New Frontiers in Screening for Microbial Catalysts: Proceedings of an International Symposium Held in Ede, the Netherlands, 15-18 December 1996(v. 53 Studies in Organic Chemistry)

With screening and selection of biocatalysts being undervalued in Europe in comparison with USA and especially Japan, the working parties "Applied Biocatalysis" and "Microbial Physiology" of the European Federation of Biotechnology decided to organise an international symposium entitled "New Frontiers in Screening for Microbial Biocatalysts". Novel screening techniques, microbial biodiversity, microbial physiology and molecular genetics were discussed to give better insights into possibilities and limitations of obtaining biocatalysts from nature. These proceedings provide a comprehensive overview of the present state-of-the-art in the field of biocatalysts screening.

Table of Contents:
General introduction to biocatalysis and screening (K. Kieslich). Screening of novel enzymes for the production of useful compounds (H. Yamada). A Japanese screening approach: selection of an opine dehydrogenase and alkaline D-peptidase (Y. Asano). Screening and expression cloning of fungal enzyme genes of industrial relevance (H. Dalboge). The enormous diversity and biotechnological potential of naturally occurring bacteria (E. Stackebrandt). Automated techniques in screening for microorganisms with biocatalytic properties (O. Favre-Bulle et al. ). Fluorescence screening for lipolytic enzymes (A. Hermetter et al. ). DRASTIC (diffuse reflectance absorbance spectoscopy taking in chemometrics). A novel, rapid, hyperspectral, FT-IR-based approach to screening for biocatalytic activity and metabolite overproduction (D.B. Kell et al. ). Filtration and separation materials for analytical purposes (R.G. Hood). Time resolved fluorescence based assays in screening for biocatalytic activities (S. Webb). Screening for inhibitors of human brain myo-inositol monophosphatase (A.J. Ganzhorn et al. ). Miniaturization of radioisotopic, luminescent and fluorescent assays to 384-well microplates (A.J. Kolb). Screening of bacteria at high temperatures to select nucleoside antibiotics producers (T. Utagawa). Posters. Passive and active screening of D-hydantoinase-producing microorganisms (A. Morin, D. Leblanc). High level production of 3-cyano-6-hydroxypyridine from 3-cyanopyridine by Comamonas testosteroni MCI2848 (M. Ueda et al. ). Investigation of the beta-glucosidases potentialities of yeast strains and application to bound aromatic terpenols liberation (Y. Gueguen et al. ). Selection and study of a Candida molischiana mutant derepressed for beta-glucosidase production: application to flavor development of wines and fruit juices (Y. Gueguen et al. ). Microbial degradation of 2,5-diketopiperazines (H. Kanzaki, K. Kawazu). Production of novel derivatives of a gastrin antagonist (GW1) using biotransformation (A. Blackaby et al. ). Characterization of some isoprenoid-biosynthetic enzymes from plant cell cultures (R. van der Heijden et al .). A DRASTIC (Diffuse Reflectance Absorbance Spectroscopy Taking In Chemometrics) approach for the rapid analysis of microbial fermentation products: quantification of Aristeromycin and Neplanocin A in Streptomyces citricolor broths (M.K. Winson et al. ). Screening for alkyl sulfosuccinate degrading microorganisms (M. Proksova). Isolation, partial purification and characterization of a novel cyclic dipeptidase (D.P. Pantaleone et al. ). Alkane hydroxylase systems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains able to grow on n-octane (J.B. van Beilen et al .). Screening tropical microbial biodiversity for biotechnological applications: an overview (M.C. Srinivasan). Screening cultures using solid state fermentation (S. Suryanarayan et al. ).