Virus particles are probably the most precisely defined nanometre-sized objects that can be formed by protein self-assembly. Although their natural function is the storage and transport of genetic material, they have more recently been applied as scaffolds for mineralization and as containers for the encapsulation of inorganic compounds. The reproductive power of viruses has been used to develo...

Biodiesel is an attractive alternative fuel because of its nontoxicity and biodegradability properties. Biodiesel is produced through transesterification of vegetable oils’ triglyceride. It is obtained from vegetable oils or fats either by chemical or enzyme-catalyzed transesterification with methanol or ethanol. By using whole-cell biocatalyst immobilized within biomass support particles (BSPs...

Biocatalysts are inherently labile; therefore their operational stability is of paramount importance for any bioprocess. The problem of biocatalyst stability has been tackled from different perspectives, which are reviewed in the present paper. Inherently stable biocatalysts are well appreciated and a systematic effort is being done in the search of new organisms that harbor them. The potential...

Enzymes have a wide range of applications in different industries owing to their high specificity and efficiency. Immobilization is often used to improve biocatalyst properties, operational stability, and reusability. However, changes in the structure of biocatalysts during immobilization and under process conditions are still largely uncertain. Here, three microscopy techniques - bright-field,...

With the rapid development of powerful protein evolution and enzyme-screening technologies, there is a growing belief that optimum conditions for biotransformation processes can be established without the constraints of the properties of the biocatalyst. These technologies can then be applied to find the "ideal biocatalyst" for the process. In identifying the ideal biocatalyst, the processes of...

BACKGROUND Enzymatic ethanolysis of oils (for example, high oleic sunflower oil containing 90% of oleic acid) may yield two different reaction products depending on the regioselectivity of the immobilized lipase biocatalyst. Some lipase biocatalysts exhibit a 1,3-regioselectivity and they produced 2 mols of fatty acid ethyl ester plus 1 mol of sn2-monoacylglycerol (2-MAG) per mol of triglycerid...

The expeditious synthesis of 2-aryl-benzothia/(oxa)zoles was carried out by the condensation of 2-aminothiophenol/2-aminophenol and diverse aryl aldehydes in presence of Acacia concinna as a biocatalyst under microwave irradiation. The catalytic process is associated with excellent yields, greener reaction conditions and the environmentally friendly microwave technique which are the st...

Biocatalysis has emerged as a great addition to traditional chemical processes for production of bulk chemicals and pharmaceuticals. To overcome the limitations of naturally occurring enzymes, directed evolution has become the most important tool for improving critical traits of biocatalysts such as thermostability, activity, selectivity, and tolerance towards organic solvents for industrial ap...