g. a monophyletic group of Phlebia strains was characterized by its similar ability to degrade recalcitrant organopollutants (Kamei et al., 2005). In the same way, molecular clustering of isolates of Aspergillus niger aggregate group could be related to their ability to produce various

types of feruloyl esterases, enzymes involved in the biodegradation process of the cell-wall polymers (Giraud et al., 2007). In conclusion, the analysis of the three genomic fragments, Rapamycin corresponding to rRNA, β-tubulin and lac3-1 gene regions, with respect to Pycnoporus species, could provide effective, essential molecular tools for the routine identification and comparison of strains in laboratory culture conditions. For the first time, the laccase gene lac3-1 was used to infer the phylogeny of Pycnoporus species and could highlight enzyme functional diversity associated with biogeographical origin.

Special attention was given to the closely related species P. sanguineus and P. coccineus, which display very similar characters but are geographically discontinuous populations, indicating that biogeography has played a strong role in determining evolutionary units in the genus Pycnoporus. The current defining of species in basidiomycetes is still frequently delicate and should combine molecular tools with classic Peptide 17 solubility dmso morphological data and mating-type experiments. The authors thank Prof K.A. To from the University of Hanoi and Dr M. Coussot of the Centre International de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD, France) for specimens of P. sanguineus from Vietnam and French New Caledonia, respectively. The authors also are grateful to Prof. Regis Courtecuisse (Université de Lille II, France) who provided the expertise in identification of Pycnoporus species collected on the French territories. The authors also sincerely thank Dr Stéphane Welti for valuable suggestions and Dr Jean-Guy Berrin for practical

assistance. This work was supported financially by the Commission of the European Communities, others specifically the BIORENEW project (NMP2-CT-2006-026456 ‘White biotechnology for added value products from renewable plant polymers: design of tailor-made biocatalysts and new industrial bioprocesses’). “
“The use of the Gram-positive bacterium Lactococcus lactis in recombinant protein production has several advantages, including the organism’s long history of safe use in food production and the fact that it does not produce endotoxins. Furthermore the current non-dairy L. lactis production strains contain few proteases and can secrete stable recombinant protein to the growth medium. The P170 expression system used for recombinant protein production in L. lactis utilizes an inducible promoter, P170, which is up-regulated as lactate accumulates in the growth medium. We have optimised the components of the expression system, including improved promoter strength, signal peptides and isolation of production strains with increased productivity.