Bertolt Kranz

Biodiversity of refrigerated raw milk microbiota and their enzymatic spoilage potential.

The refrigerated storage of raw milk selects for psychrotolerant microorganisms, many of which produce peptidases and lipases. Some of these enzymes are heat resistant and are not sufficiently inactivated by pasteurisation or even ultra-high temperature (UHT) treatment. In the current study, 20 different raw cows milk samples from single farms and dairy bulk tanks were analysed close to delivery to the dairies or close to processing in the dairy for their cultivable microbiota as well as the lipolytic and proteolytic potential of the isolated microorganisms. Altogether, 2906 isolates have been identified and assigned to 169 species and 61 genera. Pseudomonas, Lactococcus and Acinetobacter were the most abundant genera making up 62% of all isolates, whereas 46 genera had an abundance of <1% and represent only 6.6%. Of all isolates, 18% belong to hitherto unknown species, indicating that a large fraction of the milk microbiota is still unexplored. The potential of the isolates to produce lipases or peptidases followed in many cases a genus or group specific pattern. All isolates identified as members of the genus Pseudomonas exhibited mainly lipolytic and proteolytic activity or solely proteolytic activity. On the other hand, nearly all isolates of the genus Acinetobacter were lipolytic but not proteolytic. Only 37% of all tested lactic acid bacteria (LAB) showed enzymatic activity at 6 °C and the type of activity was proteolytic in 97% of these cases.

Continuous production of lactulose by immobilized thermostable β-glycosidase from Pyrococcus furiosus

A continuous enzymatic process for the production of the prebiotic disaccharide lactulose through transgalactosylation was developed using free and immobilized beta-glycosidase from Pyrococcus furiosus. The hyperthermostable beta-glycosidase (CelB) was immobilized onto an anion-exchange resin (Amberlite IRA-93) or onto Eupergit C with immobilization yields of 72% and 83%, respectively. The immobilized biocatalysts demonstrated specific activities of 920 nkat g(-1) dry carrier and 1500 nkat g(-1) dry carrier at 75 degrees C with p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside as substrate. Continuous biotransformations in packed-bed reactors using carrier bound CelB and in an enzyme membrane reactor using free CelB were carried out at 75 degrees C. Maximum lactulose yields of 43% related to the initial lactose concentration were reached with the carrier bound CelB preparations. The corresponding productivities were 52 glactulose l(-1)h(-1) (Amberlite IRA-93) and 15 glactulose l(-1)h(-1) (Eupergit C), respectively. The free enzyme tested in an enzyme membrane reactor showed a product yield of 41% and a productivity of 12 glactulose l(-1)h(-1) in the first day. While both carrier bound CelB preparations were 100% stable for at least 14 days, the half-life of the free CelB in the enzyme membrane reactor was only about 1.5 days.

Automated multi-step purification protocol for Angiotensin-I-Converting-Enzyme (ACE).

Highly purified proteins are essential for the investigation of the functional and biochemical properties of proteins. The purification of a protein requires several steps, which are often time-consuming. In our study, the Angiotensin-I-Converting-Enzyme (ACE; EC 3.4.15.1) was solubilised from pig lung without additional detergents, which are commonly used, under mild alkaline conditions in a Tris-HCl buffer (50mM, pH 9.0) for 48h. An automation of the ACE purification was performed using a multi-step protocol in less than 8h, resulting in a purified protein with a specific activity of 37Umg(-1) (purification factor 308) and a yield of 23.6%. The automated ACE purification used an ordinary fast-protein-liquid-chromatography (FPLC) system equipped with two additional switching valves. These switching valves were needed for the buffer stream inversion and for the connection of the Superloop™ used for the protein parking. Automated ACE purification was performed using four combined chromatography steps, including two desalting procedures. The purification methods contained two hydrophobic interaction chromatography steps, a Cibacron 3FG-A chromatography step and a strong anion exchange chromatography step. The purified ACE was characterised by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and native-PAGE. The estimated monomer size of the purified glycosylated ACE was determined to be ∼175kDa by SDS-PAGE, with the dimeric form at ∼330kDa as characterised by a native PAGE using a novel activity staining protocol. For the activity staining, the tripeptide l-Phe-Gly-Gly was used as the substrate. The ACE cleaved the dipeptide Gly-Gly, releasing the l-Phe to be oxidised with l-amino acid oxidase. Combined with peroxidase and o-dianisidine, the generated H(2)O(2) stained a brown coloured band. This automated purification protocol can be easily adapted to be used with other protein purification tasks.

Quantification of dabsylated di- and tri-peptides in fermented milk.

An improved HPLC method using pre-column dabsyl chloride derivatisation for the separation and quantification of antihypertensive di- and tri-peptides in fermented milk products was established. The dabsylated peptides Val-Pro-Pro (VPP), Ile-Pro-Pro (IPP), Leu-Pro-Pro (LPP) and Phe-Pro (FP) were separated on a C18-column coupled to UV/VIS and mass spectrometric detector, respectively. Due to the derivatisation of the peptides, an HPLC base line separation was achieved and the peak width was improved. The VIS-spectrometry did not allow a good quantification of these peptides since more than one peptide co-eluted under one single peak. In contrast applying LC-ESI-MS with a single quadrupole much better quantification of the dabsylated peptides was done. In Evolus® (Valio Ltd., Finland), a fermented milk drink, 6.9 mg L(-1) for VPP, 6.1 mg L(-1) for IPP, 0.8 mg L(-1) for LPP and 3.2 mg L(-1) for FP were determined. In fermented reconstituted milk (Lactobacillus helveticus, 37°C, 48 h) lower concentrations of these peptides were determined (0.7, 0.6, 0.0 and 2.2 mg L(-1), respectively).

Isothermal titration calorimetry as a tool to determine the thermodynamics of demicellization processes

Demicellization of a 90 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution in water at 10, 22, and 30 °C was studied by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). ΔH of the demicellization process was strongly temperature dependent, having an exothermic progression (-20.4 ± 0.9 kJ∕mol, max) at 10 °C and an endothermic one (3.7 ± 1.2 kJ∕mol, max) at 30 °C. ΔH for micelle dilution followed a slightly endothermic progression (0.9 ± 0.5 kJ∕mol at 30 °C, 0.7 ± 1.3 kJ∕mol at 22 °C, and 0.0 ± 0.5 kJ∕mol at 10 °C) at all studied temperatures. No differences in ΔH for micelle dilution and demicellization was observed at 22 °C. The temperature dependence of ΔH measured by ITC could be related to hydrophobic interactions. Therefore, ITC was shown to be a useful tool to describe the thermodynamics of demicellization processes and in addition to determine alterations in ΔH caused by changes in hydrophobic and steric∕electrostatic interactions.