Applied Biocatalysis Group
"The power of enzymes"
 |
Biocatalysis and Biotransformation Antonio Ballesteros, Executive Editor |
Last Update: 19-01-2012
News
29-November-2011
12-months meeting of PEROXICATS project "Novel and more robust fungal peroxidases as industrial biocatalysts"
more
picture
21-November-2011
Participation of the Group in the Technical Course "Introduction to HPLC: analytical and semipreparative scales" organized by Madrid Chemists' Association
16-November-2011
Ceremony of INNOVA Prize awarded to Pamela Torres for a work on enzymatic acylation of ascorbic acid, sponsored by SUSCHEM
picture
2-November-2011
Participation of the Group in the CYTED Symposium on "Biocatalytic processes" in Valparaiso (Chile)
6-October- 2011
Miguel Alcalde and Francisco Plou participate in a Divulgation Chemistry Conference at Cosmocaixa Museum.
2-October- 2011
Participation of the Applied Catalysis Group in the Biotrans 2011 Meeting (Giardini Naxos, Italy). Posters no. 4, 186, 188, 204, 216, 248, 252, 264, 378, 385.
16-August- 2011
A Research News on "Immobilized biocatalysts" published in Advanced Materials.
14-17 June 2011
Participation of the Group in the APIB Meeting Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients from Biotechnology (Madrid) with a conference on "Enzymatic modification of resveratrol" (Dr. Pamela Torres).
8-June-2011
INNOVA Prize (Young Chemistry Researchers Awards) to Pamela Torres for a work on enzymatic acylation of ascorbic acid, sponsored by SUSCHEM
more
26-May-2011
Meeting of the EU-Project 3D-NanoBioDevice (3-D nanobiostructure-based self-contained devices for biomedical application) in Copenhagen
picture
25-May-2011
Members of the Applied Biocatalysis Group visit Novozymes at Copenhagen (Denmark)
24-May-2011
6-months meeting of PEROXICATS project "Novel and more robust fungal peroxidases as industrial biocatalysts"
more
picture
9-March-2011
Students from the High Schools "Instituto Luis Velez de Guevara" (Ecija, Sevilla) and "Instituto Colonial" (Fuente Palmera, Cordoba) visit the Applied Biocatalysis Group
picture
31-January-2011
Seminar on "a novel method to assay laccase activity" by Mohammad Moshtaghioun
21-January-2011
Kick-Off Meeting of the EU-FP7 funded project "Novel and more robust fungal peroxidases as industrial biocatalysts" held in Madrid
more
13-December-2010
"3D-NanoBioDevice (Three-dimensional nanobiostructure-based self-contained devices for biomedical application, EU-FP7 funded project)" MidTerm Meeting in Madrid from 13-15 December 2010
more
2-December-2010
Participation of the Group in the CYTED Symposium on "Biocatalytic processes with potential industrial application" held in Veracruz (Mexico) from 2-4 December 2010
17-November-2010
Participation of the Group in the Congress on Industrial Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology held in Alcala de Henares (Madrid) from 17-19 November 2010
30-September-2010
The Applied Biocatalysis Group in La Razon newspaper
29-September-2010
Participation of the Group in the Spanish Congress on Biotechnology BIOTEC 2010 (Pamplona, Spain, September 29-1 October, 2010) with the conference "Biocatalysis: a personal project at the CSIC" (Dr. Antonio Ballesteros).
14-September-2010
Participation of the Group in the Symposium on Oxidative Enzymes as Sustainable Industrial Biocatalysts (Santiago de Compostela, Spain, September 14-15, 2010) together with the final meeting of the BIORENEW European project .
22-April-2010
Participation of the Group in the BIT's Inaugural Symposium on Enzymes and Biocatalysis (Shangai, China, April 22-24, 2010). "Regioselective Acylation or Glycosylation of Resveratrol by Biocatalytic Processes"
21-April-2010
Participation of the Group in the VI Meeting on Structure and Function of Proteins (Madrid, April 21-23, 2010). "Stabilization of fungal oxidoreductase by directed evolution"
12-March/2010
Participation of the Group in the ENZNUT CYTED Meeting held in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in March 21-24, 2010.
7-December/2009
Participation of the Group in the CYTED Symposium on "Biocatalysts applied to the synthesis of functional foods and nutraceuticals" held in Guadalajara (México)
more
30-October/2009
Participation of the Group in a scientific divulgation day at Cangas del Narcea (Asturias, Spain)
more
29-September/2009
Master Thesis Defense by Eva García on “Molecular Directed Evolution of a peroxidase with high redox potential", at Complutense University of Madrid
more
21-September/2009
Master Thesis Defense by Patricia Molina on “Directed evolution of laccases", to get the Master Degree on Microbiology at Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM)
more
18-September/2009
Defense of Environmental Sciences Project by Elisa Mazo on “Application of biocatalysts to the treatment of organic pollulants in aqueous effluents", at Autonomous University of Madrid
more
13-September/2009
Participation of the Group in the 14th European Congress on Biotechnology (Symbiosis) held in Barcelona (Spain)
more
30-August/2009
Participation of the Group in the European Congress in Catalysis Europacat IX -Catalysis for a Sustainable World- (Salamanca, Spain, August 30- September 4, 2009)
more
12-July/2009
Participation in the CYTED meeting on "Biocatalysts applied to the synthesis of functional foods and nutraceuticals" held in Lisboa
more
5-July/2009
Participation of the Group in the Biotrans 2009 meeting held in Berne (Switzerland)
oral
09-July/2009
Participation in the ceremony of the CSIC researchers honoured during the course 2008/2009, due to our awarding of the 1st Prize to the Best Patents of 2008 in Madrid Region
more
18-June/2009
Master Thesis Defense by Bárbara Rodríguez on “Preparation of prebiotic galactooligosaccharides using immobilized galactosidases" to get the Master Degree on Biotechnnology (Postgraduate Program in Biosciences) at Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM)
more
18-June/2009
Master Thesis Defense by Diana Maté on “Directed evolution of high redox potential laccase", to get the Master Degree on Biotechnnology (Postgraduate Program in Biosciences) at Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM)
more
17-June/2009
Thesis Defense by Lucia Fernandez on “Biocatalytic processes for the sustainable production of prebiotic oligosaccharides using glycosyl transferases in immobilized form", to get the European Doctor Degree in Chemical Engineering at Autonomous University of Madrid
more
22-May/2009
Thesis Defense by Pamela Torres on “Stabilization of natural bioactive phenolic antioxidants: modification of tocopherols and resveratrol by enzymatic acylation or glycosylation“, to get the Doctor Degree in Pharmacy at Autonomous University of Madrid
more
14-April/2009
Participation of the Group in the 8th International Conference on Protein Stabilisation ProStab 2009 (Graz, Austria)
more
Welcome to Our Site!
Biocatalysts (either isolated enzymes or whole-cells) constitute a greener alternative to traditional organic synthesis, offering appropriate tools for the industrial transformation of natural or synthetic materials under mild reaction conditions and low energy requirements, and also minimising the isomerisation and rearrangement problems.
We investigate the application of enzymes to industrial processes in different areas: functional foods, nutraceuticals, sustainable chemistry, biomedicine, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, etc.. For the industrial development of biocatalytic processes, an effective immobilization method is commonly required to allow the reuse of enzymes or continuous processing.
An important part of our research focuses on the use of directed molecular evolution to engineer enzymes for bioremediation, pulp-kraft biobleaching, biofuel cells, oligosaccharide synthesis and the Pharma industries. Recently, the application of evolved oxidoreductases for the design of nanodevices to detect metabolites in human blood is being investigated in our group.
Research lines
Biocatalysts usually display chemo-, regio- and stereo-selectivity resulting in decreased by-product formation and avoiding the need for functional group activation, protection or deprotection. We investigate the application of enzymes to industrial processes in the functional food and pharmaceutical areas. Recent examples of our activity are the preparation of prebiotic oligosaccharides and the enzymatic mofidification of natural antioxidants (vitamins C and E, resveratrol).
Directed Molecular Evolution is a powerful protein engineering tool to improve known features or to generate novel enzymatic functions not required in natural environments. An important part of our research focuses on the use of directed molecular evolution to engineer enzymes for bioremediation, pulp-kraft biobleaching, biofuel cells, oligosaccharide synthesis and the Pharma industries
New external service: Analysis of carbohydrates
Latest publications
2012
"Engineering platforms for directed evolution of laccase from Pycnoporus cinnabarinus". Camarero, S., Pardo, I., Cañas, A.I., Molina, P., Record, E., Martínez, A.T., Martínez, M.J. and Alcalde, M. Applied & Environmental Microbiology (2012). doi:10.1128/AEM.07530-1
"Analysis of neofructooligosaccharides production mediated by the extracellular beta-fructofuranosidase from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous". D. Linde, B. Rodriguez-Colinas, M. Estevez, A. Poveda, F.J. Plou and M. Fernandez-Lobato. Bioresource Technology (2012). doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2012.01.023
"Directed evolution of a temperature-, peroxide- and alkaline pH-tolerant versatile peroxidase". Garcia-Ruiz, E., Gonzalez-Perez, D., Ruiz-Dueñas, F.J., Martínez, A.T., Alcalde, M.
(2012) Biochemical Journal, 441, 487-498 (2012). doi:10.1042/BJ20111199
2011
“Immobilized Biocatalysts: Novel Approaches and Tools for Binding Enzymes to Supports”. P. Torres-Salas, A. del Monte-Martinez, B. Cutiño-Avila, B. Rodriguez-Colinas, M. Alcalde, A. O. Ballesteros, F. J. Plou. Advanced Materials, 23, 5275–5282 (2011) doi:10.1002/adma.201101821
“Influence of reaction conditions on the selectivity of the synthesis of lactulose with microbial β-galactosidases”. C. Guerrero, C. Vera, F. Plou and A. Illanes. .Journal of Molecular Catalysis B: Enzymatic, 72, 206-212 (2011) doi:10.1016/j.molcatb.2011.06.007
“Screening beta-fructofuranosidases mutant libraries to enhance the transglycosylation rates of beta(2-6) fructooligosaccharides”. M. de Abreu, M. Alvaro-Benito, F.J. Plou, M. Fernandez-Lobato and M. Alcalde. Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening, 14, 730-738 (2011) doi:10.2174/138620711796504370
“Production of galacto-oligosaccharides by the beta-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis: comparative analysis of permeabilized cells versus soluble enzyme”. B. Rodriguez-Colinas, M. de Abreu, L. Fernandez-Arrojo, R. de Beer, A. Poveda, J. Jimenez-Barbero, D. Haltrich, A. Ballesteros, M. Fernandez-Lobato and F.J. Plou. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 59, 10477-10484 (2011) doi:10.1021/jf2022012
“Directed evolution of fungal laccases”. D. Maté, E. García-Ruiz, S. Camarero and M. Alcalde. Current Genomics, 12, 113-122 (2011) doi: 10.2174/138920211795564322
“Enzymatic synthesis of alpha-glucosides of resveratrol with surfactant activity”. P. Torres, A. Poveda, J. Jiménez-Barbero, J.L. Parra, F. Comelles, A. Ballesteros and F.J. Plou. Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis, 353, 1077-1086 (2011) doi: 10.1002/adsc.201000968
“Synthesis and Properties of Ascorbyl Esters Catalyzed by Lipozyme TL IM using Triglycerides as Acyl Donors”. D. Reyes-Duarte, N. Lopez-Cortes, P. Torres, F. Comelles, J. L. Parra, S. Peña, A. V. Ugidos, A. Ballesteros and F. J. Plou. Journal of American Oil Chemists’ Society, 88, 57-64 (2011)
doi: 10.1007/s11746-010-1643-5
2010
"Laboratory evolution of high-redox potential laccases". D. Maté, C. García-Burgos, E. García-Ruiz, A. Ballesteros, S. Camarero and M. Alcalde. Chemistry & Biology 17(9), 1030-1041 (2010). doi: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2010.07.010
“Antioxidant Activity of Resveratrol in Several Fish Lipid Matrices: Effect of Acylation and Glucosylation”. I. Medina, D. Alcántara, María J. González, P. Torres, R. Lucas, J. Roque, F.J. Plou and J.C. Morales..Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 58 (17), 9778–9786 (2010)
doi: 10.1021/jf101472n
"Enzymatic synthesis of vitamin E acetate as an alternative to the chemical method". F.J. Plou, P. Torres, D. Reyes-Duarte and A. Ballesteros. In: "Vitamin E: Nutrition, Side Effects and Supplements". Editor: A.E. Lindberg. Nova Science Publishers, NY, USA. ISBN: 978-1-61728-757-2 (2010).
"Guidelines for reporting of biocatalytic reactions". Lucia Gardossi, Poul B. Poulsen, Antonio Ballesteros, Karl Hult, Vytas K. Švedas, Đurđa Vasić-Rački, Giacomo Carrea, Anders Magnusson, Andreas Schmid, Roland Wohlgemuth and Peter J. Halling. Trends in Biotechnology 28(4), 171-180 (2010). doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2010.01.001
"Evolving thermostability in mutant libraries of ligninolytic oxidoreductases expressed in yeast". E. García-Ruiz, D. Maté, A. Ballesteros, A.T. Martínez and M. Alcalde. Microbial Cell Factories 9:17 (2010). doi:10.1186/1475-2859-9-17
“Regioselective Lipase-Catalyzed Synthesis of 3-O-Acyl Derivatives of Resveratrol and Study of Their Antioxidant Properties”. P. Torres, A. Poveda, J. Jimenez-Barbero, A. Ballesteros, and F.J. Plou. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,58, 807-813 (2010). doi: 10.1021/jf903210q
2009
“Biochemical characterization of a beta-fructofuranosidase from Rhodotorula dairenensis with transfructosylating activity”. P. Gutiérrez-Alonso, L. Fernández-Arrojo, F.J. Plou and M. Fernández-Lobato. FEMS Yeast Research 9, 768-773 (2009). doi: 10.1111/j.1567-1364.2009.00526.x
"Study of a sterol esterase secreted by Ophiostoma piceae: sequence, model and biochemical properties". O. Calero-Rueda, V. Barba, E. Rodríguez, F. Plou, A.T. Martínez and M.J. Martínez. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1794, 1099-1106 (2009). doi: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2009.02.012
“Molecular and biochemical characterization of a beta-fructofuranosidase from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous”. D. Linde, I. Macias, L. Fernández-Arrojo, F.J. Plou and M. Fernández-Lobato. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 75, 1065-1073 (2009). doi:10.1128/AEM.02061-08
“Efficient fructooligosaccharide synthesis with a fructosyltransferase from Aspergillus aculeatus”. F.J. Plou, M. Alcalde, I. Ghazi, L. Fernández-Arrojo and A. Ballesteros. In: “Modern Biocatalysis: Stereoselective and Environmentally Friendly Reactions“ (W.D. Fessner, T. Anthonsen, Eds.), Wiley Interscience, New York, ISBN-10: 3-527-32071-7, pp. 153-171 (2009). More
Latest patents
"High redox-potential peroxidases engineered by directed evolution". E. García, M.J. Martínez, J. Dueñas, A.T. Martínez and M. Alcalde. Spanish Patent 200930157 (2009)
“Enzymatic procedure for obtaining alpha-glucosides of resveratrol with surfactant and possible cosmetic properties”. P. Torres, F.J. Plou, A. Ballesteros, J.L. Parra, F. Comelles, J. Jiménez-Barbero and A. Poveda. Spanish Patent 200930037 (2009) PCT/ES2010/070177
"Alginate-based immobilized biocatalyst of high operational stability for the transformation of carbohydrates in continuous reactors (DALGEE`s biocatalyst)". L. Fernández-Arrojo, F.J. Plou, M. Alcalde, A. Ballesteros, M. Fernández-Lobato and P. Gutiérrez-Alonso. Spanish Patent 200930001 (2009). PCT/ES2010/070104
"High redox-potential laccases obtained by directed evolution". S. Camarero, A. Cañas, M.J. Martínez, A.T. Martínez, A. Balllesteros, F. Plou, E. Record, M. Asther and M. Alcalde. Spanish Patent 200803322 (2008). PCT/ES2009/070516
"Enzymatic procedure for the acylation of position 3- of resveratrol". P. Torres, F.J. Plou and A. Ballesteros. Spanish Patent 200803184 (2008). PCT/ES2009/070476
