Microbial processes are involved in food, chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, energy, and new-material industries. Over the past 2 decades, new or more efficient industrial processes involving microorganisms have been launched, yielding purer, less expensive products or substances not available using classical chemical methods. Microbial Bioprocesses aims to give an overview of established and successful processes and discusses the trends and perspectives in industrial microbiology which, along with tremendous progress in genetic and metabolic engineering in recent years, are once again becoming an area of innovation and emerging technologies. Microbial Bioprocesses covers the unique areas like microbial volatiles (MVOCs), microbial bioinoculant development, bacterial nanocelluloses production, and processes for remediation by fungi and actinobacteria.

Extracellular Matrix and Egg Coats, Volume 130, the latest release in the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on The Human Egg's Zona Pellucida, the Structure of Zona Pellucida Module Proteins, The Fish Egg's Zona Pellucidam The Chicken Egg's Zona Pellucidam The Marsupial Egg's Zona Pellucida, the Evolution of Zona Pellucida Proteins, The Mouse Egg's Zona Pellucida, Aspects of ECM, ECM and Morphogenesis, Collagen fibril assembly and function, The Ear's Tectorial Membrane, ECM and Cell Fate, and the Aspects of ECM.

Structure and Intrinsic Disorder in Enzymology offers a direct, yet comprehensive presentation of the fundamental concepts, characteristics and functions of intrinsically disordered enzymes, along with valuable notes and technical insights powering new research in this emerging field. Here, more than twenty international experts examine protein flexibility and cryo-enzymology, hierarchies of intrinsic disorder, methods for measurement of disorder in proteins, bioinformatics tools for predictions of structure, disorder and function, protein promiscuity, protein moonlighting, globular enzymes, intrinsic disorder and allosteric regulation, protein crowding, intrinsic disorder in post-translational, and much more. Chapters also review methods for study, as well as evolving technology to support new research across academic, industrial and pharmaceutical labs.

Mechanisms of DNA Recombination and Genome Rearrangements: Intersection between Homologous Recombination, DNA Replication and DNA Repair, Volume 601, the latest release in the Methods in Enzymology series, continues the legacy of this premier serial with quality chapters authored by leaders in the field. Homologous genetic recombination remains the most enigmatic process in DNA metabolism. The molecular machines of recombination preserve the integrity of the genetic material in all organisms and generate genetic diversity in evolution. The same molecular machines that support genetic integrity by orchestrating accurate repair of the most deleterious DNA lesions, however, also promote survival of cancerous cells and emergence of radiation and chemotherapy resistance. This two-volume set offers a comprehensive set of cutting edge methods to study various aspects of homologous recombination and cellular processes that utilize the enzymatic machinery of recombination. The chapters are written by the leading researches and cover a broad range of topics from the basic molecular mechanisms of recombinational proteins and enzymes to emerging cellular techniques and drug discovery efforts.

Lipids are biomolecules that constitute a significant amount of biomass in the earth, and plant lipids are rapidly growing in interest due to their roles in improving food technology, medicine, nutrition, and biotechnology. With recent advances in protein chemistry, biochemistry, and enzymology promoting research on lipolytic enzymes, it is important for research to address the mechanisms of such enzymes and their diverse functions. Unique Sequence Signatures in Plant Lipolytic Enzymes: Emerging Research and Opportunities provides innovative insights into the biochemistry of plant lipases and phospholipases as well as their structures and catalytic mechanisms. The book explores the conserved domains and motifs of plant lipolytic enzymes by identifying the main residues involved in the catalysis in the enzymes and the phylogeny of important plant lipolytic enzymes, as well as calculating the evolutionary distance in those enzymes. Organized into six chapters, it is a vital reference source for researchers, chemists, biologists, academicians, practitioners, medical professionals, engineers, and graduate students.

Biotechnology of Microbial Enzymes: Production, Biocatalysis, and Industrial Applications, Second Edition provides a complete survey of the latest innovations on microbial enzymes, highlighting biotechnological advances in their production and purification along with information on successful applications as biocatalysts in several chemical and industrial processes under mild and green conditions. The application of recombinant DNA technology within industrial fermentation and the production of enzymes over the last three decades have produced a host of useful chemical and biochemical substances. The power of these technologies results in novel transformations, better enzymes, a wide variety of applications, and the unprecedented development of biocatalysts through the ongoing integration of molecular biology methodology, all of which is covered insightfully and in-depth within the book. This fully revised, second edition is updated to address the latest research developments and applications in the field, from microbial enzymes recently applied in drug discovery to penicillin biosynthetic enzymes and penicillin acylase, xylose reductase, and microbial enzymes used in antitubercular drug design. Across the chapters, the use of microbial enzymes in sustainable development and production processes is fully considered, with recent successes and ongoing challenges highlighted.

Physicochemical Interactions of Engineered Nanoparticles and Plants: A Systemic Approach, Volume Four in the Nanomaterial-Plant Interactions series, presents foundational information on how ENMs interact with the surrounding environment. Key themes include source, fate and transport of ENMs in the environment, biophysicochemical transformations of ENMs, and chemical reactions and mechanisms of ENMs transport in plants. This book is an essential read for any scientist or researcher looking to understand the molecular interactions between ENMs and Plants. Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) reach plant ecosystems through intentional or unintentional pathways. In any case, after release, these materials may be transformed in the environment by physical, chemical and biochemical processes. Once in contact with plant systems, biotransformation may still occur, affecting or stimulating plant metabolism. Since plants are the producers to the food chain, it is of paramount importance to understand these mechanisms at the molecular level.

Atomic Force Microscopy for Nanoscale Biophysics: From Single Molecules to Living Cells summarizes the applications of atomic force microscopy for the investigation of biomolecules and cells. The book discusses the methodology of AFM-based biomedical detection, diverse biological systems, and the combination of AFM with other complementary techniques. These state-of-the-art chapters empower researchers to address biological issues through the application of atomic force microscopy. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a unique, multifunctional tool for investigating the structures and properties of living biological systems under aqueous conditions with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution.

The Chemical Dialogue Between Plants and Beneficial Microorganisms provides foundational insights on plant beneficial microorganisms and their impact on the health and productivity of plants. Providing in-depth and recent updates about unexplored aspects of plant microbes interactions, the book includes the biological repertoire of arbuscular mycorrhizal association, molecular architecture of Rhizobium-plant symbiosis, and endophytes in transcriptional plasticity during host colonization by endophytes. The book also includes details about the mechanism of different plant beneficial microorganisms, how these differ, and their cross signaling. This book will be an important reference for researchers working on different plant beneficial microorganisms and their molecular arsenal.

Biocatalysis in Green Solvents offers a pragmatic overview and instruction in biocatalysis and enzymology of green solvents for sustainable industries and medicine, running from concept to application. Here, international experts in the field discuss structure-function relationships of enzymes in ionic liquids (ILs) and examine how enzymes act as selective catalysts for fine biochemical synthesis in non-aqueous environments. Several integral green biochemical processes of biocatalytic transformation and pure product separation are described in detail. Application focused chapters discuss the role of biocatalysis in creating and implementing deep eutectic solvents, biomass derived solvents, sub and supercritical fluids, carbon dioxide biphasic systems, and enzymatic membrane reactors, as well as applying these biocatalytic processes in drug discovery and production.

Nanoarmoring of Enzymes: Rational Design of Polymer-Wrapped Enzymes, Volume 590 is the latest volume in the Methods in Enzymology series that focuses on nanoarmoring of enzymes and the rational design of polymer-wrapped enzymes. This new volume presents the most updated information on a variety of topics, including specific chapters on Encapsulating Proteins in Nanoparticles: Batch by Batch or One by One, Enzyme Adsorption on Nanoparticle Surfaces Probed by Highly Sensitive Second Harmonic Light Scattering, Armoring Enzymes by Metal-Organic Frameworks by the Coprecipitation Method, and Enzyme Armoring by an Organosilica Layer: Synthesis and Characterization of Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Nanobiocatalysts. Users will find this to be an all-encompassing resource on nanoarmoring in enzymes.

Advances in Biomembranes and Lipid Self-Assembly, formerly titled Advances in Planar Lipid Bilayers and Liposomes, provides a global platform for a broad community of experimental and theoretical researchers studying cell membranes, lipid model membranes, and lipid self-assemblies from the micro- to the nanoscale. Planar lipid bilayers are widely studied due to their ubiquity in nature, also finding application in the formulation of biomimetic model membranes. Section topics in this release cover Ras Proteolipid nano-assemblies on the plasma membrane, gold nanomaterials, recent advances in cancer theranostics, and the interactions of flavonoids with lipidic mesophases, amongst other highly resourceful topics. Self-assembled lipid structures have enormous potential as dynamic materials, ranging from artificial lipid membranes, to cell membranes, from biosensing, to controlled drug delivery, and from pharmaceutical formulations, to novel food products, to name a few. This series represents both original research and comprehensive reviews written by world-leading experts and young researchers.

Molecular Characterization of Autophagic Responses, Part B presents a collection of methods for the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of virtually all the morphological, biochemical, and functional manifestations of autophagy, in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo, in organisms as distant as yeast and man. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for the lysosomal degradation of superfluous or dangerous cytoplasmic entities, and plays a critical role in the preservation of cellular and organismal homeostasis. Monitoring the biochemical processes that accompany autophagy is fundamental for understanding whether autophagic responses are efficient or dysfunctional.

Marine Enzymes Biotechnology: Production and Industrial Applications, Part III, Application of Marine Enzymes provides a huge treasure trove of information on marine organisms and how they are not only good candidates for enzyme production, but also a rich source of biological molecules that are of potential interest to various industries. Marine enzymes such as amylases, carboxymethylcellulases, proteases, chitinases, keratinases, xylanases, agarases, lipases, peroxidase, and tyrosinases are widely used in the industry for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, foods, beverages, and confectioneries, as well as in textile and leather processing and waste water treatment. The majority of the enzymes used in the industry are of microbial origin because microbial enzymes are relatively more stable than the corresponding enzymes derived from plants and animals.