Haplotype and Haplotype-Environment Interaction Analysis Revealed Roles of SPRY2 for NSCL/P among Chinese Populations.

Non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is one of common birth defects in China, with genetic and environmental components contributing to the etiology. Genome wide association studies (GWASs) have identified SPRY1 and SPRY2 to be associated with NSCL/P among Chinese populations. This study aimed to further explore potential genetic effect and gene-environment interaction among SPRY genes based on haplotype analysis, using 806 Chinese case-parent NSCL/P trios drawn from an international consortium which conducted a genome-wide association study. After the process of quality control, 190 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of SPRY genes were included for analyses. Haplotype and haplotype-environment interaction analyses were conducted in Population-Based Association Test (PBAT) software. A 2-SNP haplotype and three 3-SNP haplotypes showed a significant association with the risk of NSCL/P after Bonferroni correction (corrected significance level = 2.6 × 10-4). Moreover, haplotype-environment interaction analysis identified these haplotypes respectively showing statistically significant interactions with maternal multivitamin supplementation or maternal environmental tobacco smoke. This study showed SPRY2 to be associated with NSCL/P among the Chinese population through not only gene effects, but also a gene-environment interaction, highlighting the importance of considering environmental exposures in the genetic etiological study of NSCL/P.

High level extracellular production of a recombinant alkaline catalase in E. coli BL21 under ethanol stress and its application in hydrogen peroxide removal after cotton fabrics bleaching.

The effects of induction parameters, osmolytes and ethanol stress on the productivity of the recombinant alkaline catalase (KatA) in Escherichia coli BL21 (pET26b-KatA) were investigated. The yield of soluble KatA was significantly enhanced by 2% ethanol stress. And a certain amount of Triton X-100 supplementation could markedly improved extracellular ratio of KatA. A total soluble catalase activity of 78,762U/mL with the extracellular ratio of 92.5% was achieved by fed-batch fermentation in a 10L fermentor, which was the highest yield so far. The purified KatA showed high stability at 50°C and pH 6-10. Application of KatA for elimination of H2O2 after cotton fabrics bleaching led to less consumption of water, steam and electric power by 25%, 12% and 16.7% respectively without productivity and quality losing of cotton fabrics. Thus, the recombinant KatA is a promising candidate for industrial production and applications.

Overexpression of a Paenibacillus campinasensis xylanase in Bacillus megaterium and its applications to biobleaching of cotton stalk pulp and saccharification of recycled paper sludge.

A xylanase gene (xynG1-1) from Paenibacillus campinasensis G1-1 was expressed in Bacillus megaterium MS941 and a high level of extracellular xylansae activity (304.26 IU/mL) was achieved after induction with 0.5% xylose. The purified recombinant xylanase (XynG1-1R) revealed optimal activity at 60°C and pH 7.0 and retained 79% and 81% activity after incubation without substrate at 60°C, pH 5.0 and pH 8.0 for 3h, respectively. Application of XynG1-1R (15 IU/g pulp) to cotton stalk pulp bleaching increased brightness by 3.65% over that of the control without the xylanase and reduced the need for chlorine compounds by 50% without loss of brightness and pulp fiber qualities. When XynG1-1R (80 IU/g paper sludge) was used in combination with mixed cellulolytic enzymes, the saccharification efficiency of recycled paper sludge was increased by 10%. These results indicated that XynG1-1R is a promising candidate for various industrial applications such as biobleaching and bioenergy conversion.