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. 

Participation in the Master of Biotechnology at Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM)

Members of the Biotransformations Laboratory and the Directed Enzyme Evolution Laboratory have participated for sixth year in the Master of Biotechnology at UAM. Teaching included seminars and practical sessions on the biocatalysis field.

Barbara Rodriguez defends her Thesis

Barbara Rodriguez-Colinas has defended her Thesis entitled "Enzymatic synthesis, characterization and prebiotic properties of oligosaccharides employed in infant milk formulas", supervised by Antonio Ballesteros and Francisco J. Plou. She obtained the maximum qualification (Sobresaliente cum laude). Congratulations to her!

Magali Remaud-Simeon visits our Laboratory

Magali Remaud-Simeon, Professor at the Laboratoire Ingénierie des Systèmes Biologiques et des Procédés (INSA-Toulouse), visited our laboratories. She is a renowned
expert on enzyme molecular engineering and catalysis, especially in the field of glycosidic enzymes.

CSIC - IMDEA Energy Workshop

The Group has participated in the CSIC -IMDEA Workshop focused in the R&D technologies in the field of energy  at the Madrid Region. A poster on "The Applied Biocatalysis Group at CSIC: activities in the field of bioenergy" was presented and can be here downloaded

Participation in the LIGNOCEL meeting

Our Group has participated in the LIGNOCEL Meeting held in Pontevedra. This network is focused on biotransformations of lignocellulosic materials, and is formed by 28 research groups and 9 companies

Paper published in Food Chemistry

The formation of galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) in milk during the treatment with several commercial β-galactosidases (Bacillus circulans, Kluyveromyces lactis and Aspergillus oryzae) was analyzed. Using K. lactis beta-galactosidase, a treated milk with 7.0 g/L GOS −the human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) concentration is between 5 and 15 g/L−, and with a low content of residual lactose (2.1 g/L, compared with 44-46 g/L in the initial milk sample) was obtained.

Reference: B. Rodriguez-Colinas, L. Fernandez-Arrojo, A.O. Ballesteros, F.J. Plou. Galactooligosaccharides formation during enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose: towards a prebiotic enriched milk. Food Chemistry (2013). doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2013.08.060

Participation of the group in the SEBBM-2013 Congress

Our group has participated in the XXXVI Congress of the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM). The work "Characterization of levansucrase from Zymomonas mobilis: levan and FOS production by soluble and immobilized enzyme" was presented in poster format by Paloma Santos. 

Francisco Plou, Treasurer of the Spanish Society of Catalysis

During the celebration of the recent Congress of the Spanish Society of Catalysis held in Sevilla (June 26-28 2013), Francisco Plou was appointed Treasurer of this Society 

Seminar Paolo Zambelli

Paolo Zambelli, PhD student at the University of Milan (Italy), working under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Molinari, has performed a 6-month stay at the Biotransformation Laboratory. He has given a seminar on fructooligosacharides (FOS) production using novel microbial enzymes.

Participation in the "4eso+empresa" educative program

For second year our group has participated in the Educative Program "4ºESO+empresa", sponsored by the Madrid Region. An outstanding student from the high school "IES Atenea, San Sebastian de los Reyes, Madrid" performed a stay in our laboratory from 19 to 21 March 2013. 

Bioethanol from discarded carrots

Our group, in collaboration with the Universidad Nacional del Litoral (Argentina) and the UNED (Spain), has developed for the first time a method that employs carrot discards to produce bioethanol. In 2010 more than 420.000 tonnes of carrots were collected in Spain, according to the  data of the Ministry of Agriculture. About 20% of the crop was discarded because the form or size of the carrots did not fulfil with the standards required.

The researchers are treating to develop the method in pilot scale. The plant is scheduled to be built in the province of Santa Fe (Argentina), and will be able to process between 8-10 tonnes of carrots per day.

N.R. Aimaretti, C.V. Ybalo, M.L. Rojas, F.J. Plou, J.C. Yori. Production of bioethanol from carrot discards. Bioresource Technology, 123, 727-732 (2012). doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2012.08.035 

IV Workshop of Probiotics, Prebiotics and Health

Participation of the Applied Biocatalysis Group in the IV Workshop of Probiotics, Prebiotics and Health held in Madrid.

Lignocel Network

Participation of the Applied Biocatalysis Group in the Lignocel Network Meeting held in Salamanca

Enzymatic preparation of bioactive compounds from iberoamerican natural resources

Publication of a book on "Enzymatic preparation of bioactive compounds from iberoamerican natural resources" by CSIC Publisher, edited by Francisco J. Plou and Georgina Sandoval

Francisco Plou in NCI WEB TV

Francisco Plou explains in NCI WEB TV his experience in the CYTED network on enzymatic biotransformations