The transduction of extracellular signals to intracellular responses is of vital importance for all living organisms. The perception of signalling molecules outside the cell is often accomplished via ligand binding proteins spanning the plasma membrane, i.e. receptor proteins. In plants, the majority of plasma membrane receptors are part of the fam...
Many flavonoids and isoflavonoids have been associated with beneficial health effects. Therefore, consumption of (iso)flavonoid-rich food products, and enrichment of foods with (iso)flavonoids is becoming increasingly popular. However, several (iso)flavonoids have been reported as bitter. Consequently, their incorporation in (or fortification of) f...
In this dissertation we discuss H-NS and its connection to nucleoid compaction and organization. Nucleoid formation involves a dramatic reduction in coil volume of the genomic DNA. Four factors are thought to influence coil volume: supercoiling, DNA charge neutralization, macromolecular crowding and DNA deformation by NAPs. This study focuses mainl...
cum laude graduation (with distinction)
This study describes the formation of a gluten substitute. Chapter 1 describes the properties that are necessary to obtain a gluten substitute. Chapter 2 describes the formation and properties of protein particle suspensions. Two proteins with different intrinsic properties, gelatin and whey protein, were selected as model materials. Chapter 3 desc...
Biocatalysts play an important role in modern biotechnology because of their specificity, selectivity, efficiency and sustainability. One of the industrially most exploited and important groups of biocatalysts are the esterases. These enzymes catalyze, in the presence of water, the hydrolysis of an ester-bond resulting in the formation of an alcoho...
Pectine wordt in levensmiddelen vooral gebruikt als geleermiddel, stabilisator of verdikkingsmiddel in producten zoals jam, yoghurtdranken, vruchten-zuiveldranken en ijs. Daarnaast is er in toenemende mate interesse in het mogelijk gezondheidbevorderend effect van dit polysaccharide. Kennis van de exacte structuur zal bijdragen aan het begrip van d...
In order to induce systemic food allergic reactions in humans, proteins after digestion in the human gastro-intestinal tract should still be able to bind IgE. The aim of the work presented in this thesis was to determine the effects of heating on the structure and digestibility of cupin and prolamin food allergens from peanuts, Brazil nuts and soyb...
Protein functionality in food products strongly relies on the fact that proteins can undergo intermolecular interactions, called aggregation. It was found that very subtle dynamics inherent to the protein of interest can have consequences for the functional properties of proteins. The aim of this thesis is to explore structural features of proteins...
Bacteria that adhere to the surface of a paper machine form a biofilm that entraps the fibres and additives used as raw material to form a slime deposit. The formation of these slime deposits can result in serious problems with respect to the papermaking process itself and the end product. Traditionally more or less toxic biocides are used to preve...
