Vitamin D3 administration increases the membrane fluidity of intestinal mitochondria

The fluorescence anisotropy in the mitochondria from vitamin D-treated chicks is significantly lower than that from the vitamin D-deficient animals with the inner core probe DPH. Surface membrane fluidity, measured with the probe TMA-DPH, shows no differences between the organelles of both groups. The fluorescence studies performed in mitochondrial subfractions revealed that cholecalciferol treatment induces a decrease of lipid order parameter S (DPH) in the mitochondrial inner membrane. These results pose the question of whether vitamin D3 participates in the regulation of physiological function of the intestinal mitochondria through changes in the physical properties of the membranes.     

CO2 uptake by the cultivated hemiepiphytic cactus, Hylocereus undatus

The climate of the native tropical forest habitats of Hylocereus undatus, a hemiepiphytic cactus cultivated in 20 countries for its fruit, can help explain the response of its net CO2 uptake to environmental factors. Under wet conditions, about 85% of the total daily net CO₂ uptake occurs at night via Crassulacean acid metabolism, leading to a high water‐use efficiency. Total daily net CO₂ uptake is reduced 57% by only 10 days of drought, possibly involving stomatal closure induced by abscisic acid produced in the roots, which typically occupy a small substrate volume. Total daily net CO₂ uptake for H. undatus is maximal at day/night air temperatures of 30/20°C, optimal temperatures that are higher than those for desert cacti but representative of ambient temperatures in the tropics; its total daily net CO₂ uptake becomes zero at day/night air temperatures of 42/32°C. Stem damage occurs at 45°C for H. undatus, whose photosynthetic cells show little acclimation to high temperatures compared with other cacti and are also sensitive to low temperatures, ‐1.5°C killing half of these cells. Consistent with its shaded habitat, total daily net CO2 uptake is appreciable at a total daily PPF of only 2 mol m2 day' and is maximal at 20 mol m^?2 day^?1, above which photoinhibition reduces net CO₂ uptake. Net CO₂ uptake ability, which is highly correlated with stem nitrogen and chlorophyll contents, changes only gradually (halftimes of 2–3 months) as the concentration of applied N is changed. Doubling the atmospheric CO₂ concentration raises the total daily net CO₂ uptake of H. undatus by 34% under optimal conditions and by even larger percentages under adverse environmental conditions.     

Use of agricultural surpluses for production of biomass by marine microalgae

The marine microalga Phaeodactylum tricornutum was cultivated in semi-continuous culture under mixotrophic conditions with the soluble fractions of potato, rye and wheat flours that had been naturally fermented, at 2% or 4% (w/v). The rye flour produced the highest microalgal cellular density of 90×10⁶ cells.ml^-1 when supplemented with NaNO₃ and NaH₂PO₄. The autotrophic control only gave 57×10⁶ cells.ml^-1. The value of agricultural surpluses, such as rye flour, can therefore be increased by its use in the production of valuable, microalgal biomass which is rich in protein, pigments and fatty acids.     

Production of pectinases by Aspergillus niger in solid state fermentation at high initial glucose concentrations

Exopectinase (exo-p) and endopectinase (endo-p) production by Aspergillus niger CH4 in solid state culture was studied at initial glucose concentrations of 100, 250, 350 and 450 g/l. The highest activity of exo-p (35 U/g) was produced at 72 and 120 h in the medium containing 100 and 250 g glucose/l, respectively. The maximum endo-p activity (9 U/g) was produced at 72 h in the medium with 250 g glucose/l. The reduction in pectinase production at 350 and 450 g/l initial glucose concentration was due neither to repression of the synthesis of the enzyme nor to the glucose consumption rate of the strain but due to a drastic drop in pH of the medium.S. Solis-Pereyra, E. Favela-Torres, M. Gutiérrez-Rojas, G. Saucedo-Castañeda and G. Viniegra-González are with the Departamento de Biotecnologia, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, A.P. 55-535, C.P. 09340, México D.F., México; S. Roussos is with the Laboratoire de Biotechnologie, ORSTOM, B.P. 5045, 34032, Montpellier Cedex, France, and P. Gunasekaran is with the Department of Microbial Technology, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 625-021, India.     

Low-cost method for the preservation of Sclerotium rolfsii Proimi F-6656: Inoculum standardization and its use in scleroglucan production

Summary The Castellani's Method for the preservation of Sclerotium rolfsii in sterile distilled water was tested. Culturing on Potato Dextrose Yeast extract (PDY) slants, the current system used, was also evaluated. Preservation of sclerotia according to the Castellani's method allowed the strain survival for more than two years. Comparing with the strain periodically activated, a critical decrease (about 80%) in -glucan synthesizing capacity was detected for mycelium preserved either on PDY slants or in water. Activation of stored sclerotia followed by subculturing in liquid Production Medium (PM) allowed preparation of homogeneous suspensions for batch fermentations, and scleroglucan concentrations achieved were similar to those with the strain periodically activated.