The characteristics of recombinant phytase from
Obesumbacterium proteus
have been studied after its integration into
Yarrowia lipolytica
with a Po1f (pUV3-Op) plasmid. Phytase activity was observed ...in
Y. lipolytica
Po1f transformants in a wide pH range (3.5–7.5) and remained at 80% of the initial value after 3-min heating at 95°C, which made it possible to add the enzyme to a fodder produced with heat treatment. In the case of transformant cultivation on low-grade vegetable substrates, they also possessed confirmed phytase activity, as well as an increase in the content of intracellular phosphates as compared to cells of the wild-type
Y. lipolytica
strain.
•Two different types of piezoelectric actuators were developed for ITER diagnostics to operate in vacuum under high thermal and neutron fluxes.•Results of irradiation test of the piezoelectric ...actuators are analyzed.•Four types of the most common piezoelectric ceramic materials were tested.•Effects of radiation on piezoelectric ceramics are discussed as a challenge for piezoelectric actuators at ITER.•It is shown that depolarization of the piezoelectric ceramics related to irradiation and multiple baking in ITER can be reversed remotely.
As a part of ITER diagnostics design and development, ultrasonic and stick-slip piezoelectric motors and several types of piezoelectric ceramics were tested under severe neutron and gamma ray irradiation (∼ 1019 per cm2 at E > 0.1 MeV) in a pool-type fission reactor. The fission neutron and gamma ray spectra were corrected to comply with conditions expected under ITER divertor cassettes. Taking into account possible neutron-induced amorphization of crystal structure, four types of piezoelectric ceramics were pre-selected. To restore the electronic structure of piezoelectric ceramic damaged by gamma rays, recovery polarization (i.e. heating while applying reverse bias) was suggested. The motors and piezoceramic samples were assessed for performance before and after irradiation as well as after recovery polarization. Recovery polarization was performed at 330 °C as it is expected close to the divertor cassettes during baking. Two most promising types of piezoelectric ceramics survived multiple cycles of depolarization/polarization at both 330 °C and 200 °C as appropriate for baking ITER divertor and vacuum vessel, respectively. All the experiments and procedures are described in detail.
As a result of operation of the Mayak Production Association (Mayak PA), Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, an enterprise for production and separation of weapon-grade plutonium in the Soviet Union, ...ecosystems of a number of water bodies have been radioactively contaminated. The article presents information about the current state of ecosystems of 6 special industrial storage reservoirs of liquid radioactive waste from Mayak PA: reservoirs R-3, R-4, R-9, R-10, R-11 and R-17. At present the excess of the radionuclide content in the water of the studied reservoirs and comparison reservoirs (Shershnyovskoye and Beloyarskoye reservoirs) is 9 orders of magnitude for 90Sr and 137Cs, and 6 orders of magnitude for alpha-emitting radionuclides. According to the level of radioactive contamination, the reservoirs of the Mayak PA could be arranged in the ascending order as follows: R-11, R-10, R-4, R-3, R-17 and R-9. In 2007–2012 research of the status of the biocenoses of these reservoirs in terms of phytoplankton, zooplankton, bacterioplankton, zoobenthos, aquatic plants, ichthyofauna, avifauna parameters was performed. The conducted studies revealed decrease in species diversity in reservoirs with the highest levels of radioactive and chemical contamination.
This article is an initial descriptive report on the status of the biocenoses of radioactively contaminated reservoirs of the Mayak PA, and is the first article in a series of publications devoted to the studies of the reaction of biocenoses of the fresh-water reservoirs of the Mayak PA to a combination of natural and man-made factors, including chronic radiation exposure.
•The current state of storage reservoirs of liquid radioactive waste of the Mayak Production Association is presented.•Radionuclides contents in water and sediments of the reservoirs of Mayak PA are presented.•The status of the major ecological groups of hydrobionts of the given reservoirs is described.
In this study we investigated the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutases (SODs) and catalases (CATs)) and the ROS level in cells of Yarrowia lipolytica yeasts grown in a medium with ...different pH values (4.5, 5.5 and 9.0). It was shown that an increase in the cellular ROS level took place under both acid and alkaline conditions. The growth under extreme conditions was accompanied by a significant increase of SOD activity (by 2.5 times in the acid medium and by 4 times in the alkaline medium), but catalase activity did not change. A study of the electrophoretic profile of catalases showed the presence of three isoforms differing in inhibitor resistance. The electrophoretic profiles of SODs and their inhibitory analysis revealed there are two other isoforms, probably of mitochondrial origin, in addition to Cu and Zn SOD. The role of SOD in pH-adaptation of extremophilic Y lipolytica yeasts is discussed.
Instant power is a key parameter of the ITER. Its monitoring with an accuracy of a few percent is an urgent and challenging aspect of neutron diagnostics. In a series of works published in
Problems ...of Atomic Science
and
Technology
,
Series: Thermonuclear Fusion
under a common title, the step-by-step neutronics analysis was given to substantiate a calibration technique for the DT and DD modes of the ITER. A Gauss quadrature scheme, optimal for processing “expensive” experiments, is used for numerical integration of
235
U and
238
U detector responses to the point sources of 14-MeV neutrons. This approach allows controlling the integration accuracy in relation to the number of coordinate mesh points and thus minimizing the number of irradiations at the given uncertainty of the full monitor response. In the previous works, responses of the divertor and blanket monitors to the isotropic point sources of DT and DD neutrons in the plasma profile and to the models of real sources were calculated within the ITER model using the MCNP code. The neutronics analyses have allowed formulating the basic principles of calibration that are optimal for having the maximum accuracy at the minimum duration of in situ experiments at the reactor. In this work, scenarios of the preliminary and basic experimental ITER runs are suggested on the basis of those principles. It is proposed to calibrate the monitors only with DT neutrons and use correction factors to the DT mode calibration for the DD mode. It is reasonable to perform full calibration only with
235
U chambers and calibrate
238
U chambers by responses of the
235
U chambers during reactor operation (cross-calibration). The divertor monitor can be calibrated using both direct measurement of responses at the Gauss positions of a point source and simplified techniques based on the concepts of equivalent ring sources and inverse response distributions, which will considerably reduce the amount of measurements. It is shown that the monitor based on the average responses of the horizontal and vertical neutron chambers remains spatially stable as the source moves and can be used in addition to the staff monitor at neutron fluxes in the detectors four orders of magnitude lower than on the first wall, where staff detectors are located. Owing to low background, detectors of neutron chambers do not need calibration in the reactor because it is actually determination of the absolute detector efficiency for 14-MeV neutrons, which is a routine out-of-reactor procedure.
A neutron collimator is developed to attenuate the neutron flux and reduce the residual induced activity in the interportal space of the diagnostic system of neutral particle analyzers of the ITER ...tokamak reactor. The collimator is installed in the port plug of the ITER vacuum vessel in front of an inlet to the vacuum pipeline of the diagnostic system. The collimator design has a cellular structure with 80% transparency for the neutral atom beam that goes out of the plasma and is recorded by the analyzers. However, because of increased scattering of neutrons in the collimator, their flux in the interportal room in the service zone of diagnostic systems of equatorial port no. 11 is significantly reduced and allows the equivalent dose rate in this zone to be decreased by several times. Thermal analysis showed that, during the reactor operation in modes with generation of the maximum power of 500 MW, the plasma radiation will cause the heating of the collimating grid to a temperature not exceeding 250°C, which makes it possible to select the stainless steel (316L(N)-ITER grade) as a material for manufacturing the collimator. In this case the cyclic strength of the collimator meets the ITER requirements, and it can be used without replacement during the entire deuterium-tritium experiment of the tokamak reactor.
This paper presents an analysis of the regulation activity of the partially purified preparations of cellular aconitate hydratase (AH) on the yeast
cultivated at extreme pH. As a result of ...purification, enzyme preparations were obtained from cells grown on media at pH 4.0, 5.5, and 9.0, purified by 48-, 46-, and 51-fold and having a specific activity of 0.43, 0.55 and 0.36 E/mg protein, respectively. The kinetic parameters of preparations from cells cultured at extreme pH demonstrated: (1) an increase in the affinity for citrate and isocitrate; and (2) a shift in the pH optima to the acidic and alkaline side in accordance with the modulation of the medium pH. The regulatory properties of the enzyme from cells subjected to alkaline stress showed increased sensitivity to Fe
ions and high peroxide resistance. Reduced glutathione (GSH) stimulated AH, while oxidized glutathione (GSSG) inhibited AH. A more pronounced effect of both GSH and GSSG was noted for the enzyme obtained from cells grown at pH 5.5. The data obtained provide new approaches to the use of
as a model of eukaryotic cells demonstrating the development of a stress-induced pathology and to conducting a detailed analysis of enzymatic activity for its correction.
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•Phytase or phytase-producing cells can be immobilized on different natural and synthetic supports.•Success of the immobilization depends on support features and phytase ...properties.•The phytase source and its classification group can influence the immobilization process.•Nano-supports help to enhance the phytase stability and activity providing its reuse.•Different encapsulation types protect the phytase in pelleting.
The review describes the advances in the phytase immobilization for the past decade and their biotechnological applications. Different approaches for phytase immobilization are described including the process using organic and inorganic matrices and microbial cells, as well as nanostructures of various nature. Moreover, the immobilization of phytase-producing microbial cells and the use of cross-linked phytase aggregates have been under consideration. A detailed classification of various carriers for immobilization of phytases and the possibility of their applications are presented. A particular attention is drawn to a breakthrough approach of biotechnological significance to the design of microencapsulation of bacterial phytase from Obesumbacterium proteus in the recombinant extremophile of Yarrowia lipolytica.
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