Le caroubier est considéré comme l'un des arbres fruitiers et forestiers qui présente le plus grand potentiel de valorisation puisque toutes les parties de cette plante sont utilisables dans plusieurs applications industriels. Le caroubier est cultivé dans plusieurs régions du Liban mais peu d'études sont disponibles sur les voies de valorisation et sur les propriétés fonctionnelles et structurales des graines et des gousses. Ainsi, dans le cadre d'une démarche qui vise à promouvoir et contribuer à une meilleure valorisation et gestion de cette ressource renouvelable, nous avons entrepris dans cette thèse des travaux consacrés à la caractérisation et à l'évaluation de la valeur nutritive et fonctionnelle des gousses de caroube issues de plusieurs régions libanaise. Ces travaux ont porté notamment sur la caractérisation morphologique et physico-chimique des gousses et sur la purification des gommes extraits des graines. Ces gommes ont fait l'objet d'une étude approfondie portant sur leur comportement rhéologique et la relation entre ce comportement, la variété et le lieu géographique. Nous avons aussi déterminé les isothermes de sorption de ces gommes pour prédire les conditions idéales de leur conservation. Les résultats obtenus à l'issue de cette étude ont démontré clairement la présence des corrélations morphologie, composition chimique et coordonnées géographiques de différents cultivars étudiés. De même, les études structurales et rhéologiques ont montré des différences significatives entre les gommes purifiées. Cette différence semble être liée à une variation du rapport galactose/mannose et de la masse molaire observée selon les variétés. Par ailleurs, les études des isothermes de sorption ont permis de fournir des informations complémentaires sur leurs hygroscopicités et par conséquence sur les conditions idéales de leur conservation / The carob plant is considered as one of the fruit and forester tree that has the greatest potential of valorization since all the parts of this plant can be used in several food and cosmetic applications. The carob is cultivated in several areas of lebanon but few studies are available on the ways of valorization and the functional and structural properties of the different fractions of this tree (seeds and pods). Thus, in view to develop a strategy aims to promote and contribute to a better valorization and management of this renewable resource, we undertook in this thesis of work devoted to the characterization and the evaluation of nutritive and functional properties of the carob pods resulting from several lebanese areas. This work focused particularly on the morphological and physicochemical characterization of the pods and the purified fraction of gum. These gums were the subject of a thorough study relating to their rheological behavior and the relation between this behavior, the variety and the geographical localization of the studied varieties. We also determined the isotherms of sorption of these gums to predict the ideal conditions of their conservation. The obtained results clearly showed the presence of the correlations between morphology, chemical composition and geographical localization of the different studied cultivars. In the same way, the structural and rheological studies showed significant differences between purified gums. This difference seems to be related to a variation of the galactose /mannose ratio and molar mass according to the varieties. These interesting rheological properties open the carob gums a new niches of valorization with added values. In addition, the studies of the isotherms of sorption provided additional information on their hygroscopicities and by consequence on the ideal conditions of their conservation

O feijão é um alimento nutritivo amplamente consumido no Brasil, porém, apresenta facilidade para desenvolver o defeito textural hard-to-cook (HTC) que torna as sementes resistentes ao amaciamento por cocção e provoca perdas econômicas e nutricionais. A maciez, um atributo importante nos grãos, proporciona melhor aceitabilidade do produto pelo consumidor, melhor qualidade nutricional e organoléptica e menor gasto de tempo e combustível no preparo. Devido à importância da parede celular na textura dos alimentos, foram investigadas alterações na estrutura e composição de seus polissacarídeos causada pelo HTC. Com este intuito, feijões Carioca-Pérola foram armazenados por 8 meses à 30°C / 75% UR e amostras cruas e cozidas tiveram suas paredes celulares extraídas através de tratamento enzimático-químico, produzindo uma fração solúvel em água (FSA) e outra insolúvel, denominada fração insolúvel em água (FIA). A FIA foi fracionada resultando em polímeros solúveis em solução de quelante de CDTA (FCDTA), base fraca (FBF) e álcali 4M (H4). A FSA foi separada em coluna de troca aniônica e os polímeros assim obtidos foram tratados com celulase e endopoligalacturonase e analisados quanto ao conteúdo de açúcares, peso molecular e natureza das ligações através de cromatografia em fase gasosa e a líqüido e por espectrometria de massa. Os resultados revelaram que 75% da parede celular do cotilédone é constituída pelas frações FSA, H4 e FCDTA, ricas em arabinanos ramificados de elevado peso molecular, contendo pequenas quantidades de xiloglicanos (XG), arabinogalactanos tipo II (AGII), galactanos, ramnogalacturonanos (RG) e xilogalacturonanos (XGA). As cascas dos feijões eram compostas por xilanos, celulose, XG, arabinanos e por pequena quantidade de RG. As sementes HTC possuem menor quantidade de polissacarídeos solúveis em água (FSA) e em solução de CDTA (FCDTA) e maior quantidade de material insolúvel em água (FIA), principalmente, polímeros da fração H4. Os feijões normais perdem grande quantidade de material péctico durante a cocção através da despolimerização e solubilização das pectinas hidrossolúveis (FSA) e, principalmente, pela solubilização dos polissacarídeos provenientes da fração H4, entretanto, a perda de material péctico em amostras HTC é mínima. Os feijões envelhecidos podem apresentar menor grau de metil esterificação das pectinas, que impediria a despolimerização. A redução na solubilidade dos polímeros da fração H4 pode estar relacionada com a perda de ramificação dos arabinanos e xiloglicanos resultando em polissacarídeos com cadeias mais lineares, que causam alinhamento das cadeias e formação de interações do tipo ponte de H, tornando os polímeros menos solúveis. O aumento de XGA e AU nas frações pécticas da FSA, bem como na FCDTA e FBF reforçam a suposição. / Beans is a nourishing food source widely consumed in Brazil. However, they show tendency to develop easily the textural defect named Hard-to-cook (HTC) that becomes the seeds resistant to softening by cooking, causing economical and nutritional losses. Softness is an important quality attribute of pulses that increases acceptability by consumer and provides betters nutritional and organoleptical qualities that results in less time and fuel spent. Because the importance of the cell wall to the food texture, changes in its polysaccharide structure and composition were investigated during the development of HTC. With this aim, Carioca-Pérola beans were stored for 8 months at 30°C / 75% RH and raw and cooked samples have had the cell wall extracted by enzymatic-chemical treatment, producing a water soluble fraction (FSA) and a water insoluble fraction, named water insoluble fraction (FIA). The FIA was fractionated, producing CDTA soluble polymers, weak base soluble polymers (FBF) and 4M alkali-soluble fraction (H4) The FSA was separated using anion exchange chromatography. All fractions obtained were treated withcelulase and endopoligalacturonase and analyzed for sugar content, molecular weight and sugar linkage using gas and liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The results revealed that FSA; H4 and CDTA fractions composed 75% of the cell wall material. This fractions were rich in high molecular weight branched arabinans, and also contained small amounts of xyloglucans (XG), arabinogalactans type II (AGII), galactans, rhamnogalacturonans (RG) and xylogalacturonans (XGA). Xylans, cellulose, XG, arabinans and small amounts of RG composed beans hulls cell wall. The HTC seeds have less amounts of CDTA and water-soluble polysaccharides (FCDTA and FSA) and higher amounts of water insoluble material (FIA), especially polysaccharides of H4 fraction. Normal beans loss high amounts of pectic material during cooking by water soluble pectin depolymerization and solubilization, and mainly by H4 fraction polysaccharide solubilization. However, the loss of pectic material in HTC beans is minimal. Aged beans pectins could have less methylesterification degree and, therefore, less depolymerization. The loss in H4 fractions polymers solubility could be related with the loss of arabinans and XG branches, resulting in a straight polysaccharide backbone, that cause chains alignment and H bonds formation, produce less soluble structures. The increase in the amounts of XGA and UA in FSA and also in the FCDTA and FBF fractions corroborates the supposition.

Haemophilus influenzae tipo b é uma bactéria Gram-negativa, patogênica causadora de meningites em crianças. A cápsula polissacarídica (PSb) é o principal fator de virulência e é usado como antígeno vacinal. O método clássico de purificação do PSb envolve várias etapas de precipitação com etanol, fenol e detergente catiônico (inflamável, corrosivo e tóxico), e etapas de ultracentrifugação. O objetivo deste estudo foi substituir total ou parcial as precipitações e/ou uso das centrífugas por cromatografia, digestão enzimática, microfiltração e ultrafiltração tangencial. As cromatografias de troca iônica e de filtração em gel não apresentaram boas purificações, entretanto a hidrofóbica pode eliminar as proteínas contaminantes. As precipitações com etanol foram necessárias para obter a pureza requerida. O etanol de alguma forma favoreceu a ação enzimática e facilitou a posterior ultrafiltração. A separação com etanol em fibra-oca de microfiltração tangencial mostrou melhores purificações do que a centrifugação, mas com uso repetido verificou-se redução na eficiência. / Haemophilus influenzae type b is Gram-negative pathogenic bacterium cause meningitis in children. The capsular polysaccharide (PSb) is the main virulence factor and it is used as vaccine antigen. The classical PSb purification process includes ethanol, phenol and cationic detergent precipitations (explosion prone, corrosive, toxic) and ultracentrifugation steps. The aim of this work was to replace total or partial ethanol precipitations steps and/or elimination of centrifugation by chromatography methods, enzymatic digestion and ultrafiltration (UF) or microfiltration. The results have showed that ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration did not result in good purification, however the hydrophobic can be used for proteins elimination. The ethanol precipitation steps are necessary to achieve the required purity of PSb. In some way ethanol contributed for enzymes action and further improvements in the UF. The ethanol separation with hollow fiber microfiltration exhibited better purification than centrifugation, but after some uses the efficiency has reduced.

Streptococcus pneumoniae é uma bactéria encapsulada causadora de doenças infecciosas como pneumonia, bacteremia e meningite, infecções essas que estão entre as principais causas de morte entre crianças, idosos e imunodeprimidos, indivíduos que constituem o grupo de risco para tais infecções. A vacinação tem sido a mais eficaz forma de conter tais infecções. A vantagem das vacinas conjugadas em comparação às polissacarídicas é a capacidade de indução de uma resposta imune T-dependente o que garante proteção mesmo ao grupo de risco para infecções por S. pneumonia. A proposta do projeto foi estabelecer um protocolo para obtenção de um conjugado constituído pelo polissacarídeo capsular de S. pneumonia sorotipo 1 (PS1) e pela proteína de superfície pneumocócica A (PspA). A síntese do conjugado empregou uma metodologia inédita para o sorotipo 1. A avaliação da resposta imune humoral induzida pelo conjugado mostrou a indução de IgG anti-PS1 gerada pelas imunizações com o conjugado PS1-PspA. / Streptococcus pneumoniae is an encapsulated bacteria causing infectious diseases such as pneumonia, bacteremia and meningitis, these infections are among the leading causes of death among children, elderly and immunocompromised, who constituting individuals of risk group. The vaccination has been the more effective form to counter these infection. The advantage of conjugated vaccines compared to vaccines polysaccharide, is the ability to induce a T-dependent immune response which provides protection even at risk groups for infection by S. pneumoniae. The project proposal was establish a protocol for obtaining a conjugate consisting of the capsular polysaccharide of S. pneumoniae serotype 1 (PS1) and the pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA). The synthesis of conjugate employed a new methodology for serotype 1. The evaluation of humoral immune response induced by the conjugate showed anti-PS1 IgG induction generated by immunization with the PS1-PspA.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:42:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 NiveaNM_DISSERT.pdf: 4430545 bytes, checksum: 80673edc56d71303c3e6a5cd7b2b1996 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-07-12 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The present study describes the stability and rheological behavior of suspensions of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM), poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)-chitosan (PNIPAMCS), and poly (N-isopropylacrylamide)-chitosan-poly (acrylic acid) (PNIPAM-CS-PAA) crosslinked particles sensitive to pH and temperature. These dual-sensitive materials were simply obtained by one-pot method, via free-radical precipitation copolymerization with potassium persulfate, using N,N -methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinking agent. Incorporation of the precursor materials into the chemical networks was confirmed by elementary analysis and infrared spectroscopy. The influence of external stimuli such as pH and temperature, or both, on particle behavior was investigated through rheological measurements, visual stability tests and analytical centrifugation. The PNIPAM-CS particles showed higher stability in acid and neutral media, whereas PNIPAM-CS-PAA particles were more stable in neutral and alkaline media, both below and above the LCST of poly (Nisopropylacrylamide) (stability data). This is due to different interparticle interactions, as well as those between the particles and the medium (also evidenced by rheological data), which were also influenced by the pH and temperature of the medium. Based on the results obtained, we found that the introduction of pH-sensitive polymers to crosslinked poly (Nisopropylacrylamide) particles not only produced dual-sensitive materials, but allowed particle stability to be adjusted, making phase separation faster or slower, depending on the desired application. Thus, it is possible to adapt the material to different media / Esse estudo descreve a estabilidade e o comportamento reol?gico de suspens?es aquosas de part?culas reticuladas sensitivas de poli (N-isopropilacrilamida) (PNIPAM), poli (N-isopropilacrilamida)-quitosana (PNIPAM-QS) e poli (N-isopropilacrilamida)-quitosanapoli (?cido acr?lico) (PNIPAM-CS-PAA). A obten??o dos materiais foi realizada por polimeriza??o por precipita??o, via radicais livres, utilizando persulfato de pot?ssio como iniciador e N,N -metilenobisacrilamida (MBA) como agente reticulante. A incorpora??o dos precursores nas part?culas reticuladas foi confirmada por an?lise elementar e espectroscopia na regi?o do infravermelho. A influ?ncia de est?mulos externos, como pH, temperatura, ou ambos, no comportamento das part?culas, foi investigado por medidas reol?gicas, estabilidade visual e centrifuga??o anal?tica. As part?culas de PNIPAM-QS apresentaram maior estabilidade em meios ?cido e neutro, enquanto que as part?culas de PNIPAM-QS-PAA foram mais est?veis em meios neutro e alcalino, tanto abaixo quanto acima da LCST da PNIPAM (dados de estabilidade). Isso ocorreu devido ?s diferentes intera??es interpart?culas e entre as part?culas e o meio (tamb?m evidenciadas pelos dados reol?gicos), que foi influenciada pelo pH e temperatura do meio. Baseando-se nos resultados obtidos, observou-se que a introdu??o de pol?meros sens?veis ao pH nas part?culas reticuladas de poli (N-isopropilacrilamida), resultou n?o apenas na s?ntese de copol?meros reticulados com dupla sensibilidade, mas em part?culas pass?veis de ajuste de estabilidade, ou seja, que podem sofrer separa??o de fases mais ou menos r?pida, dependendo da aplica??o desejada. Dessa forma, ? poss?vel adaptar as part?culas sintetizadas aos mais diversos meios

CAPES / Due to the environmental impact generated by the continued use of inert material derived exclusively from petroleum, there was an increase in research aimed at developing of films for packaging based on biopolymers, because they are degraded in composting conditions, not harm the environment. Films produced by biopolymer based perform support nutrients functions, preservation of bioactive, improved nutritional and sensory food characteristics of bringing with their quality and shelf life. In this context, the polysaccharides as an alternative because they are able to form solid polymeric matrices. The objective of this study was to develop and characterize flexible biodegradable films from natural polymers from renewable sources (starch), incorporated acerola pulp and clove essential oil (OEC) as antioxidant additives, antimicrobials, sources of vitamin C and carotenoids, prepared by casting process, aiming the choice of the best formulation for production of bioplastics by extrusion and pressing process. The filmogenic solutions were prepared at fixed concentrations of cassava starch (4%), acerola pulp (34.54%) and varying concentrations of glycerol (30; 22,5; 15; 7,5 and 0%) and OEC (0; 7,5, 15, 22,5 and 30%). One step of this study was to evaluate the bacteriostatic ability of the OEC and composite films with him against the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus of Gram-positive group and Salmonella tiphymurium of the Gram-negative group, and the fungus Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus flavus. All formed films were visually transparent and homogeneous. The substitution of glycerol for OEC caused no statistically significant difference in the properties of thickness, water activity (AW) and to water vapor permeability (WVP). The reduced glycerol content, proportional to the increase in concentration of OEC, increased total solids, vitamin C, carotenoids, ?-carotene and antioxidant activity by DPPH and ABTS and the reduction of the moisture content. The reduction of the glycerol content until 15% favored increased stress and strain at tensile and puncture and young modulus, after this limit has shown a drastic reduction in these properties. The desirability function used in the optimization process for selecting the best film produced by casting, to reproduce by extrusion and pressing. The extruded and compressed bioplastic obtained under the same conditions (starch concentration, pulp, glycerol and OEC) that formed by casting, was flexible, visually homogeneous and showed lower values for total solids, tensile deformation, puncture force, vitamin C, carotenoids and ?-carotene contents, and higher values in moisture and antioxidant activity by DPPH. Losses of bioactive were analyzed between each step of the casting process and extrusion, separately. Therefore, the incorporation of pulp acerola and clove essential oil in cassava starch biofilms gave a pronounced protective effect of the bioactive, altering the physical, chemical and mechanical properties. / O impacto ambiental gerado pelo uso cont?nuo de material inerte, oriundo exclusivamente de derivados de petr?leo, tem favorecido o aumento nas pesquisas visando o desenvolvimento de filmes para embalagem a base de biopol?meros, pois estes em condi??es de compostagem s?o reincorporados ao ambiente. Al?m disso, os filmes a base de biopol?meros podem desempenhar fun??es de suporte de nutrientes, preserva??o de bioativos, melhoria das caracter?sticas nutricionais e sensoriais dos alimentos, elevando sua qualidade e vida ?til. Neste contexto, os polissacar?deos apresentam-se como alternativa, pois s?o capazes de formar matrizes polim?ricas cont?nuas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi desenvolver e caracterizar filmes flex?veis biodegrad?veis ativos a partir de amido, incorporados de polpa de acerola e ?leo essencial de cravo (OEC) como aditivos antioxidantes, antimicrobianos, fontes de vitamina C e carotenoides, elaborados pelos processos de casting, extrus?o e termoprensagem. Nos filmes por casting, as solu??es filmog?nicas foram elaboradas em concentra??es fixas de amido de mandioca (4%), polpa de acerola (34,54%) e concentra??es variadas de glicerol (30; 22,5; 15; 7.5 e 0%) e OEC (0; 7,5; 15; 22,5 e 30%) em rela??o ao peso do amido. Sendo, os aditivos glicerol e OEC representados por 30% na base de amido. Uma etapa deste estudo consistiu em avaliar a capacidade antimicrobiana do OEC e dos filmes compostos adicionados deste. Esta avalia??o foi realizada por meio do teste de difus?o em ?gar com as bact?rias Staphylococcus aureus do grupo Gram-positivo e Salmonella tiphymurium do grupo Gram-negativo e dos fungos Penicillium sp. e Aspergillus flavus. Os filmes formados foram visualmente transparentes e homog?neos. A substitui??o do glicerol por OEC n?o provocou diferen?a estatisticamente significativa nas propriedades de espessura, atividade de ?gua (Aw) e permeabilidade ao vapor de ?gua (PVA). A redu??o do teor de glicerol, proporcional ? eleva??o da concentra??o de OEC, aumentou o teor de s?lidos totais, vitamina C, carotenoides totais, ?-caroteno, atividade antioxidante e a redu??o do teor de umidade. A redu??o do teor de glicerol at? 15% favoreceu o aumento da tens?o e deforma??o nos ensaios de tra??o e de perfura??o, bem como do m?dulo de elasticidade, ap?s este limite, foi evidenciada uma redu??o dr?stica nestas propriedades. A fun??o desejabilidade foi utilizada no processo de otimiza??o para sele??o do filme ideal (elevado teor de vitamina C, carotenoide e ?-caroteno, maior resist?ncia e deforma??o nos ensaios de tra??o e perfura??o, elevada capacidade antioxidante e m?dio m?dulo de elasticidade) elaborado por casting, para reprodu??o por extrus?o e prensagem. O biopl?stico extrusado e prensado obtido nas mesmas condi??es (concentra??o de amido, polpa, glicerol e OEC), que o formado por casting, foi flex?vel, visualmente homog?neo e apresentou menores valores para deforma??o na tra??o, for?a na perfura??o, teor de vitamina C, carotenoides, ?-caroteno e capacidade antioxidante por DPPH. Foram analisadas as perdas de bioativos entre cada etapa dos processos casting e extrus?o, separadamente. Possivelmente, a incorpora??o de ?leo essencial de cravo conferiu um pronunciado efeito protetor dos bioativos da polpa de acerola nos biofilmes de amido de mandioca, alterando as propriedades f?sico-qu?micas e mec?nicas.

Chez l’homme, la dégradation des fibres alimentaires est une des fonctions principales du microbiote colique. Elles ont de nombreux effets bénéfiques en santé humaine et pourtant les mécanismes microbiens mis en jeu dans leur dégradation restent encore largement méconnus. L’objectif de cette thèse était d’approfondir les connaissances sur la dégradation des polysaccharides pariétaux (hémicelluloses et pectines) par une espèce bactérienne prédominante du côlon de l’homme, Bacteroides xylanisolvens. L’analyse du transcriptome de B. xylanisolvens XB1AT a révélé l’existence de six et deux loci génomiques respectivement dédiés à la dégradation des pectines et des xylanes. Ces loci ou PULs (« Polysaccharide Utilization Loci ») sont connus chez Bacteroides pour coder pour des systèmes enzymatiques spécifiques d’un polysaccharide en particulier. L’analyse des CAZymes (Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes) codées par les PULs « pectinolytiques » a permis de proposer une cible polysaccharidique (homogalacturonane, rhamnogalaturonane de type I et II, arabinane) à cinq des six PULs identifiés. Les deux PULs « xylanolytiques » cibleraient les xylanes de faible complexité. La mutation du gène susC-like dans le PUL 49 et du gène HTCS (Hybrid Two-Component System) dans le PUL 43 a démontré l’importance respective de ces deux loci dans la fonction pectinolytique et xylanolytique de la bactérie. Le mutant HTCS a aussi permis de montrer pour la première fois que deux PUL peuvent être liés au niveau transcriptionnel. En présence de xylane, les données de protéomique ont souligné la surproduction par la bactérie d’une endo-xylanase possédant deux CBMs (Carbohydrate-Binding Modules). Cette enzyme modulaire pourrait être considérée comme un marqueur fonctionnel de la xylanolyse dans l’écosystème microbien intestinal. En conclusion, B. xylanisolvens déploie une machinerie enzymatique qui reflète la complexité des polysaccharides pariétaux de plantes. La plasticité métabolique de B. xylanisolvens vis-à-vis des fibres alimentaires contribue certainement à sa survie et son maintien dans le côlon humain. Des études d’écologie fonctionnelle ciblant la communauté fibrolytique intestinale sont encore nécessaires afin de mieux décrypter l’impact des fibres alimentaires et en particuliers des polysaccharides pariétaux sur le métabolisme microbien intestinal et par conséquent sur la santé humaine. / Dietary fiber degradation is a key function of the human gut microbiota. They have many beneficial effects on human health and yet microbial mechanisms involved in their degradation remain largely unknown. The aim of this thesis was to increase our knowledge on the degradation of plant cell wall polysaccharides (hemicelluloses and pectins) by a prominent human gut bacterial species, Bacteroides xylanisolvens. The transcriptome analysis of B. xylanisolvens XB1AT revealed the existence of six and two genomic loci dedicated to the degradation of pectins and xylan, respectively. These loci or PUL ("Polysaccharide Utilization Loci") are known to encode enzyme systems in Bacteroides that are specific to a particular polysaccharide. Analysis of the CAZymes (Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes) encoded by the "Pectinolytic" PULs allowed us to propose a polysaccharide target (homogalacturonan, type I and type II rhamnogalaturonane, arabinan) to five of the six identified PULs. The two identified "xylanolytic" PULs would target low complexity xylan. Mutation of the susC-like gene of PUL 49 and of the HTCS gene (Hybrid Two-Component System) of PUL 43 showed the importance of these two loci in pectinolytic and xylanolytic functions of the bacterium, respectively. The HTCS mutant also revealed for the first time that two PULs can be linked at the transcriptional level. With xylan, proteomic data highlighted the overproduction by the bacterium of an endo-xylanase with two CBMs (Carbohydrate-Binding Modules). This modular enzyme could be considered as a functional marker of xylan breakdown in the intestinal microbial ecosystem. In conclusion, B. xylanisolvens harbors an enzymatic machinery that reflects the complexity of plant cell wall polysaccharides. The metabolic plasticity of B. xylanisolvens towards dietary fibers certainly contributes to its fitness in the human gut. Functional and ecological studies targeting the intestinal fibrolytic community are still necessary to better understand the impact of dietary fibers and in particular plant cell wall polysaccharides on the intestinal microbial metabolism and consequently on human health.

Particles and macromolecular components, including biopolymers (protein and carbohydrate), are viewed as the main foulants in the complex feed submerged membrane filtration systems such as membrane bioreactor (MBR). This work focused on two aspects of fouling in complex fluids: 1- Assessing fouling propensity and mechanisms for various model solutions. 2- Using of two specific solutions modelling biomass found in MBR for a better understanding of the fouling mechanisms in submerged MBR processes. Filtrations were carried out with 0.22 ??m PVDF hollow fibre membrane. Alginate was used as a model for polysaccharide, bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model for protein, (un)washed yeast and bentonite were representing suspended solid contents. According to the data obtained during this study the fouling propensity of each model solution was classified as follow in a decreasing order: Alginate &gt unwashed yeast &gt washed yeast &gt BSA &gt bentonite for one-component solutions; and Alginate-washed yeast &gt Alginate-BSA &gt Alginate-bentonite &gt Alginate-unwashed yeast for two-component solutions. Introducing the alginate increased the reversible fouling (except BSA). Passive adsorption had a significant effect on fouling of alginate even before the beginning of the filtration. Washed yeast and a mixture of washed yeast + BSA were then used as model solutions to simulate the activated sludge found in MBR. The concentration of washed yeast and BSA used in this study were calculated in order for the characterisations of the two model solution to match (in terms of biopolymer contents) those of MBR biomasses reported in the literature. By rinsing, backwashing and chemical cleaning of the membrane, three fouling layers of upper, intermediate and lower were defined respectively. Results obtained from the analysis of the biopolymers found in the cleaning solutions allow a better understanding of the fouling mechanisms occurring for the two model solutions used in this study: for washed yeast, the lower layer and for washed yeast + BSA , the upper and intermediate layers were found to have relatively high biopolymeric composition. This was explained by higher concentration of solids on the membrane surface and by higher biopolymer interactions when washed yeast was mixed with BSA.

Les interactions non-covalentes en solution jouent un rôle essentiel dans de nombreux processus chimiques, biologiques, pharmacologiques. Il est donc d'intérêt de pouvoir quantifier ces interactions. Parmi les méthodes de quantification disponibles, l'électrophorèse capillaire semble particulièrement bien adaptée (miniaturisation, absence de phase stationnaire). Au cours de ces travaux, plusieurs systèmes modèles ont été caractérisés au moyen de trois méthodes électrophorétiques (injection directe, électrophorèse d'affinité et analyse frontale): la distribution d'un soluté dans une phase liposomale, l'interaction entre un polysaccharide (héparine) et une protéine (antithrombine III), les seuils d'agrégation de tensioactifs, l'inclusion de petites molécules dans la beta-cyclodextrine. Pour chacun de ces modèles, une attention particulière a été portée aux spécificités des méthodes électrophorétiques utilisées et à l'intérêt de certaines modélisations.

This thesis presents the application of different protein engineering methods on enzymes and non-catalytic proteins that act upon xyloglucans. Xyloglucans are polysaccharides found as storage polymers in seeds and tubers, and as cross-linking glucans in the cell wall of plants. Their structure is complex with intricate branching patterns, which contribute to the physical properties of the polysaccharide including its binding to and interaction with other glucans such as cellulose. One important group of xyloglucan-active enzymes is encoded by the GH16 XTH gene family in plants, including xyloglucan endo-transglycosylases (XET) and xyloglucan endo-hydrolases (XEH). The molecular determinants behind the different catalytic routes of these homologous enzymes are still not fully understood. By combining structural data and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, interesting facts were revealed about enzyme-substrate interaction. Furthermore, a pilot study was performed using structure-guided recombination to generate a restricted library of XET/XEH chimeras. Glycosynthases are hydrolytically inactive mutant glycoside hydrolases (GH) that catalyse the formation of glycosidic linkages between glycosyl fluoride donors and glycoside acceptors. Different enzymes with xyloglucan hydrolase activity were engineered into glycosynthases, and characterised as tools for the synthesis of well-defined homogenous xyloglucan oligo- and polysaccharides with regular substitution patterns. Carbohydrate-binding modules (CBM) are non-catalytic protein domains that bind to polysaccharidic substrates. An important technical application involves their use as molecular probes to detect and localise specific carbohydrates in vivo. The three-dimensional structure of an evolved xyloglucan binding module (XGBM) was solved by X-ray diffraction. Affinity-guided directed evolution of this first generation XGBM resulted in highly specific probes that were used to localise non-fucosylated xyloglucans in plant tissue sections. / QC 20100902