The present invention relates to the field of prophylaxis and therapy of cancer. In particular there is provided a protein Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) or peptide fragments here of that are capable of eliciting anti-cancer immune responses. Specifically, the invention relates to the use of IDO or peptides derived here from or IDO specific T-cells for treatment of cancer. The invention thus relates to an anti-cancer vaccine which optionally may be used in combination with other immunotherapies and to IDO specific T-cells adoptively transferred or induced in vivo by vaccination as a treatment of cancer. It is an aspect of the invention that the medicaments herein provided may be used in combination with cancer chemotherapy treatment. A further aspect relates to the prophylaxis and therapy of infections by the same means as described above. The use of IDO and immunogenic peptide fragments hereof in cancer and infection treatment, diagnosis and prognosis is also provided.

The present invention relates to the field of plant genetic engineering. In particular, the present invention relates to acetolactate synthase (ALS) mutants, protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) mutants, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) mutants and/or p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxidase (HPPD) mutants capable of conferring herbicide resistance in plants, especially in wheat and/or rice plants, and methods for production herbicide-resistant plants, especially wheat and/or rice plants comprising said acetolactate synthase (ALS) mutants and/or protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) mutants and/or acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) mutants and/or p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxidase (HPPD) mutants.

The present invention concerns a method of producing and enantiomerically pure alpha-ionone. Further, the invention concerns a nucleic acid that comprises a sequence that encodes a lycopene-epsilon-cyclase (EC), a lycopene-epsilon-cyclase (EC), plasmids, which encode components of the alpha-ionone biosynthesis and a microorganism that contains heterologous nucleotide sequences which encode the enzymes geranylgeranyl-diphosphate-synthase, isopentenyl-diphosphate-isomerase (IPI), phytoene desaturase-dehydrogenase (crtI), phytoene synthase (crtB), lycopene-epsilon-cyclase (EC) and carotenoid-cleavage-dioxygenase (CCD1). Further, the invention concerns a method of producing highly pure epsilon-carotene.

An aspect of the present disclosure is a microbial cell that includes a genetic modification resulting in the expression of a deficient form of an endogenous dioxygenase, and a gene encoding an exogenous dioxygenase and a promoter sequence, where the endogenous dioxygenase includes PcaH and PcaG, the exogenous dioxygenase includes LigA and LigB, the microbial cell is capable of growth utilizing at least one of a cellulose decomposition molecule or a lignin decomposition molecule, and the microbial cell is capable of producing 2-hydroxy-2H-pyran-4,6-dicarboxylic acid.

This disclosure describes recombinant angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2) polypeptides, fusion proteins, and compositions thereof having improved binding affinity for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain relative to wild-type ACE2. Also provided are methods of using the recombinant ACE2 polypeptides, fusion proteins, and compositions thereof for treating subjects infected with a SARS-CoV-2 virus (i.e., subjects with COVID-19), subjects having symptoms suggestive of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and subjects exposed to or at risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus. Other virus infections may also be treated.

A method of cleaning a surface having disposed thereon a soil comprising fatty acid, the method comprising contacting the soil with a consumer product composition comprising a surfactant and a soil transforming enzyme selected from the group consisting of hydroperoxy fatty acid producing enzymes, hydroperoxy fatty acid converting enzymes, multi-domain enzymes, hydroxy fatty acid producing enzymes, and mixtures thereof. The method further comprises converting the fatty acid of the soil into an active fatty acid derivative material selected from the group consisting of hydroperoxy fatty acids, hydroperoxy fatty acid derivatives, hydroxy fatty acids, and mixtures thereof. Consumer product compositions are also provided.

The present invention provides a biological indicator for verification of disinfection or sterilization, and in particular, provides a biological indicator capable of verifying disinfection or sterilization using luminescent microorganisms, and a kit for verification of disinfection or sterilization using the biological indicator. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a biological indicator for verification of disinfection or sterilization that may confirm in real time how much disinfection or sterilization has been performed after disinfecting or sterilizing harmful microorganisms by irradiation with UV rays.

A method for producing an active-form mutant enzyme, by specifying a protein of which a native form exhibits an enzyme activity but which has 10% or less enzyme activity of the native form when a gene of the protein is expressed to provide an inactive-form enzyme; determining a sequence conservation of amino acid residues in an amino acid sequence of the inactive-form enzyme and specifying amino acid residue(s) for which sequence conservation in the inactive-form enzyme is lower than sequence conservation of other amino acid(s) of the same residue; preparing a gene having a base sequence that codes for the amino acid sequence of the inactive-form enzyme in which at least one said specified amino acid residue is substituted by another amino acid with a higher sequence conservation; and expressing the gene to obtain an enzyme that exhibits an enzyme activity of the native form protein.

Timely development of vaccines and antiviral drugs is critical to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Current methods for quantifying vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies involve the use of pseudoviruses, such as the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S) pseudotyped lentivirus. However, these pseudoviruses contain structural proteins foreign to SARS-CoV-2, and require days to infect and express reporter genes. Here, the present application discloses composition and methodology for making and using a new hybrid alphavirus-SARS-CoV-2 (Ha-CoV-2) particle for rapid and accurate quantification of neutralization antibodies and viral variants.

The present disclosure relates to a genetically modified microbial cell that includes a first genetic modification resulting in the expression of an exogenous vanillate demethylase, such that the microbial cell is capable of metabolizing an S-lignin decomposition product and producing 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate (PDC).