Seminar by Luciana Santibáñez

Luciana Santibáñez, PhD student from the Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso (Chile) who is performing a stay in our group, gave a seminar on "Synthesis and sequential purification of galactooligosaccharides". The conference was accompanied by an excellent kuchen of grapes.

Biocatalysis day for two High Schools

A group of students from the High School IES Aljandic (Posadas, Cordoba) and IES Colonial (Fuente Palmera, Cordoba) visited the Aplied Biocatalysis Group a CSIC. The students performed a series of experiments in the field of biocatalysis (lactose hydrolysis, encapsulation, etc.) and visited other dependencies at our Institute (ICP-CSIC).

Review on Prebiotics

Our group has participated in a review article (in Spanish) on Prebiotics that has just been published in the journal "Nutricion Hospitalaria". This paper was presented during the VI Workshop on Probiotics, Prebiotics and Health that was held in Oviedo during 5-6 February 2015, auspiced by the Spanish Society of Probiotics and Prebiotics (SEPyP)

CINFA Prize 2014 sponsorized by the Spanish Royal Academy of Pharmacy

The work "Enzymatic synthesis of fructooligosaccharides for the modulation of colonic microbiota" presented by Paloma Santos-Moriano to the Scientific Contest 2014 sponsorized by the Spanish Royal Academy of Pharmacy obtained the CINFA Prize. The coauthors of this work were Lucía Fernández-Arrojo, Bárbara Rodríguez-Colinas,  Antonio Ballesteros and Francisco J. Plou. The awards ceremony took place on January 22nd 2015 at 19:00 h at the venue of the Spanish Royal Academy of Pharmacy (Madrid)

Testimony on Digital CSIC

Francisco Plou offers a testimony of his experience publishing in the institutional repository Digital CSIC. He explains the main benefits of this type of open access repositories. It is worth mentioning the possibility that the scientific information is available to several sectors (companies, teachers, science disseminators, etc.) that do not have access to the main publishers.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy 2015

The Applied Biocatalysis Group wish you a Merry Christmas. Our best wishes for the upcoming year!

Participation in the Spanish Week of Biotechnology

Our group has participated in the IV Spanish Week of Biotechnology, auspiced by the Spanish Society of Biotechnology (SEBIOT). A series of experiments were presented to high school students. The topic of the session was "Biotechnology: functional foods for our digestive system". A selection of pictures of the different activities that took place can be seen here.

Summer School on Biocatalysis

Juan Pablo Medina, student of Biotechnology at the University Francisco de Vitoria (Madrid) and Leticia Monsalve, student of Chemical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, are performing summer practices in our group. The students are doing a fast training on different techniques related with biocatalysis (determination of enzyme activity, immobilization, HPLC to follow the progress of the biotransformations, etc.).

ANQUE·ICCE·BIOTEC 2014 Congress on Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

The Group had an active participation in the recent ANQUE·ICCE·BIOTEC 2014 Congress on Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (“Science, the key for a better life”) held in Madrid during 1-4 July 2014. Paloma Santos presented her work on "Enzymatic hydrolysis of chitosan into chitooligosaccharides: analysis of the reaction products by chromatographic techniques" and Francisco Plou  the work performed by Santos Dominguez during his Master Thesis on "Synthesis of prebiotic isomaltooligosaccharides from starch by a combination of amylolytic enzymes”

Conference at the 5th World Congress on Biotechnology

The Applied Biocatalysis Group has participated in the 5th World Congress on Biotechnology held during June 25-27 2014 in Valencia. Francisco Plou gave a conference on "Transformations of carbohydrates into prebiotic oligosaccharides using free or immobilized glycosidic enzymes". The abstract of this paper was published in the Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials.

Participation at the XI Carbohydrate Symposium

The Applied Biocatalysis Group has participated in the XI Jornadas de Carbohidratos (XI Carbohydrate Symposium) held in Logroño, Spain, from May 28th to 30th, 2014. Francisco Plou presented an oral communication on "Galactooligosaccharides formation during enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose: Towards prebiotic-enriched milk". The Jornadas de Carbohidratos symposium is the most important national event in Carbohydrate Chemistry, biennially organized under the auspices of the Specialized Group of Carbohydrates of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry, RSEQ.  The congress was dedicated to the scientific career of Prof. Manuel Martín-Lomas.

Official picture Applied Biocatalysis Group

We present the new official photograph of the Applied Biocatalysis Group at CSIC, which is currently formed by seven members.

3rd Multistep Enzyme Catalyzed Processes Congress (MECP14)

Our group has participated in the organization of the 3rd Multistep Enzyme Catalyzed Processes Congress (MECP14) held at CSIC headquarters during 7-10 April 2014. More than 140 delegates attended the Symposium. The pdf file of the MECP14 Abstract Book can be downloaded here. After the Congress, the Kick-off meeting of the COST Action CM1303 “SysBiocat” was also held at CSIC headquarters.

Two High Schools from Fuente Palmera and Posadas (Cordoba) visit our laboratory

More than 30 students coming from the High Schools IES Aljandic (Posadas, Cordoba) and IES Colonial (Fuente Palmera, Cordoba) have visited our Biotransformations Laboratory. The students performed a series of experiments in the field of biocatalysis (enzyme kinetics, immobilization, chromatographic analysis, etc.). They also visited other dependencies at the Institute of Catalysis (ICP-CSIC), in particular a laboratory of protein engineering, an anaerobic chamber, a continuous bioreactor and the cold room.

The Biotransformations Laboratory in the Newsletter of Agarose Bead Technologies

Our group appears in the newsletter of the company Agarose Bead Technologies. Our experience in the use of agarose resins to immobilize enzymes is summarized. The complete testimonial can be downloaded here 

Organization of a Course on Analytical and Semipreparative HPLC

In collaboration with the Madrid Official Chemists' College and Association, the members of the Biotransformations Laboratory have organized  for second time (the first was in 2011) an Introductory Course on Analytical and Semipreparative Liquid Chromatography HPLC. Teaching included seminars and practical sessions. The number of participants was 22, coming from different cities in Spain. The practical sessions included the separation of sweeteners in a soft drink by ionic chromatography, the analysis of a mixture of polyphenols by reverse phase HPLC, the separation of the components of a synthetic biodiesel mixture, and the scaling-up of an analytical separation of carbohydrates.

Novel method for neo-erlose synthesis published in Process Biochemistry

We have shown that the beta-fructofuranosidase from X. dendrorhous fructosylates several carbohydrates that contain glucose. In particular, the enzyme produces selectively neo-erlose from maltose. In this way novel hetero-fructooligosaccharides with food and pharmaceutical applications can be obtained. 





"Regioselective synthesis of neo-erlose by the  β-fructofuranosidase from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous".  M. Gimeno-Perez, P. Santos-Moriano, L. Fernández-Arrojo, A. Poveda, J. Jiménez-Barbero, A.O. Ballesteros, M. Fernández-Lobato, F.J. Plou. Process Biochemistry, accepted manuscript  available online: 6-JAN-2014, doi:10.1016/j.procbio.2013.12.018

Merry Christmas

The Laboratory of Biotransformations at the CSIC Applied Biocatalysis Group wants to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2014.
Hope, peace and love for you this Christmas!

The Laboratory of Biotransformations participates in Simbiocat II

A Workshop on "Enzymes and industrial biotransformations: symbiosis between the academy and the industry" (SimbioCAT II) was held at the Institute of Catalysis to establish bridges between the research groups and the biotech companies. Our group presented our recent advances in enzyme immobilization and biotransformations involving glycosidic enzymes.

Seminar of Prof. Stephen G. Withers

Professor Stephen G. Withers gave a conference in our institute on “New access to complex glycoconjugates through engineering and evolution of glycosyltransferases and glycosynthases". Prof. Withers, Khorana Professor of Biological Chemistry at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), has made substantial contributions to the understanding of mechanisms of glycosidic enzymes, using such information to the development of potential new therapeutics for Influenza, Diabetes and Gaucher disease.