Browsing Department of Biotechnology by Title
Now showing items 248-267 of 370
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Laccases from actinomycetes for lignocellulose degradation
(University of the Western Cape, 2012)Lignocellulose has a complex structure composed mainly of lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose. Several enzymes are needed for the degradation of lignocellulose into simple sugars. Actinomycetes are known to produce laecases ... -
Laccases from actinomycetes for lignocellulose degradation
(University of the Western Cape, 2012)The purpose of this study shows that lignocellulose has a complex structure composed mainly of lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose. Several enzymes are needed for the degradation of lignocellulose into simple sugars. ... -
Manipulating biotic and abiotic factors to enhance the remediation of agri-industrial wastewater in pilot-scale constructed wetlands
(University of the Western Cape, 2012)As a consequence of various cellar activities the wine industry produces copious volumes of potentially hazardous wastewater each year. South Africa is one of the top ten wine-producing countries, making the successful ... -
Mapping and identification of disease resistance candidate genes in three Malus populations using SSRs, DArT and Infinium SNP markers and Illumina sequencing technology
(University of the Western Cape, 2014)Apple scab, powdery mildew and woolly apple aphid are a major concern for apple breeders and producers. Control of these diseases is a significant economic and marketing priority for the South African apple industry. ... -
Marine bacteria as a potential source for novel antimicrobial compounds
(University of the Western Cape, 2020)The high rate of rediscovery of known compounds has led to a decline in the discovery of novel natural products. The high biodiversity of organisms growing in extreme conditions such as oceans has led to the increased ... -
Massively-Parallel Computational Identification of Novel Broad Spectrum Antivirals to Combat Coronavirus Infection
(University of the Western Cape, 2015)Given the significant disease burden caused by human coronaviruses, the discovery of an effective antiviral strategy is paramount, however there is still no effective therapy to combat infection. This thesis details the ... -
Matrix comparison of isolation conditions for secondary metabolite producing marine sponge associated bacteria
(University of the Western Cape, 2015)The discovery of novel secondary metabolites has declined significantly in recent years whereas there is a rise in the number of multi-drug resistant pathogens and other types of diseases. The decline in natural product ... -
Metagenome sequencing and in silico gene discovery: From genetic potential to function
(University of the Western Cape, 2012)In a previous study, metagenomic DNA extracted from Antarctic Dry Valley soils was used to construct a large contig bacterial shotgun fosmid library (Anderson, 2008). In the current study, clones were selected based on ... -
Metagenomic approaches to gene discovery
(University of the Western Cape, 2006)The classical approach to gene discovery has been to culture micro-organisms demonstrating a specific enzyme activity and then to recover the gene of interest through shotgun cloning. The realization that these standard ... -
Methylgyoxal signalling in Phaseolus vulgaris under phosphate deficiency
(UWC, 2020)In this study, we observed that phosphate (P) deficiency stunted plant growth and produced plants with poor morphological characteristics (yellow and small leaves). Furthermore, we treated plants with 0.8 mM (control) and ... -
The microbial composition of a natural methanogenic consortium
(University of the Western Cape, 2005)Wetlands account for approximately 20% of annual global methane emissions. Many wetlands receive inputs of organic matter, nutrients, metals and various toxic compounds from adjacent agricultural and industrial areas. The ... -
Microbial diversity and gene mining in Antarctic Dry Valley mineral soils
(University of the Western Cape, 2006)Soil communities are regarded as among the most complex and diverse assemblages of microorganisms with estimated bacterial numbers in the order of 109-1 cells.g. Studies on extreme soils however, have reported lower cell ... -
Microbial diversity of Antarctic Dry Valley mineral soil
(University of the Western Cape, 2004)Antarctica provides some of the most extreme environments on earth. Low temperatures, low water availability and nutrient deficiency are contributing factors to the limited colonisation of Antarctic biotopes, particularly ... -
Microbial diversity of the Namib Desert salt pans
(University of the Western Cape, 2015)Salt pans are a characteristic feature of many dry deserts. The microbial communities inhabiting salt pans are thought to be particularly complex and are generally dominated by halophilic microorganisms. Although saline ... -
Microbial ecology of hot and cold desert edaphic communities
(University of the Western Cape, 2012)This thesis presents significant advances into the microbial ecology of hypolithic communities in two hyperarid deserts. Deserts account for one fifth of the Earths total surface area. These zones differ substantially in ... -
Microbial quality and safety of ostrich meat
(University of the Western Cape, 2010)The aim of this study was to determine the quality of slaughtered ostrich meat and to evaluate the ostrich slaughter process, to determine whether ostrich meat are contaminated by the in-house slaughtering practices and ... -
A microbiological and molecular study of campylobacter and related species isolated from ostriches (Struthio camelus)
(University of the Western Cape, 2014)Campylobacter and related Epsilonproteobacteria (Arcobacter and Helicobacter) are currently viewed as emerging pathogens and are able to cause gastroenteritis, bacteraemia, the Guillain-Barré syndrome, reactive arthritis ... -
Microbiology of fly ash-acid mine drainage co-disposal processes
(University of the Western Cape, 2005)The waste products acid mine drainage formed during coal mining and fly ash from coal burning power generation, pose substantial environmental and economic problems for South Africa. Eskom has developed a remediation system ... -
Microbiology of fly ash-acid mine drainage co-disposal processes
(University of the Western Cape, 2005)The waste products acid mine drainage (AMD), formed during coal mining and fly ash (FA) from coal burning power generation, pose substantial environmental and economic problems for South Africa. Eskom has developed a ... -
MicroRNAs as predictive biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of colorectal cancer using in silico approaches
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)Colorectal cancer (CRC) is referred to as cancers that arise in the colon or rectum. Rectal cancer is most often defined as cancers originating within 15 cm from the anal verge. The crude incidence of CRC in sub-Sahara ...