The authors would like to further clarify that they have retracted this article [1] due to the ethical misconduct of Karel Bezouska. His misappropriation of data fundamentally changes the main findings of the article. Specifically, the upper amino acid sequence in Figure 1 (by KB) in BMC Biotechnol 11:2 was incorrect, therefore Nit-ANigWT (nitrilase purified from Aspergillus niger K10) and Nit-ANigRec (nitrilase expressed in E. coli harbouring a nit gene from A. niger K10) were not variants of the same enzyme as hypothesized in the original article. The different biochemical properties of Nit-ANigWT and Nit-ANigRec discussed in the paper were caused by a significant difference in the primary structures of these enzymes [2].
Evidence of scientific misconduct on the part of Karel Bezou¿ka has been found by the Ethical Committee of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Charles University in Prague.
We apologize to all affected parties.
References
1. Kaplan O, Bezou¿ka K, PlÃhal O, Ettrich R, Kulik N, Van¿k O, Kavan D, Benada O, Malandra A, ¿veda O, Vesela AB, Rinágelová A, Slámová K, Cantarella M, Felsberg J, Du¿ková J, Dohnálek J, Kotik M, K¿en V, MartÃnková L: Heterologous expression, purification and characterization of nitrilase from Aspergillus niger K10. BMC Biotechnol 2011, 11:2.
2. Kaplan O, Vejvoda V, PlÃhal O, Pompach P, Kavan D, Bojarová P, Bezou¿ka K, Macková M, Cantarella M, Jirk¿ V, K¿en V, MartÃnková L: Purification and characterization of a nitrilase from Aspergillus niger K10 (vol 73, pg 567, 2006). Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2013, 97:3745-3746.
Further clarification
20 September 2013
The authors would like to further clarify that they have retracted this article [1] due to the ethical misconduct of Karel Bezouska. His misappropriation of data fundamentally changes the main findings of the article. Specifically, the upper amino acid sequence in Figure 1 (by KB) in BMC Biotechnol 11:2 was incorrect, therefore Nit-ANigWT (nitrilase purified from Aspergillus niger K10) and Nit-ANigRec (nitrilase expressed in E. coli harbouring a nit gene from A. niger K10) were not variants of the same enzyme as hypothesized in the original article. The different biochemical properties of Nit-ANigWT and Nit-ANigRec discussed in the paper were caused by a significant difference in the primary structures of these enzymes [2].
Evidence of scientific misconduct on the part of Karel Bezou¿ka has been found by the Ethical Committee of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Charles University in Prague.
We apologize to all affected parties.
References
1. Kaplan O, Bezou¿ka K, PlÃhal O, Ettrich R, Kulik N, Van¿k O, Kavan D, Benada O, Malandra A, ¿veda O, Vesela AB, Rinágelová A, Slámová K, Cantarella M, Felsberg J, Du¿ková J, Dohnálek J, Kotik M, K¿en V, MartÃnková L: Heterologous expression, purification and characterization of nitrilase from Aspergillus niger K10. BMC Biotechnol 2011, 11:2.
2. Kaplan O, Vejvoda V, PlÃhal O, Pompach P, Kavan D, Bojarová P, Bezou¿ka K, Macková M, Cantarella M, Jirk¿ V, K¿en V, MartÃnková L: Purification and characterization of a nitrilase from Aspergillus niger K10 (vol 73, pg 567, 2006). Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2013, 97:3745-3746.
Competing interests
None to declare