Overexpression of a modified amaranth protein in Escherichia coli with minimal media and lactose as inducer.

In this research it was attempted to overexpress the acidic subunit, from the 11S amaranth seed globulin termed amarantin, modified with antihypertensive peptides in Escherichia coli Rosetta (DE3) by manipulating some factors in batch fermenter such as growth medium composition, inducer (isopropyl ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside [IPTG] or lactose), air flow, cultivation temperature, agitation speed and induction time. The possibility of using several minimal media and lactose as inducer to increase yields of the recombinant protein was investigated. Previous fermentations at flask level showed that two minimal culture media (A6 and A7) and 0.5% (w/v) lactose presented high yields of the engineered protein expression. Thus, the latter two media were tested at fermenter level, the lactose inducer, and different environmental conditions. Factors with significant effects were identified by Plackett-Burman design with center points and were adjusted at the level suggested and the yields of the recombinant protein were increased from 303.2 to 1,531 mg L(-1) in A6 and from 363.4 to 1,681 mg L(-1) in A7. Unlike some patents where the highest productivity was achieved at 24 h or afterwards, in this research the best productivity of the recombinant acidic subunit was attained at 4 and 6 h of induction using both media, respectively.

Effect of environmental conditions on the expression levels of a recombinant 11S amaranth globulin in Escherichia coli.

The expression in Escherichia coli strain Rosetta of the recombinant acidic subunit from the 11S amaranth seed storage protein (protein ACM3) was studied at flask and at bioreactor levels. This subunit was modified by inserting four Val-Tyr antihypertensive peptides in tandem into its third variable region and also with the tripeptide Ile-Pro-Pro in the Cterminal region. Flasks experiments allowed us to define the best conditions for the preparation and expression and accumulation of the protein ACM3, including the certainty of its presence within the cells especially as an insoluble fraction. The effects of cultivation temperature, aeration rate and agitation speed on the production of the protein ACM3 was tested in a 5-L batch bioreactor. Applying response surface methodology (RSM) we found that the aeration rate was the most significant factor affecting in a positively way the production yields and productivity of the recombinant protein. Temperature had effect only in conjunction to aeration. The highest recombinant acidic subunit concentration (747 mg L-1) and the highest productivity (186 mg L-1 h-1) were attained in 4 h of cultivation when the factors evaluated were controlled at its central values: 0.1 vvm, 300 rpm, and 30.5° C. Results from this study indicate that RSM is an effective technique to maximize the production of this recombinant protein.

Xylanolytic enzymes production by Aspergillus niger GS1 from solid-state fermentation on corn stover and their effect on ruminal digestibility

Hemicellulosic agricultural by-products such as corn stover (CS) are highly available materials which represent an opportunity to develop value added products. Native Aspergillus niger GS1 was used for solid-state fermentation (SSF) on alkali pre-treated CS (ACS) aimed to optimize xylanolytic enzymes production, and their effect on in vitro ruminal and true digestibility of ACS. Enzyme production was empirically modelled using a fractional factorial design 2(9-5), and the resulting significant factors were glucose, yeast extract and two mineral salts, which were arranged in a Draper-Lin optimization design at two levels. Predicted optimum xylanolytic activity of 33.6 U (mg protein)-1 was achieved at 48 hrs of SSF, and was validated by confirmatory experiments. ACS was incubated with a semipurified enzymatic extract (EE) showing a xylanolytic activity of 1600 U kg-1 dry ACS for 12 hrs before exposure to cow's ruminal liquid for 72 hrs, which led to 5 percent and 10 percent increase of in vitro ruminal and true digestibility, respectively. CS is a readily available by-product in different regions which after alkaline treatment and partial hydrolysis with the EE, may be advantageously used as supplement for ruminant feed.

Optimization of the isoelectric precipitation method to obtain protein isolates from amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) seeds.

This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of extraction pH (7.8-9.2) and precipitation pH (4.3-5.7) on four selected quality attributes of protein isolates from amaranth seeds (Amaranthus cruentus) such as protein content (PC), whiteness index (WI), enthalpy of transition (EN), and denaturation temperature (DT). Ten different treatments involving extraction and precipitation pH combinations were analyzed by a central composite design; the experimental data were fitted by a second-order model using a least-squares method for each one of the four dependent variables. Response surface methodology was used for the optimization process; in addition, a common optimum value for the four dependent variables was obtained utilizing the desirability method. A confirmatory test showed that the generated regression equations could adequately predict performance of this isoelectric precipitation method. The results indicate that extraction pH and precipitation pH showed an important effect on PC, WI, and EN. However, the different combinations did not significantly affect the DT. Values of 9.2 and 8.0 for extraction pH and 5.7 for precipitation pH produced the best overall result for all responses. Finally, the results have shown that it is possible to obtain protein isolates from A. cruentus seeds at optimized values of extraction pH and precipitation pH, which presented a high protein content and good physicochemical properties.