Experimental design for the production of tensio-active agent by Candida lipolytica.

The strategy of optimization using sequential factorial design was employed to enhance the tensio-active emulsifying agent produced by Candida lipolytica using soybean oil refinery residue as substrate. A full factorial design was used to evaluate the impact of three fermentation factors-amounts of refinery residue, glutamic acid and yeast extract. This allowed exclusion of the yeast extract. Full factorials designs were then sequentially used to optimize the levels of the residue and glutamic acid. The surface tension value was finally reduced to 25.29 mN/m. The maximum emulsifier activity using different substrates was within 40 h of cultivation. The surface tension of the cell-free broth containing the biosurfactant remained very stable during exposure to a wide range of pH (2-12), temperatures (0-120 degrees C) and salinity (2-10% NaCl). The combination of an industrial waste and a cheap substrate therefore seems to be very promising for the low-cost production of potent biosurfactant.

On the classes of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, amino acids and the genetic code.

The division of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in two classes is compared with a division of the amino acids in two classes, obtained from the AAIndex databank by a principal component analysis. The division of the enzymes in Classes I and II follows to a great extent a division in the chemical and biological properties of their cognate amino acids. Furthermore, the phylogenetic trees of Classes I and II enzymes are highly correlated with dendrograms obtained for their cognate amino acids by using the indices in the AAIndex database. We argue that the evolution of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases was determined by the characteristics of their corresponding amino acids. We interpret these results considering models for the origin and evolution of the genetic code in which an initial version, containing fewer amino acids, was modified by the incorporation of new amino acids following duplication and divergence of previous synthetases and tRNA molecules.

Doehlert matrix: a chemometric tool for analytical chemistry-review.

A review of the use of the Doehlert matrix as a chemometric tool for the optimization of methods in analytical chemistry and other sciences is presented. The theoretical principles of Doehlert designs are described, including the coded values for the use of this matrix involving two, three, four and five variables. The advantages of this matrix in comparison with other response surface designs, such as central composite and Box-Behnken, designs are discussed. Finally, 57 references concerning the application of Doehlert matrices in the optimization of procedures involving spectroanalytical, electroanalytical and chromatographic techniques are considered.