Browsing by Author "Cowan, DA"

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    Characterization of a thermostable amidase and development of a bioreactor process for lactic acid production
    (2005) Makhongela, Happy Steven; Burton, Stephanie Gail; Cowan, DA
    This thesis reports studies of the biochemical properties of a newly isolated thermostable amidase from Bacillus sp. RAPc8, and development of a continuous reactor process for the production of a target product. The amidase was cloned and over-expressed in E. coli BL21 strain pNH 223 pLySs by Cameron (2001). Earlier work by Cameron (2001) on the production and purification of the recombinant amidase showed that the enzyme could be produced with high levels of expression in shake-flask culture. Furthermore, preliminary studies have also shown that the molecular weight of the amidase was approximately 35kDa, and that it acts optimally at a temperature and pH of 50°C and 7.2 respectively.
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    The crystal structure of a mutant nitrile hydratase
    (2006) Kwofie, Samuel Kojo; Cowan, DA
    Nitrile hydratases can be used as industrial biocatalysts. They catalyze the conversion of nitriles to their corresponding amides. These industrial biocatalysts have recently gained attention due to the economic production of industrial commodities such as acrylamide and nicotinamide (Thomas et at., 2002). Nitrile hydratases (NHases) are metalloenzymes made up of α and β subunits, and exist mostly as heterotetramers (αβ)₂. They are categorized into Co-containing and Fe-containing types depending on their co-factor requirements.