Research Publications (Food Safety)

Germacrene A (GA) is a key intermediate for the synthesis of medicinal active compounds, especially for β-elemene, which is a broad-spectrum anticancer drug. The production of sufficient GA in the microbial platform is vital for the precursors supply of active compounds. In this study, Escherichia coli BL21 Star (DE3) was used as the host and cultivated in SBMSN medium, obtaining a highest yield of FPP. The GA synthase from Lactuca sativa (LTC2) exhibited the highest level of GA production.

Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is an important fruit crop in the world. It is used as a table grape and is also used for raisin and wine production. Grape berries accumulate secondary metabolites, such as anthocyanins, tannins, and resveratrol, which are known as functional compounds for human health. Multidrug and toxic compound extrusion transporter (MATEs) transport secondary metabolites.

Maize is an important food crop and its fungal disease has become a limiting factor to improve the yield and quality of maize. In the control of plant pathogens, commercial fungicides have no obvious effect on corn diseases due to the emergence of drug resistance. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop new fungicides with novel structure, high efficiency, and low toxicity to control maize diseases.

Aquaculture has undergone rapid development in the past decades. It provides a large part of high-quality protein food for humans, and thus, a sustainable aquaculture industry is of great importance for the worldwide food supply and economy. Along with the quick expansion of aquaculture, the high fish densities employed in fish farming increase the risks of outbreaks of a variety of aquatic diseases.

Cyclophilins constitute a family of ubiquitous proteins that bind cyclosporin A (CsA), an immunosuppressant drug. Several of these proteins possess peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) activity that catalyzes the cis-trans isomerization of the peptide bond preceding a proline residue, essential for correct folding of the proteins. Compared to prokaryotes and other eukaryotes studied until now, the cyclophilin gene families in plants exhibit considerable expansion.