Chemical & Biological Engineering

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Chemical & Biological Engineering Our goal is to prepare students to use their knowledge and skills to contribute to society and their profession. We offer undergraduate degrees in both chemical engineering and bioengineering. The basis of both chemical and biological engineering is the useful transformation of matter from one form to another. That transformation can be brought about by direct chemical reactions, or chemical reactions mediated by living organisms. Right now, chemical and biological engineers can work in many of the same areas. That may change as bioengineering develops as a profession, but bioengineers are likely to work closely with chemical engineers for the foreseeable future.

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Author: search.filters.author.Alowaifeer, Abdullahsearch.filters.applied.f.department: search.filters.department.Chemistry & Biochemistry.

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    Phosphate starvation response controls genes required to synthesize the phosphate analog arsenate
    (2018-05) Wang, Qian; Kang, Yoon-Suk; Alowaifeer, Abdullah; Shi, Kaixiang; Fan, Xia; Wang, Lu; Jetter, Jonathan; Bothner, Brian; Wang, Gejiao; McDermott, Timothy R.
    Environmental arsenic poisoning affects roughly 200 million people worldwide. The toxicity and mobility of arsenic in the environment is significantly influenced by microbial redox reactions, with arsenite (AsIII ) being more toxic than arsenate (AsV ). Microbial oxidation of AsIII to AsV is known to be regulated by the AioXSR signal transduction system and viewed to function for detoxification or energy generation. Here, we show that AsIII oxidation is ultimately regulated by the phosphate starvation response (PSR), requiring the sensor kinase PhoR for expression of the AsIII oxidase structural genes aioBA. The PhoRB and AioSR signal transduction systems are capable of transphosphorylation cross-talk, closely integrating AsIII oxidation with the PSR. Further, under PSR conditions, AsV significantly extends bacterial growth and accumulates in the lipid fraction to the apparent exclusion of phosphorus. This could spare phosphorus for nucleic acid synthesis or triphosphate metabolism wherein unstable arsenic esters are not tolerated, thereby enhancing cell survival potential. We conclude that AsIII oxidation is logically part of the bacterial PSR, enabling the synthesis of the phosphate analog AsV to replace phosphorus in specific biomolecules or to synthesize other molecules capable of a similar function, although not for total replacement of cellular phosphate.
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