The completion of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome project in 1996 showed that almost 60% of the potential open reading frames of the genome had no experimentally determined function. Using a conserved sequence motif present in the zinc-containing medium-chain alcohol dehydrogenases, we found several potential alcohol dehydrogenase genes with no defined function. One of these, YAL060W, was o...

The polyetherification of diols with 4-12 methylene units was studied in Brønsted Acid Ionic Liquids (BAILs). High molar mass poly(oxyalkylene)s were obtained at relatively low temperatures (130 °C), except in the cases of 1,4-butanediol and 1,6-hexanediol where cyclic ether formation was observed.

Bacillus licheniformis strain 3F-3 is an efficient pentose-utilizing producer of platform chemical, 2,3-butanediol. Here we present a 4.1-Mb assembly of its genome. The key genes for pentose utilization, regulation, and metabolism of 2,3-butanediol were annotated, which may provide further insights into the molecular mechanism of 2,3-butanediol production from biomass pentose.

Acetogenic bacteria use CO and/or CO2 plus H2 as their sole carbon and energy sources. Fermentation processes with these organisms hold promise for producing chemicals and biofuels from abundant waste gas feedstocks while simultaneously reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions. The acetogen Clostridium autoethanogenum is known to synthesize the pyruvate-derived metabolites lactate and 2,3-b...

An actinomycete strain with a great potential to produce bioactive compounds isolated from a laterite soil was identified as Streptomyces sp. MSL based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Secondary metabolites produced by the strain in optimized nutrient broth were extracted and analyzed by chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. Among the different fractions, four diols, viz., (1) (2R,3R)-2,3...

Polyols can be synthesized from carbohydrates in bioor chemo-catalytic way. The conversion of polyols with two hydroxyl groups in 1,4-positions, for example 1,4-butanediol, results in furan derivatives. In contrast, during the dehydration of diols with two vicinal hydroxyl groups, for example, 1,2-propaneand 1,2-butanediol, aldehydes or ketones are formed [1] . This will be presented exemplaril...

Mutants of Alcaligenes eutrophus which are altered with respect to the utilization of 2,3-butanediol and acetoin were isolated after transposon mutagenesis. The suicide vehicle pSUP5011 was used to introduce the drug resistance transposable element Tn5 into A. eutrophus. Kanamycin-resistant transconjugants of the 2,3-butanediol-utilizing parent strains CF10141 and AS141 were screened for mutant...

The gene encoding a (2R,3R)-2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase from Rhodococcus erythropolis WZ010 (ReBDH) was over-expressed in Escherichia coli and the resulting recombinant ReBDH was successfully purified by Ni-affinity chromatography. The purified ReBDH in the native form was found to exist as a monomer with a calculated subunit size of 37180, belonging to the family of the zinc-containing alcoho...

The dielectric relaxation of water rich aqueous solutions of ethanol, ehtylene glycol, glycerol, diethylene glycol, 1,2-butanediol, 1,3-butanediol and 1,4-butanediol has been measured at 20 °C. In all cases the fitting of the data by a sum of Debye type spectral components allows for two description modes which can be interpreted as a collective alteration of the water relaxation or, on the oth...

1,3-Butanediol is an ethanol dimer that induces systemic ketosis. It has previously been shown to increase hypoxic survival time and reduce neurologic deficit in several experimental preparations. The aim of this study was to determine if the mechanism of 1,3-butanediol-induced cerebral protection was elevation of blood ketone levels, blood glucagon levels, or both. Blood beta-hydroxybutyrate l...