Immobilization of Saccharomyces uvarum cells in porous beads of polyacrylamide gel for ethanolic fermentation

Summary A procedure which does not involve the use of an immiscible organic solvent phase is described for the entrapment of yeast cells in porous beads of polyacrylamide gel. The cells are rapidly dispersed at 4° C in an aqueous solution containing sodium alginate and acrylamide-N,Nmethylene-bis-acrylamide monomer, and the suspension is immediately dropped into a solution of calcium formate to give calcium alginate coated beads. Polyacrylamide gel forms within the bead. The calcium alginate is subsequently leached out of the composite bead with either sodium citrate or potassium phosphate buffer solution. Cells of Saccharomyces uvarum ATCC 26 602 entrapped in such polyacrylamide beads ferment cane molasses in batch mode at higher specific ethanol productivity than a free cell suspension. Their volumetric productivity in continuous fermentation is higher than that of Ca²⁺-alginate immobilized cells.NCL Communication No. 4383     

DNA sequence organization in the genomes of three related millet plant species

Summary A major portion of the genomes of three millet species, namely, barn yard millet, fox tail millet and little millet has been shown to consist of interspersed repeat and single copy DNA sequences. The interspersed repetitive DNA sequences are both short (0.15–1.0 kilo base pairs, 62–64% and long (>1.5 kilo base pairs, 36–38%) in barn yard millet and little millet while in fox tail millet, only long interspersed repeats (>1.5 kilo base pairs) are present. The length of the interspersed single copy DNA sequences varies in the range of 1.6–2.6 kilo base pairs in all the three species. The repetitive duplexes isolated after renaturation of 1.5 kilo base pairs and 20 kilo base pairs long DNA fragments exhibit a high thermal stability with Tms either equal to or greater than the corresponding native DNAs. The S1 nuclease resistant repetitive DNA duplexes also are thermally stable and reveal the presence of only 1–2% sequence divergence.The present data on the modes of sequence arrangement in millets substantiates the proposed trend in plants, namely, plants with 1C nuclear DNA content of less than 5 picograms have diverse patterns of sequence organization while those with 1C nuclear DNA content greater than 5 picograms have predominantly a short period interspersion pattern.Abbreviations kbp kilobase pairs NCL Communication No. 3606.     

Purification and properties of citrate lyase from Escherichia coli

Citrate lyase (EC 4.1.3.6) has been purified from Escherichia coli and the homogeneity of the preparation established from the three-component subunits obtained on sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme has a specific activity of 120 mumol min-1 mg-1 and requires optimally 10 mM Mg2+ and a pH of 8.0 for the cleavage reaction. The native enzyme is polydispersed in the ultracentrifuge and in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme complex is composed of three different polypeptide chains of 85 000, 54 000, 32 000 daltons. An estimate of subunit stoichiometry indicates that 1 mol of the largest polypeptide chain is associated with 6 mol each of the smaller ones. The polypeptide subunits have been isolated in pure state and their biological functions characterize. The 54 000-dalton subunit functions as the acyltransferase alpha subunit catalyzing the formation of citryl coenzyme A from citrate in the presence of acetyl coenzyme A and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. The 32 000-dalton subunit functions as the acyllyase beta subunit catalyzing the cleavage of (3S)-citryl coenzyme A to oxal-acetate and acetyl coenzyme A. The 85 000-dalton subunit, which carries exclusively the prosthetic group components, functions as the acyl-carrier protein gamma subunit in the cleavage of citrate in the presence of mg2+ and the alpha and beta subunits. The presence of a large ACP subunit and the unusual stoichiometry of the different subunits distinguish the complex from other citrate lyases. A ligase which acetylates the deacetyl[citrate lyase] in the presence of acetate and ATP has ben shown to be present in the organism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Continuous ethanol production by yeast cells immobilized in open pore gelatin matrix

Summary Open pore gelatin pellets with entrapped yeast cells were obtained by selective leaching out of Ca alginate from the composite matrix followed by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. Saccharomyces uvarum cells immobilized in the porous carrier showed high ethanol productivities with a maximum value of 25 g/l.h when monitored in packed bed reactors at 35°C with continuous cane molasses feedstock containing 10% fermentable sugars.     

Purification and characterization of a cell-surface lectin (Lectin II) from Agrobacterium radiobacter NCIM 2443

A lectin was isolated from Agrobacterium radiobacter cell surface and purified. It is a monomer of 40 kDa as shown by SDS-PAGE. The lectin has a pI of 9.15 and amino acid composition of the lectin shows that 44% of the amino acids are hydrophobic. The lectin agglutinates rabbit erythrocytes but does not agglutinate human erythrocytes. It does not show specificity for monosaccharides except for D-glucosamine. Fetuin and its N-linked glycopeptide also inhibit the activity of the lectin but greater inhibition is shown by locust bean gum and Nicotiana tobaccum (tobacco) tissue extracts.     

Industrial yeast strain improvement: construction of a highly flocculent yeast with a killer character by protoplast fusion

Conditions were optimized for rapid release and improved regeneration of protoplasts ofSaccharomyces cerevisiae NCIM 3458. Rapid protoplast release was also obtained with representatives of several other yeast genera under the modified conditions of treatment. The application of the procedure in construction of a highly flocculentSaccharomyces cerevisiae with a killer character is described. Fusion was effected between UV-killed protoplasts ofS. cerevisiae NCIM 3578 with a killer character and live protoplasts of the highly flocculentS. cerevisiae NCIM 3528 in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000. Fusants were selected using benomyl resistance as marker, the killer toxin producer rather than the highly flocculent yeast being resistant to the fungicide at a concentration of 100 g ml^–1. Fusants were also characterized by their DNA contents, capacity for ethanolic fermentation of molasses sugar and levels of invertase, alcohol dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase activities.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of a novel class of isatin analogs as dual inhibitors of tubulin polymerization and Akt pathway

A novel series of 5,7-dibromoisatin analogs were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxicities against four human cancer cell lines including colon HT29, breast MCF-7, lung A549 and melanoma UACC903. Analogs 6, 11 and 13 displayed good in vitro anticancer activity on the HT29 human colon cancer cell line in the 1 μM range. Analogs 5, 9 and 12, containing a selenocyanate group in the alkyl chain were the most promising compounds on the breast cancer MCF-7 cell line. Biological assays relating to apoptosis were performed to understand the mechanism of action of these analogs. Compounds 5 and 6 were found to inhibit tubulin polymerization to the same extent as the anticancer drug vinblastine sulfate, but compounds 11 and 13 inhibited significantly better than vinblastine. Further western blot analysis suggested that compound 6 at 2 μM reduced both levels and phosphorylation state of Akt. Compounds 11 and 13 at 1 μM caused reduced Akt protein levels and strongly suppressed the phosphorylation of Akt. Therefore, 11 and 13 were demonstrated as efficient dual inhibitors of both tubulin polymerization and the Akt pathway and good candidates for further study. More importantly, the strategy of microtubule and Akt dual inhibitors might be a promising direction for developing novel drugs for cancer.     

Characterization of a human surfactant protein A1 (SP-A1) gene-specific antibody; SP-A1 content variation among individuals of varying age and pulmonary health

The human surfactant protein A (SP-A) locus consists of two functional genes (SP-A1, SP-A2) with gene-specific products exhibiting qualitative and quantitative differences. The aim here was twofold: 1) generate SP-A1 gene-specific antibody, and 2) use this to assess gene-specific SP-A content in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). An SP-A1-specific polyclonal antibody (hSP-A1_Ab(68-88)_Col) was raised in chicken, and its specificity was determined by immunoblot and ELISA using mammalian Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell-expressed SP-A1 and SP-A2 variants and by immunofluorescence with stably transfected CHO cell lines expressing SP-A1 or SP-A2 variants. SP-A1 content was evaluated according to age and lung status. A gradual decrease (P < 0.05) in SP-A1/SP-A ratio was observed in healthy subjects (HS) with increased age, although no significant change was observed in total SP-A content among age groups. Total SP-A and SP-A1 content differed significantly between alveolar proteinosis (AP) patients and HS, with no significant difference observed in SP-A1/SP-A ratio between AP and HS. The cystic fibrosis (CF) ratio was significantly higher compared with AP, HS, and noncystic fibrosis (NCF), even though SP-A1 and total SP-A were decreased in CF compared with most of the other groups. The ratio was higher in culture-positive vs. culture-negative samples from CF and NCF (P = 0.031). A trend of an increased ratio was observed in culture-positive CF (0.590 +/- 0.10) compared with culture-positive NCF (0.368 +/- 0.085). In summary, we developed and characterized an SP-A1 gene-specific antibody and used it to identify gene-specific SP-A content in BALFs as a function of age and lung health.