Acylated anthocyanins from leaves of Oxalis triangularis

The novel anthocyanins, malvidin 3-O-(6-O-(4-O-malonyl-alpha-rhamnopyranosyl)-beta-glucopyranoside)-5-O-beta-glucopyranoside (2), malvidin 3-O-(6-O-alpha-rhamnopyranosyl-beta-glucopyranoside)-5-O-(6-O-malonyl-beta-glucopyranoside) (3), malvidin 3-O-(6-O-(4-O-malonyl-alpha-rhamnopyranosyl)-beta-glucopyranoside)-5-O-(6-O-malonyl-beta-glucopyranoside) (4), malvidin 3-O-(6-O-(4-O-malonyl-alpha-rhamnopyranosyl)-beta-glucopyranoside) (5) and malvidin 3-O-(6-O-(Z)-p-coumaroyl-beta-glucopyranoside)-5-O-beta-glucopyranoside (6), in addition to the 3-O-(6-O-alpha-rhamnopyranosyl-beta-glucopyranoside)-5-O-beta-glucopyranoside (1) and the 3-O-(6-O-(E)-p-coumaroyl-beta-glucopyranoside)-5-O-beta-glucopyranoside (7) of malvidin have been isolated from purple leaves of Oxalis triangularis A. St.-Hil. In pigments 2, 4 and 5 a malonyl unit is linked to the rhamnose 4-position, which has not been reported previously for any anthocyanin before. The identifications were mainly based on 2D NMR spectroscopy and electrospray MS.     

竹红菌乙素对菌紫质荧光的影响

用荧光光谱方法研究了竹红菌乙素与菌紫质的相互作用。通过竹红菌乙素对菌紫质吸收光谱,对菌紫质荧光猝死的浓度和温度的依赖性以及竹红菌乙素对明暗适应菌紫质的荧光猝灭等研究表明,竹红菌乙素是一种新型的荧光猝灭剂,它对菌紫质的荧光猝灭属于动态猝死过程。竹红菌乙素对明暗适应菌紫质荧光猝灭的差别,说明这种猝灭剂可用于生物膜体系的蛋白质构象变化的研究。     

Phototaxis and other sensory phenomena in purple photosynthetic bacteria

Abstract: The mechanisms employed by purple photosynthetic bacteria to convert light to utilizable chemical energy have been a major focus of research over the past 50 years. Utilization of light by photosynthetic bacteria for other purposes, however, has received relatively little attention. The recent discovery of phototaxis by Rhodospirillum centenum provides new opportunities for biochemical and molecular biological analysis of sensory processes in purple bacteria.     

绿色红假单胞菌和绿硫红假单胞菌的分离与鉴定

在选择培养条件下,利用琼脂振荡稀释分离技术,对接种于造纸废水和污水处理厂污泥污水的富集培养液进行纯化,分离得到两株绿色的光合细菌菌株G和SG。它们细胞内均含细菌叫叶绿素b,光合内膜结构为片层,繁殖方式为出芽,但在对有机碳源、还原态硫化物利用能力及同化硫酸盐等生理特性上有很大差异。经鉴定,以《伯杰氏系统细菌学手册》第3卷(1989)为依据,确定这两菌株是红假单胞菌属的两个种,菌株G定名为绿色红假单胞菌(Rhndopxeudomonas viridis),菌株SG定名为绿硫红假单胞菌(Rhodopseudomonas sulfoviridis)。     

The evolutionary origin of red algae as deduced from the nuclear genes encoding cytosolic and chloroplast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases from Chondrus crispus

Algae are a heterogeneous group of photosynthetic eukaryotes traditionally separated into three major subdivisions: rhodophytes, chlorophytes, and chromophytes. The evolutionary origin of rhodophytes or red algae and their links to other photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic eukaryotes have been a matter of much controversy and speculation. Here we present the first cDNAs of nuclear protein genes from red algae: Those encoding cytosolic and chloroplast glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases (GAPDH) from Chondrus crispus. A phylogenetic analysis including GAPDH gene sequences from a number of eukaryotic taxa, cyanobacteria, and purple bacteria suggests that chloroplasts and rhodoplasts together form a monophyletic group of cyanobacterial descent and that rhodophytes separated from chlorophytes at about the same time as animals and fungi. The composite GAPDH tree further demonstrates that chloroplast and cytosolic GAPDH genes are closely related to their homologs in cyanobacteria and purple bacteria, respectively, the presumptive ancestors of chloroplasts and mitochondria, thereby firmly establishing the endosymbiotic origin of these nuclear genes and their fixation in eukaryotic cells before the rhodophyte/chlorophyte separation. The present data are in conflict with phylogenetic inferences based on plastid-encoded rbcL sequences supporting a polyphyletic origin of rhodoplasts and chloroplasts. Comparison of rbcL to GAPDH phylogenies suggests that rbcL trees may be misleading because they are composed of branches representing ancient duplicated (paralogous) genes. Correspondence to: R. Cerff     

Modelling the relationship between purple blotch and yield loss in garlic and effect of leaf damage on bulb yield

An AUDPC model was developed to describe the relationship between Alternaria porri infection and yield loss in garlic. Percentage yield loss was regressed against AUDPC and gave an acceptable fit to a linear model with an intercept of -0.35, a slope of 0.09 and R²= 0.85 during 1990–91 and an intercept of 1.91, a slope of 0.08 and R²= 0.87 during 1991–92. The effect of various levels of leaf damage on garlic bulb yield was also studied to simulate damage caused by A. porri. Significant yield reduction by 25% defoliation at 5 wk, 50% defoliation at 4 wk and 75% defoliation at 3 wk before bulb maturity were recorded. No significant yield reduction from 2 wk before bulb maturity could, however, be noticed even at the highest levels of leaf damage. Linear regression models were fitted for predicting yield at various levels of defoliation at different weeks before bulb maturity. These models can be used to describe the consequences of disease epidemics, projecting possible losses during the season and justifying the need for chemical disease control.     

Urease formation in purple sulfur bacteria (Chromatiaceae) grown on various nitrogen sources

Batch cultures of Thiocapsa roseopersicina strain 6311, Thiocystis violacea strain 2311 and Chromatium vinosum strain 1611, grown anaerobically in the light on sulfide with urea, ammonia, N₂ or casein hydrolysate as nitrogen source exhibited urease activity, while Chromatium vinosum strain D neither showed any degradation of urea nor urease activity on any of the nitrogen sources tested.In T. violacea and C. vinosum strain 1611 urease was little affected by the nitrogen source and seemed to be constitutive. In T. roseopersicina, however, the enzyme was repressed by ammonia (although a low basal level of activity remained) and, to a lesser degree, induced by urea: The presense of urea stimulated a temporary increase in urease activity in the early exponential growth phase. The highest activities, however, were found after growth on N₂, and especially on 0.1% casein hydrolysate (in the absence or after exhaustion of external ammonia), but not before the stationary growth phase was reached. Derepressed urease synthesis required an efficient external source of nitrogen.In cultures of T. roseopersicina urease activity showed a periodic oscillation which depended on the repeated feeding with sulfide and subsequent variation in the sulfur content of the cells. The possible reasons of this oscillation are discussed.     

Growth and metabolism of the purple sulfur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina under combined light/dark and oxic/anoxic regimens

The dominant purple sulfur bacterium of laminated sediment ecosystems in temperate environments, Thiocapsa roseopersicina, was cultivated in sulfide-limited continuous cultures (D=0.03 h^-1) subjected to various combined diel regimen of aeration and illumination in order to simulate environmental conditions in microbial mats. For comparison, cultures were grown under similar illumination regimens but continuously anoxic conditions.Bacteriochlorophyll a (BChla) and carotenoid synthesis was restricted to anoxic-dark periods and did not occur during oxic-light periods. An increase in the length of the oxic-light periods resulted in decreased pigment contents. However, phototrophic growth remained possible even at 20 h oxic-light/4 h anoxic-dark regimens. When anoxic conditions were maintained throughtout, BChla synthesis occurred both during light and dark periods.Glycogen was synthesized in the light and degraded in the dark. Calculations showed that degradation of 1/4–1/5 of the glycogen is sufficient to account for the BChla and carotenoid synthesis in the dark.The data showed that T. roseopersicina is very well adapted to cope with the combined oxygen and light regimes as they occur in microbial mats, which may explain the dominance of this bacterium in the purple layer of these sediment ecosystems.Non-standard abbreviations BChl bacteriochlorophyll - specific growth rate - D dilution rate - S_R concentration of limiting substrate in reservoir bottle     

紫膜在含水凝胶中的定向和状态

用几种光谱学方法研究了紫膜凝胶的定向度、生色团视黄醛的状态以及其光循环中间产物M的动力学过程。结果表明:用通常采用的制备方法所得到的紫膜凝胶虽然能得到光电响应信号,但其定向度并不理想,生色团视黄醛的构象受到较大扰动,光循环中间产物M的产出及衰减也受到抑制,部分样品甚至由于其视黄醛的脱落而完全失去颜色,其质子泵功能也随之丧失。这说明虽然紫膜凝胶是目前研究紫膜质子泵机理(光电响应测量)和构造分子电子器件较好的和有希望的人工膜系统之一,但由于该系统对紫膜结构和功能的扰动仍然较大,紫膜的定向较难控制,所以,我们仍需在凝胶的形成体系及方法的改进上作大量工作。     

Sialic acid-containing lipopolysaccharides in purple nonsulfur bacteria

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from a number of purple nonsulfur bacteria and of phylogenetically related species were analyzed for the presence of sialic acid by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Species and strains of the genera Rhodobacter, Rhodopseudomonas, Rhodomicrobium, Rhodospirillum, Rhodocyclus and Rhodopila were investigated, sialic acid, however, was found only in the genus Rhodobacter. It occurs in strains of Rhodobacter capsulatus, R. sphaeroides, R. sulfidophilus and R. veldkampii. All these species belong to the -3 subgroup of purple bacteria as defined by 16S rRNA catalogues. Approximately equimolar ratios of sialic acid and of 2-keto-3-deoxy-octonate (KDO) were found in isolated LPSs. Sodium deoxycholate gel electrophoresis of these LPS-samples also suggested a location of sialic acid in the LPS core region. Sialic acid was present only in those LPSs, which exhibited a complete core region.Abbreviations LPS Lipopolysaccharide - Neu5Ac N-acetylneuraminic acid - KDO 2-Keto-3-deoxy-octonate - Neuß2Me neuraminic acid-2-methyl glycoside - DOC sodium deoxycholate - PAGE polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis - HPLC high performance liquid chromatography - TLC thin layer chromatography