Recent Patents on Biotechnology 

About: Recent Patents on Biotechnology is an academic journal published by Bentham Science Publishers. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Medicine & Biology. It has an ISSN identifier of 1872-2083. Over the lifetime, 369 publications have been published receiving 6677 citations.

Laccases and their applications: a patent review.

Abstract: Laccases are an interesting group of multi copper enzymes, which have received much attention of researchers in last decades due to their ability to oxidize both phenolic and non-phenolic lignin related compounds as well as highly recalcitrant environmental pollutants. This makes these biocatalysts very useful for their application in several biotechnological processes. Such applications include the detoxification of industrial effluents, mostly from the paper and pulp, textile and petrochemical industries, polymer synthesis, bioremediation of contaminated soils, wine and beverage stabilization. Laccases are also used as catalysts for the manufacture of anti-cancer drugs and even as ingredients in cosmetics. Recently, the utility of laccases has also been applied to nanobiotechnology. This paper reviews recent and important patents related to the properties, heterologous production, molecular cloning, and applications of laccases within different industrial fields as well as their potential extension to the nanobiotechnology area.

The use of beneficial microbial endophytes for plant biomass and stress tolerance improvement.

Abstract: Endophytes are microorganisms that live within host plants for at least part of their life and do not cause apparent symptoms of diseases. In general, beneficial endophytes promote host plant growth, increase plant nutrient uptake, inhibit plant pathogen growth, reduce disease severity, and enhance tolerance to environmental stresses. As sustainable and renewable agricultural production (including current biofuel and bioenergy crops) increases in prominence, endophytic microorganisms will play important roles and offer environmentally-friendly methods to increase productivity while reducing chemical inputs. This review discusses various aspects of beneficial fungal and bacterial endophyte interactions with plants, including the physiological and molecular mechanisms by which they benefit plant performance. We also discuss the potential for genetic modification of endophytes with useful genes, which could be used to impart additional traits following inoculation with the genetically engineered endophytes. Finally, we review US-issued patents over the past decade which relate to the use of fungal and bacterial endophytes for plant growth and stress tolerance improvement.

Biosynthesis and Metabolic Engineering of Anthocyanins in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract: Arabidopsis thaliana is the first model plant, the genome of which has been sequenced. In general, intensive studies on this model plant over the past nearly 30 years have led to many new revolutionary understandings in every single aspect of plant biology. Here, we review the current understanding of anthocyanin biosynthesis in this model plant. Although the investigation of anthocyanin structures in this model plant was not performed until 2002, numerous studies over the past three decades have been conducted to understand the biosynthesis of anthocyanins. To date, it appears that all pathway genes of anthocyanins have been molecularly, genetically and biochemically characterized in this plant. These fundamental accomplishments have made Arabidopsis an ideal model to understand the regulatory mechanisms of anthocyanin pathway. Several studies have revealed that the biosynthesis of anthocyanins is controlled by WD40-bHLH-MYB (WBM) transcription factor complexes under lighting conditions. However, how different regulatory complexes coordinately and specifically regulate the pathway genes of anthocyanins remains unclear. In this review, we discuss current progresses and findings including structural diversity, regulatory properties and metabolic engineering of anthocyanins in Arabidopsis thaliana.

New developments and prospective applications for beta (1,3) glucans.

Abstract: Publications and patents relative to newly observed functions of beta-(1,3)-D-glucans have notably increased in the last few years with the exploitation of their biological activities. The term beta-(1,3)-D-glucans includes a very large number of polysaccharides from bacterial, fungal and vegetable sources. Their structures have a common backbone of beta-(1,3) linked glucopyranosyl residues but the polysaccharidic chain can be beta-(1,6) branched with glucose or integrate some beta-(1,4) linked glucopyranosyl residues in the main chain. Except for the curdlan, a bacterial linear beta-(1,3)-D-glucans, and for the scleroglucan produced by Sclerotium rolfsii, the main drawback limiting the development of these polysaccharides is the lack of efficient processes for their extraction and purification and their cost. However new applications in agronomy, foods, cosmetic and therapeutic could in a next future accentuate the effort of research for their development. So this review focuses on these beta-(1,3)-D-glucans with the objective to detail the strategies employed for their extraction and the relation structure-functions identified when they induce biological activities.

Nutraceuticals, nutritional therapy, phytonutrients, and phytotherapy for improvement of human health: a perspective on plant biotechnology application.

Abstract: Plants are one of the most important resources of human foods and medicines. Rapidly increasing knowledge on nutrition, medicine, and plant biotechnology has dramatically changed the concepts about food, health and agriculture, and brought in a revolution on them. Nutritional therapy and phytotherapy have emerged as new concepts and healing systems have quickly and widely spread in recent years. Strong recommendations for consumption of nutraceuticals, natural plant foods, and the use of nutritional therapy and phytotherapy have become progressively popular to improve health, and to prevent and treat diseases. With these trends, improving the dietary nutritional values of fruits, vegetables and other crops or even bioactive components in folk herbals has become targets of the blooming plant biotechnology industry. This review attempts to display and remark on these aspects. It summarizes the progress made on nutraceuticals, nutritional therapy, phytonutrients, phytotherapy, and their related epidemiological investigations and clinical studies. It also covers markets of these health-promoting products and disease-preventing or healing systems, as well as regulations behind them that direct the development of biotechnology study and application. Finally, related patents are listed and briefly analyzed, regarding of plant biotechnological research and progress on transgenic crops to improve nutritional value, phytotherapy efficiency, or to produce pharmaceutically important secondary metabolites or high-valued protein medicines such as vaccines and antibodies.