Browsing Department of Biotechnology by Issue Date
Now showing items 21-40 of 362
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Exploring diversity and ecology of nonarchaea in hydrothermal biotopes
(University of the Western Cape, 2005)The Nanoarchaeota were proposed as the fourth archaeal sub-division in 2002, and the only fully characterized nanoarchaeon was found to exist in a symbiotic association with the crenarchaeote, Ignicoccus sp. This nanoarchaeote, ... -
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 ... -
Physiological and cellular characterization of a plant natriuretic peptide
(University of the Western Cape, 2005)Plants in the field are exposed to multiple stresses and their response to these various stresses determines their capacity to survive. Plants can use multiple signaling pathways and signals to mediate their response; for ... -
Analysis of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria associated with the roots of Proteaceae plant species in soils of Fynbos ecosystem
(University of the Western Cape, 2005)The major objective of this study was to investigate soil ammonia-oxidizing bacterial diversity and composition associated with plant roots of Proteaceae plants and to compare it with non-plant associated soil. -
Investigation of the interaction of ceramide and acyl-coenzyme A with the mitochondrial associated protein, endozepine, using heteronuclear NMR
(University of the Western Cape, 2005)Endozepine is an alternative name for the testis-specific isoform of the acyl-CoA binding protein (t-ACBP). Acyl-CoA binding proteins form a highly conserved family of proteins, which bind long chain fatty acid esters with ... -
Cloning, expression and characterization of Novel Lipase and Esterases from Burkholderia multivorans UWC10
(2005)An esterase and lipase producing Burkholderia multivorans strain was isolated by culture enrichment strategies. A shotgun library of Burkholderia multivorans genomic DNA (prepared in E. coli/pUC18) was screened for lipase ... -
Monitoring of heavy metals in the bottelary river using typha capensis and phragmites australis
(2005)The aim of this study was to use plants to determine the degree of heavy metal contamination in water and sediments in order to effectively monitor and provide possible recommendation to improve the water quality in the ... -
Characterization and engineering of Bacillus megaterium AS-35, for use in biodegradation of processed olive wastewater
(University of Western Cape, 2005)The popularization and health benefits associated with the "Mediterranean diet" saw a world wide increase in the production and consumption of processed olives and olive oil. During the brining of table olives large ... -
Analysis of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria associated with the roots of Proteaceae plant species in soils of Fynbos ecosystem
(University of the Western Cape, 2005)Molecular methods were used to investigate the microbial diversity and community structure of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) associated with the roots of the Proteaceae plant family. The identification of ammonia ... -
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 ... -
The feasibility of high resolution, three-dimensional reconstruction of metal-coated surfaces in structural biology
(2006)Life is an emergent property of a complex network of interacting cellular-machines. Three-dimensional (3D), cellular structure captured at supra-atomic resolution has the potential to revolutionise our understanding of the ... -
Sample preparation methods and molecular based detection for the rapid isolation and identification of Listeria monocytogenes in food samples
(University of the Western Cape, 2006)Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterium responsible for listeriosis, a food-borne disease, which may result in severe illness and possible death. The importance of L. monocytogenes as a food-borne pathogen has ... -
Studies on the population genetics of Euphausiids: a comparison of patterns in plagic taxa displaying different distributions and life-histories
(University of the Western Cape, 2006)The systematic and population genetic relationships were characterised for three ecologically related euphausiid species: Euphausia lucens, E. recurva and E. vallentini. These species have different geographical distributions ... -
Systematic approach to protein crystallization: emphasis on Vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP)
(University of the Western Cape, 2006)This work examined the systematic approach to protein crystallization, exploring some of the techniques that have been developed to enhance the success rate of crystallization. The work was centered on two proteins; namely ... -
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 ... -
The structure of the nitrilase from Rhodococcus Rhodochrous J1: homology modeling and three-dimensional reconstruction
(University of the Western Cape, 2006)The nitrilases are an important class of industrial enzymes that are found in all phyla. These enzymes are expressed widely in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Nitrilases convert nitriles to corresponding acids and ammonia. ... -
Screening extracts of indigenous South African plants for the presence of anti-cancer compounds
(University of the Western Cape, 2006)Early man dabbled with the use of plant extracts to cure ailments. This practice has been passed down from generation to generation and today more than 50% of the world'sdrugs are natural products or derivatives thereof. ... -
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 ... -
Phylogenetic diversity of nifH genes in Marion Island soil
(University of the Western Cape, 2006)The microbial life of sub-Antarctic islands plays a key role in the islands ecosystem, with microbial activities providing the majority of nutrients available for primary production. Knowledge of microbial diversity is ... -
Investigation of South African estuarine microbial species and genome diversity
(University of the Western Cape, 2006)A study of the microbial diversity in sediments of the Great Berg River estuary is carried out using modern molecular phylogenetic methods. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of (pollution by) the effluents ...