Plant defensins are cysteine-rich cationic peptides, components of the innate immune system. The antifungal sensitivity of certain exemplars was correlated to the level of complex glycosphingolipids in the membrane of fungi strains. Psd1 is a 46 amino acid residue defensin isolated from pea seeds which exhibit antifungal activity. Its structure is characterized by the so-called cysteine-stabilized alpha/beta motif linked by three loops as determined by two-dimensional NMR. In the present work we explored the measurement of heteronuclear Nuclear Overhauser Effects, R1 and R2 (15)N relaxation ratios, and chemical shift to probe the backbone dynamics of Psd1 and its interaction with membrane mimetic systems with phosphatidylcholine (PC) or dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) with glucosylceramide (CMH) isolated from Fusarium solani. The calculated R2 values predicted a slow motion around the highly conserved among Gly12 residue and also in the region of the Turn3 His36-Trp38. The results showed that Psd1 interacts with vesicles of PC or PC:CMH in slightly different forms. The interaction was monitored by chemical shift perturbation and relaxation properties. Using this approach we could map the loops as the binding site of Psd1 with the membrane. The major binding epitope showed conformation exchange properties in the mus-ms timescale supporting the conformation selection as the binding mechanism. Moreover, the peptide corresponding to part of Loop1 (pepLoop1: Gly12 to Ser19) is also able to interact with DPC micelles acquiring a stable structure and in the presence of DPC:CMH the peptide changes to an extended conformation, exhibiting NOE mainly with the carbohydrate and ceramide parts of CMH.

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The great potential of lipases is known since 1930 when the work of J. B. S. Haldane was published. After eighty-five years of studies and developments, are lipases still important biocatalysts? For answering this question the present work investigated the technological development of four important industrial sectors where lipases are applied: production of detergent formulations; organic synthesis, focusing on kinetic resolution, production of biodiesel, and production of food and feed products. The analysis was made based on research publications and patent applications, working as scientific and technological indicators, respectively. Their evolution, interaction, the major players of each sector and the main subject matters disclosed in patent documents were discussed. Applying the concept of technology life cycle, S-curves were built by plotting cumulative patent data over time to monitor the attractiveness of each technology for investment. The results lead to a conclusion that the use of lipases as biocatalysts is still a relevant topic for the industrial sector, but developments are still needed for lipase biocatalysis to reach its full potential, which are expected to be achieved within the third, and present, wave of biocatalysis.

A simple and inexpensive procedure used magnetite and levan to synthesize a composite recovered by a magnetic field. Lectins from Canavalia ensiformis (Con A) and Cratylia mollis (Cramoll 1 and Cramoll 1, 4) did bind specifically to composite. The magnetic property of derivative favored washing out contaminating proteins and recovery of pure lectins with glucose elution. Cramoll 1 was purified by this affinity binding procedure in two steps instead of a previous three-step protocol with ammonium sulfate fractionation, affinity chromatography on Sephadex G-75, and ion exchange chromatography through a CM-cellulose column.

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RESUMOO progresso tecnológico aliado a um crescimento demográfico sem precedentes trouxe riscos de exploração excessiva dos recursos e destruições irreversíveis ao patrimônio natural. A política ambiental vinculada a uma política econômica, nos pressupostos do desenvolvimento sustentável, deve ser essencialmente estratégia de risco destinada a minimizar o conflito entre desenvolvimento econômico e sustentabilidade ecológica. O presente trabalho apresenta um mapeamento tecnológico dos processos de biorremediação dentro do contexto da biotecnologia sustentável por meio de indicadores de patentes, utilizando o software de busca e análise de dados Orbit.Palavras chave: Biorremediação. Biotecnologia Sustentável. Patente. Mapeamento Tecnológico. ABSTRACTTechnological progress combined with a population growth brought unprecedented risks of overexploitation of resources and irreversible destruction to the natural patrimony. Environmental policy linked to an economic policy, the assumptions of sustainable development should be essentially risk strategy designed to minimize conflict between economic development and ecological sustainability. This paper presents a technology mapping of bioremediation processes within the context of sustainable biotechnology through patent indicators, using the software search and analysis of Orbit database.

<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; line-height: normal; border: none; mso-padding-alt: 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt; mso-border-shadow: yes;"><a name="_Hlk32439307"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;">O Brasil é considerado um dos principais consumidores para produtos cosméticos no mundo e, por isso, faz-se necessária a realização de monitoramentos tecnológicos para esse tema. A metodologia de pesquisa utilizada neste trabalho consistiu em buscas na base de dados de patentes Orbit. A estratégia de busca retornou um total de 9.566 documentos. A partir dos resultados gerados, é possível observar a evolução anual dos pedidos de patente por data de prioridade, notando-se uma curva crescente desde o ano de 1990 até o ano de 2002, porém, desde o ano de 2003 até os dias atuais, 2020, tem ocorrido uma queda gradual em relação às publicações de pedidos da área cosmética voltada para a pele. Adicionalmente, evidenciou-se que o Japão, os Estados Unidos e a Europa são os principais depositantes de patentes e de publicações da área cosmética para a pele de uma maneira geral. O Brasil, apesar de não estar entre os primeiros colocados na listagem evidenciada, aparece entre os 20 países mais relevantes, destacando-se como um mercado em expansão e cada dia mais promissor em relação ao tema.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span></span></a></p><p></p>

This paper is part of an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional study 1 involving biology, biotechnology and humanities researchers with the aim of examining the gaps as well as the opportunities that bioeconomics macrosegment offers to Brazil. For this, it adopted an action-research methodology based on interviews with stakeholders that work directly in the sector. Eighteen actors were contacted among researchers, experts and entrepreneurs, of which ten gave face-to-face interviews, with open questionnaires, semi-structured. From the analysis of these data, and from a vast theoretical framework, the article delimits biomass as a pillar of bioeconomics and points out the emerging trends of this science such as "green chemistry" and biotechnology. This is a field that condenses an important economic potential and a great capacity to develop mechanisms for the environment's preservation. By analyzing the production chain and its interfaces, the article reveals that Brazil, although it has an undeniable capacity to emerge as a world protagonist in sustainable production, still lacks well-defined public policies that invest in innovation, in addition to the consumer culture's transformation, production and economic development focused on non-renewable products.