Transacetylation of carbohydrates in organic solvent catalysed by O-acetylpeptidoglycan esterase from Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The potential of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae O-acetylpeptidoglycan esterase (Ape1a) for catalysing transacetylations in organic solvents with a number of carbohydrate acceptors was investigated. The performance of the enzyme was observed to improve as the polarity index of the solvent increased. The best transacetylation conditions were determined to be a 1:6 phosphate buffer/ethyl acetate system, where Ape1a catalysed approximately 28% acetylation of 4-methylumbelliferyl-N-acetylglucosamine using p-nitrophenyl acetate as donor. Further analysis of the acetylated products by reverse phase HPLC and ESI-mass spectrometry confirmed the presence of monoacetylated 4-methylumbelliferyl-N-acetylglucosamine. Under identical reaction conditions, the enzyme also performed transacetylations using ethyl acetate or vinyl acetate as donor. These results demonstrated the feasibility of using the bacterial cell wall enzyme Ape1a to generate hitherto unattainable compounds which may be used as antagonists of peptidoglycan-metabolizing enzymes.     

Development of sporeless/low sporing strains of Pleurotus through mutation

Summary The sporophores of Pleurotus are gymnocarpous and continuously release spores in the atmosphere causing respiratory allergies like hay fever and farmer’s lung disease among workers. The allergy is caused by the antigens present on the walls of the spores. Apart from this, during commercial production, these spores settle on the fruit bodies, germinate and form a velvety film which gives an unpleasant appearance to the mushrooms. The spores emitted may include new genotypes likely to attack wood or trees. Spore allergy is one of the most important limiting factors for the large scale cultivation of this species. Different approaches are being adopted at IIHR for the production of commercial sporeless/low-sporing strains of Pleurotus to alleviate the spore allergy problem. Attempts were made during the present investigation to produce sporeless or low-sporing mutants through u.v. mutation. Mutation of the mycelium did not yield the desired results. Mutation of the spores of Pleurotus sajor-caju yielded an extremely low-sporing mutant after 75 min exposure. The character has been found to be stable for more than 10 generations of subculturing.     

Climate change and seasonal reproduction in mammals

Seasonal reproduction is common among mammals at all latitudes, even in the deep tropics. This paper (i) discusses the neuroendocrine pathways via which foraging conditions and predictive cues such as photoperiod enforce seasonality, (ii) considers the kinds of seasonal challenges mammals actually face in natural habitats, and (iii) uses the information thus generated to suggest how seasonal reproduction might be influenced by global climate change. Food availability and ambient temperature determine energy balance, and variation in energy balance is the ultimate cause of seasonal breeding in all mammals and the proximate cause in many. Photoperiodic cueing is common among long-lived mammals from the highest latitudes down to the mid-tropics. It is much less common in shorter lived mammals at all latitudes. An unknown predictive cue triggers reproduction in some desert and dry grassland species when it rains. The available information suggests that as our climate changes the small rodents of the world may adapt rather easily but the longer lived mammals whose reproduction is regulated by photoperiod may not do so well. A major gap in our knowledge concerns the tropics; that is where most species live and where we have the least understanding of how reproduction is regulated by environmental factors.