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At least 289 records · Page 16

Systems Metabolic Engineering of Escherichia coli Improves Coconversion of Lignocellulose-Derived Sugars

Currently, microbial conversion of lignocellulose-derived glucose and xylose to biofuels is hindered by the fact that most microbes (including Escherichia coli [E. coli], Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Zymomonas mobilis) preferentially consume glucose first and consume xylose slowly after glucose is depleted in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. In this study, E. coli strains are developed that simultaneously utilize glucose and xylose in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysate using genome-scale models and adaptive laboratory evolution. E. coli strains are designed and constructed that coutilize glucose and xylose and adaptively evolve them to improve glucose and xylose utilization. Whole-genome resequencing of the evolved strains find relevant mutations in metabolic and regulatory genes and the mutations’ involvement in sugar coutilization is investigated. The developed strains show significantly improved coconversion of sugars in lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates and provide a promising platform for producing next-generation biofuels.

Kim, Joonhoon↗

Grain boundary engineering to control the discontinuous precipitation in multicomponent U10Mo alloy

Grain boundaries in metallic alloys often play a crucial role, not only in determining the mechanical properties or thermal stability of alloys, but also in dictating the phase transformation kinetics during thermomechanical processing. We demonstrate that locally stabilized structure and compositional segregation at grain boundaries—“grain boundary complexions”—in a complex multicomponent alloy can be modified to influence the kinetics of cellular transformation during subsequent thermomechanical processing. Using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography analysis of a metallic nuclear fuel highly relevant to worldwide nuclear non-proliferation efforts —uranium-10 wt% molybdenum (U-10Mo) alloy, new evidence for the existence of grain boundary complexion is provided. We then modified the concentration of impurities dissolved in Υ-UMo grain interiors and/or segregated to Υ-UMo grain boundaries by changing the homogenization treatment, and these effects were used used to retard the kinetics of cellular transformation during subsequent sub-eutectoid annealing in this U-10-Mo alloy during sub-eutectoid annealing. Thus, this work provided insights on tailoring the final microstructure of the U-10Mo alloy, which can potentially improve the irradiation performance of this important class of alloy fuels.

Devaraj, Arun (ORCID:0000000313146212)↗

A Probabilistic Model-Based Diagnostic Framework for Nuclear Engineering Systems

A fault diagnostic framework was investigated in this study for applications in thermal–hydraulic systems of nuclear power plants. The proposed framework consists of quantitative model-based diagnosis, statistical change detection and probabilistic reasoning. The use of physics-based diagnostic models provides high detection sensitivity and allows noise and measurement uncertainty to be incorporated robustly. Performance-related parametric models for each component are constructed based on first principles. Numerical model residuals are generated using the concept of analytical redundancy. Statistical change detection methods are employed to detect non-zero residuals in the presence of uncertainty. The diagnosis task is performed using Bayesian inference to detect and localize possible faults. Application to a single-phase heat exchanger for demonstration showed that the proposed probabilistic framework can provide improved results in comparison with traditional approaches while remaining less sensitive to false alarms in the presence of measurement and modeling uncertainty.

Bayesian network↗

Comprehensive Structural and Biochemical Analysis of the Terminal Myxalamid Reductase Domain for the Engineered Production of Primary Alcohols

Here, the terminal reductase (R) domain from the non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) module MxaA in Stigmatella aurantiaca Sga15 catalyzes a non-processive four-electron reduction to produce the myxalamide family of secondary metabolites. Despite widespread use in nature, a lack of structural and mechanistic information concerning reductive release from polyketide synthase (PKS) and NRPS assembly lines principally limits our ability to redesign R domains with altered or improved activity. We report crystal structures for MxaA R, both in the absence and, for the first time, in the presence of the NADPH cofactor. Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to provide a deeper understanding of this domain and further identify residues critical for structural integrity, substrate binding, and catalysis. Aggregate computational and structural findings provided a basis for mechanistic investigations and, in the process, delivered a rationally altered variant with improved activity toward highly reduced substrates.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗