Ramón González

Detection of genetically modified organisms in foods by DNA amplification techniques

In this article, the different DNA amplification techniques that are being used for detecting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in foods are examined. This study intends to provide an updated overview (including works published till June 2002) on the principal applications of such techniques together with their main advantages and drawbacks in GMO detection in foods. Some relevant facts on sampling, DNA isolation, and DNA amplification methods are discussed. Moreover, these analytical protocols are discussed from a quantitative point of view, including the newest investigations on multiplex detection of GMOs in foods and validation of methods.

Transgenic wine yeast technology comes of age: is it time for transgenic wine?

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the main yeast responsible for alcoholic fermentation of grape juice during wine making. This makes wine strains of this species perfect targets for the improvement of wine technology and quality. Progress in winemaking has been achieved through the use of selected yeast strains, as well as genetic improvement of wine yeast strains through the sexual and pararexual cycles, random mutagenesis and genetic engineering. Development of genetically engineered wine yeasts, their potential application, and factors affecting their commercial viability will be discussed in this review.

Probing the determinants of substrate specificity of a feruloyl esterase, AnFaeA, from Aspergillus niger

Feruloyl esterases hydrolyse phenolic groups involved in the cross‐linking of arabinoxylan to other polymeric structures. This is important for opening the cell wall structure making material more accessible to glycoside hydrolases. Here we describe the crystal structure of inactive S133A mutant of type‐A feruloyl esterase from Aspergillus niger (AnFaeA) in complex with a feruloylated trisaccharide substrate. Only the ferulic acid moiety of the substrate is visible in the electron density map, showing interactions through its OH and OCH3 groups with the hydroxyl groups of Tyr80. The importance of aromatic and polar residues in the activity of AnFaeA was also evaluated using site‐directed mutagenesis. Four mutant proteins were heterologously expressed in Pichia pastoris, and their kinetic properties determined against methyl esters of ferulic, sinapic, caffeic and p‐coumaric acid. The kcat of Y80S, Y80V, W260S and W260V was drastically reduced compared to that of the wild‐type enzyme. However, the replacement of Tyr80 and Trp260 with smaller residues broadened the substrate specificity of the enzyme, allowing the hydrolysis of methyl caffeate. The role of Tyr80 and Trp260 in AnFaeA are discussed in light of the three‐dimensional structure.

Yeast autolytic mutants potentially useful for sparkling wine production

A selection method, based on a temperature-sensitive autolytic phenotype, has been used to genetically improve a second fermentation Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain by UV mutagenesis. The mutations carried by the resulting strains affected cell morphology, growth kinetics, sporulation and the release of nitrogenous compounds in an accelerated autolysis experimental model. Their fermentation power was not severely impaired.

Intrinsically antibacterial materials based on polymeric derivatives of eugenol for biomedical applications

Infections are the most common cause of biomaterial implant failure representing a constant challenge to the more widespread application of medical implants. This study reports on the preparation and characterization of novel hydrophilic copolymeric systems provided with antibacterial properties coming from eugenol residues anchored to the macromolecular chains. Thus, high conversion copolymers were prepared from the hydrophilic monomer 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and different eugenol monomeric derivatives, eugenyl methacrylate (EgMA) and ethoxyeugenyl methacrylate (EEgMA), by bulk polymerization reaction. Thermal evaluation revealed glass transition temperature values in the range 95-58 degrees C following the order HEMA-co-EgMA > PHEMA > HEMA-co-EEgMA and a clear increase in thermal stability with the presence of any eugenyl monomer in the system. In vitro wettability studies showed a reduction of water sorption capacity and surface free energy values with increasing the content of eugenol residues in the copolymer. The antimicrobial activity of copolymeric discs was evaluated by determining their capacity to reduce or inhibit colony formation by different bacterial species. All eugenyl containing materials showed bacteria growth inhibition, this one being higher for the EEgMA derivative copolymers.

Chiral analysis of amino acids from conventional and transgenic yeasts

Autolysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast is the main source of molecules that contribute to the quality of sparkling wines made by the traditional method. In this work, a genetically modified yeast (LS11) is compared to its isogenic wild type strain (BY4741) after autolysis. Chiral micellar electrokinetic chromatography with laser-induced fluorescence detection (chiral-MEKC-LIF) is used to identify and quantify the main D- and L-amino acids from both strains after accelerated autolysis. The procedure includes amino acids extraction, derivatization with FITC and chiral-MEKC-LIF separation in a background electrolyte composed of 100 mM sodium tetraborate, 30 mM SDS, 20 mM beta-CD at pH 10.0. The D- and L-forms of Arg, Asn, Ala, Glu and Asp, corresponding to the major amino acids found in these samples, are separated in less than 30 min with efficiencies up to 800,000 plates/m and high sensitivity (i.e., LODs as low as 40 nM were obtained for D-Arg for a signal to noise ratio of three). From these results it is corroborated that the genetic modification brings a faster autolysis of the yeast, releasing a higher amount of L-amino acids to the medium in a short time. Interestingly, the pattern of release of D-amino acids was also different between the transgenic and the conventional yeast strains.

Evidence for Yeast Autophagy during Simulation of Sparkling Wine Aging: A Reappraisal of the Mechanism of Yeast Autolysis in Wine

Yeast autolysis is the source of several molecules responsible for the quality of wines aged in contact with yeast cells. However, the mechanisms of yeast autolysis during wine aging are not completely understood. All descriptions of yeast autolysis in enological conditions emphasize the disturbance of cell organization as the starting event in the internal digestion of the cell, while no reference to autophagy is found in wine‐related literature. By using yeast mutants defective in the autophagic or the Cvt pathways we have demonstrated that autophagy does take place in wine production conditions. This finding has implications for the genetic improvement of yeasts for accelerated autolysis.

Highly reproducible capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) of DNA fragments using uncoated columns. Detection of genetically modified maize by PCR‐cGE

In this work a capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) method is presented that yields reproducible separations of DNA fragments using commercially available polymers together with bare fused silica capillaries. The method combines a washing routine of the column with 0.1 M hydrochloride acid followed by a rinsing step with a solution containing 1% polyvinyl alcohol. The use of this procedure together with a running Tris-phosphate-EDTA buffer containing 2-hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) at pH 7.3 gives highly resolved separations of DNA fragments ranging from 80 to 500 bp. The separation of these DNA fragments is achieved in ca. 20 min with efficiencies up to 1.8×106 plates/m. Reproducibility values of migration times (given as %RSD) of the DNA fragments separated by this CGE method are better than 0.86% (n = 10) for the same day, 1.61% (n = 40) for four different days, and 1.4% (n = 15) for three different capillaries. The length up to 500 bp corresponds to the DNA sizes more frequently amplified by PCR for detecting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in foods. The usefulness of this separation method is demonstrated by detecting genetically modified insect-resistant Bt maize after amplification of a DNA fragment by PCR. Detection of 1% of Bt maize in flour is carried out using this CGE procedure with UV absorbance and laser induced fluorescence (LIF).

On-line ultrasonic velocity monitoring of alcoholic fermentation kinetics

In this work, fundamental aspects on the ultrasonic velocity monitoring of alcoholic fermentations in synthetic broths (glucose, fructose and sucrose) and natural media (must and wort) are reported. Results are explained in terms of monosaccharide catabolism, polysaccharide hydrolysis, gas production and microorganism growth. The effect of each one of these subprocesses upon ultrasonic velocity has been independently studied. It is shown that, regarding the sound propagation, the simplest systems behave as ternary dissolutions of sugar and ethanol in water, where, in the course of time, substrates are transformed into metabolites according to the fermentation reaction. A semi-empirical approach, based on the excess volume concept and the density and velocity measurements of binary mixtures, has been used to calculate these magnitudes in the ternary mixtures and to obtain the concentrations of the main solutes throughout the fermentations, reaching a good correlation (especially for the media of simplest composition). In all the processes analyzed, the data obtained from the ultrasonic measurements followed the changes caused by the yeast metabolism, asserting the potential of mechanical waves to monitor fermentations and, in general, biotechnological processes.

Development of a transformation system forTrichoderma longibrachiatum and its use for constructing multicopy transformants for theegl1 gene

An efficient transformation system for the fungusTrichoderma longibrachiatum has been developed. Transformation was obtained both by electroporation and polyethyleneglycol treatment, using a plasmid carrying theEscherichia coli hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene as a dominant selectable marker. The transformation frequency was 0.5 to 5 transformants /μg plasmid DNA. Transformation normally occurred by tandem integration of the transforming DNA. A high percentage of the transformants were mitotically unstable. The efficiency of co-transformation was very high (around 90%), and several co-transformants containing multiple copies of theegll gene encoding a β-(1,4)-endoglucanase were obtained. Some of them secrete increased levels of endoglucanase to the culture medium. In addition, theE. coli lacZ gene was expressed in an active form under control of theAspergillus nidulans gpdA gene promoter.