Furan carboxylic acids are useful chemicals in various industries. In this work, biocatalytic production of furan carboxylic acids was reported with high productivities by cofactor‐engineered Escherichia coli cells. NADH oxidase (NOX) was introduced into E. coli harboring aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) to promote intracellular NAD+ regeneration, thus significantly enhancing ALDH‐catalyzed oxidation. These engineered biocatalysts were capable of efficient aerobic oxidation of a variety of aromatic aldehydes. More importantly, they exhibited high substrate tolerance toward toxic furans. E. coli co‐expressing vanillin dehydrogenase and NOX (E. coli_CtVDH1_NOX) enabled efficient oxidation of 250 mM of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 5‐hydroxymethyl‐2‐furancarboxylic acid (HMFCA), providing a productivity of 3.7 g/L h. With E. coli_CtVDH2_NOX as catalyst, up to 240 mM of furfural and 5‐methoxymethylfurfural (MMF) could be smoothly oxidized. 2‐Furoic acid (FCA, 227 mM) and 5‐methoxymethyl‐2‐furancarboxylic acid (MMFCA, 287 mM) were produced in fed‐batch synthesis, providing the productivities of 2.0 and 5.6 g/L h, respectively.
The removal and inactivation of the biofilms remain challenging in the food processing environments. The objective of this study was to examine the efficacy of acidic electrolyzed water (AEW), a novel and green disinfectant, in the inactivation of Bacillus cereus biofilms on stainless steel surfaces. The surviving cell population in the biofilms was less than the detection limit upon inactivation by AEW (pH 2.73) for 15 min. AEW showed good storage stability. The inactivation efficiencies of AEW (>99%) against the biofilms remained high after AEW was stored in a closed and dark system at 35°C for 9 days. The presence of bovine serum albumin had a significantly negative effect on the inactivation efficiency of AEW against the biofilm cells. AEW displayed much higher inactivation efficacies against B. cereus biofilms than chemically modified water with the same pH, available chlorine concentration (ACC), or oxidation reduction potential (ORP).
Practical applications
Electrolyzed water (EW) has a lot of advantages such as low cost, being environmentally friendly and reduced health concerns, compared with the traditional disinfectants. Acidic EW (AEW) has proved to have a variety of antimicrobial activities. AEW may be a promising non‐thermal sanitizer for disinfecting food contact surfaces, particularly those contaminated by the highly recalcitrant Bacillus cereus biofilms.
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