Juliet A. Gerrard

Bacterial biosynthesis of lysine has come under increased scrutiny as a target for novel antibacterial agents as it provides lysine for protein synthesis and both lysine and meso-diaminopimelate for construction of the bacterial peptidoglycan cell wall. In this Highlight article we review recent advances in the validation of antibiotic targets, studies of the enzymes of the lysine biosynthetic pathway and development of inhibitors of these enzymes.

During many food processing regimens, food proteins may undergo a variety of chemical modifications. Despite the enormous consumption of processed foods worldwide, much remains to be learned about the exact nature of these modifications. This is partly due to the complex nature of the changes involved, and partly to the problems of analysis imposed by the intractable nature of the food matrix. Such difficulties are compounded by the paucity of chemically based analytical tests that accurately measure amino acid availability in biologically relevant terms. In this review, we explore the known changes that proteins and amino acids undergo during food processing and the consequences of these changes on the physical and nutritional qualities of the food. We also examine the impact of these protein derivatizations for the analysis of food proteins and amino acids, and highlight areas that require future research.