United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Christopher A Dunlap

Mark A Jackson

Michael A Cotta

Maureen S Wright

Terence R Whitehead

Douglas B Jordan

Xin Liang Li

The combination of keratin hydrolysate with viable cells or infectious propagules of a fungal biological control agent such asspecies,species,species, and/orspecies, provides effective control of soil-dwelling or subterranean insects, including termites, and particularly those belonging to the family Rhinotermitidae, such as the Formosan subterranean termite and native North American subterranean termites. In use, a foam-forming composition comprising the keratin hydrolysate and an insecticidally effective amount of the fungus are applied to the insects, the locus of the insects, to material susceptible to infestation by said insects, or to the locus of material susceptible to infestation by said insects.

Compositions of keratin hydrolysate and microbes for pest control applications

Xylose-containing plant material may be hydrolyzed to xylose using a &#x3b2;-D-xylosidase which exhibits unexpectedly high activity. The enzyme has a kvalue for catalysis of approximately 185 secfor 1,4-&#x3b2;-D-xylobiose (X2) when measured at a pH of 5.3 and a temperature of 25&#xb0; C.; this is at least 10-fold greater than reported for other xylosidases at 25&#xb0; C. and their optimal pH. The enzyme also has an isoelectric point of approximately 4.4. When reacted at a pH between about 4.5 and about 7.7, the &#x3b2;-D-xylosidase exhibits surprisingly high activity for hydrolyzing xylose-containing plant materials to xylose. The xylose released from plant materials may then be converted to other secondary products such as ethanol by fermentation or other reaction. This &#x3b2;-D-xylosidase may be used alone or in combination with other hydrolytic or xylanolytic enzymes for treatment of lignocellulosic or hemicellulosic plant materials or plant material hydrolysates or xylooligosaccharides.

Beta-xylosidase for conversion of plant cell wall carbohydrates to simple sugars

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Dunlap, IL, United States of America

Christopher A Dunlap