UIMP-CSIC Course on Analysis and Characterization of Materials

Our group has collaborated in the first edition of the Universitary Course on Techniques for the Analysis and Characterization of Materials, organized by our institute (ICP-CSIC)  in collaboration with the UIMP and CSIC Foundation. We were in charge of teaching theoretical and practical lessons on High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

One Day Symposium: Research in Carbohydrates

The Applied Biocatalysis Group has participated in the "One Day Symposium: Research in Carbohydrates" organized by the Group of Carbohydrates at the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry. The Symposium took place at the Faculty of Chemistry of University of Sevilla. The title of the conference delivered by Francisco Plou was “Recent examples of the enzymatic synthesis of bioactive oligosaccharides and polyphenol glycosides”

Master of Biotechnology (UAM) 2018

Students from the International Master of Biotechnology at Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) have visited our laboratories to perform a series of experiments related with biocatalysis, including the determination of enzyme activity and immobilization. They have also visited the laboratory of directed evolution of enzymes, whose supervisor is Dr. Miguel Alcalde. Our participation in the teaching of this Official Master started in 2008, and during this ten years we have tried to bring the biocatalysis closer to the students.

Week of Science and Technology 2018 at CSIC

Our group has participated in the Week of Science and Technology 2018 at CSIC. Several hundreds of High School students have visited the Institute of Catalysis to perform different activities related with Catalysis and Biocatalysis. In our laboratory the students have learned basic concepts on biochemistry and enzymology using lactose-free milk.

Article on glucosylation of hesperetin.

The regioselective α -glucosylation of hesperetin was achieved by a transglycosylation reaction catalyzed by cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) from Thermoanaerobacter sp. using soluble starch as glucosyl donor. By combining mass spectrometry (ESI-TOF) and 2D-NMR analysis, the main monoglucosylated derivative was fully characterized (hesperetin 7-O-α-D-glucopyranoside).
In order to increase the yield of monoglucoside, several reaction parameters were optimized: Nature and percentage of cosolvent, composition of the aqueous phase, glucosyl donor, temperature, and the concentrations of hesperetin and soluble starch. Under the optimal conditions, which included the presence of 30% of bis(2-methoxyethyl) ether as cosolvent, the maximum concentration of monoglucoside was approximately 2 mM, obtained after 24 h of reaction. To our knowledge, this is the first report of direct glucosylation of hesperetin employing free enzymes instead of whole cells.

''Optimization of Regioselective Glucosylation of Hesperetin Catalyzed by Cyclodextrin Glucanotransferase'' J.L. González-Alfonso, N. Míguez, J. D. Padilla, L. Leemans, A. Poveda, J. Jimnez-Barbero, A. O. Ballesteros, G. Sandoval and F. J. Plou. Molecules, 23, 2285, (2018) doi:10.3390/molecules23112285 

Immobilization of the β-fructofuranosidase from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous published in Catalysts.

The β-fructofuranosidase (Xd-INV) from the basidiomycota yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous (formerly Phaffia rhodozyma) is unique in its ability to synthesize neo- fructooligosaccharides (neo-FOS). In order to facilitate its industrial application, the recombinant enzyme expressed in Pichia pastoris(pXd-INV) was immobilized by entrapment in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels. The encapsulation efficiency exceeded 80%. The PVA lenticular particles of immobilized pXd-INV were stable up to approximately 40 °C. Using 600 g/L sucrose, the immobilized biocatalyst synthesized 18.9% (w/w) FOS (59.1 g/L of neokestose, 30.2 g/L of 1-kestose, 11.6 g/L of neonystose and 12.6 g/L of blastose). The operational stability of PVA-immobilized biocatalyst was assayed in a batch reactor at 30 °C. The enzyme preserved its initial activity during at least 7 cycles of 26 h.

Immobilization of the β-fructofuranosidase from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous by entrapment in polyvinyl alcohol and its application to neo-fructooligosaccharides production. N. Miguez, M. Gimeno-Perez, D. Fernandez-Polo, F.V. Cervantes, A.O. Ballesteros, M. Fernandez-Lobato, M.H. Ribeiro, F.J Plou.  Catalysts 8(5), 201 (2018). doi:10.3390/catal8050201