Hanne Bjerre Christensen

Method validation for strobilurin fungicides in cereals and fruit.

Strobilurins are a new class of fungicides that are active against a broad spectrum of fungi. In the present work a GC method for analysis of strobilurin fungicides was validated. The method was based on extraction with ethyl acetate/cyclohexane, clean-up by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and determination of the content by gas chromatography (GC) with electron capture (EC-), nitrogen/phosphorous (NP-), and mass spectrometric (MS-) detection. Three strobilurins, azoxystrobin, kresoxim-methyl and trifloxystrobin were validated on three matrices, wheat, apple and grapes. The validation was based on recovery tests at three or four spiking levels, determined as double determinations and repeated three times (n = 6). The mean recoveries for the three detectors were in the range of 70-114%, and the LODs were between 0.004mg/kg and 0.014mg/kg, for all three strobilurins. The values for repeatability and reproducibility were within the limits for repeatability and reproducibility given by the Horwitz equation. Validation was not accepted for azoxystrobin in grapes on all three detectors and for azoxystrobin in apple for the MS-detector. A comparison of matrix-matched standards versus standards in solvent showed varying differences

Processing factors and variability of pyrimethanil, fenhexamid and tolylfluanid in strawberries

An HPLC-MS/MS method for the analysis of three pesticides in strawberries was developed and validated. Recoveries were measured at three spiking levels and ranged from 85 to 99% (mean recoveries). The effects of processing of strawberries ranging from rinsing to jam production were investigated for the three fungicides tolylfluanid, fenhexamid and pyrimethanil, which were applied under field conditions. Kresoxim-methyl was also applied in the field, but was not found in any of the samples investigated. The effect of parameters such as preharvest interval, dose, harvest time and observed pesticide concentration after harvest (initial concentration, mg kg−1), were examined with respect to possible reduction of the pesticides. The results from rinsing showed that all three pesticides were reduced on average by 37% for tolylfluanid, by 34% for fenhexamid and by 19% for pyrimethanil. For tolylfluanid and fenhexamid, the initial concentration significantly affected the reduction. For fenhexamid, dose could also have a minor influence on reduction. For pyrimethanil, none of the parameters significantly influenced the reduction. For jam production, cooking significantly reduced tolylfluanid by an average of 91%. For fenhexamid and pyrimethanil, a smaller reduction was seen, 25% and 33%, respectively. The reduction of tolylfluanid and pyrimethanil was affected by the preharvest interval, while fenhexamid was affected by the initial concentration. The unit-to-unit variability of fungicide contents was also investigated and the variability factors for the three fungicides were from 1.9 to 2.8.

Survey of pesticide residues in table grapes: Determination of processing factors, intake and risk assessment

The differences in residue pattern between Italy and South Africa, the main exporters of table grapes to the Danish market, were investigated. The results showed no major differences with respect to the number of samples with residues, with residues being found in 54–78% of the samples. Exceedances of the European Union maximum residue limit (MRL) were found in five samples from Italy. A number of samples were rinsed to study the possible reduction of residues. For copper, iprodione, procymidone and dithiocarbamates a significant effect of rinsing was found (20–49% reduction of residues). However, no significant effect was found for organophosphorus pesticides and pyrethroids, whereas the number of samples with residues of benzilates, phenylamids and triazoles was insufficient to demonstrate any significant effects. An intake calculation showed that the average intake from Italian grapes was 3.9 µg day−1 for pesticides and 21 µg day−1 for copper. Correspondingly, the intakes from South African grapes were 2.6 and 5.7 µg day−1, respectively. When the total exposure of pesticides from grapes were related to acceptable daily intake, expressed as the sum of Hazard Quotients, the exposure were approximately 0.5% for Italian samples and 1% for South African samples.

Increased production of L-serine in Escherichia coli through Adaptive Laboratory Evolution

L-serine is a promising building block biochemical with a high theoretical production yield from glucose. Toxicity of L-serine is however prohibitive for high-titer production in E. coli. Here, E. coli lacking L-serine degradation pathways was evolved for improved tolerance by gradually increasing L-serine concentration from 3 to 100g/L using adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE). Genome sequencing of isolated clones revealed multiplication of genetic regions, as well as mutations in thrA, thereby showing a potential mechanism of serine inhibition. Additional mutations were evaluated by MAGE combined with amplicon sequencing, revealing role of rho, lrp, pykF, eno, and rpoB on tolerance and fitness in minimal medium. Production using the tolerant strains resulted in 37g/L of L-serine with a 24% mass yield. The resulting titer is similar to the highest production reported for any organism thereby highlighting the potential of ALE for industrial biotechnology.

Microbial Synthesis of the Forskolin Precursor Manoyl Oxide in an Enantiomerically Pure Form

ABSTRACT Forskolin is a promising medicinal compound belonging to a plethora of specialized plant metabolites that constitute a rich source of bioactive high-value compounds. A major obstacle for exploitation of plant metabolites is that they often are produced in small amounts and in plants difficult to cultivate. This may result in insufficient and unreliable supply leading to fluctuating and high sales prices. Hence, substantial efforts and resources have been invested in developing sustainable and reliable supply routes based on microbial cell factories. Here, we report microbial synthesis of (13R)-manoyl oxide, a proposed intermediate in the biosynthesis of forskolin and other medically important labdane-type terpenoids. Process optimization enabled synthesis of enantiomerically pure (13R)-manoyl oxide as the sole metabolite, providing a pure compound in just two steps with a yield of 10 mg/liter. The work presented here demonstrates the value of a standardized bioengineering pipeline and the large potential of microbial cell factories as sources for sustainable synthesis of complex biochemicals.

Engineering of high yield production of L‐serine in Escherichia coli

L‐serine is a widely used amino acid that has been proposed as a potential building block biochemical. The high theoretical yield from glucose makes a fermentation based production attractive. In order to achieve this goal, serine degradation to pyruvate and glycine in E. coli MG1655 was prevented by deletion of three L‐serine deaminases sdaA, sdaB, and tdcG, as well as serine hydroxyl methyl transferase (SHMT) encoded by glyA. Upon overexpression of the serine production pathway, consisting of a feedback resistant version of serA along with serB and serC, this quadruple deletion strain showed a very high serine production yield (0.45 g/g glucose) during small‐scale batch fermentation in minimal medium. Serine, however, was found to be highly toxic even at low concentrations to this strain, which lead to slow growth and production during fed batch fermentation, resulting in a serine production of 8.3 g/L. The production strain was therefore evolved by random mutagenesis to achieve increased tolerance towards serine. Additionally, overexpression of eamA, a cysteine/homoserine transporter was demonstrated to increase serine tolerance from 1.6 g/L to 25 g/L. During fed batch fermentation, the resulting strain lead to the serine production titer of 11.7 g/L with yield of 0.43 g/g glucose, which is the highest yield reported so far for any organism. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 807–816.

Development of an LC-MS/MS method for the determination of pesticides and patulin in apples

A method for the simultaneous determination of 33 pesticides or degradation products together with patulin in apples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed. The method involved homogenization of the apples, extraction with ammonium acetate–acetic acid solution in methanol–water by ultrasonication, filtration, and determination by LC-MS/MS. The repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility for the three spiking levels 0.02, 0.04 and 0.2 mg kg−1 were between 4% and 35%. In general, the repeatability and reproducibility were about 10–20%. The limits of quantification (LOQs) were between 0.01 and 0.14 mg kg−1. The method was used on incurred samples from parts of the ISAFRUIT project financed by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme. Samples were analysed at four different stages: after harvest, after storage (controlled), after a water bath, and after 28 days at room temperature. Pesticide residues were found at all stages, but no significant differences in the concentration were seen between the stages analysed. The concentration decreased significantly only for tolylfluanid after storage at room temperature for 28 days when only 0–6% of the original amount of tolylfluanid remained in the apples. No patulin was found in the apples stored for 28 days at room temperature and no growth of Penicillium expansum was observed on these apples. However, when the apples were inoculated with a spore suspension of P. expansum, high concentrations of patulin were found.

Estimation of the uncertainty in a multiresidue method for the determination of pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables.

The estimation of uncertainty of an analytical result has become important in analytical chemistry. It is especially difficult to determine uncertainties for multiresidue methods, e.g. for pesticides in fruit and vegetables, as the varieties of pesticide/commodity combinations are many. In the present study, recommendations from the International Organisation for Standardisations (ISO) Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty and the EURACHEM/CITAC guide Quantifying Uncertainty in Analytical Measurements were followed to estimate the expanded uncertainties for 153 pesticides in fruit and vegetables. Data from in-house validation were used in the estimation of the uncertainty. No significant difference in the relative standard deviation for reproducibility (RSDR) were found between the different concentration levels at concentration levels exceeding 2.5 times the detection limit. Therefore, it was possible to pool the RSDR within a single matrix. However, a difference in RSDR between matrices was seen, thus the poorest RSDR of the investigated matrices was chosen for the uncertainty estimation. The expanded uncertainties ranged from 7 to 78% with an average of 32% and median of 32%. Furthermore, only RSDR contributed to the uncertainty estimation.

Method validation and analysis of nine dithiocarbamates in fruits and vegetables by LC-MS/MS

An analytical method for separation and quantitative determination of nine dithiocarbamates (DTCs) in fruits and vegetables by using LC-MS/MS was developed, validated and applied to samples purchased in local supermarkets. The nine DTCs were ziram, ferbam, thiram, maneb, zineb, nabam, metiram, mancozeb and propineb. Validation parameters of mean recovery for two matrices at two concentration levels, relative repeatability (RSDr), relative within-laboratory reproducibility (RSDR) and LOD were obtained for the nine DTCs. The results from the analysis of fruits and vegetables served as the basis for an exposure assessment within the given commodities and a risk assessment by comparing the calculated exposure to the acceptable daily intake and acute reference dose for various exposure groups. The analysis indicated positive findings of DTCs in apples, pears, plums, table grapes, papaya and broccoli at concentrations ranging from 0.03 mg/kg to 2.69 mg/kg expressed as the equivalent amount of CS2. None of the values exceeded the Maximum residue level (MRL) set by the European Union, and furthermore, it was not possible to state whether illegal use had taken place or not, because a clear differentiation between the various DTCs in the LC-MS/MS analysis was lacking. The exposure and risk assessment showed that only for maneb in the case of apples and apple juice, the acute reference dose was exceeded for infants in the United Kingdom and for children in Germany, respectively.