Guanglei Zhao

Synthesis of modified guanidine-based polymers and their antimicrobial activities revealed by AFM and CLSM.

Modified guanidine-based polymers with chain extension were synthesized by condensation and cross-linking polymerizations in an attempt to increase molecular weight and charge density of the antimicrobial polymers. The antimicrobial activity and the corresponding mechanisms were investigated by several approaches. The results indicated that the antimicrobial activities of the modified guanidine-based polymer, based on the minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) against E.coli, varied with alkyl monomer ratios. UV absorption at 260 nm further quantified the amount of intracellular components leaked into bacteria suspension. The UV absorption measurements were also used to monitor inhibition processes dynamically. It was found that the modified guanidine-based polymer inhibited the growth of bacteria by causing membrane compromised and intracellular leaked. Dual fluorescent dyes were used to stain all bacteria including the dead ones, which enabled us to utilize CLSM to visualize the viability of bacteria in the presence of various modified guanidine-based polymers without causing any damage. The morphologies of bacteria untreated and treated with modified guanidine-based polymer were observed using an atomic force microscope (AFM), which further demonstrated the damage of E.coli membrane and the leakage of intracellular component induced by the modified guanidine-based polymers.

Immobilization of pectinase and lipase on macroporous resin coated with chitosan for treatment of whitewater from papermaking

Anionic residues and pitch deposits in whitewater negatively impact the operation of paper-forming equipment. In order to remove these substances, a macroporous resin based on a methyl acrylate matrix was synthesized and coated with chitosan of various molecular weights through glutaraldehyde cross-linking. Pectinase from Bacillus licheniformis and lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosus were immobilized on the resin coated with chitosan by a Schiff base reaction. The highest hydrolysis activities of the immobilized enzymes were achieved by using chitosan with 10×10(5)DaMW for coating and 0.0025% glutaraldehyde for cross-linking chitosan. The cationic demand and pitch deposits in whitewater were reduced by 58% and 74%, respectively, when treating whitewater with immobilized dual-enzymes for 15min at 55°C and pH 7.5. This method is useful for treatment of whitewater in the papermaking industry.

Immobilization of pectinase on oxidized pulp fiber and its application in whitewater treatment.

Modified pulp fiber was originally used as a new type of carrier for pectinase immobilization. Pulp fiber was oxidized by sodium periodate to produce aldehyde groups for covalently binding with amino groups of pectinase. Results showed that the enzymatic activity of immobilized pectinase on pulp fiber reached 65 μgg(-1)min(-1) when immobilization pH value, temperature and time were of 7.0, 20 °C and 15 min, respectively. The immobilized pectinase showed higher thermo stability in a wider temperature range of 40-70 °C than its free type and its optimal pH shifted from 8.0 to 8.8. Furthermore, the immobilized pectinase exhibited good operational stability. When employed in whitewater treatment of papermaking industry, it still efficiently decreased the cationic demand after operating repeatedly for six batches. The results obtained demonstrate a promising route to prepare available, cheap and biodegradable carrier for immobilizing enzymes with potential application in wastewater treatment in papermaking industry.

Using ionic liquids in whole-cell biocatalysis for the nucleoside acylation.

BackgroundThe use of biocatalysts has become an increasingly attractive alternative to traditional chemical methods, due to the high selectivity, mild reaction conditions and environmentally-friendly processes in nonaqueous catalysis of nucleosids. However, the extensive use of organic solvents may generally suffer from sever drawbacks such as volatileness and toxicity to the environment and lower activity of the biocatalyst. Recently, ionic liquids are considered promising solvents for nonaqueous biocatalysis of polyhydroxyl compounds as ILs are environmental-friendly.ResultsIn this research, we developed new IL-containing reaction systems for synthesis of long chain nucleoside ester catalyzed by Pseudomonas fluorescens whole-cells. Various ILs exerted significant but different effects on the bio-reaction. And their effects were closely related with both the anions and cations of the ILs. Use of 10% [BMI][PF6]/THF gave high reaction efficiency of arabinocytosine laurate synthesis, in which the initial rate, product yield and 5′-regioselectivity reached 2.34 mmol/L·h, 81.1% and >99%, respectively. Furthermore, SEM analysis revealed that ILs can alter the cell surface morphology, improve the permeability of cell envelopes and thus facilitate the mass transfer of substrates to the active sites of cell-bound enzymes.ConclusionOur research demonstrated the potential of ILs as promising reaction medium for achieving highly efficient and regioselective whole-cell catalysis.

Influence of Organic Solvents on Catalytic Behaviors and Cell Morphology of Whole-Cell Biocatalysts for Synthesis of 5′-Arabinocytosine Laurate

A whole-cell based method was developed for the regioselective synthesis of arabinocytosine laurate. Among the seven kinds of bacteria strains tested in the acylation reaction, Pseudomonas fluorescens gave the highest productivity and a higher 5′-regioselectivity than 99%. Compared with pure organic solvents, the use of organic solvent mixtures greatly promoted the yield of the whole-cell catalyzed reaction, but showed little influence on the 5′-regioselectivity. Of all the tested solvent mixtures, the best reaction result was found in isopropyl ether/pyridine followed by isopentanol/pyridine. However, the whole-cells showed much lower thermostability in isopropyl ether/pyridine than in THF-pyridine. To better understand the toxic effects of the organic solvents on P. fluorescens whole-cells and growing cells were further examined. Significant influences of organic solvents on the biomass of the cells were found, which differed depending on the type of solvents used. SEM analysis visually revealed the changes in the surface morphology of whole-cells and growing cells cultured in media containing various organic solvents, in terms of surface smoothness, bulges and changed cell sizes. Results demonstrated that organic toxicity to cell structure played an important role in whole-cell mediated catalysis.

Highly efficient synthesis of arbutin esters catalyzed by whole cells of Candida parapsilosis

Acylation modification of phenol glycosides is currently of great interest due to the improved bioavailability and multiple functions. In this work, mono- or diesters of arbutin, an important phenol glycoside derivative, can be controllably synthesized by using whole-cell biocatalytic systems. Among fourteen microbial strains selected, Candida parapsilosis cells showed the best catalytic activity and high organic solvent tolerance. Compared with the best pure solvent tetrahydrofuran, the use of a binary solvent pyridine-isooctane gave a slightly lower conversion (98.3% vs. 97.2%) and selectivity (85.3% vs. 80.5%) and much higher substrate solubility (37.1 vs. 214.0 mg mL−1), in a 24 h bioconversion of arbutin with a VP-arbutin molar ratio of 15 and whole cell dosage of 30 mg mL−1. The production of various arbutin esters with different fatty acid chain lengths can be realized by using this whole-cell strategy, with the substrate conversion and 6′-regioselectivity of 54.1–98.3% and 83.2–99.0%, respectively.

Facile one-pot fabrication of cellulose nanocrystals and enzymatic synthesis of its esterified derivative in mixed ionic liquids

As an important cellulose derivative, esterified cellulose nanocrystals (E-CNCs) could be applied in biomedical and chemical industries. A facile one-pot enzymatic method was proposed for the preparation of esterified cellulose nanocrystals with methyl laurate by using native cellulose as raw material in a binary ionic liquid (IL) system. 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ([BMIm]HSO4), a hydrophilic IL, acted as catalyst and solvent to produce cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). 1-Butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIm][BF4]), which is hydrophobic, was used as a solvent for improving the lipase performance. The key reaction conditions, including mass ratio of [BMIm]HSO4/[BMIm][BF4], molar ratio of methyl laurate/anhydroglucose unit (AGU) in cellulose, mass ratio of lipase/cellulose, and reaction time, showed significant influences on the enzymatic transesterification of CNCs. The ester products were confirmed by FT-IR and 13C NMR analysis. The crystalline structure of E-CNCs was revealed by XRD. Compared with native cellulose, the E-CNCs showed improved crystallinity. TEM data showed the width of rod-shaped E-CNCs in the range of 10–30 nm. Compared to native cellulose, the thermal stability of E-CNCs was decreased due to the higher surface areas exposed to heat. This is the first successful preparation of E-CNCs with long-chain fatty acids from cheap native cellulose in a one-pot method.

Furfural resin-based bio-nanocomposites reinforced by reactive nanocrystalline cellulose

The work presented herein has been focused on reinforcing the furfural resins (FA) by reactive-modified nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) in an attempt to create a bio-nanocomposite completely based on natural resources. FA prepolymers were synthesized with an acid catalyst, and NCC was rendered reactive via the grafting of maleic anhydride (MAH). The resulting NCC and nanocomposites were characterized using TEM, SEM and FT-IR. It was found that NCC appeared to be spherical in shape with diameters under 100 nm. FT-IR confirmed that there were hydrogen and esterification bonding between MAH and NCC or FA prepolymer. After solidified with paratoluenesulfonic acid, NCC-reinforced FA resin composites showed granular cross-section while FA resin with layered structures. Mechanical property tests indicated that NCC-reinforced FA resin composites possessed the improved tensile and flexural strengths, in comparison with FA resin.