Guðmundur Óli Hreggviðsson

Bacterial composition and succession during storage of North-Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) at superchilled temperatures

BackgroundThe bacteriology during storage of the North-Atlantic cod has been investigated for the past decades using conventional cultivation strategies which have generated large amount of information. This paper presents a study where both conventional cultivation and cultivation independent approaches were used to investigate the bacterial succession during storage of cod loins at chilled and superchilled temperatures.ResultsUnbrined (0.4% NaCl) and brined (2.5% NaCl) cod loins were stored at chilled (0°C) and superchilled (-2 and -3.6°C) temperatures in air or modified atmosphere (MA, % CO2/O2/N2: 49.0 ± 0.6/7.4 ± 0.2/43.7 ± 0.4). Discrepancy was observed between cultivation enumeration and culture independent methods where the former showed a general dominance of Pseudomonas spp. (up to 59%) while the latter showed a dominance of Photobacterium phosphoreum (up to 100%).Gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GC-MC) showed that trimethylamine was the most abundant volatile in mid- and late storage periods. Terminal restriction polymorphism (t-RFLP) analysis showed that the relative abundance of P. phosphoreum increased with storage time.ConclusionThe present study shows the bacteriological developments on lightly salted or non-salted cod loins during storage at superchilled temperatures. It furthermore confirms the importance of P. phosphoreum as a spoilage organism during storage of cod loins at low temperatures using molecular techniques. The methods used compensate each other, giving more detailed data on bacterial population developments during spoilage.

Complete genome sequence of Streptomyces lividans TK24.

Streptomyces lividans TK24 is the standard host for the heterologous expression of a number of different proteins and antibiotic-synthesizing enzymes. As such, it is often used as an experimental microbial cell factory for the production of secreted heterologous proteins including human cytokines and industrial enzymes, and of several antibiotics. It accepts methylated DNA and is an ideal Streptomyces cloning system. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of S. lividans TK24 that includes a plasmid-less genome of 8.345Mbp (72.24% G+C content).

Using Molecular Networking for Microbial Secondary Metabolite Bioprospecting

The oceans represent an understudied resource for the isolation of bacteria with the potential to produce novel secondary metabolites. In particular, actinomyces are well known to produce chemically diverse metabolites with a wide range of biological activities. This study characterised spore-forming bacteria from both Scottish and Antarctic sediments to assess the influence of isolation location on secondary metabolite production. Due to the selective isolation method used, all 85 isolates belonged to the phyla Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, with the majority of isolates belonging to the genera Bacillus and Streptomyces. Based on morphology, thirty-eight isolates were chosen for chemical investigation. Molecular networking based on chemical profiles (HR-MS/MS) of fermentation extracts was used to compare complex metabolite extracts. The results revealed 40% and 42% of parent ions were produced by Antarctic and Scottish isolated bacteria, respectively, and only 8% of networked metabolites were shared between these locations, implying a high degree of biogeographic influence upon secondary metabolite production. The resulting molecular network contained over 3500 parent ions with a mass range of m/z 149–2558 illustrating the wealth of metabolites produced. Furthermore, seven fermentation extracts showed bioactivity against epithelial colon adenocarcinoma cells, demonstrating the potential for the discovery of novel bioactive compounds from these understudied locations.

Palmaria palmata as an alternative protein source: enzymatic protein extraction, amino acid composition, and nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor

The red seaweed Palmaria palmata has previously been reported to have high protein content high in essential amino acids. To extract the proteins a rigid cell wall consisting mainly of β-(1→4)/β-(1→3)-D-xylans must be disrupted. Different methods have been used to overcome this problem along with various methods used for protein evaluation. In this study, the effect of enzymatic pre-treatment on protein extraction was examined. Both enzymatic hydrolysis with xylanase and protease were tested. The amino acid content of the fractions was examined after extraction. The amino acid composition was similar to what has previously been reported; P. palmata was high in essential amino acids. Accordingly, a nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor was calculated for each fraction individually and protein results were compared with calculation using the proximate 6.25 conversion factor. The nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor varied between fractions but all factors were significantly lower than the popularly used 6.25 indicating that this conversion factor for processed P. palmata is effectively and considerably overestimating the protein content. Enzymatic pre-treatment with xylanase resulted in enhanced amino acid content and successful protein extraction. Enzymatic hydrolysis using protease resulted in higher protein content in the liquid extract compared to hydrolysis with xylanase, due to the release of proteins, peptides, and amino acids. Therefore, hydrolysis with protease is not suitable to extract proteins from P. palmata with the method described within this study but might be an optimal method to examine the bioactivity by extracting the protein hydrolysates. However, the result from this study confirm that hydrolysis with xylanase is a feasible choice to extract proteins of good quality from P. palmata.

Development of the Nordic Bioeconomy : NCM reporting: Test centers for green energy solutions - Biorefineries and business needs

In 2014 NCM initiated a new project: “Test centers for green energy solutions – Biorefineries and Business needs” to strengthen Nordic bioeconomy by identifying potentials, obstacles, needs and opp ...

Development of the Nordic Bioeconomy

In 2014 NCM initiated a new project: “Test centers for green energy solutions – Biorefineries and Business needs” to strengthen Nordic bioeconomy by identifying potentials, obstacles, needs and opp ...

Future Opportunities for Bioeconomy : Focus on the West Nordic Region

This final report provides an overview of bioresources in the West Nordic region focusing on Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, their utilisation and future opportunities based on green grow ...