Biotechnology enables the creation of proteinand nucleicacid-based materials to perform functions such as recognition, catalysis, signaling, and information storage/transfer. Interestingly, neither proteins nor nucleic acids are Nature’s most abundant biopolymers. Polysaccharides and polymeric phenolics (e.g., lignins) are more abundant. We contend that the reaction cascades that generate pheno...

The identification and study of marine microorganisms with unique physiological traits can be a very powerful tool discovering novel enzymes of possible biotechnological interest. This approach can complement the enormous amount of data concerning gene diversity in marine environments offered by metagenomic analysis, and can help to place the activities associated with those sequences in the co...

Extracellular laccase (EC 1 .14.18.1) of the cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus was produced constitutively in defined or complex media. No enzyme induction was found after treatment with cycloheximide or with other potential inducers such as toluidine or xylidine. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulphate precipitation, ion-exchange chromatography, gel filtration and affin...

Chemoand immunotherapeutic approaches have been used to prevent recurrence of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), the most common type of superficial bladder cancer (SBC). The bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine for tuberculosis, which consists of an attenuated form of Mycobacterium bovis, is the most commonly used immunotherapeutic agent (Morales et al., 1976). Despite the successful results...

Caseins were crosslinked by Trichoderma reesei tyrosinase in both raw and heat-treated skim milk. Tyrosinaseinduced crosslinking was beneficial in the preparation of acidified milk gels from raw milk, but it did not have an effect on acid gels made from heat-treated milk INTRODUCTION Enzymes that form covalent bonds between or within proteins are potential tools in improving the texture of dair...

This review summarizes recent highlights of our joint work on the structure, evolution, and function of a family of highly complex proteins, the hemocyanins. They are blue-pigmented oxygen carriers, occurring freely dissolved in the hemolymph of many arthropods and molluscs. They are copper type-3 proteins and bind one dioxygen molecule between two copper atoms in a side-on coordination. They p...

Phenolic compounds are industrial chemicals widely used in the manufacture of products. Most of them are generated artificially and are found in the wastewaters from chemical plants, exhaust gases from incinerators, the side stream smoke from cigarettes. They are easily adsorbed in humans, regardless of their form. High levels of phenols have been shown to have detrimental effects on animal hea...