1

Dear members,

Greetings for New Year-2012!

A report on VIII Convention of the Biotech Research

Society: The VIII Convention of the Biotech Research

Society, India (www.brsi.in) was organized by the

National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and

Technology, CSIR, jointly with Society as International

Conference on New Horizons in Biotechnology at Hotel

Residency Tower, Trivandrum during 21st to 24th

November 2011. The conference aimed to bring

together eminent scientists, engineers, industry

experts and researchers from across the world to

deliberate on global developments in the fields of

Industrial Biotechnology, Medical Biotechnology,

Environmental Biotechnology and Food & Agriculture

Biotechnology.

NHBT-2011 offered a stage for all the

researchers working in the various thrust areas of

Biotechnology to come together and deliberate on

various important issues. The conference was

participated and supported by various organisations of

international importance such as International Forum on

Industrial Bioprocesses (IFIBiop), International

Organization for Biotechnology and Bioengineering,

Elsevier - UK, Thomson Reuters - USA, etc. and national

organizations such as Council of Scientific and

Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Science and

Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT),

Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), State

Committee on Science, Technology and Environment,

Govt of Kerala, State Bank of Travancore,

IX BRSI Convention

The ninth Convention of the Biotech Research Society,

India (www.brsi.in) will be held at Punjabi University,

Patiala during November 21-23, 2012. Prof Ram Sarup

Singh, Head, Biotechnology Department is its Convener.

For details, please contact Prof Ram Sarup Singh at

rssingh11@lycos.com.

The conference discussed the cutting edge

research areas in Biotechnology and Medicine across

the world and eminent scientists and academicians

provided lectures on the most recent advances in the

field. The conference provided a common platform for

industry and academia to focus on various issues and to

develop possible linkages among them. It also served

the purpose of global networking among them and

helped in creating a nucleus of interface research. This

would lead to various collaborative research among

different scientific group across the world/country and

serve the society.

Lighting of lamp by Dr Suresh Das, Director, NIIST during the

Opening Session

In this issue.... A report on VIII BRSI Convention ...........................................1 Best Poster Award Winners............................ .....................3 Annual Award Winners and Fellows ....................................4 IX BRSI Convention .................................................................1 Glimpses of Board of Governors Meeting ...............................8 Glimpses of GB Meeting ...........................................................9 Members Forum ........................................................................9 Conferences/symposia schedules ..........................................10 Biotech News & R&D Round-up...............................................10 Drug headlines of 2011 ……….………………….…………….………….......11 Top Science Scandals of 2011. ............... ........................13 Food Security and GM Crops ................................................22 Preventing Hunger ……………………………………………………………………23 India-Agri Biotech Annual Report 2011 ……………………………26 World Hunger Report 2011 …………………………………………………..26 Review article .........................................................................28

News Letter Volume 9, No 1 [January 2012]

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

2

There were a total of about 575 participants,

which included about 150 invitees and speakers and

chairpersons. A total of 108 lectures were delivered in

30 parallel sessions and about 400 posters were

presented in four poster sessions. There were about

110 overseas delegates, including about 70 invitees from

United States, Canada, UK, Greece, Cyprus, France,

Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland,

Slovakia, Russia, Finland, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Brazil,

Uganda, Nigeria, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Korea,

Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Distinguished guests on dais during the Opening session

A glimpse of the delegates during breaks

The scientific program was divided into three

parallel technical sessions focussing on different areas.

There were two mini symposia addressing the currently

relevant topics of Biofuels and on Probiotics &

Functional Foods. Another major attraction of the

event was the Industry – Young Researcher interactive

session. This session was specially for the young

researchers who were encouraged to ask queries to

eminent panellists from the Industry, including CEOs of

leading biotech companies in India and Science

Managers from Governmental agencies. This session

offered an ideal stage for the young researchers to

interact and share the experiences and needs of the

Industry. It aimed to motivate the young researchers

to plan their careers in biotech industries and also think

of developing themselves as entrepreneurs.

The opening session was addressed by Prof CG

Dussap, Chairman, International Forum on Industrial

Bioprocesses, France; Prof Charles Tweisgye, Chairman,

International Organization of Biotechnology and

Bioengineering; Prof P Gunasekaran, President, The

Biotech Research Society, India; Dr Suresh Das,

Director, NIIST-CSIR and Prof Ashok Pandey,

Chairman, Organizing Committee. In addition, Dr K

Madhavan Nampoothiri, the convener of the conference

welcomed the delegates and also acknowledge the

support provided by the organizations who extended

financial support to the event. Dr Rajeev K Sukumaran,

Co-Convener outlined the whole program and gave the

details of scientific sessions.

The Opening session witnessed the declaration

of annual awards of the BRSI. These included Life Time

Achievement Award to Prof Asis Datta, National

Institute for Plant Genome Research, New Delhi,

Industrial Medal Award to Dr RBN Prasad, Indian

Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, Women

Scientist Award to Dr Jyoti P Jadhav, Shivaji

University, Kolhapur and AU-CBT Excellence Award (for

research scholars) to Mr Srikanth Sandeepam of Indian

Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad. Sri

Piyush Palkhiwala, CMD, MAPS Enzymes Ltd,

Ahmedabad was conferred Honorary Fellowship of the

Society and Prof Rekha S Singhal, Institute of Chemical

Technology, Mumbai; Prof D Das, Indian Institute of

Technology, Kharagpur; Dr AJ Varma, National

Chemical Laboratory, Pune and Dr VK Garg, GJ

University, Hisar were conferred as Fellow (FBRS) .

A glimpse of the Closing sessio

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

3

The conference had also cultural eves where the

delegates enjoyed the classical dances of Punjab and

Kerala presented by the research scholars of Punjabi

University, Patiala and NIIST-CSIR, Trivandrum on 21st

November and musical orchestra by Police Band of

Kerala Police on 22nd November, followed by delightful

singing by the delegates from various countries in

Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Greek, Nigerian,

Korean, Hindi-Marathi, and Malayalam.

Dr Madhavan Nampoothiri, Convener addressing the delegates during

the Closing session

Best Poster Awards Winners: To encourage the young

researchers, awards were being given for the best

posters in various categories. These were declared in

the closing session of the conference on 24th November

2011 and the winners are as below:

Area Award winner Title and authors

Industrial

Biotechnology

Ms Garima

Rawat,

Department of

Microbiology,

University of

Delhi South

campus, New

Delhi

Qualitative and

quantitative

screening of potent

shikimic acid

producing

microorganisms;

Garima Rawat,

Priyanka Tripathi,

Pinki Anand, Firdaus

Jahan & R.K. Saxena

Industrial

Biotechnology

Ms Kuniparambil

Rajasree,

Centre for

Biofuels,

National

Institute for

Interdisciplinary

Science and

Technology-

Identification and

Characterisation of a

Glucose tolerant β-

glucosidase from a

novel fungus

Aspergillus unguis-

NII 08123;

Kuniparambil

Rajasree, Gincy

CSIR,

Trivandrum

Marina Mathew,

Ashok Pandey &

Rajeev Kumar

Sukumaran

Industrial

Biotechnology

Ms Firdaus

Jahan,

Department of

Microbiology,

University of

Delhi South

Campus, New

Delhi

Production of

microbial cellulose by

a bacterium isolated

from fruit; Firdaus

Jahan, Vinod Kumar,

Garima Rawat & R.K.

Saxena

Industrial

Biotechnology

Ms Mrudula V.

Ushasree,

Biotechnology

Division,

National

Institute for

Interdisciplinary

Science and

Technology,

CSIR,

Trivandrum

Single-step

purification and

immobilization of

MBP-phytase fusion

on starch agar beads:

application in

dephytination of soy

milk; Mrudula V.

Ushasree & Ashok

Pandey

Environmental

Biotechnology

Mr K Naresh,

Bioengineering

and

Environmental

Centre, Indian

Institute of

Chemical

Technology,

Hyderabad

Functional role of

anoxic

microenvironment in

comparison with

aerobic and anaerobic

conditions during azo

dye degradation: Bio-

electrochemical

analysis; K Naresh, S

Srikanth, P Suresh

Babu and S Venkata

Mohan

Environmental

Biotechnology

Prof G.

Saucedo-

Castañeda,

Metropolitan

Autonomous

University,

Dept.of

Biotechnology,

Iztapalapa

Campus, Mexico

Design of composting

piles base on

fundamentals of

biological reactors

engineering; P. Ruiz-

Sánchez, G. Rosas-

Alcantara, E. Favela-

Torres, G. Saucedo-

Castañeda

Food &

Agricultural

Biotechnology

Ms Gowri K,

Institute of

Biological

Sciences,

Faculty of

Prevention of

hyperglycemia and

oxidative stress in

high-fat induced

obese in C57/BL6j

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

4

Science,

University of

Malaya, Kuala

Lumpur

mice by

polysaccharides

extract from

Pleurotus sp.; Gowri,

K., Sri Nurestri ,

A.M., Kuppusamy,

U.R., Mahmood A.A.,

Vikineswary, S.

Medical

Biotechnology

Mr John Lijo,

Department of

Bioinformatics,

Christ College,

Rajkot, Gujarat,

A Reverse vaccinology

approach for the

identification of

potential vaccine

candidates from

Leishmania spp.; John

Lijo, John J Georrge

& Kholia Trupti

Medical

Biotechnology

Mr Gulshan

Singh,

Environmental

Microbiology,

CSIR-Indian

Institute of

Toxicology

Research,

Lucknow

Predominance of

genes responsible for

resistance to multiple

antimicrobials in E. coli; Gulshan Singh,

Poornima Vajpayee,

Chandra Bali Patel,

Neetika Rani & Rishi

Shanker

To sum up, NHBT-2011 was not only educative

to all, but also bridged the gap between the scientific

communities across the world and helped in developing

collaboration and networking.

Winners of BRSI Annual Awards for the year 2010

and Fellows for 2011

Honorary Fellow: Sri Piyush S Palkhiwala is Chairman &

Managing Director, Maps Enzymes Limited at

Ahmedabad. Mr. Palkhiwala received a graduate honors

degree in Science from MG Science Institute,

Ahmedabad and MTech degree from the Indian

Institute of Technology, Delhi. His areas of interests

are enzyme processing (fermentation products),

biochemical research & development, equipment design,

isolation of cultures and research in genetic

engineering, and enzyme biotechnology. His indigenous

efforts in biotechnology have given global recognition to

Indian Industry and Maps Enzymes. His unique vision

has led Maps India transition from an industrial

enzymes company to an integrated biotech company. Mr

Palkhiwala is the recipient of the Best Entrepreneur of

the Year Award, 1994-95 from the Rotary Club

International. He is Chairman, All India Biotech

Association (AIBA-WC) and members in several

government and industries committee, including

Federation of Industries, Gujarat Biotech Council,

Entrepreneurs Development of India, Gujarat State

Biotech Mission, etc. The Biotech Research Society is

privileged to confer Honorary Fellow Award for the

year 2011 to Sri Piyush Palkhiwala for his outstanding

contributions for the growth and commercialization of

Biotechnology in India.

Fellow (FBRS): Professor Rekha S Singhal is currently

Professor of Food Technology at the Institute of

Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai. Prof Singhal has

been working in the area of food chemistry and

biotechnology with special reference to carbohydrats,

and on fermentative production and downstream

processing of various biomolecules, ranging from

enzymes to antibiotics, carotenoids and industrial

biopolymers. Prof Singhal has co-authored one book, 20

book chapters, 31 review papers, three patents and 210

research papers in peer reviewed national and

international journals. She has been a recipient of young

scientist award from AFST (I) (1995), Fellow of

Maharashtra Academy of Sciences (2005) and Fellow of

AFST (I) (2009), besides prizes for best poster and

paper presentations at several conferences. Her works

on the fermentative production of many therapeutic

molecules such as clavulanic acid, compactin, cyclosporin

A, glutaminase, serratiopeptidase, poly-γ-glutamic acid

and compactin has been widely acclaimed. Similarly, her

work on supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of

secondary metabolites of commercial interest such as

lycopene, γ-linolenic acid, zeaxanthin and CoQ10 from

microbial biomass as well as microencapsulation of spice

oleoresins and neutraceuticals derived from

fermentation origin is noteworthy and has attracted

attention from industry and academicians alike. The

Biotech Research Society is privileged to honour

Professor Rekha S Singhal as Fellow of the Society

(FBRS) for the 2011 for her outstanding contributions

in Food Biotechnology.

Fellow (FBRS): Professor Debabrata Das received PhD

degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

After his post-doctoral training at University of Utah,

USA, he joined Indian Institute of Technology at

Kharagpur in April 1988. Currently, Dr. Das is Professor

in the Department of Biotechnology. His research is

focused mainly on the development of biohydrogen

production processes.

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

5

Dr Das has made cutting edge contributions to the

general knowledge of the scientific community

regarding improvement of biohydrogen production by

optimization of different operational parameters. He

has been awarded IAHE Akira Mitsui award in 2008 and

DBT Overseas Associateship in 2000 for his hydrogen

research. He has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed

publications. The Biotech Research Society is

privileged to honour Professor Debabrata Das as

Fellow of the Society (FBRS) for the year 2011 for his

outstanding contributions in Biohydrogen Production

Technology.

Fellow (FBRS): Dr AJ Varma received PhD degrees

from the State University of New York and from

Syracuse University, USA. After post-doctoral

research in USA, he joined the National Chemical

Laboratory, Pune, where he now heads the Natural &

Biodegradable Polymers Group. His research is focused

on the development of technologies using biomass as a

green organic raw material to produce series of

chemicals, polymers, and fuels utilizing a concept known

as biorefinery. He has been awarded the VASVIK

AWARD for his commercialized research on sugarcane

bagasse to cellulose. Dr Varma has likewise made

cutting edge contributions to the development of novel

strategies for converting non-degradable hydrocarbon

polymers into biodegradable polymers. He is on the

Editorial Board of two international journals, and is an

ICS-UNIDO expert group member for environmentally

degradable polymers. He has authored over 60 peer-

reviewed publications. The Biotech Research Society is

privileged to honour Dr A J Varma with Fellow of the

Society (FBRS) for the year 2011 for his outstanding

contributions in Industrial Biotechnology.

Fellow (FBRS): Dr Vinod Kumar Garg received PhD

degree from CCS Haryana Agricultural University,

Hisar. After that, he joined CCS Haryana Agricultural

University in 1992. Currently, Dr. Garg is Associate

Professor in the Department of Environmental Science

and Engineering, Guru Jambheshwar University of

Science and Technology, Hisar. His research is focused

on solid waste management and wastewater treatment

technologies. Dr Garg has made significant

contributions to impart scientific knowledge to the

community regarding solid waste management, especially

vermicomposting. He has authored about 120 peer-

reviewed publications. The Biotech Research Society is

privileged to honour Dr Vinod Kumar Garg with Fellow

of the Society (FBRS) for the year 2011 for his

outstanding contributions in Environmental

Biotechnology.

Life Time Achievement Award: Professor Asis Datta

is the Professor of Eminence at the National Institute

of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi. He has been

Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)

and Founder Director of National Institute of Plant

Genome Research (2002-2008).

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

6

Professor Asis Datta has done pioneering work

in the field of molecular biology and genetic

engineering. His work on the pathogenic yeast, Candida albicans as a model system opened up the possibility of

designing a therapy to combat the candidiasis. In

addition, the scientific/research contributions have

been vital in areas of food/nutritional security and use

of genetically modified food..His relentless effort

throughout has established a vibrant school of research

on ―structure –function-application‖ of eukaryotic

genes, which led to the establishment of the National

Institute Plant Genome Research, India‘s first and only

one research centre of its kind.

Prof Datta is recipient of several prestigious

awards such as Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award, Guha

Memorial Award, Sir Amulya Rattan Oration Award,

First GD Birla Award for Science and Technology,

FICCI Award for R&D in Life Sciences, Om Bhasin

Award for Science and Technology, Third World

Academy of Sciences Award in Biology, Ranbaxy Award

in Medical Sciences, Dr BR Ambedkar Centenary Award

for Excellence in Biomedical Research, etc. He is a

Fellow of several academies, including the Third World

of Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science

Academy, Indian Academy of Science, and National

Academy of Sciences, India. Professor Datta was

conferred Padma Shree in 1999 and Padma Bhusan in

2008. The Biotech Research Society is privileged to

confer Life Time Achievement Award for the year

2010 to Professor Asis Datta for his outstanding

contributions in Plant Biotechnology.

Industrial Medal Award: Dr R B N Prasad is

presently working as Chief Scientist and Head, Centre

for Lipid Research, Indian Institute of Chemical

Technology, Hyderabad.

Dr Prasad received his Ph D from Osmania

University and carried out Postdoctoral Research at

Koln University, Germany. He has received several

awards and noted amongst are CSIR Technology Prize

and TDB National Award for Best Commercialized

Indigenous Technology. Dr Prasad has made significant

contributions in the area of Lipid Science & Technology

making use of biotechnological options for processing

and value addition to vegetable oils. He has about 100

publications and 35 patents to his credit. The Biotech

Research Society is privileged to honour Dr R B N

Prasad with Industrial Medal Award of the Society

for the year 2010 for his outstanding contributions in

Bioprocess Technology.

Woman Scientist Award: Dr Mrs Jyoti P Jadhav is

currently working as an Associate Professor and Head

of Department of Biotechnology at Shivaji University,

Kolhapur. She has received her doctorate degree in

Biochemistry in 2000 and since then she has made

several noteworthy contributions in the areas of

bioremediation, biotransformation of L-Dopa and

melanin and plant biotechnology. Dr. Mrs. Jadhav‘s

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

7

research also encompasses the study of enzymes for

the predication of metabolic pathways for textile dye

degradation followed by cytotoxicity and genotoxicity

assays to analyze toxic nature of dye and its

degradation metabolites. She has authored more than

50 publications in journals and books. The Biotech

Research Society is privileged to honour Dr Mrs Jyoti

P. Jadhav with Woman Scientist Award of the Society

for the year 2010 for her outstanding contributions in

Environmental Biotechnology.

AU-CBT Excellence Award: Mr Srikanth Sandipam is

a Senior Research Fellow at Bioengineering and

Environmental Centre, Indian Institute of Chemical

Technology, CSIR under the research supervision of Dr

S Venkata Mohan. His research is mainly focused on the

interfacial areas of biochemistry and electrochemistry

aspects of renewable energy generation. Shrikanth has

been successful in applying electro-analytical techniques

to understand the metabolic activities of the

biocatalyst. Output from his work has significantly

contributed in understanding the bioprocess and

metabolic shifts during biohydrogen and bioelectricity

generation using wastewater. His research was

disseminated in the form of 19 publications and one

book chapter.

Mr Srikanth is a recipient of Dr RN Sharma

memorial Best Junior Research Fellow (JRF) Award for

the year 2008 and Best Business Plan Award as Group

Leader/Technology Manager for biohydrogen

commercial plant during Technology Led

Entrepreneurship Programme organized by the Indian

Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore in 2011. The

Biotech Research Society is previleged to honour Mr.

Srikanth Sandipam with AU-CBT Excellene Award for

the year 2010 for his significant performance as

research scholar and contribution in the fields of

renewable bioenergy generation and sustainable

biotechnology.

NHBT-2011 was participated and supported by

Applied Biosystems

Avio Enterprises, Trivandrum

Biorad India Pvt. Ltd.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New

Delhi

Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India,

New Delhi

Elsevier, UK

Eppendorf India Pvt. Ltd., Chennai

Evolva Biotech Private Limited, Chennai

Gynaxy Scientific Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi

Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi

International Forum on Industrial Bioporcess

International Organization of Biotechnology and

Bioengineering

Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and

Environment, Trivandrum

Labmate (Asia) Pvt. Ltd., Chennai

Mar Athanasios College For advanced Studies,

Thiruvalla

Metrohm India Ltd., Chennai

Riviera Glass Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai

Riya Travels, Trivandrum

Scigenics (India) Pvt. Ltd., Chennai

SciGenom labs Pvt. Ltd., Cochin

SMSM Institute, Trivandrum

Spectra Labs, Trivandrum

Spinco Biotech Pvt. Ltd., Chennai

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

8

State Bank of Travancore, Pappanamcode, Trivandrum

Thomson Reuters, US

University of Ulster, UK

Wiley-Blackwell, UK

Wisdom Book Distributors, Mumbai

The organizers express their gratitude to these organizations and agencies.

Glimpses of the Meeting of the Board of

Governors of the Society held on 20th

November 2011 at 1500 h at Trivandrum

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

9

Glimpses of the Meeting of the General

Body of the Society held on 20th November

2011 at 1800 h at Trivandrum

Members Forum

Professor Gopal Reddy, Fellow of BRSI has been

conferred the AMI-Louis Pasteur Award 2011. The

award has been given for the significant contribution

made by Prof Reddy in the area of microbial

fermentations.

Dr Jyoti Prakash Tamnag, Fellow of BRSI has been

appointed as the First Registrar of the Sikkim Central

University.

Dr S Venkata Mohan, Fellow of BRSI has been

inducted as Fellow of Andhra Pradesh Academy of

Sciences (APAS) on 24th December 2011 at CSIR-IICT,

Hyderabad by Dr V P Dimri, President-APAS and Dr Ch

Mohan Rao, Director, CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad.

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

10

CONFERENCES/SYMPOSIA SCHEDULES

IX Convention of the Biotech Research Society, India

(BRSI) and International Conference on Industrial

Biotechnology, November 21-23, 2012, Patiala; for

details please contact Prof R S Singh at

rssingh11@lycos.com

7th Annual International Symposium on Environment

(Energy), May 14-17, 2012, Athens, Greece; details can

be found at www.atiner.gr/environment.htm

3rd International Conference on Industrial

Biotechnology (IBIC2012), June 24-27, 2012, Palermo,

Italy; details can be found at www.aidic.it/IBIC2012

3rd International Symposium on Antimicrobial Peptides:

Today knowledge and future applications, June, 13-15,

2012, Lille (Villeneuve d'Ascq), France; details can be

seen at http://www.amp2012.fr

CRETE 2012- 3rd International Conference on

Hazardous and Industrial Wastes Management,

September 12-14, 2012; Chania (Crete) Greece; details

can be found at www.hwm1.tuc.gr

CESE-2012: The 5th International Conference on the

Challenges in Environmental Science and Engineering,

Melbourne, Australia; September 13-16, 2011. For

details please visit cese-conference.org or contact Dr

Jega Jegatheesan jega.j@deakin.edu.au

15th International Biotechnology Symposium (IBS) and

Exhibition, September 16 - 21, 2012, Daegue, Korea;

details can be found at www.ibs2012.org

12th International Symposium on Biosafety of

Genetically Modified Organisms (ISBGMO

2012) conference to be held in St. Louis, Missouri, USA,

between 16-20 September 2012. For details, please

visit http://www.isbgmo.com/

EFB Conferences schedules:

Date EFB Events Venue

6 -

8 February

2012

Applied Synthetic

Biology in Europe

Barcelona

Spain

10 - 12 April

2012

Environmental

Microbiology &

Biotechnology

Conference 2012

Bologna

Italy

2 - 4 May

2012

9th International

Conference on Protein

Stabilisation.

Lisbon

Portugal

10 - 13 May

2012

Microbial Stress: from

Molecules to Systems II

Belgirate

Italy

23 - 26

September

2012

European Congress on

Biotechnology. BIO-

CROSSROADS

Istanbul

Turkey

Date Other Events Venue

February 29

– March 3

2012

Pichia 2012 Conference -

ACIB.

Alpbach/Tyrol

Austria

26 – 29

February

2012

Hands-On Pichia Lab

Course - ACIB.

Graz, Styria

Austria

19 - 22

March

2012

8th World Meeting on

Pharmaceutics,

Biopharmaceutics and

Pharmaceutical Tech.

Istanbul

Turkey

Dear Members,

From this issue of the News Letter, we are

starting the publication of research and

review articles in it. Those willing to submit

any article should contact the editor, Prof

Ashok Pandey by email at

ashokpandey56@yahoo.co.in

BIOTECH NEWS AND R&D ROUND-

UP

The Biotech Companies that Failed in 2011: A

roundup of eight biotech companies that didn’t make

it through this year’s continuing tough economic times

- In an incredibly competitive environment, with venture

capital funds parsed more carefully than

ever, FierceBiotech reported on eight innovative

biotech companies that closed their doors recently.

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

11

Here‘s the list (in alphabetical order), and an account

of why they bit the dust.

Company: Advanced Life Sciences- Founded: 1998 -Focus: Treatments for infection, cancer and respiratory illness - While Advanced Life Sciences was waiting on

the US Food and Drug Administration‘s response on an

antibiotic treatment for community-acquired pneumonia

in 2009, it was forced to lay off 30 percent of its

staff. Then an expert panel reviewing the drug said it

was not effective, ultimately causing the company

to suspend operations in early May.

Company: Altair Therapeutics, Inc. Founded: 2007 Focus: Drugs for respiratory diseases like asthma and rhinitis - Altair Therapeutics, a spin-off of ISIS

Pharmaceuticals, was dissolved in February, its assets

reabsorbed by its parent company after Phase II

clinical trials of its inhaled antisense asthma drug

showed no benefit. The drug was supposed to

specifically knock down the production of two

inflammatory cytokines, IL-4 and IL-13. Although there

was some evidence that the drug was hitting its target,

it showed no improvement in patients. The company,

which only had seven full-time employees, garnered big

support just two years into its start, pulling in $17

million from venture capital firms in 2009. But after

the failure of its asthma drug, the company was forced

to close shop.

Company: Ambrilia Biopharma - Founded: 1998 -Focus: Diagnostics and therapeutic drugs for oncology and infectious diseases - The Canadian company

Ambrilia Biopharma had a promising start, securing a

$215 million deal with Merck for the development of its

HIV drug. In 2008, however, Merck put the program on

hold. The company kept holding on, continuing to pursue

Phase III trials for a drug to treat acromegaly, a

disease that causes facial deformity, even as its

employees were cut to a total of 15. Last year its CEO

and CFO were let go, and in April of this year, the

company filed for bankruptcy.

Company: ARYx Therapeutics - Founded: 1997 -

Focus: To change the metabolic profile of established drugs to improve their safety and reduce side effects - ARYx Therapeutics had an interesting idea: take drugs

which appeared effective, but were too toxic to be

used, and redesign them so that they could be

absorbed, metabolized, and easily excreted without

detrimental effects. The company went public in 2007,

but then scaled back operations after its blood clotting

compound showed no improvement over existing

therapies. In 2010 the company cut its employees to

less than 20, and when the FDA delayed giving

guidance on a drug ARYx was developing for

gastrointestinal disorders, the company‘s funders

turned away. It began to liquidate its assets in March.

Company: Peptimmune - Founded: 2002 Focus: To develop peptide and peptide-copolymer therapies for central nervous system and autoimmune disorders - Genzyme spun off Peptimmune to develop drugs to treat

autoimmune diseases. One compound in particular

showed promise. Named PI-2301, it was a treatment

for multiple sclerosis, based on the research of Jack

Strominger at Harvard University and Hidde Ploegh

from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

The company was in the process of liquidating its assets

earlier this year, when Merck Serono decided to buy

full rights to PI-2301 for $1.5 million.

Company: Phenomix Corporation - Founded: 2001 - Focus: Small-molecule drugs that target enzymes, including targets for diabetes and hepatitis C infection- California-based Phenomix Corporation started out

well, receiving multiple rounds of venture capital

funding, and even a $340 million dollar deal to develop

its oral diabetes drug dutoglyptin from Forest Labs.

Then as the drug entered Phase III clinical trials, even

showing promising early results, Forest withdrew from

the deal, leaving Phenomix to unsuccessfully look for

other funders. It closed in late 2010.

Company: Tolerx - Founded: 2000 - Focus: Immune manipulation by targeting T-cell responses to diseases from diabetes to cancer and chronic viral infections - Tolerx landed a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline in

2007 worth $760 million to develop its antibody

therapy for type 1 diabetes, called otelixizumab. The

drug failed to show the expected efficacy in Phase III

clinical trials, and the company began to lay off

employees in March and May. GSK, however, said it

would continue to develop otelixizumab.

Company: Transdel Pharmaceuticals - Founded: 1998- Focus: Topical formulations of pharmaceutical products- Transdel, a pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical

company, filed for bankruptcy this June after a slow

decline. Some of its products, however, will be

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

12

developed by Cardium Therapeutics, which purchased

Tansdel‘s entire portfolio for $4 million. Cardium plans

to develop Ketotransdel, a non-steroidal anti-

inflammatory drug in a topical formulation, as well as

treatments for hyperpigmentation and cellulite. Source:

http://the-scientist.com/2011/12/20/the-companies-

that-failed/ 21st December

Drug Headlines of 2011: A list of 2011’s newsworthy

successes—and failures—in drug development -

Developing new medicines is tricky business, requiring

sound science, regulatory savvy, and marketing skills.

The past year has seen success and failure in all these

realms. Here, The Scientist recounts some of the

noteworthy drug developments of 2011.

Notable Drug Approvals:

First new lupus drug in 52 years: After more than 18

years of development, the US Food and Drug

Administration (FDA)approved the first drug to treat

lupus in more than a half-century. Benlysta (belimumab)

is a human monoclonal antibody, produced by Human

Genome Sciences and GlaxoSmithKline, that cuts B-cells

proliferation, a proposed mechanism underlying the

autoimmune disorder. The once-monthly injectable drug

has limited efficacy, reducing the symptoms of 43

percent of patients compared to 34 percent of those on

placebo in a Phase III trial, but nonetheless is a major

advance for the disease with few approved

treatments, reported The Wall Street Journal.

Hope for hepatitis: People with hepatitis C had cause

for celebration with the approval of two new drugs for

the liver-infecting virus. In May, the FDA

approved Incivek (telaprevir) from Vertex

Pharmaceuticals and Merck‘s Victrelis (boceprevir).

Both pills are protease inhibitors that interfere with

the virus‘s replication, and each ―achieve what is

effectively considered a cure‖ when combined with

existing treatment, wrote The New York Times. Furthermore, it‘s likely that there are more

medicines to come for the disease: Gilead

recently purchased the biotech Pharmasset and its

hepatitis C pipeline for a staggering $11 billion, while

Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb have

a drug cocktail up their sleeves, which will begin Phase

III trials in 2012

New cancer drugs: gene-ie in a bottle: The FDA

approved two mutation-specific cancer drugs in August

alongside diagnostic tests for those mutations.

Genentech‘s Zelboraf (vemurafenib) for late-stage

melanoma targets a specific mutation in the B-RAF oncogene that spurs cell growth, and is marketed

with a companion diagnostic for the mutation from

Roche. Nine days later, the FDA approved

Pfizer‘s Xalkori (crizotinib) for the 2-7 percent of

people who have non-small-cell lung cancer and a

mutation in the gene ALK, with a FISH probe for the

gene made by Abbott. These drugs represent ―a new

paradigm for drug development, where a small but well-

defined fraction of people get a very well-defined

drug,‖ oncologist Paul Bunnof the University of Colorado

Medical Center told the National Cancer Institute

Cancer Bulletin.

Recent Drug Withdrawals:

Avastin nixed for breast cancer: Genentech‘s Avastin

(bevacizumab) had its breast cancer

indication revoked in November, four months after an

FDA advisory committee unanimously voted it down. The

injectable chemotherapy drug was originally approved

for breast cancer in 2008 under the FDA‘s accelerated

approval program, but subsequent trial data suggested

that the drug does not prolong length or quality of life

for people with the disease. Genentech hasn‘t given up

yet, however: the company will begin a new Phase III

trial of Avastin to identify a biomarker for those

patients who do benefit from the therapy.

Movectro isn’t moving anywhere: In June,

Switzerland‘s Merck Serono (unaffiliated with the US-

based Merck & Company) voluntarilywithdrew Movectro

(cladribine), the first oral pill for multiple sclerosis, as

well as its regulatory applications to the FDA and the

European Medicines Agency (EMA) after the FDA

requested follow-up trials. The pill had already been

approved in Australia and Russia but is no longer

available.

Xigris doesn’t work—10 years late: After 10 years on

the market, Eli Lilly announced in October that it was

pulling its injection for the treatment of severe septic

shock from the market. The recombinant human protein

drotrecogin alfa, marketed as Xigris, did not increase

survival in a follow-up Phase III trial initiated in 2008,

and the company recommended that all patients on the

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

13

drug stop taking it immediately. ―While there were no

new safety findings, the study failed to demonstrate

that Xigris improved patient survival and thus calls into

question the benefit-risk profile of Xigris and its

continued use,‖ Lilly‘s Chief Medical Officer Timothy

Garnett said in a press release.

Other Big Drug News:

Promise for malaria vaccine: The RTS,S vaccine for

malaria, built upon basic research from the 1960s and

more than a decade of clinical development, cut the risk

of infection by more than 50 percent after one year in

babies aged 5-17 months. The results, released by

GlaxoSmithKline in October, are the first batch from

an international Phase III trial enrolling more than

15,000 children, with newborn (aged less than 12 weeks

at time of vaccination) results expected in 2012 and

full-trial data in 2014. The efficacy is modest compared

with the typical high efficacy of childhood vaccines, but

it‘s better than nothing, Joe Cohen, head of the malaria

vaccine project at GlaxoSmithKline, told ScienceNOW.

―This vaccine will not be a magic bullet against what is a

very, very difficult disease,‖ he said. ―It is one weapon

to be added to an arsenal of other interventions.‖

Tumbling from the patent cliff: The end of 2011 saw

the first of several blockbuster drugs lose their patent

protection, falling off the proverbial patent cliff.

Pfizer‘s cholesterol-lowering statin Lipitor

(atorvastatin) made the biggest splash, as the company

worked to delay the yearly loss of $5 billion, as

estimated by Daily Finance, by making deals with

generic manufacturers. Other notable medicines that

went off-patent in 2011 are Eli Lilly‘s antipsychotic

Zyprexa (olanzapine), which raked in more than $2

billion in 2010, and Johnson & Johnson‘s drug for

ADD/ADHD Concerta (methylphenidate), grossing

nearly $1 billion in 2010.

Geron offs stem cell research: The pioneering stem

cell treatment company Geron, which launched the

first-ever clinical trial for human embryonic stem cell

treatments in 2010, shut down its entire stem cell

research unit in November, effectively ending its trial

for spinal cord injury trial. Citing financial difficulty,

the announcement came as a shock to researchers,

raising doubts that the field of stem cell medicine has a

future. ―It‘s certainly going to have a very chilling

effect,‖ Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at

Advanced Cell Technology, the only other company

currently engaged in clinical trials involving

hESCs,told The Scientist. ―There‘s a lot of exciting

potential here in this field, and it would just be a real

shame for this not to move ahead full steam.‖ Source:

http://the-scientist.com/2011/12/20/drug-headlines-

of-2011/ 20th December

Top Science Scandals of 2011: A list of this year’s

most high-profile retractions and controversies in

science - cience is no stranger to controversy. This

year, some high profile scientists have been accused of

widespread misconduct, while other headline-grabbing

research has been retracted after technical errors or

sloppy techniques were pointed out by critics.The

scientific field may deal with aftershocks of the

misconduct or retraction for years. Here are five of

the biggest science scandals of the year, as well as

updates on some of the juiciest scandals of years past.

Five New Scandals in 2011:

More than 100 Retractions Expected: The work of

Diederik Stapel, who headed the Institute for

Behavioral Economics Research at Tilburg University in

the Netherlands, epitomizes the old saying that if it

seems too good to be true, it probably is. Stapel

routinely came out with counterintuitive findings that

seemed to capture human nature, peppering the

headlines of media outlets around the world. But at

least 30 of Stapel‘s papers were retracted after

evidence of massive data fabrication was uncovered,

and many scientists expect that number to continue to

grow. In total, more than 100 published papers could be

affected by the fraud. Among the most novel of his

findings to be retracted: that thoughts of meat make

people surly, and that a chaotic environment makes

people more likely to stereotype.

Mouse Virus and Chronic Fatigue: The link between a

mouse leukemia virus and chronic fatigue syndrome

made waves when it was first announced in 2009. But

after several labs failed to recreate the link, the paper,

which was cited 200 times, was retracted. The story

took a turn for the dramatic when Whittemore

Peterson Institute director Judy Mikovits, who led the

retracted 2009 study, refused to hand over key lab

notebooks. She allegedly had an underling take the

notebooks, then skipped town to California. She has

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

14

beenarrested on counts of felony theft, jailed

overnight, and is now awaiting trial.

Short-Lived Longevity Paper: Boston University

biostatistician Paolo Sebastiani retracted a splashy

paper identifying 19 genes associated with extreme

longevity in centenarians. Within days of publication,

critics wondered whether the strong correlation they

found was due to an error in the sequencing chip the

team used. After reworking their data to eliminate the

source of error, the researchers found that the

magnitude of the correlation was less impressive,

and Science ultimately retracted the paper, which was

cited 25 times in just a year. The researchers have

resubmitted the revised findings to another journal.

Arsenic-based Life: In late 2010, NASA researcher

Felisa Wolfe-Simon and colleagues reportedly

uncovered a species of bacteria in Mono Lake that not

only survived in unusually high levels of arsenic and low

levels of phosphorus, but also appeared to incorporate

arsenic into its DNA backbone. However, critics were

soon questioning the results, citing poor DNA

extraction techniques and a supposedly phosphate-free

growth medium which actually did contain

phosphate. Science published 8 technical comments

about the work in May, though the paper, which has

been cited 26 times, has yet to be retracted.

Climate Change-up: A controversial climate change

paper was retracted when it was found to contain

passages lifted from other sources, including Wikipedia.

The paper, published by climate change skeptic Edward

Wegman of George Mason University in Computational Statistics and Data Analysis in 2008, showed that

climatology is an inbred field where most researchers

collaborate with and review each other‘s work. But a

resourceful blogger uncovered evidence of plagiarism,

and the journal retracted the paper, which was cited 8

times, in May.

Five Updates of High Profile Cases from 2010:

University President Retracts Paper: Virologist Naoki

Mori of the University of the Ryukyus in Japan was

suspended from his job last year for image duplication

that led to the retraction of 20 papers. Now it

seems that one of the papersbeing retracted, a report

on the discovery of a downregulator of apoptosis

published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research

Communications, was co-authored by the president of

the university, Teruo Iwamasa. The president denies

knowing anything about the image duplication. The study

was cited 5 times.

The Not-So-Moral Mind: Harvard cognition

researcher Mark Hauser resigned in July, after his

colleagues voted to bar him from teaching this fall and

restrict his research duties. In his letter, he cites

private sector opportunities as well as an interest in

working with at-risk teenagers. The well-known

researcher, whose work includes Moral Minds,

retracted a 2002 Cognition paper last year showing that

cotton-top tamarins could generalize patterns.

Questions were also raised about two other papers, one

of which was corrected, while the findings for the

other were confirmed.

Immune System Fraud: Another paper from

immunologist Sylvia Bulfone-Paus has been retracted

for incorrect image information. Last year, the

Research Center Borstel director retracted 12 articles

and was forced to step down after an investigation

found widespread data and image manipulation. That

investigation pointed to two former post-docs in her

lab, Elena Bulanova and Vadim Budagian, as the culprits,

but the newly retracted paper, which was cited 5 times,

does not include Bulanova or Budaigian as co-authors

and predates Bulfone-Paus‘s tenure at the Research

Center Borstel.

Duke University Sued: The families of breast cancer

patients who died are suing Duke University for

fraudulently and negligently allowing a flawed cancer

trial to continue. The patients were enrolled in a trial

led by oncologist Anil Potti, who last year admitted to

pretending to be a Rhodes Scholar and to fabricating a

statistical analysis of chemotherapy response in breast

cancer. The plaintiffs claim that Duke knew of problems

with Potti and his colleague cancer geneticist Joseph

Nevins‘ work, but allowed the trial to continue.

Science Saboteur: In May, the Office of Research

Integrity announced its finding that postdoc Vipul

Bhrigu is guilty of misconduct. Grad student Heather

Ames thought she was going crazy when her

experimental results kept messing up. But after

conducting experiments in her boyfriends‘ lab and

getting solid results, she suspected foul play. Sure

enough, her colleague Brighu was caught on tape

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

15

sabotaging her samples. In July 2010 he pled guilty to

malicious destruction of property and received six

months of probation and a $10,000 fine. Source:

http://the-scientist.com/2011/12/19/top-science-

scandals-of-2011/ 19th December

Matters of Taste-Compounds we perceive as sweet

or bitter in the mouth trigger similar receptors and

signaling pathways elsewhere in the body, helping to

regulate digestion, respiration, and other systems: In

the choice of what to ingest, the sense of taste is both

a guardian and a guide. The sensations of bitter and

sour keep us from eating potentially toxic substances

and strong acids, while the preferred qualities of

sweet, umami (the ―savory‖ taste of glutamate), and

salty drive intake of carbohydrates, amino acids, and

sodium, respectively. Taste sensations are mediated by

taste buds—small clusters of specialized epithelial cells

on the tongue, soft palate, and larynx. Over the last two

decades, as scientists have uncovered the array of G

protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) cascades and ion

channels that underlie taste signaling, they have also

discovered, to their surprise, that the expression of

these receptors and channels is not limited to taste

buds. Indeed, elements of the taste transduction

cascade occur in many chemoresponsive epithelial cells

scattered throughout the stomach, the intestines, and

even the airways. Despite the similarities in receptor

molecules and signaling cascades, however, only the

chemoreceptive systems in the mouth evoke a sensation

of taste. The others, researchers are learning, serve

different functions depending on their location.

The taste transduction story: The sensations of taste

are divisible into five distinct qualities: salty, sour,

bitter, sweet, and umami. Salty and sour sensory

perceptions rely on ion channels, which are expressed in

a variety of tissues, such as kidney, as well as in taste

buds. Bitter, sweet, and umami qualities rely

predominantly on two distinct families of GPCRs, Tas1R

and Tas2R (T1R and T2R), first identified in taste

tissues in 1999, but subsequently identified in other

tissues, including gut and airway epithelia. Despite the

difference in the qualities detected by the two families

of taste receptors, both utilize similar, if not identical,

downstream signaling effectors, including the taste

receptor-associated G protein α-gustducin, one of the

first identified proteins of a GPCR taste transduction

cascade.

In 1996, researchers at the University of Würzburg

reported that α-gustducin is expressed by brush cells

of the stomach and intestine.1 Brush cells are tall,

columnar epithelial cells that display a distinctive tuft

of stiff microvilli at their apex. Based on morphological

features, researchers had suspected that these cells

were chemosensory, but the findings of gustducin, taste

receptors,2 and the ion channel TrpM5, another taste

transduction element,3confirmed this early speculation,

and suggested that brush cells detect nutrients in the

gut. In the last 15 years, researchers have uncovered

more and more taste cascade elements throughout the

digestive tract, and even in the airways, suggesting a

widespread distribution of complete taste transduction

cascades—from taste receptor to transduction channel.

These seemingly misplaced taste-like pathways do not,

however, give rise to sensations of taste, though they

appear to detect compounds known to elicit a taste

response in the mouth. Instead, these compounds

initiate the taste transduction cascade with the end

result of inducing particular physiological changes. For

example, the pancreatic release of insulin in response to

glucose is partially mediated by the binding of glucose

to sweet-taste receptors on cells of the intestine and

subsequent activation of the signaling

cascade.4 Similarly, accidental inhalation of a beverage

into the airways triggers taste receptors there, but

rather than evoking a sensation of taste, the substance

is irritating and provokes choking or coughing. (Although

we use the phrases ―taste transduction‖ and ―taste

receptors‖ below, we do not mean to imply that these

equate to a perception of taste.)

Indeed, for every taste transduction cascade

discovered outside the oral cavity, researchers seek to

uncover the functional significance of the

chemoresponsive cells in those areas. Taken together,

the findings suggest that the taste transduction

cascade is not restricted to the sensation of taste per

se, or even to systems regulating food intake. In fact,

the receptors mediating taste transduction appear to

have evolved early in the vertebrate lineage, and to

have since been widely adopted as a chemodetection

system in a variety of organ systems.

“Taste” in the gut: In taste buds, receptors of the

T1R family combine to form either a sweet receptor

(T1R2 + T1R3) or an umami receptor (T1R1 + T1R3), and

signal the presence of macronutrients necessary for

survival: a carbohydrate energy source or amino acids,

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

16

respectively. In the gut, the presence of sweet

substances is detected by hormone-producing cells

known as enteroendocrine cells that respond by

secreting the glucagon-like peptide GLP-1, which in turn

stimulates the release of insulin from pancreatic β-

cells. The presence of circulating insulin results in the

uptake of glucose from the bloodstream by diverse

tissues. In addition, activation of the sweet receptors

in the gut drives the insertion of the glucose

transporters SGLT-1 and GLUT2 into the membranes of

cells lining the intestines, thereby facilitating uptake of

glucose.5,6

While the presence of T1R-class receptors for

macronutrients in the gut is an obvious means to

regulate digestive functions, the function of widespread

T2R bitter receptors throughout the GI tract is less

clear. Researchers have shown in vitro that activation

of T2R receptors in an enteroendocrine cell line results

in release of the peptide hormone cholecystokinin

(CCK), which can reduce gut motility. Thus, intake of a

potential toxin that activates the T2R pathway should

decrease the rate at which food passes through the

stomach and lower the drive for continued

eating.7Nonetheless, a recent study suggests that the

lowered gut motility following intake of bitter

substances is not dependent on T2R signaling, nor on

CCK, leading researchers to reconsider the function of

the receptors in this context.8

One possibility is that the CCK-secreting

enteroendocrine cells are involved in a local epithelial

signaling system that reduces transfer of toxic

substances from gut into circulation. The CCK released

from T2R-expressing enteroendocrine cells in response

to stimulation by some bitter-tasting ligands may act on

CCK2 receptors located on nearby intestinal epithelial

cells, called enterocytes, which regulate the absorption

of molecules from the intestinal lumen into the

bloodstream.9 In vitro studies show that activating

CCK2 receptors on these cells increases expression of

the transporter ABCB1, which pumps out toxins or

unwanted substances from the cytoplasm, allowing the

toxins to be excreted rather than absorbed into the

blood. Thus, activation of T2R signaling in the intestines

indirectly results in increased elimination of absorbed

toxins from gut epithelium before the toxins can enter

circulation.

Lower in the gut, activation of T2R receptors similarly

appears to combat toxins, though via a different

mechanism. When some bitter-tasting ligands bind to

epithelial cells in the colon, they induce the secretion of

anions, which leads to fluid secretion into the

intestine.10 This induced efflux of fluids is likely to

flush out any noxious irritant from the colon, resulting

in diarrhea.

“Taste” in the airways: Three years after taste-

related signaling components were discovered in the

gut, Zancanaro and colleagues at the University of

Verona described the presence of gustducin-expressing

cells in the airway. Specifically, the researchers

examined mice and identified gustducin-expressing cells

scattered in the epithelium lining the incoming ducts of

the vomeronasal organ, a specialized part of the

olfactory system found in many vertebrates, but not in

adult humans. Such cells were also identified in the

nasal respiratory epithelium. The morphology of these

cells is similar to chemosensory cells scattered within

the epidermis of fishes, first described by Mary

Whitear in the 1970s. In a series of elegant

ultrastructural studies, she identified a distinctive type

of epithelial cell that extends through the height of

the epithelium with microvillous extensions at its apical

end. Since these cells also form extensive synapses at

their base with local nerve fibers, Whitear suggested

they must be a sensory cell type. Furthermore, since

the apical specializations were not rigid, she deduced

that the cells could not be mechanosensory, and

therefore were likely chemosensory elements. Later,

two physiological studies on fish with specialized

appendages rich in solitary chemosensory cells

confirmed the chemoresponsiveness of this system,

although the identity of the natural stimulus remains

controversial.

Subsequently, we and others showed that

morphologically and molecularly similar solitary

chemosensory cells (SCCs) are present throughout the

upper respiratory systems of alligators, mice, and rats;

and in the rodents, the cells express the entire panoply

of taste-related signaling molecules, including T2R

receptors, gustducin, PLCb2, and the transduction

channel TrpM5.3,11 In 2003, we confirmed that the

taste signaling cascade is necessary for activation of

the SCCs of the nasal cavity.11 These SCCs synapse onto

polymodal pain fibers of the trigeminal nerve, which

produce a sensation of irritation and pain when

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

17

activated. In addition, activation of these fibers evokes

protective airway reflexes such as apnea (to prevent

further inhalation) and sneezing (to remove the

irritant). Thus, inhalation of a toxin that activates T2R

receptors will be irritating and will provoke changes in

respiration,12 but will not, of course, produce the

sensation of a bitter taste.

More recently, we showed that even some bacterial

metabolites and signal molecules can activate the nasal

SCCs and the trigeminal nerve.12 Upon activation, the

trigeminal nerve fibers not only transmit the

information towards the brain, but also release peptide

modulators (such as substance P and calcitonin gene-

related peptide) into the local tissue, including around

nearby blood vessels. These modulators bind to

receptors on mast cells and blood vessels, causing a

local, neurally mediated inflammation of the airway

lining. In this way, SCCs not only act as sentinels

warning against inhalation of irritants, but also serve as

guardians capable of activating the innate immune

system to respond to the presence of potentially

damaging toxins or pathogens.

In all of the examples described so far, the taste

signaling cascade is used to detect molecules in the

lumen of an organ (oral cavity, gut, respiratory

passages), and to generate an intracellular cascade to

effect release of a neurotransmitter or hormone to

signal to other cells in the body. Two recent reports on

the expression of taste receptors in the airways

indicate that taste-receptor signaling may directly

affect the function of the cell that actually detects

the stimulus (i.e., a cell-autonomous effect). Last year,

Deshpande and colleagues reported that human airway

smooth muscle cells express T2R (bitter) taste

receptors along with α-gustducin and some components

of the taste-associated phospholipase C (PLC) arm of

the signaling cascade.13 Application of various bitter-

tasting substances to cultured human airway smooth

muscle cells shows the same PLC-dependent increases in

intracellular Ca2+ typical of taste cells or solitary

chemosensory cells. Surprisingly, however, these

increases in intracellular Ca2+ caused relaxation, rather

than contraction, of the muscle cells. This paradoxical

effect is attributed to the proximity of the T2R

receptor complex to calcium-activated potassium

channels (BKCa channels), which open in response to

increased intracellular Ca2+, causing the

hyperpolarization and subsequent relaxation of the

muscle cells. In contrast, in taste cells of the mouth

and solitary chemosensory cells of the upper airways,

the increase in intracellular Ca2+ as a result of T2R

activation triggers the transduction channel TrpM5 to

depolarize the cell and evoke transmitter release to

stimulate other cells. Thus, in different signaling

contexts, activation of the same receptor can produce

opposite cellular-level effects. However, two recent

letters to the editor call Deshpande‘s results into

question, so the resolution of this remains

controversial.

T2R activation has also been reported to have a cell-

autonomous effect in ciliated cells of human lower

airways.14 Cultured human airway epithelium expresses

some T2Rs along with associated downstream elements.

Curiously, these are the first cells with motile cilia

known to express sensory signaling elements. In these

cells, the T2Rs are present on the cilia, while PLCb2 is

associated with the cell membrane where the cilia

insert into the cell body. Binding of the T2R receptor

by a bitter ligand initiates a transduction cascade to

activate PLCb2 at the base of the cilium, generating a

Ca2+response. The resulting T2R-mediated increase in

intracellular Ca2+ causes an increase in ciliary beat

frequency, which the researchers suggest could serve

to sweep irritants away from the surface of the cell.

But while T2Rs can be detected in cultured human

airway cells, they are not detected in the lower airways

of mice.12 Whether this represents a species

difference or the difference between in vivo and in

vitro states remains to be determined.

Remaining taste mysteries: It is evident that taste

receptors and their associated downstream signaling

components are widely dispersed in diverse organ

systems, and in many cases serve to help with digestion

or to protect cells from potential toxins. But taste

receptors have also been identified in other organs and

tissues, such as the bile ducts, where their functions

are still unclear. The composition of the fluid in the bile

ducts is dictated by secretions of the pancreas, liver,

and gall bladder. Why should it be necessary to

diligently monitor the composition of biliary fluids as

they move from gall bladder to intestine?

Similarly enigmatic are the reported effects of T2R

(bitter receptor) agonists on contractile elements of

both the airway and the gut. In the trachea, T2R

agonists cause muscle relaxation (see above), but it is

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

18

not clear how a bitter substance would have access to

the smooth muscle cells of the trachea under normal

conditions. The smooth muscle of the trachea is buried

beneath a relatively tight airway epithelium, and so it

seems unlikely that an inhaled bitter substance would

penetrate the epithelium to access T2R receptors on

the muscle. Similarly, the inhibition of smooth muscle

contractility by T2R agonists in the stomach is not

mediated by any of the peptides released by dispersed

endocrine (enteroendocrine) cells of the gut, and may

not even be mediated by T2R receptors. These and

other nonspecific effects of bitter ligands emphasize

the need to utilize either well-defined pharmacological

agents or, better still, knockout animals to establish the

specificity of receptors and transduction pathways and

the consequences of their activation. Though they may

not be for tasting per se, the taste-family receptors

are surely doing something to affect the physiology of

the organs in which they reside. Thomas E. Finger is a professor of Cellular & Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado Medical School and codirector of the Rocky Mountain Taste & Smell Center. Sue C. Kinnamon is a professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Colorado Medical School and a core director of the Rocky Mountain Taste & Smell Center. References

D. Höfer et al., ―Taste receptor-like cells in the rat gut identified by

expression of alpha-gustducin,‖ PNAS, 93:6631-34, 1996. ↩

S.V. Wu et al., ―Expression of bitter taste receptors of the T2R

family in the gastrointestinal tract and enteroendocrine STC-1

cells,‖ PNAS, 99:2392-97, 2002. ↩

S. Kaske et al., ―TRPM5, a taste-signaling transient receptor potential

ion-channel, is a ubiquitous signaling component in chemosensory

cells,‖ BMC Neurosci, 8:49, 2007. ↩

H.J. Jang et al., ―Gut-expressed gustducin and taste receptors

regulate secretion of glucagon-like peptide-1,‖ PNAS, 104:15069-74,

2007. ↩

O.J. Mace et al., ―Sweet taste receptors in rat small intestine

stimulate glucose absorption through apical GLUT2,‖ J Physiol, 582:379-92, 2007. ↩

R.F. Margolskee et al., ―T1R3 and gustducin in gut sense sugars to

regulate expression of Na+-glucose cotransporter 1,‖ PNAS,

104:15075-80, 2007. ↩

J.I. Glendinning et al., ―Intragastric infusion of denatonium conditions

flavor aversions and delays gastric emptying in rodents,‖ Physiol Behav, 93:757-65, 2008. ↩

S. Janssen et al., ―Bitter taste receptors and α-gustducin regulate the

secretion of ghrelin with functional effects on food intake and gastric

emptying,‖ PNAS, 108:2094-99, 2011. ↩

T.I. Jeon et al., ―Gut bitter taste receptor signaling induces ABCB1

through a mechanism involving CCK,‖ Biochem J, 438:33-37, 2011. ↩

I. Kaji et al. ―Secretory effects of a luminal bitter tastant and

expressions of bitter taste receptors, T2Rs, in the human and rat

large intestine,‖ Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, 296:G971-

81, 2009. ↩

T. E. Finger et al., ―Solitary chemoreceptor cells in the nasal cavity

serve as sentinels of respiration,‖ PNAS, 100:8981-86, 2003. ↩

M. Tizzano et al., ―Nasal chemosensory cells use bitter taste signaling

to detect irritants and bacterial signals,‖ PNAS, 107:3210-15, 2010. ↩

D.A. Deshpande et al., ―Bitter taste receptors on airway smooth

muscle bronchodilate by localized calcium signaling and reverse

obstruction,‖ Nat Med, 16:1299-304, 2010. ↩

A. S. Shah et al., ―Motile cilia of human airway epithelia are

chemosensory,‖ Science, 325:1131-34, 2009. ↩

By Thomas E. Finger and Sue C. Kinnamon | December 1, 2011

Source: http://the-scientist.com/2011/12/01/matters-of-taste/

How Probiotic Yogurt Works: Researchers show that

the bacterial species in probiotic, fermented dairy

products may alter gene expression and metabolism

in native gut microbiota - The bacteria found in some

fermented dairy products, such as yogurt, may alter

gene expression in human gut microbes, and resultant

tweaks to metabolic processes could be behind

gastrointestinal benefits often observed in people

consuming such probiotic products, according to

a study published today (26 October) in Science Translational Medicine. The work was funded by several

grants from the National Institutes of Health and by

Danone Research, the scientific research arm of Groupe

Danone, a Paris-based multinational food products

corporation that specializes in dairy products. Since the

1990s, clinical trials have shown that probiotic bacteria

can aid digestion in humans, but the molecular

mechanisms involved in conferring those health benefits

have proved difficult to pin down. ―Nobody really

understands how probiotics affect human health.

Jeffrey Gordon, a microbiologist at Washington

University in St. Louis, and his team gave a

commercially-available probiotic yogurt containing five

strains of bacteria to healthy adult volunteers and

administered the same five strains to mice that

harbored a subset of genetically-characterized human

gut microbes. The yogurt bacteria did not significantly

alter population structure in any of the entrenched gut

microbes, in humans or mice—a result that is not

surprising, according to Mills. ―To assume that you could

eat a yogurt and numerically challenge what‘s in your gut

is kind of like dumping a gallon of Kool-Aid in your

swimming pool and expecting it to change color,‖ he said.

But RNA sequencing of the human gut microbes in the

mice revealed that the probiotic bacteria changed the

expression of gut microbe genes encoding key metabolic

enzymes, such as those involved in the catabolism of

sugars called xylooligosaccharides, which are found in

many fruits and vegetables. Mass spectrometry of

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

19

metabolites in urine, which result from the ramped up

metabolic processes in the probiotic-fed mice,

confirmed the alterations, and when the researchers

ran similar analyses on gut microbes from the human

yogurt eaters, they found upregulation of the same

genes.

The fact that Gordon‘s team could detect a signal of

altered gene expression in the mice, which harbored

only 15 species of human gut microbe, and that same

signal was also apparent in the vastly more complex

human gastrointestinal milieu is the start of something

big, according to Gregor Reid, a nutritional researcher

at the Lawson Health Research Institute in Canada who

wasn‘t involved with the study. ―Even with a very

simplified model, they could replicate the effects they

found in humans,‖ said Reid, who wrote an

accompanying opinion piece that was published in the

same issue of Science Translational Medicine.

Gordon noted that the mouse model he used in the

current study points a way forward to further probe

the interactions between entrenched gut microbial

communities and probiotic products, which could allow

researchers to develop new hypotheses, identify novel

biomarkers, and apply findings in preclinical models and

eventually clinical uses for such products. Continued

research may also help to elucidate the precise

interactions between probiotic bacteria or other

dietary inputs and resident gut microbes that lead to

alterations in gene expression and metabolism. Source:

http://the-scientist.com/2011/10/26/how-probiotic-

yogurt-works/ 26th October)

Fukushima Radiation Worse Than Feared: A new

analysis suggests that more radioactive contaminants

were released from the crippled nuclear power plant

than accounted for in official Japanese estimates -

Japanese officials underestimated the amount of

radiation released from the Fukushima Daiichi power

plant after March‘s devastating earthquake and

tsunami, according to a recently-published report

analyzing data from a global array of sensors and

detectors. In June, the Japanese government released

a report stating that 1.5 × 1016 bequerels (Bq) of

caesium-137—a harmful radioisotope that was released

in large amounts from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986—

and 1.1 × 1019 Bq of xenon-133, which does not pose a

serious health risk as it‘s not absorbed by the body or

the environment, had spewed from the crippled power

plant. But the new report, submitted and available for

open peer review in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics,

revises those totals to almost twice the official

estimate, calculating a release of 3.5 × 1016 Bq caesium-

137 and 1.7 × 1019 Bq of xenon-133.

Nuclear power plant Dukovany, Czech Republic

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, PETR ADAMEK

The new findings are based on reading from dozens of

sensors positioned within Japan and around the globe.

Andreas Stohl, an atmospheric scientist with the

Norwegian Institute for Air Research in Kjeller and

first author on the paper, told Nature that the larger

data set his team used to generate their estimates is

likely the reason that they‘re higher than the official

Japanese numbers. For example, the Japanese

government‘s calculations did not take into account

clouds of radioactive particles that blew out over the

Pacific Ocean in the aftermath of the accident. Source:

http://the-scientist.com/2011/10/26/fukushima-

radiation-worse-then-feared/ (26th October)

Rhino Goes Extinct in Vietnam: The last rhinoceros

left in Vietnam was found killed, its horn sawed off,

most likely by poachers - Although conservationists

haven‘t recorded a sighting of a Javan Rhino in Vietnam

since 2008, the droppings collected between 2009-2010

confirmed that there was only one animal left. In April

2010, researchers found the rhino‘s body. It was

already beginning to decompose, and its horn had been

sawed off, suggesting it was most likely killed by

poachers. The International Union for Conservation of

Nature reported that rhino populations were under

increasing pressure from poachers this year, due to

demands from Asian markets,according to BBC News.

Only 50 of these rhinos or fewer are thought to remain

in the wild.

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

20

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, THOMAS HORSFIELD,

RHINO RESOURCE CENTER

Source: http://the-scientist.com/2011/10/26/rhino-

goes-extinct-in-vietnam/ (26th October)

Researchers Question Malaria Vax: Scientists are

questioning the results of a malaria vaccine trial that

were released last week – The effectiveness of a

malaria vaccine that was widely heralded as potentially

saving millions of lives is now being questioned by

several researchers, including some of The Scientist‗s

own readers.

Among the concerns is that preliminary results for the

vaccine, called RTS,S/AS01, were released even though

the full results on long-term protection will not be

available until 2014. In addition, the results were

released only for children 5 to 17 years old, despite the

fact that very young infants (between 6 and 12 weeks

old) are the target group that would eventually be given

the vaccine. When the limited data available for the

youngest children is included, the protection rate drops

from more than 55 percent to just 34 percent, raising

questions about the effectiveness of the vaccine in the

youngest group. The vaccine‘s effectiveness suffers a

similar drop when the protection level is recalculated 12

months after getting the vaccine, as opposed to

including vaccinations that were more recent. According

to a World Health Organization consortium on malaria

vaccine efficacy, an effective malaria vaccine must

reach a threshold target of 50 percent long-term

protection. Source: http://the-

scientist.com/2011/10/27/researchers-question-

malaria-vax/ (26th October)

Malaria Vax Yields Promising Results: Data from the

Phase III trial of a malaria vaccine breeds hope for

immunization as a possible weapon against the dreaded

disease - An experimental vaccine reduced the risk of

developing malaria by about 50 percent in 6,000 sub-

Saharan African children when combined with existing

interventions, such as the use of insecticide-treated

bed nets, according to a new study published online

today by the New England Journal of Medicine Officials

and researchers collaborating on the project announced

preliminary results from the Phase III clinical trial of

the RTS,S malaria vaccine today (18 October) at a

malaria meeting in Seattle.

Doctors at 11 sites spread across seven African

nations administered three successive doses of the

RTS,S vaccine to 6,000 children, aged 5-17 months.

Monitoring the patients for up to 12 months the

researchers found that the children were 56 percent

less likely to experience clinical symptoms of malaria,

and 47 percent less likely to develop severe symptoms

of the disease.

The RTS,S vaccine, created in the late 1980s by

researchers in pharmaceutical giant GSK‘s Biologicals

division, uses a protein from an existing hepatitis B

vaccine to fuse a surface protein, called

circumsporozoite, from the malaria parasite that helps

it invade human liver cells, where it matures,

reproduces, and launches its attack on the body‘s red

blood cells. GSK‘s proprietary adjuvant mixture

strengthens the immune response provoked by the

vaccine. Partners in the trial, which began in 2009,

include the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, the Bill

and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Walter Reed Army

Institute of Research, and several African research

centers. The results announced today

support data from the Phase II efficacy trial published

earlier this year in Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The RTS,S vaccine trial continues in Africa, with

results in the crucial 6-12-week-old infant age group

expected by the end of 2012, and long-term efficacy

data for all of the study‘s 15,460 participants expected

by the end of 2014. According to GSK CEO Andrew

Witty, the vaccine could garner approval by appropriate

regulatory authorities and a recommendation from the

World Health Organization by 2015.

Witty added that GSK would strive to make the vaccine

as affordable as possible, contributing an estimated

$50-100 on top of the $300 million already spent on

the project to make the RTS,S vaccine, which does

require refrigeration in transit, available to African

children on a wide scale. Source: http://the-

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

21

scientist.com/2011/10/18/malaria-vax-yields-promising-

results/ (18th October)

Conserving Our Shared Heritage: Reversing

catastrophic threats to our planet‘s biodiversity is not

optional: our lives depend on it - Every living thing—

plants, animals, microorganisms—shares an

extraordinary history that stretches back 4 billion

years to the origins of life on Earth. Although countless

species have come and gone in that grand interval, today

we share the planet with tens of millions of species,

simultaneously shaping the Earth‘s very form and

function. Akin to the miracle of loaves and fishes, living

things have turned, and continue to turn, stone into soil.

The presence of life on Earth is so robust that it has

markedly affected the composition of our atmosphere

and continues to do so. Indeed, the atmospheric carbon

dioxide concentration rises and falls in an annual rhythm

tied to the seasons by biological activity—almost as if

the planet itself was a living organism.

Because each species represents a set of biological

solutions to problems particular to its own survival, the

diversity of Earth‘s organisms is, in essence, an

incredibly valuable reference library with a countless

number of volumes, most of them yet to be cataloged.

Societies, excepting the most despotic, place enormous

value on libraries and never justify them in terms of

their economic benefit.

The benefits of maintaining biodiversity: There are

many reasons to value biological diversity as we do any

great library. The life sciences are transformed

regularly by the discovery of previously unknown

biological properties in organisms that had been

considered esoteric or lacking in utility. A case in point

is the antitumor drug Taxol (paclitaxel), which was first

isolated from the Pacific yew, then considered a trash

tree in forests of the Northwest. Oil-eating bacteria,

which are natural denizens of the oceans, went to work

after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and offer the

potential to improve industrial and environmental clean-

up. And perhaps the greatest example to date is the

heat-resistant enzyme derived from an extremophilic

bacterium living in a Yellowstone hot spring, without

which there would be no polymerase chain reaction

(PCR). As a consequence of the enzyme‘s use in PCR, for

much of diagnostic medicine it is no longer necessary to

culture the offending microbe to identify the disease

agent. The technique has revolutionized forensic

medicine, much to O.J. Simpson‘s chagrin. It has

enabled all kinds of new scientific work, including

genomics and the entire Human Genome Project. The

benefit to society must already be on the order of at

least a trillion dollars.

The urgent and pressing problem is how to ensure that

the riches of biodiversity are properly cared for. One

way would be to incorporate more of the value of

ecosystems and living things into the basis and process

of policy decision-making. In a fascinating case 15 years

ago, the Environmental Protection Agency was about to

require New York City to build an eight-billion-dollar

water filtration plant because of deterioration in the

watershed. Instead, a proper analysis of the value of a

functioning watershed led to watershed restoration at

a tenth the cost. So the delectable water today

quaffed by Manhattanites (with which I slaked my

thirst as a youth) is once again the direct product of

the watershed ecosystem and its constituent biological

diversity.

The third Global Biodiversity Outlook, produced for the

2010 International Year of Biodiversity, tells us this

value is severely threatened. Extinction rates on land

and in the seas are soaring—at perhaps 1,000 times

normal levels. There is ever more forest clearing and

grassland degradation. Most of the major predatory

fish of the oceans and most major traditional fisheries

are decimated, and atmospheric CO2 is causing the

oceans to become more acidic.

Climate change is making itself felt forcefully.

Ecosystem failure is occurring worldwide: as warming

sea temperatures cause coral reefs to bleach, their

diversity, productivity, and value to coastal communities

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

22

is crashing. Coniferous forests of western North

America are experiencing widespread tree mortality

caused by native bark beetles, which thrive in summers

that are now longer and winters that are warmer. The

Amazon forest is fast approaching a tipping point where

deforestation combined with other factors could lead

to dieback in the south and southeast. Not only must

deforestation be stopped, but substantial reforestation

must follow.

Roughly half of the excess atmospheric CO2 that is

driving climate change comes from the destruction and

degradation of ecosystems over the past three

centuries, which means biology and its diversity could

actually be utilized to help reduce the atmospheric CO2

burden. Because life in all its diversity is built of

carbon, ecosystem restoration (reforestation, grassland

recovery, agro-ecosystems that accumulate rather than

lose soil carbon) could remove a significant amount of

carbon from the atmosphere. That doesn‘t solve the

entire carbon dioxide problem, but it would lower the

climate-change threat to the living planet while

simultaneously fortifying ecosystems and ensuring the

future of the diverse life of the planet.

In the end, the choice is whether to embrace nature

and its miraculous diversity or to suffer the

consequences. Those consequences are vividly laid out

on the island of Hispaniola, where Columbus stopped

during his first voyage: the Dominican Republic is

verdant and relatively prosperous; Haiti has been

stripped of most of its ecosystems and biodiversity and

is what a Trinidadian colleague terms ―the unthinkable

experiment no scientist would be allowed to conduct.‖

Surely the choice is obvious.

Notable Papers

N. Myers et al., ―Biodiversity hotspots for conservation

priorities,‖ Nature, 403:853-58, 2000.

P.M. Vitousek et al., ―Human domination of Earth‘s

ecosystems,‖ Science, 277:494-99, 1997.

O.E. Sala et al., ―Global biodiversity scenarios for the year

2100,‖ Science, 287-1770-74, 2000.

J.B.C. Jackson et al., ―Historical overfishing and the recent collapse

of coastal ecosystems,‖Science, 293: 629-38, 2001.

C.D. Thomas et al., ―Extinction risk from climate change,‖ Nature,

427: 145-48, 2004.

Source: http://the-scientist.com/2011/10/01/

conserving-our-shared-heritage/ (1st October)

FOOD SECURITY AND GM CROPS U.S. Approves Monsanto Drought-Tolerant GM Corn:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on

Thursday deregulated Monsanto‘s genetically modified

(GM) drought tolerant corn, known as MON 87460. The

USDA approved the GM variety after reviewing

environmental and risk assessments, public comments,

and research data from Monsanto. In a statement,

Monsanto said it plans farm trials in the western U.S.

Plains in 2012 to demonstrate the variety for farmers

and to generate data that will help guide Monsanto's

commercial decisions. "Our drought system is designed

to help farmers mitigate the risk of yield loss when

experiencing drought stress, primarily in areas of

annual drought stress," said Hobart Beeghly, U.S.

product management leader. The major U.S. area for

adoption of drought-tolerant corn would be the Great

Plains, which produce one-quarter of U.S. corn,

Monsanto estimated, as well as similar dryland regions

of Africa, Europe, and Latin America. The GM corn

variety is the product of a research collaboration

between Monsanto and the company BASF. In its 2009

petition for approval of the GM corn, Monsanto said

that 40 percent of crop losses in North America are

due to sub-optimal moisture. Source: Food Security and

AgriBiotech News, 27th December

Brinjal Debacle Still Raw, Bt Rice on Course:

Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco), which is

affiliated with the multinational biotechnology company

Monsanto, plans to apply in six months to be allowed to

sell genetically modified (GM) varieties of rice and okra

to Indian farmers. Mahyco managing director Raju

Barwale says: ―We are very close to regulatory approval.

As a first step in this direction, we are looking to

submit the results of the tests and field trials with

RCGM (India‘s Review Committee on Genetic

Manipulation) in six months. As a matter of practice,

RCGM would assess whether we have followed all the

government norms or not. And then, they would forward

our request to the GEAC (the Indian Genetic

Engineering Approval Committee) for final approval. We

expect this to be completed in a year from now.‖

Barwale says that Mahyco began research on the GM

rice and okra six years ago. The company says that the

varieties are designed to resist insects (both

chewing/biting and sucking), to be herbicide tolerant, to

provide better management of nutrients like nitrogen

and phosphorus, and to be drought/flood tolerant.

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

23

According to Barwale, field trials indicate that the GM

rice and GM okra will increase Indian yields by 20 and

30 percent, respectively. Barwale states that in a worst

case scenario, the Indian government might ask Mahyco

for one more season of field trials. But, "Since we have

followed all the norms, we are sure to get approval for

both Bt rice and Bt okra,‖ he says. Barwale adds that

―Rice and okra are staple foods and the world needs

high-yielding seeds to feed a growing population,

especially when resources like land and water are

getting squeezed." The article by Indian rice traders

and exporters oppose approval of the GM crops. Bt

cotton has been grown in India since 2002. Bt brinjal

was approved for planting by GEAC in 2009, but the

environment minister prevented its final authorization.

Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech News, 12th

December

Economic Impact after 15 Years of GM Crops in

Argentina: A new report on the ―Economic Impact after

15 years of GM Crops in Argentina‖ calculates that the

additional gross economic benefits generated by

adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops in

Argentina between 1996 and 2010 amounts to

US$72.36 billion. The report was prepared for the

Argentine Council for Information and Development of

Biotechnology (ArgenBio) by Eduardo Trigo, a senior

researcher with the Forges Foundation and CEO Group,

both institutions involved in research and counseling for

the agricultural sector. The gross benefits from

Argentina‘s adoption of GM soybeans, corn, and cotton

were estimated using SIGMA, a mathematical model

developed by INTA (Argentina‘s National Institute for

Agricultural Technology) that uses data from the

Technological Profile of Argentina‘s Agricultural Sector

(INTA), with additional information provided by

Argentina‘s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and

Fisheries, ArgenBio, INDEC (the National Institute of

Statistics and Census), and the UN FAO. The report

calculates that Argentina‘s adoption of GM crops has

drastically reduced consumer prices worldwide --by 14

percent in the case of soybeans. The use of GM crops is

also estimated to have created 1.82 million jobs in

Argentina. Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech

News, 8th December

French Court Annuls Ban on Monsanto GM Crops:

France's top administrative court, the State Council,

has overturned a government order banning French

farmers from planting genetically modified (GM) MON

810 maize. MON 810 is approved at the EU level for

EU-wide commercial cultivation. But France's

agriculture ministry imposed a ban in February 2008

amid concerns over public safety. The State Council, in

its ruling, said the government failed to prove that the

GM corn plants "present a particularly elevated level of

risk to either human health or the environment." In

September, the European Court of Justice, the EU‘s top

court, ordered France to review its ban. Since then, the

State Council ruled, the French government has failed

to present new evidence of the supposed dangers posed

by the plants. France‘s Agriculture Minister Bruno Le

Maire, in a first reaction, said the government will

"examine all options in order not to grow Monsanto 810

maize." There were "still too many uncertainties about

the consequences for the environment," Le Maire said.

Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech News, 1st

December

Preventing Hunger: Sustainability Not Aid: Food aid

has saved millions of lives, but it cannot, by itself, solve

hunger, says this opinion piece by Josette Sheeran,

head of the UN World Food Program (WFP). This is

why, over the past few years, the WFP has been

undergoing one of the most profound transformations in

its history, the opinion piece says. Sheeran‘s opinion

piece is one of three on the subject of solving hunger

that appears in the November 24 edition of the journal

Nature. The opinion piece says that the WFP is now

focusing on projects that help communities weather

food crises. In Cameroon, for example, where about 2.8

million people are food insecure and the lean season in

the north of the country lasts an average of three to

four months, every year can be a crisis for the most

vulnerable people. To help break the boom-and-bust

cycles of hunger, the WFP provides a one-time donation

of 10 tons of cereal for each community granary and

helps to train farmers in food-storage management and

financial accounting. Community members can withdraw

stocks from the granary during the lean season, and

later replenish from their own crops during harvest,

paying little interest. As this and other examples show,

the opinion piece says that ending hunger does not

require a major scientific breakthrough. What is

needed is political will and the commitment of national

leaders. Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech News,

29th November

Preventing Hunger: Biotechnology Is Key: If African

countries cannot plant genetically modified (GM) crops

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

24

to produce more and healthier food, vulnerable

populations will be at risk, argues this opinion piece by

Calestous Juma, director of the Agricultural Innovation

in Africa Project at Harvard University‘s Kennedy

School. The opinion piece acknowledges that solving

world hunger will involve more than just producing more

food, but it argues that all technological options for

meeting global food needs must be on the table. It

notes, for example, that without the scientific advances

of the second half of the twentieth century, food

imports to developing nations would be more expensive,

and the crop varieties grown in developing countries

would be less high-yielding. The opinion piece says that

at present, only a few African countries are allowed to

grow GM crops, partly because of restrictive national

biosafety policies that impose excessive regulatory

barriers to the adoption of agricultural biotechnology.

―This,‖ it argues, ―must change.‖ To begin with, African

farmers need pest-resistant GM cotton, which is

already being cultivated in South Africa and Burkina

Faso and which offers higher yields to poor farmers.

Future innovations could bring even more benefits to

African countries, says the opinion piece. For example

says the opinion piece, Africa needs GM varieties of the

black-eyed pea, a subspecies of the cowpea (Vigna

unguiculata). Attacks by the insect Maruca vitrata

cause US$300 million in losses annually to small-scale

farmers in Africa; their only means of controlling the

disease is using expensive pesticides, which cost Nigeria

an estimated US$500 million a year. But a Bt variety

developed at the Institute for Agricultural Research at

Nigeria‘s Ahmadu Bello can help to control the disease.

The opinion piece says that concerns such as the

transfer of GM genes to wild relatives and the

development of resistance to pests need be taken

seriously and kept under constant review. But a 2010

European Commission report, which was based on a

decade of EU-funded GM research, found that GM

crops ―are not per se more risky than e.g. conventional

plant breeding technologies.‖ In addition, it says that

GM crops offer a range of unintended ecological

benefits. Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech News,

29th November

Preventing Hunger: Change Economic Policy: his

opinion piece argues that the global food system has

been ―destroyed‖ by decades of misguided policies that

emphasized exports over feeding domestic populations

and by ―runaway‖ financial speculation. The opinion piece

is authored by Peter M. Rosset, a researcher at the

Center for the Study of Rural Change in Mexico

(CECCAM). The opinion piece says that according to the

economic law of comparative advantage, agribusinesses

should export the food, agrofuels and other products

that are grown in a country, while cheaper foods are

imported to feed the people. But although per capita

food production has climbed steadily for decades, food

prices have become very volatile, which has promoted

hunger. Fifty years ago, it says, the UN World Food

Program (WFP) was formed to help reduce hunger. But

its original mandate of handing out food was ―a band-aid

at best‖ and can actually enable bad policies. Among

other policy changes, the opinion piece argues for more

national subsidization of farmers in developing

countries. It says that in most countries the past three

decades of neoliberal economic policy have resulted in

the cutting back of support for people who produce

food for domestic markets. These policies also forced

public sectors to downsize their food reserves and stop

buying food to stockpile against famine. Small farmers

thus lost a key buyer and their guarantee of minimally

acceptable crop prices3, so they began to produce less

food for local populations. The opinion piece argues that

although government food agencies have been plagued

by corruption and inefficiency, eliminating them has

been worse. A new system should include transparent

co-ownership and co-management between the public

sector, farmer and consumer organizations. At the

international level, it says effective governance

mechanisms are needed to keep speculative funds out of

the food economy and to apply anti-monopoly

measures. Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech News,

29th November

Scientists Crack Pulses Mystery: Public sector

researchers in the country have sequenced the genome

of pigeonpea (also known as arhar or red gram), a widely

consumed lentil. Pigeonpea is grown throughout India,

and is a staple food for millions of people. This is the

first time that Indian researchers have sequenced a

plant genome. Thirty-one scientists at the Indian

Institute of Agricultural Research and various Indian

universities were involved in the four-year project to

sequence the pigeonpea genome. The prices of

pigeonpea have soared in recent years. The pigeonpea

yields are quite low, meaning that much of what is

consumed in the country has to be imported from

abroad. Lead scientist Nagendra Kumar Singh of the

Indian Council of Agricultural Research‘s (ICAR‘s)

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

25

National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology in

India says that the new genomic information should

facilitate the development of high yielding, disease-

resistant varieties of pigeonpea, and end India's

reliance on costly imports. Researchers have also joined

efforts to sequence the genome of wheat. Department

of Biotechnology (DBT) has sanctioned Rs 34 crore

(US$7 million) to allow Punjab Agriculture University,

ICAR, and Delhi University to engage in the sequencing

effort. A completed sequence is expected in three

years. Sixteen other nations are involved in the wheat-

genome-sequencing project: the U.S., the U.K., France,

Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Norway,

Israel, Turkey, Russia, China, Japan, Australia, and

Argentina.] Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech

News, 4th November

GM Foods: a 'Biotech Revolution'?: The biotechnology

revolution has been a ―tawdry‖ and most of all a limited

revolution, this opinion piece argues. At a global scale,

the commercial planting of genetically modified (GM)

crops has expanded rapidly over the last 15 years, the

opinion piece acknowledges. But it says that this does

not mean ―Game over.‖ While GM crops are now grown

on about 10 percent of global cropland, they for the

most comprise varieties of only a few crops -- cotton,

soybean, maize, and oilseed rape, says the opinion piece.

The opinion piece states that just four countries –

Canada, the U.S., Brazil and Argentina – now grow more

than 90 percent of GM crops, and more than 80 percent

of the GM seeds sold each year are owned and sold by

one company, Monsanto, which dominates the GM and

global seed industries. Meanwhile, the opinion piece says

that only two traits, that of herbicide tolerance and

insect resistance, have been successfully developed and

marketed, and these are now leading to the

development of so-called "superpests" and

"superweeds". Critics of the technology say the biotech

revolution is ―stuttering,‖ according to the opinion piece.

It cites how Europe is growing 23 percent less GM than

it did in 2008 and how China, reportedly, will not now

commercialize GM staple crops such as rice and wheat

for up to 10 years. Powerful farm movements in Latin

America, Southeast Asia, India, and elsewhere are, in

addition, strongly opposing GM introduction. Such

movements support GM-free agro-ecology, the opinion

piece says. Finally, the biotech revolution has been a

―tawdry‖ revolution, the opinion piece concludes.

According to the Global Citizenship Report, the

biotechnology food industry spent more than US$22

million in U.S. political campaign contributions since

2009. And, the opinion piece says, WikiLeaks has shown

U.S. diplomats around the world pressing governments

to accept GM. Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech

News, 31st October

UniMelb Scientists Developed Iron-Fortified Rice: A

research team led by Alex Johnson at the University of

Melbourne in Australia are reporting the development

of genetically modified (GM) rice plants containing

heightened levels of iron. The research team identified

a gene in rice that is responsible for ―picking up‖ iron.

The team then used genetic engineering to increase the

activity of the rice gene. Iron levels in the resulting

rice have been increased by up to 400 percent, the

research team reports. These iron-fortified rice plants

have been successfully grown in laboratory and

greenhouse environments. The next step will be to test

them in the field. Source: Food Security and

AgriBiotech News, 28th October

GM Crops Promote Superweeds, Food Insecurity and

Pesticides, Say NGOs: A new report by 20 Indian,

south-east Asian, African, and Latin American food and

environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

says that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have

not lived up to promises made about them, according to

this article. The report, entitled ―The GMO Emperor

Has No Clothes: A Global Citizen‘s Report of the State

of GMOs,‖ was coordinated by Vandana Shiva, an anti-

GMO activist and director of the Indian organization

Navdanya International. The article says that the NGOs

that signed onto the report collectively represent

millions of people. The report claims that genetically

modified (GM) crops have failed to increase yields, have

led to increased chemical use, and in some cases damage

human health. The report cites the emergence of weeds

tolerant of the herbicide glyphosate (to which Roundup

Ready GM crops are resistant) and the increase in China

of pest populations that before the use of Bt cotton

caused only minor problems. It also makes claims about

the domination of the biotechnology companies

Monsanto, Dupont and Syngenta. Farmers have largely

adopted GM crops, it asserts, because these companies

have heavily lobbied governments, have bought up local

seed companies, and have withdrawn conventional seeds

from the market. "Choice is being undermined as food

systems are increasingly controlled by giant

corporations and as chemical and genetic pollution

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

26

spread. GM companies have put a noose round the neck

of farmers. They are destroying alternatives in the

pursuit of profit," said Shiva, who highlighted what he

said are high seed prices being charged farmers.

Monsanto disputed the report's findings, saying that

"In our view the safety and benefits of GM are well

established.‖ Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech

News, 26th October

Biotech Firms Warn EU over Pace of GM Crop

Approval: Europe's biotechnology industry has warned

the European Commission that agricultural imports vital

to EU food security are increasingly being put at risk,

due to the slow pace of the EU's approval system for

genetically modified (GM) crops. In a report presented

to EU policymakers earlier this month, the

biotechnology industry association EuropaBio said the

speed of GM crop authorizations in Europe is slowing.

EuropaBio estimates that the EU's approval process

takes 15 to 20 months longer, on average, than in the

three top global exporters of GM crops: the U.S.,

Brazil, and Canada. The number of GM crops awaiting

approval in Europe has risen from about 50 at the end

of 2007 to 72 today: 51 for import and 21 for

cultivation. Based on current trends, EuropaBio said it

expects more than 90 products to be pending approval

by 2015. The European Commission, which is the EU‘s

executive body, said its own analysis of GM approvals

found the delays were not as significant as stated by

EuropaBio and that it gave extra priority to cases that

could disrupt imports. The article says that EU policy on

GM crops has long been politically fraught, with a

majority of consumers opposed to GM foods, but the

bloc reliant on imports of about 30 million tons of GM

animal feed each year -- equivalent to 60 kg per person.

Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech News, 26th

October

Govt Moving Cautiously on GM Crops

Commercialisation: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar

has said that the government is not opposed to

genetically modified (GM) crops but is studying their

impacts before allowing GM crops other than Bt cotton

to be grown commercially. ―We are not opposed to GM

crops, but we are very cautious about that,‖ Pawar said.

―We are taking lots of precaution, conducting number of

trials and are assessing any impact on soil and on

environment and human being and animals,‖ he said.

Discussing India‘s experience Bt cotton, Pawar said that

Indian farmers have shown clear appreciation for the

government‘s decision to approve that crop, as 92

percent of India‘s cotton area is now planted to Bt

varieties. ―Our per hectare yield of cotton was

somewhat 1.5 quintal and that has reached to 5 quintal.

It has benefited the farmers community who have

adopted GM variety of cotton,‖ Pawar said. In October

2009, India‘s Genetic Engineering Approval Committee

(GEAC) approved the commercial planting of Bt brinjal

(a.k.a eggplant). But in February 2010 the country‘s

environment minister placed a moratorium on the GM

brinjal variety, following protests from anti-GM groups

that highlighted health concerns. Source: Food Security

and AgriBiotech News, 24th October

India - Agricultural Biotechnology, Annual Report:

This report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture‘s

Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) discusses the

state of agricultural biotechnology regulation and

commercialization in India. Refined soybean oil derived

from ―Roundup Ready‖ soybeans is currently the only

genetically modified (GM) food product approved for

importation into India, the report says. There has not

been ―any significant progress on the approval of Bt

eggplant,‖ according to the report. The report

describes how the Depart of Biotechnology (DBT) under

India‘ Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) has

submitted a draft Biotechnology Regulatory Authority

of India (BRAI) bill for parliamentary approval. The

draft bill, if approved, would change India‘s GM

regulatory system by establishing a ―single window‖

clearance mechanism for GM products and processes.

According to the report, Bt cotton is currently the only

GM crop currently approved for commercial cultivation

in India; a total of six ―events‖ and more than 300 Bt

cotton hybrids have been approved for commercial

cultivation. Source: Food Security and AgriBiotech

News, 24th October

World Hunger Report 2011: High, Volatile Prices Set

to Continue- Food price volatility featuring high prices

is likely to continue and possibly increase, making poor

farmers, consumers, and countries more vulnerable to

poverty and food insecurity, says a UN global hunger

report published today. The annual "The State of Food

Insecurity in the World 2011" (SOFI) was produced by

three Rome-based UN agencies: the UN Food and

Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund

for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World

Food Program (WFP). "Demand from consumers in

rapidly growing economies will increase, the population

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

27

continues to grow, and further growth in biofuels will

place additional demands on the food system," the

report predicts. Additionally, it is thought that more

frequent extreme weather events may occur, which

would further promote food price volatility. The report

says that price volatility makes both smallholder

farmers and poor consumers increasingly vulnerable to

poverty. Small, import-dependent countries, particularly

in Africa, are thought to be especially at risk. Many of

them still face severe problems following the world

food and economic crises of 2006-2008. Such crises,

including in the Horn of Africa, "are challenging our

efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal

(MDG) of reducing the proportion of people who suffer

from hunger by half in 2015," the heads of the three

UN agencies warn in a preface to the report. (In Africa,

the number of undernourished increased by 8 percent

between 2007 and 2008 while it was essentially

constant in Asia.) In the face of these problems, the

report stresses the need to increase investment in

agriculture. Key areas where such investments should

be directed are said to be: cost-effective irrigation,

improved land-management practices, and better seeds

developed through agricultural research. National-level

food export bans should also be avoided; food waste in

developed countries and food loss in developing

countries needs to be cut down; and more sustainable

management of fisheries and forests is needed, the

report says. The FAO‘s best estimate of the number of

hungry people for 2010 remains at 925 million. For the

2006-2008 period, the FAO calculates the number of

hungry at 850 million. Source: Food Security and

AgriBiotech News, 10th October

New Borlaug Institute for South Asia Fosters

Improved Farming for Food Security- The

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

(CIMMYT), together with Indian authorities, has

officially launched the Borlaug Institute for South Asia

(BISA): a new institute that it is hoped will help

improve food security throughout South Asia. Speaking

October 5 at BISA‘s launch, CIMMYT Director General

Thomas Lumpkin said that ―CIMMYT has been in India

for 50 years. It‘s time we laid down some roots.‖ BISA

facilities are being located at cities in three different

Indian states: Ludhiana in the Indian state of Punjab,

Pusa in Bihar, and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The

press release says each of these states contains varied

agro-ecological zones, allowing for the testing of a

variety of maize and wheat cultivars suited to the

equally varied environments of South Asia. Also at the

October 5 launch, Indian Food and Agriculture Minister

Sharad Pawar highlighted major food-security-related

challenges, including continuing population growth both

globally and especially in South Asia and the problem of

rising food prices and unrest caused by food insecurity.

Pawar also praised Norman Borlaug, known as the father

of the Green Revolution, after whom the new institute

is named. ―It would not be an overstatement to say that

Norman Borlaug is a household name in India,‖ Pawar

said. CIMMYT is a research institute of the

Consultative Group on International Agricultural

Research (CGIAR). Source: Food Security and

AgriBiotech News, 7th October

Pesticides, Soil, All Count in GM Crops’

Effectiveness, Finds Study: Public sector researchers

in India have found that the amount of Bt toxin

produced by Bt cotton plants appears to vary depending

on the depth of the soil in which the cotton is planted

and on soil moisture levels. Bt cotton planted in deep

soil produced nearly three times as much insecticidal

toxin as Bt cotton that was grown in shallow soil, says D.

Blaise of the Indian Institute of Soil Science in Bhopal,

India and K.R. Kranthi of the Central Institute for

Cotton Research in Nagpur, India. The research results

have been published in the journal Current Science.

Blaise and Kranthi found, in addition, that variable soil

moisture levels, as are found in non-irrigated, rain-fed

fields, can reduce Bt toxin levels. They report that Bt

toxin levels vary over the course of the planting season

and in some cases were much below necessary levels.

The research results are based on trials conducted in

2006 and 2007, on 21 test plots at the Central

Institute for Cotton Research. ―There is no doubt that

we need Bt cotton. But in regions like Vidarbha which is

rain-fed and has a lot of shallow soil, Bt cotton wouldn‘t

work as well as in other parts of the country. The study

just points out that you need different kinds of cotton

in different regions. A one-size-fits-all approach can‘t

work,‖ says Kranthi. According to the article, 90

percent of Indian cotton acreage is now Bt. The article

says that genetically modified (GM) cotton has been

credited with tripling cotton production since 2006 and

making India a net cotton exporter as well as the

world‘s second largest cotton producer. In a report

released last year, Kranthi pointed out several

unforeseen consequences of the widespread adoption of

Bt cotton. Ninety percent of current GM cotton hybrids

appear to be susceptible to mealy bugs and whiteflies (a

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012 T Satyanarayana

28

minor cotton pest), and insecticide use in cotton, as

measured by value, appears to have increased from Rs

640 crore (US$130 million) in 2006 to Rs 800 crore

(US$163 million) in 2008, Kranthi found. Source: Food

Security and AgriBiotech News, 3rd October

______________________________________________________________________________________

Review Article

Biotechnological applications of thermostable biocatalysts of thermophilic bacteria

T. Satyanarayana

Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi-110 021, India

ABSTRACT Temperature is probably the most important environmental parameter that affects the activity, distribution and evolution of

living organisms. A small fraction of the total living beings that are capable of growth at elevated temperatures are called

thermophiles. Thermophilic microbes may have tremendous potential in future microbial and enzyme technology because their

unique ability to function at high temperatures that make them suitable for application in industrial processes. This article deals

with biology and biotechnological applications of bacteria that are capable of optimal growth between 60 and 100ºC. INTRODUCTION

The prokaryotic microbes growing optimally in the

temperature range between 65 and 80°C, and 80 and

105°C are known as extreme and hyper thermophiles,

respectively. These microbes have been found to occur

in hot water springs, oceanic thermal vents, boiling

outflows of geothermal power plants, coal spoil tips,

mine effluents, as well as laundry and domestic hot

water heaters.

After the isolation of Thermus aquaticus from

the boiling springs of Yellowstone National Park by

Brock and Freeze in 1969, and Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

by Brock and his coworkers in 1972 from sulphur

springs, several attempts have been made to culture

these microbes from hot environmental samples in New

Zealand, Australia, Iceland, USA, Russia, Japan and

France. Extreme and hyper thermophiles are found in

eubacterial and archaebacterial kingdoms (Table 1).

Except Thermotoga, all known microbes growing

optimally above 75°C are archaebacteria. The highest

optimum growth temperature recorded for a living

organism is 105°C for the archaebacteria, Pyrodictium brockii, P. occulcum, Pyrococcus furiosus, P. abyssi, P.

woesei, and Pyrobaculum islandicum. These organisms

are able to grow even at 110°C. According to Brock,

bacteria are able to grow at any temperature where

water exists in liquid state. Water is known to exist in

liquid state even at 250°C at the bottom of oceans due

to very high hydrostatic pressure (approximately 1400

atm).

Obligate anaerobes: All hyperthermophiles, except

Acidianus infernus and Aquifex pyrophilus, are obligate

anaerobes because oxygen solubility and thus

availability is limited above 90°C. The reduction of

sulphur rather than O2 appears to be the predominant

means of energy conservation by hyperthermophiles.

Therefore, all hyperthermophiles are anaerobic SO2

reducing organisms, except methanogens which utilize

H2 and CO2 as energy source. All hyperthermophiles are

strict organotrophs and most obtain energy by So

respiration. Thermophiles play an important role in

organic matter degradation and sulphur cycle in hot

environments.

The recent developments in molecular ecology

such as 16S rRNA analysis in situ, specific whole cell

hybridization within enrichments and cloning under the

laser microscope allow the detection of uncultured

orgaisms, and their isolation. With the newer

approaches, a deeper understanding of microbial

ecosystems and their participants is expected in

future.

Advantages offered by thermophiles in

biotechnological processes: The utilization of

thermophilic bacteria in biotechnology can offer

several advantages in overall stability as listed below :

Reduced viscosity of media.

High solubility of most reactants and

accelerating diffusion.

Increased productivity due to enhanced

reaction rates at elevated temperatures.

Thermophilic processes have the potential for

shorter reaction times, higher loading rates and

increased volume reactors.

No cooling requirement for mass cultivation

T Satyanarayana BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

29

Fermenter operation at elevated temperatures

readily prevents accumulation of known

bacterial and viral pathogens.

Less contamination problems.

Thermophiles are non-pathogenic.

The low activity and high stability of

thermophilic cells and their enzymes at room

temperature reduce the need for refrigeration

during exoenzyme or cell recovery, and provide

catalytic activity with a longer half-life for

developing immobilization technology.

Thermophiles produce a large number of

thermostable enzymes which are useful in

molecular biology and industrial processes such

as starch bioconversion to sugar syrups.

Volatilization of products which are potentially

inhibitory.

Anaerobic fermentations would be easier to

operate.

Advantages of using thermostable enzymes in

industrial processes: There are quite a few advantages

in using thermostable enzymes in industrial processes in

comparison with thermolabile enzymes. Higher yields of

purified enzymes can be obtained from separation

procedures when thermophilic organisms are used as

the source. Due to thermostability, the enzymes have a

longer useful life in industrial enzyme reactors than

their cost-effectiveness. The reactors using

thermophilic enzymes can be operated at sufficiently

high temperatures to prevent microbial contamination.

The resistance of thermophilic enzymes to proteolytic

attack will tend to negate the effect of any microbial

contamination that occurs. The resistance to

detergents and solvents will enable the use of these to

improve the solubility of enzyme substrates or

products. It will also minimize losses during the cleaning

of reactors using immobilized enzymes.

The use of highly thermostable enzymes has

been increasing, partly due to the ability to clone genes

from thermophiles into mesophiles to circumvent

problems concerned with growing them, such as non-

GRAS (generally regarded as safe) organisms and low

productivity of natural strains.

The thermostability of an enzyme is a function

of its stabilizing forces. These include hydrogen

bonding, hydrophobic bonding, ionic interactions, metal

binding, and disulphide bridges. These stabilizing forces

contribute to overall stability, and the means by which

this is achieved varies among enzymes. Enhanced

thermostability is not due to any single attribute or

mechanism but to a combination of stabilising effects

derived by various interactions. The additional stability

of proteins from thermophilic organisms can be

achieved by accumulation of small changes by

substituting aminoacid residues by site-directed

mutagenesis, immobilization of enzymes and chemical

modification.

Thermophiles in biotechnology: A good example of the

specialized application of enzymes isolated from

extreme thermophiles is the use of Taq DNA

polymerase (half life at 95°C-40min) from Thermus aquaticus in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The

use of vent DNA polymerase from Thermococcus littoralis (half-life at 95°C-7h) or Deep vent DNA

polymerase from Pyrococcus species (half life at 95 C-

25h) instead of Taq polymerase in PCR reduce error

frequency significantly due to their proof reading (3‘-

5‘ exonuclease) activity. Another such example is the

development of ligase amplification reaction (LAR) or

ligase chain reaction (LCR) where thermostable

Table. 1. Cardinal temperature of extreme and

hyperthermophiles

Organism Temperature (C)

Min. Opt. Max.

EUBACTERIA :

Bacillus stearothermophilus 38 64 72

B. caldolyticus 45 72 82

Clostridium themohydrosulfuricum

45 65 70

C. thermosulfurogenes 40 60 67

Thermus aquaticus 40 70 79

T. thermophilus 45 72 85

Thermotoga maritima 80 90

ARCHAEBACTERIA :

Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum

25-

30

65-

70

75-

78

Methanococcus jannaschii 50 85 86

Sulfolobus acidocaldarius 55 75 80

Pyrodictium occultum 85 105 110

Pyrodictium islandicum 100 102

Acidianus infernus 90 96

Pyrococcus furiosus 100 105

Thermococcus littoralis 88 97

BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012 T Satyanarayana

30

DNA ligase from Thermus thermophilus is used.

This technique is useful in identifying gene defects,

point mutations and microorganisms. Restriction

endonucleases such as Taq I, BcII, Bst EII, Tth 111 and

Sua I are obtained from T. aquaticus, Bacillus caldolyticus, B. stearothermophilus, T. thermophilus and

Sulfolobus solfataricus respectively. Since these are

thermostable, these can be stored at room

temperature.

The main application for thermostable enzymes

has been starch liquefaction using amylases from B.

licheniformis and B. stearothermophilus, proteases for

food processing and detergents. Some new areas for

application are the production of cyclodextrins using

cyclodextrin glycosyl transferase and biobleacing of

wood pulps using xylanases.

The enzymes utilized for the currently used

conversion process of starch to sugar syrups

in liquefaction, saccharification and isomerisation steps

function at different temperatures and pH. The

discovery of various starch-hydrolysing enzymes which

are active at high temperatures and low pH vales will

significantly lower the sugar production costs. The α-

amylases of Dictyoglomus thermophilum and Clostridium thermosulfurogens are thermostable as well as calcium-

independent. The α-amylase from Pyrococcus woesei is

optimally active at 100°C and pH 5.5 and it does not

require Ca++. The maltase from P. furiosus and P. woesei is optimally active at 100°C and pH 5.5. Cyclodextrin

glycosyl transferase from Thermoanaerobacter sp. is

optimally active at 95°C and pH 5.0. This enzyme

liquefies starch and produces cyclodextrin. The use of

this enzyme reduces reaction time from 1-3 days to 3-

6h. Most of these enzymes have been cloned in

mesopiles and expressed.

Thermostable proteases such as thermolysin

from B. thermoproteolyticus and SP369 from a mutant

of B. stearothermophilus are useful in the hydrolysis of

proteins at high temperatures, and enzymatic

production of aspartame and other peptides. Pyrolysin

from P. furiosus has a half-life 600h at 98°C.

In Kraft pulping, alkaline cooking of pulp is

carried out for removing 95% of lignin present in wood.

The remaining 5% of lignin gives a dark brown colour

that darkens in U.V. light or by oxidation. For obtaining

white pulp for high quality paper, the brown colour is

removed by a multistage bleaching process using

chlorine or chlorine dioxide. Presently, there is much

concern about the environmental impact of the

chemicals generated from bleaching process. The

treatment of pulp prior to bleaching with thermostable

and alkaline xylanase removes lignin linked to xylan, and

thus reduces the amount of chlorine required. The

species of Thermotoga, Geobacillus, Dictyoglomus and

Thermoanaerobacter are known to produce highly

thermostable xylanases.

Clostridium thermocellum ferments cellulose

and cellodextrins to produce a mixture of ethanol, actic

acid, lactic acid, H2 and CO2. The problems in the

fermentation of cellulose to ethanol by C. thermocellum

are low yield of ethanol, slow rate of cellulose

fermentation, low cell yield and toxicity of ethanol and

organic acid end products. The production of ethanol

from wood cellulose with C. thermocellum could be

enhanced by co-cultuing with Thermoanaerobium or C.

thermohydrosulfuricum which can ferment xylose,

mannose, cellobiose and glucose. The major limitation

with thermophilic anaerobic fermentations is the

apparent lack of end product tolerance of these

species. Other important roles for hyper thermophiles

and their enzymes are in transesterification reactions,

oligosaccharide synthesis and phospholipid synthesis.

Thermophilic methane generation employing

non-defined mixed cultures has been suggested as an

attractive bioconversion process for the treatment of

municipal wastes and animal manure. Thermophilic

methane formation using Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum may have process potential for

natural gas production in future. Thermophilic

archaebacteria may become a source for special lipids

or biopolymers, and they may also contain new and

useful secondary metabolites. Some new and specialized

applications that have been developed are the use of B.

stearothermophilus in spore strip sterility indicators

and measurement of penicillin in milk. The extraction of

soluble metals from sulphide containing ores can be

facilitated by using iron-and sulphur oxidizing

themophilic bacteria. Thermophilic biomining is

particularly advantageous where the leaching rate is

temperature dependent (e.g., the release of copper

from chalcopyrite). The acidophilic Sulfolobus and

Acidianus are the candidates for this technology. High

extraction rates have been obtained with Sulfolobus.

The use of thermophilic microbes resulted in a rapid

rate of desulphurization. Using S. acidocaldarius, 90%

removal of pyritic sulphur was achieved in 4-6 days, and

that with Thiobacillus ferroxidans required 15-20 days.

The removal of sulphur was dependent upon the sulphur

content and particle surface area.

T Satyanarayana BRSI News Letter Vol. 9 (1) January 2012

31

Further Reading Adams M W W 1993. Enzymes and proteins from organisms that grow

near and above 100 ºC. Ann. Rev Microbiol. 47: 627-658.

Brock T D 1986. Thermophiles, Wiley Interscience. pp. 316.

Coolbear T, R M Daniel and H W Morgan 1992. The enzymes from

extreme thermophiles : bacterial sources, thermostabilities and

industrial relevance. Adv. Biochem. Engin. Biotechnol. 45 : 57-98.

Kristjansson, J.K. 1992. Thermophilic Bacteria, CRC Press, London

and New York, pp. 228.

Robb, F., Antranikian, G., Grogan, D. Driessen, A. 2007. Thermophiles:

Biology and Technology at High Temperatures, CRC Press, pp. 368.

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