenols together with xanthones, tannins and anthraquinones. Fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, herbs and spices are the prime source of polyphenols. The composition of these polyphenols is significantly altered by internal and external conditions like agro-climatic conditions, harvesting time, cultivation, origin and so on. Polyphenols represent pharmaconutrients that can be utilized in the manufacturing of drugs, functional foods, coloring and other human health supplements. With the advancement of scientific knowledge these polyphenols isolated from their natural source via different emerging techniques like ultra-highpressure extractions, supercritical fluid extraction, ultrasonic and heat reflux. Data from the clinical trials, In-Virto/Vivo, placebo-control, randomized and animals' trials suggest that the polyphenols have the potential in the pre-treatment or prevention of numerous chronic ailments including cardiovascular (CVD), degenerative diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and other immune-related disorder.

Bhilawanol diene (3) isolated from bhilawan nut shell liquid was found to be a potent inhibitor of both soybean and potato lipoxygenases with IC50 values of 0.85 microM and 1.1 microM, respectively. However, the monoene (2) and saturated (1) bhilawanols exhibited relatively lower inhibitory activity. In addition, inhibition studies with synthetic analogues of salicylic acid (4-8) suggested that the unsaturated lipophilic side chain may be an absolute requirement for inhibitory activity.

A chip scale flow cytometer realized in a standard CMOS process uses magnetic beads as labels. The material dependent complex susceptibility is used to differentiate between label classes for multi-target flow cytometry. The chip is embedded in a microfluidic cartridge and operation verified with an embryonic fibroblast assay.