Dirofilaria immitis Pulmonary Dirofilariasis, Slovakia.

Dirofilaria immitis is a parasite related to pulmonary dirofilariasis in humans, its accidental hosts. We detected an autochthonous case of D. immitis infection in a woman from Slovakia. The emergence and spread of this parasite in Europe indicates a critical need for proper diagnosis of infection.

Effect of Long-Term Storage on Mycobiota of Barley Grain and Malt.

Contamination of malting barley grain and malt with micromycetes sampled at various periods post-harvest (3rd, 6th, and 9th month of storage) and types of storage (storage silo and floor warehouse) was investigated. Each of these barley grain samples was malted. This article reports on the changes in the fungal microbiome composition and their overall count in barley grain and malt. From the surface-disinfected barley grain samples collected immediately after harvest, there were eight genera isolated, with a predominance of Alternaria. A small increase of isolated microfungi was detected in barley stored in silo for 3 and 6 months (from 142 isolates to 149) and decreased below the number of isolates in barley before storage (133 isolates). Fungal count during storage gradually decreased up to 9 month in barley stored in floor warehouse (from 142 isolates to 84). The initial total count of microscopic fungi in malt before storage was the highest (112 isolates) with 7 genera detected, compared to malts prepared from barley stored for longer time (54 isolates, 7 genera, 9th month of storage). Alternaria was the most abundant and frequent genus. Quantitative representation of the filamentous microscopic fungi was lower compared to yeasts especially in barley and malt prepared from barley stored at third month of storage in both type of storage. Yeasts were identified from all grain samples and malt samples with mass spectrometry. Most attention was given to the widely distributed fungus Penicillium, 79% of strains produced at least one mycotoxin detected under in vitro assays using the TLC method (97% of them produced griseofulvin, 94% CPA, 79% patulin, 14% roquefortin C, and penitrem A was produced by two screening strains under laboratory conditions). It is therefore important to monitor the microflora throughout the production cycle of "barley to beer".

Physicochemical and sensory evaluation of biscuits enriched with chicory fiber.

Nowadays, there has been increasing interest of using the chicory and its constituents in food production. The aim of this study was to compare physicochemical and sensory parameters of biscuits without (control) and with addition of 1, 3, and 5% of chicory fiber extract. The biscuits were subjected to physical (volume, maximum width, maximum height, aspect ratio at max. width, aspect ratio at max. height), chemical (dry matter content, crude protein, ash, fat, and crude fiber content), and sensory evaluation (flavor, chicory flavor (intensity), chicory flavor (presence), taste, chicory taste (presence), chicory taste (intensity), aftertaste, character of biscuit taste, overall acceptability). The volume, width, and height of biscuit increased after addition of chicory fiber extract and the highest values were obtained after enrichment with 5% of fiber extract. The crude protein content in biscuits increased from 6.76% (control) to 7.88% (5% of chicory fiber). Also the ash content increased from 0.68% (control) to 0.84% (5%) and the crude fiber content from 0.51% (control) to 0.56% (5%), respectively. Fat content was similar in all tested biscuit (∼24%). During the sensory evaluation, the highest scores were received with addition of 1 and 3% chicory fiber extract. We can recommend the application of chicory fiber in production of biscuits to improve nutritional (3 and 5% addition) and sensorial properties (1 and 3% addition) of this bakery product.

Magnetization of active inclusion bodies: comparison with centrifugation in repetitive biotransformations.

BACKGROUND: Physiological aggregation of a recombinant enzyme into enzymatically active inclusion bodies could be an excellent strategy to obtain immobilized enzymes for industrial biotransformation processes. However, it is not convenient to recycle "gelatinous masses" of protein inclusion bodies from one reaction cycle to another, as high centrifugation forces are needed in large volumes. The magnetization of inclusion bodies is a smart solution for large-scale applications, enabling an easier separation process using a magnetic field. RESULTS: Magnetically modified inclusion bodies of UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase were recycled 50 times, in comparison, inclusion bodies of the same enzyme were inactivated during ten reaction cycles if they were recycled by centrifugation. Inclusion bodies of sialic acid aldolase also showed good performance and operational stability after the magnetization procedure. CONCLUSIONS: It is demonstrated here that inclusion bodies can be easily magnetically modified by magnetic iron oxide particles prepared by microwave-assisted synthesis from ferrous sulphate. The magnetic particles stabilize the repetitive use of the inclusion bodies .

Baeyer-Villiger oxidations: biotechnological approach.

Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs) are a very well-known and intensively studied class of flavin-dependent enzymes. Their substrate promiscuity, high chemo-, regio-, and enantioselectivity are prerequisites for the use in synthetic chemistry and should pave the way for successful industrial processes. Nonetheless, only a very limited number of industrial relevant transformations are known, mainly due to the lack of BVMOs stability and cofactor dependency. In this review, we focus on novel BVMO-mediated transformations, BVMOs in cascade type reactions, potential industrial applications, and how limitations have been tackled by the community. Special attention will be put on whole-cell immobilization strategies. We emphasize to bridge recent developments in fundamental research to industrial applications.