The number of peer-reviewed scientific papers in biotechnology is huge, to such an extent that it is frequently difficult for those working in the field to keep up with the literature. As a special service to our readers, BTI presents a selection of literature abstracts, chosen by our editorial board as being particularly worthy of attention.

Plant biotechnology

Analysis of five novel putative constitutive gene promoters in transgenic rice plants.
Novel constitutive gene promoters are essential in crop biotechnology. This article analyses five such promoters, APX, SCP1, PGD1, R1G1B, and EIF5, in transgenic rice plants. The five promoter regions were linked to the gfp reporter gene and transformed into rice. Using fluorescence microscopy and q-RT-PCR, promoter activities were analysed in comparison with OsCc1, Act1, and ZmUbi1, previously characterised as strong constitutive promoters. The APX and PGD1 promoters direct high levels of gene expression in all tissues and stages, producing GFP at levels of up to 1.3% of the total soluble protein. PGD1 is particularly active in flowers and mature roots. The R1G1B is active in the whole grain including the embryo, endosperm and aleurone layer, and thus represents a constitutive promoter with activity in whole seeds that has not been described previously. The ZmUbi1 and R1G1B promoters are markedly less active in young roots and mature leaves whilst the APX, PGD1, OsCc1 and Act1 promoters are highly active in both vegetative and reproductive tissues. Overall, the results demonstrate that APX, PGD1 and R1G1B are novel gene promoters that are highly active at all stages of plant growth with distinct levels of activity.
Park SH et al. J Exp Bot 2010 Apr 2.

Industrial biotechnology

New tools for the genetic manipulation of filamentous fungi.
Filamentous fungi have a long-standing tradition as industrial producers of primary and secondary metabolites. In recent years recombinant technologies have contributed significantly to improve the capacities of production and have also allowed the design of genetically manipulated strains. These major advances were only made possible by basic research bringing deeper and novel insights into cellular and molecular fungal processes, thus allowing the design of genetically manipulated strains. This better understanding of fundamental genetic processes in model organisms has resulted in the design and generation of new experimental transformation strategies to manipulate specifically gene expression and function in diverse filamentous fungi, including those having a biotechnical significance. This review summarises the recent developments in the application of homologous DNA recombination and RNA interference to manipulate fungal recipients for further improvement of physiology and development in regards to biotechnical and pharmaceutical applications.
Kück U, Hoff B. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2010 Mar; 86(1):51-62.

Biotechnology in drug discovery

Superoxide dismutase, protease and lipase expression in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus: a tool for antimicrobial drug discovery.
The rising incidents of invasive infections due to multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus necessitate the exploration of newer targets for development of antibiotics. The pathogenicity of S. aureus is attributed to a wide range of virulence factors. The aim of this study was to screen the production of three virulence factors viz. extracellular protease, extracellular lipase and superoxide dismutase in human pathogenic strains of S. aureus for the development of a test panel which could aid in the screening of natural products of plant and microbial origin. Twenty-seven clinical isolates were compared for their enzyme expression profiles, of which eight were finally selected. Sau G5 was the only protease-producing organism selected in the test panel, while Sau G3 and Sau G9 were the best SOD producers and Sau G16, Sau G18, Sau G22, Sau A5 and Sau A2 exhibited the highest expression among different groups of clinical staphylococci.
Saxena S, Gomber C. Mol Cell Biochem 2010 Apr 4.

Fluorescent cell-based sensing approaches for toxicity testing.
Fluorimetric cell-based sensing methods have attracted increasing interest in toxicity testing of pharmaceuticals, pathogens, environmental pollutants and other chemicals. The objective of this review was to summarise the variety of approaches reported up to now and to present recent developments in this area. The different approaches are described in relation to their underlying mechanism and, especially, to the role of the fluorophore involved. The methods discussed include the use of fluorescent or fluorogenic indicators, fluorescence-based testing for membrane integrity, approaches based on fluorescence labelling, inducible fluorescent protein expression and analysis of cellular autofluorescence. Several of these approaches have been shown to be advantageous in comparison with non-fluorescence methods and have potential in high-throughput screening, for example in drug discovery and safety pharmacology.
Fritzsche M, Mandenius CF. Anal Bioanal Chem 2010 Apr 1.