Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.

Osaka Prefecture University Public Corporation

Kagoshima University

Sanwa Cornstarch Co., Ltd.

Sanwa Kosan Kabushiki Kaisha

Kanto Natural Gas Development Co., Ltd.

Omikenshi Co., Ltd.

National Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Takeshi Takaha

Kazutoshi Fujii

Michiyo Yanase

Hiroki Takata

Yoshinobu Terada

Takashi Kuriki

Shigetaka Okada

Shinichi Kitamura

Hiroyasu Nakamura

Kenichi Kudo

Motohide Ikeda

Mitsuru Taguchi

Tadayuki Imanaka

Kiyoshi Hayashi

Mariko Yoshioka

Nobuo Shiraishi

Osamu Inoue

Sachiko Machida

Haruyo Sambe

Michihiro Sunako

Hideki Kajiura

Junichi Takahara

Iwao Kojima

Koji Odan

Masatoshi Yoshikawa

Kayo Hosoya

Kouji Odan

Tsunehisa Akiyama

Masae Iiboshi

Mamoru Wada

Mieko Takaku

Tatsuo Kaiho

Yoshiyuki Morimoto

Nobuo Kubozaki

Junichi Kadokawa

Akiko Kubo

Hiroki; Takata

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for industrially producing a branched glucan having a cyclic structure. The method for producing a branched glucan having a cyclic structure comprises the steps of: (1) preparing a mixed liquid which contains a branching enzyme in which starch granules are suspended at a concentration of 5% by weight or more and 50% by weight or less, and allowing the branching enzyme to act on starch in the starch granules, wherein a temperature of the mixed liquid at the time of preparation is 0&#xb0; C. or higher and not higher than the gelatinization starting temperature of the starch granule; and (2) elevating the temperature of the mixed liquid to 85&#xb0; C. or higher and 129&#xb0; C. or lower, wherein in the method, none of &#x3b1;-amylase, &#x3b2;-amylase, amyloglucosidase and &#x3b1;transglucosidase is added to the mixed liquid.

Method for industrially producing cyclic-structure-containing branched glucan

One object of the present invention is to provide a method of improving the affinity of a solvent for the surface of a hardly soluble or insoluble substances. Further object of the invention is providing a molded article comprising a hardly soluble or insoluble substances using the solution of a hardly soluble or insoluble substances. A method for improving affinity of a substance surface for a solvent, comprising: bringing the substance surface into contact with water-soluble xylan and the solvent, wherein the substance is hardly soluble or insoluble in the solvent in the absence of the water-soluble xylan. A solution comprising an added water-soluble xylan, a substance, and a solvent, wherein the substance is hardly soluble or insoluble in the solvent in the absence of the water-soluble xylan. A molded article comprising the added water-soluble xylan and the hardly soluble substance.

Affinity of hardly soluble or insoluble substance solvent by water-soluble xylan

A method for producing an amylose-containing rayon fiber, comprising the steps of: mixing an aqueous alkaline solution of amylose with viscose to obtain a mixed liquid, spinning the mixed liquid to obtain an amylose-containing rayon fiber, and bringing the amylose-containing rayon fiber into contact with iodine or polyiodide ions, thereby allowing an amylose in the amylose-containing rayon fiber to make a clathrate including the iodine or polyiodide ions, wherein the amylose is an enzymatically synthesized amylose having a weight average molecular weight of 3&#xd7;10or more and 2&#xd7;10or less. A method for collecting iodine from brackish water with high efficiency utilizing the amylase-containing rayon fibers.

Iodine- and amylose-containing fibers, method for production thereof, and use thereof

Objective is to provide an aqueous composition for conductive coating which enables to form a conductive coating. In more specific embodiment, an object of the present invention is to provide an aqueous composition for conductive coating which enables to form a conductive and transparent coating, while being excellent in environmental safety and dispersion stability. An aqueous composition for conductive coating, comprising a water-soluble xylan, a resin and a carbon nanotube in an aqueous medium. The carbon nanotube may be a multilayer carbon nanotube or a single-layer carbon nanotube.

Aqueous composition for conductive coating

An object of the present invention is to provide a uronic acid-containing glucan or a modified product thereof. The glucuronic acid-containing glucan of the present invention is a glucuronic acid-containing glucan in which a glucuronic acid residue is bound to at least one non-reducing end of a glucan, and the glucan is a branched &#x3b1;-1,4 glucan or a linear &#x3b1;-1,4 glucan. The glucuronic acid-containing glucan of the present invention can be provided by allowing &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase derived fromVF5 to act on glucuronic acid-1-phosphate to thereby transfer a glucuronic acid residue to the non-reducing end of the receptor glucan.

Glucuronic acid-containing glucan, process for production of same, and use of same

The present application discloses a molded article, and a process for preparing a molded article consisting essentially of (i) high molecular weight linear &#x3b1;-1,4-glucan and (ii) low molecular weight linear &#x3b1;-1,4-glucan, wherein the process comprises the step of: adding the low molecular weight linear &#x3b1;-1,4-glucan to a solution comprising the high molecular weight linear &#x3b1;-1,4-glucan to gel the solution, wherein the low molecular weight linear &#x3b1;-1,4-glucan has a degree of polymerization of greater than or equal to 180 and less than 620, and has a molecular weight distribution of not greater than 1.25 and, the high molecular weight linear &#x3b1;-1,4-glucan has a degree of polymerization of greater than or equal to 620 and less than 37000, and has a molecular weight distribution of not greater than 1.25.

Molded object comprising &#x3b1;-1,4-glucans and/or modifications thereof and process for producing the same

A sucrose phosphorylase (SP) having improved thermostability obtained by modifying a natural SP and a method for producing the SP having improved thermostability is provided. This SP having improved thermostability has an amino acid residue which is different from that of the natural sucrose phosphorylase, in at least one position selected from the group consisting of a position corresponding to position 14, a position corresponding to position 29 and a position corresponding to position 44 in motif sequence 1; a position corresponding to position 7, a position corresponding to position 19, a position corresponding to position 23 and a position corresponding to position 34 in motif sequence 2; and a position corresponding to position 19 in motif sequence 3, and wherein the enzyme activity of the SP having improved thermostability at 37&#xb0; C., after heating the SP having improved thermostability in 20 mM Tris buffer (pH 7.0) at 55&#xb0; C. for 20 minutes, is 20% or more of enzyme activity of the SP having improved thermostability at 37&#xb0; C. before heating.

Method for improving the thermostability of sucrose phosphorylase (SP)

The present invention provides a biodegradable article formed from enzyme-synthesized amylose using phosphorylase, wherein the enzyme-synthesized amylose is composed of glucose monomers exclusively bonded by &#x3b1;-1,4-glucosidic likage and has a weight average molecular weight of not less than 100 kDa, preferable not less than 600 kDa. The enzyme-synthesized amylose employed in the present invention has a molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of not more than 1.25 and can be chemically modified if desired. The biodegradable article of the present invention can be produced by (a) the enzyme-synthesized amylose and/or its modified one, or a combination of the amylose (a) and another polymer material (b).

Biodegradable articles obtained from enzymatically synthesized amylose

An &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability, which obtained by modifying natural &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase, and a method for producing this &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability are provided. The natural &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase is derived from a plant, this &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability has an amino acid residue which is different from that of the natural &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase in at least one position selected from the group consisting of a position corresponding to position 4 in a motif sequence 1L or 1H, a position corresponding to position 4 in a motif sequence 2, and a position corresponding to position 7 in a motif sequence 3L or 3H, and wherein the enzyme activity of &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability at 37&#xb0; C., after heating in a 20 mM citrate buffer (pH 6.7) at 60&#xb0; C. for 10 minutes, is 20% or more of the enzyme activity of the &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability at 37&#xb0; C., before heating.

Method of heat-stabilizing &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase (GP)

A method of producing glycogen comprising a step of: allowing a branching enzyme having the ability to synthesize glycogen to act on a substrate in a solution to produce a glycogen, wherein the substrate is an &#x3b1;-glucan being linked mainly with &#x3b1;-1,4-glucosidic bonds and having a degree of polymerization of 4 or more, and the number-average molecular weight of saccharides in the solution before initiation of the reaction is more than 180 but not more than 150,000. (The branching enzyme activity of the branching enzyme)/(the molecular-weight-decreasing activity of the branching enzyme) can be 500 or less. The branching enzyme can be a thermostable branching enzyme.

Method of producing glycogen

An &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability, which obtained by modifying natural &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase, and a method for producing this &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability are provided. The natural &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase is derived from a plant, this &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability has an amino acid residue which is different from that of the natural &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase in at least one position selected from the group consisting of a position corresponding to positionin a motif sequenceL orH, a position corresponding to positionin a motif sequence, and a position corresponding to positionin a motif sequenceL orH, and wherein the enzyme activity of &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability at 37&#xb0; C., after heating in a 20 mM citrate buffer (pH 6.7) at 60&#xb0; C. for 10 minutes, is 20% or more of the enzyme activity of the &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase having improved thermostability at 37&#xb0; C., before heating.

Method of heat-stabilizing &#x3b1;-glucan phosphorylase(GP)

A first method for producing glucan comprises the step of allowing a reaction solution containing sucrose, a primer, inorganic phosphate or glucose-1-phosphate, sucrose phosphorylase, and glucan phosphorylase to react to produce glucans. The maximum value of the sucrose-phosphate ratio of the reaction solution from the start of the reaction to the end of the reaction is no more than about 17. A second method for producing glucan comprises the step of allowing a reaction solution containing sucrose, a primer, inorganic phosphate or glucose-1-phosphate, sucrose phosphorylase, and glucan phosphorylase to react to produce glucans. The reaction is conducted at a temperature of about 40 C to about 70 C.

Production method and preparation method of glucans

A method for activating a denatured protein, includes the steps of: adding a detergent to the denatured protein to allow a protein-detergent complex to be formed; and adding high-molecular weight amylose to the protein-detergent complex so that the high-molecular weight amylose removes the detergent.

Method for activating denatured protein

Glucan with a degree of polymerization of 50 or more includes an inner branched cyclic structure portion and an outer branched structure portion, and methods for producing the same.

Glucan having cyclic structure and method for producing the same

The present invention provides glucans and derivatives thereof which are useful as raw materials in the starch processing industries, food and drink compositions, food additive compositions, and starch substitutes for biodegradable plastics, and processes for preparing the same. Particularly, it provides glucans and derivatives thereof having excellent properties such as higher solubility in water than conventional starches, lower viscosity and the glucans are not subject to retrogradation which is observed in conventional starches, and which are capable of preventing the retrogradation of starches.

Process for preparing glucans having a cyclic structure

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Hyogo, Japan

Takeshi Takaha