• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.72-77
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• 2010

Alginate lyases, also known as alginases or alginate depolymerases, catalyze the degradation of alginate by a ${\beta}$-elimination mechanism that has yet to be fully elucidated. Alginate is a copolymer of ${\alpha}$-L-guluronate (G) and its C5 epimer ${\beta}$-D-mannuronate (M), arranged as homopolymeric G blocks, M blocks, alternating GM or random heteropolymeric G/M stretches. Almost all alginate lyases depolymerize alginate in an endolytical fashion via a ${\beta}$-elimination reaction. The alginate lyase Atu3025 from Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58, consisting of 776 amino-acid residues, is a novel exotype alginate lyase classified into polysaccharide lyase family 15. Till now there is no crystal structure available for this class of proteins. Since there is no template with high sequence identity, three-dimensional coordinates for exotype alginate lyase (PL 15 family) were determined using modeling methods (Comparitive modeling and Fold recognition). The structures were modeled using the X-ray coordinates from Heparinase protein family (PDB code: 3E7J). This enzyme (Atu3025) displays enzymatic activity for both poly-M and poly-G alginate. Since poly-M is widespread; docking of a tri-mannuronate against the modeled structure was performed. We identified some of those residues which are crucial for lyase activity. The results from this study should guide future mutagenesis studies and also provides a starting point for further proceedings.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.315-322
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• 2009

Influence of blend mode of extender oil on the properties of thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs), based on an ethylene-propylene-diene copolymer (EPDM) and a polypropylene (PP), was studied. The EPDM/PP TPVs were prepared in an open roll mill using two different modes in blending sequence of paraffinic oil and phenolic curative, i.e., Oil-Cure and Cure-Oil modes. Degree of cross-linking by gel fraction and properties such as hardness, tensile strength, elongation at break, and melt flow rate were investigated as a function of extender oil content for the two modes. Little influence of the blend mode of extender oil on the degree of cross-linking and mechanical behaviors was observed. However, the use of Cure-Oil mode in the preparation of EPDM/PP TPVs resulted in a marked increase in the level of processability as reflected by melt flow index, as compared to the use of Oil-Cure mode.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.432-436
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• 2006

The new dinuclear CGC (constrained geometry complexes) with indenyl and methyl sub-stituted indenyl and polymethylene bridge have been synthesized, and the copolymerization of ethylene and styrene has been studied in the presence of methylalumionoxane. The activity of 12-methylene and 9-methylene bridged dinuclear CGC were 4 times higher than that of 6-methylene bridged dinucleay CGC. This result might be understood by the implication that the steric effect rather than the electronic effect nay play a major role to direct the polymerization behavior of the dinuclear CGC. The dinuclear CGCs are very efficient to incorporate styrene in backbone. The styrene contents in the formed co-polymers ranged from 6 to 45 mol% according to the polymerization conditions. The melting temperature of copolymers disappeared at high content of styrene (about 11 mol%) There is no styrene-styrene diblock sequence in copolymers. This result Indicates that the dinuclear CGC are very effective to generate random copolymer of ethylene and styrene.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1625-1630
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• 2008

A microorganism capable of producing high level of poly-3-hydoxybutyrate (PHB) from xylose was isolated from soil. The isolated strain J-65 was identified as Bacillus megaterium based on the morphological, biochemical and molecular biological characteristics. The optimum temperature and pH for the growth of B. megaterium J-65 were $37^{\circ}C$ and 8.0, respectively. The optimum medium composition for the cell growth was 2% xylose, 0.25% $(NH_4)_2SO_4$, 0.3% $Na_2HPO_4{\cdot}12H_2O$, and 0.1% $KH_2PO_4$. The optimum condition for PHB accumulation was same to the optimum condition for cell growth. Copolymer of ${\beta}$-hydroxybutyric and ${\beta}$-hydroxyvaleric acid was produced when propionic acid was added to shake flasks containing 20 g/l of xylose. Fermenter culture was carried out to produce the high concentration of PHB. In batch culture, cell mass was 9.82 g/l and PHB content was 35% of dry cell weight. PHB produced by B. megaterium J-65 was identified as homopolymer of 3-hydoxybutyric acid by GC and NMR.