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Amino-Acid Homopolymers Occurring in Nature

  • Book
  • © 2010

Overview

Editors:
  1. Yoshimitsu Hamano

    1. , Department of Bioscience, Fukui Prefectural University, Fukui, Japan

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  • Presents the current knowledge of polyaminoacids and the most recent advances in their industrial and medical applications
  • A valuable source of information for scientists in basic research as well as in the pharmaceutical and food industry
  • Written by experts in their field
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Microbiology Monographs (MICROMONO, volume 15)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
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  2. Occurrence and Production of Poly-Epsilon-l-Lysine in Microorganisms

    • Munenori Takehara, Hideo Hirohara
    Pages 1-22

  3. Biochemistry and Enzymology of Poly-Epsilon-l-Lysine Biosynthesis

    • Yoshimitsu Hamano
    Pages 23-44

  4. Biochemistry and Enzymology of Poly-Epsilon-l-Lysine Degradation

    • Toyokazu Yoshida
    Pages 45-59

  5. Biotechnological Production of Poly-Epsilon-l-Lysine for Food and Medical Applications

    • Kazuya Yamanaka, Yoshimitsu Hamano
    Pages 61-75

  6. Occurrence and Biosynthetic Mechanism of Poly-Gamma-Glutamic Acid

    • Makoto Ashiuchi
    Pages 77-93

  7. Enzymatic Degradation of Poly-Gamma-Glutamic Acid

    • Keitarou Kimura, Zui Fujimoto
    Pages 95-117

  8. Pharmaceutical and Medical Applications of Poly-Gamma-Glutamic Acid

    • Takami Akagi, Michiya Matsusaki, Mitsuru Akashi
    Pages 119-153

  9. Food Applications of Poly-Gamma-Glutamic Acid

    • Hiroyuki Tanimoto
    Pages 155-168

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 169-171
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Keywords

About this book

Microorganisms are capable of producing a wide variety of biopolymers. Homopolymer peptides, which are made up of only a single type of amino acid, are far less ubiquitous. The only two amino-acid homopolymers known to occur in nature are presented in this volume. Poly-epsilon-L-lysine is a polycationic peptide and exhibits antimicrobial activity against a wide spectrum of microorganisms. It is both safe and biodegradable and is therefore used as a food preservative in several countries. In addition, there has been great interest in medical and other applications of poly-lysine and its derivatives. In contrast, poly-gamma-glutamic acid is an unusual anionic polypeptide. It is also water soluble, biodegradable, edible, non-toxic and non-immunogenic and can be chemically modified to introduce various drugs. These features are very useful for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Poly-glutamic acid is also a highly attractive as a food ingredient.

Editors and Affiliations

  • , Department of Bioscience, Fukui Prefectural University, Fukui, Japan

    Yoshimitsu Hamano

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Amino-Acid Homopolymers Occurring in Nature

  • Editors: Yoshimitsu Hamano

  • Series Title: Microbiology Monographs

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12453-2

  • Publisher: Springer Berlin, Heidelberg

  • eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-642-12452-5Published: 16 July 2010

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-642-26405-4Published: 05 September 2012

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-642-12453-2Published: 30 July 2010

  • Series ISSN: 1862-5576

  • Series E-ISSN: 1862-5584

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VII, 250

  • Number of Illustrations: 62 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Microbiology, Biochemistry, general

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