Vitamins A, C, and E and β-Carotene Content in Seeds of Seven Species of Vicia L.

To determine the vitamins A, C, and E and β-carotene content of Vicia species that can be used in animal feed, a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was used to investigate the vitamin and β-carotene content in mature and immature seeds of seven Vicia species (Vicia anatolica Turrill., V. ervilia (L.) Willd., V. michauxii Sprengel, V. mollis Boiss. et Hausskn. ex Boiss., V. noeana Reuter ex Boiss., V. peregrina L., and V. sericocarpa Fenzl.), which are useful plants in animal feed in the eastern Anatolia region in Turkey. The vitamin content was found to differ between mature and immature seeds. The levels of vitamins A, C, and E and β-carotene were higher in mature seeds than in immature seeds (P ＜ 0.01).     

Vitamins A, C, and E and β-Carotene Content in Seeds of Seven Species of Vicia L.

Abstract: To determine the vitamins A, C, and E and β-carotene content of Vicia species that can be used in animal feed, a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was used to investigate the vitamin and β-carotene content in mature and immature seeds of seven Vicia species ( Vicia anatolica Turrill., V. ervilia (L.) Willd., V. michauxii Sprengel, V. mollis Boiss. et Hausskn. ex Boiss., V. noeana Reuter ex Boiss., V. peregrina L., and V. sericocarpa Fenzl.), which are useful plants in animal feed in the eastern Anatolia region in Turkey. The vitamin content was found to differ between mature and immature seeds. The levels of vitamins A, C, and E and β-carotene were higher in mature seeds than in immature seeds ( P < 0.01).
(Managing editor: Wei WANG)     

A Review of: “Biological Recognition and Assembly,D. S. Eisenberg,J. A. Lake and C. F. Fox,Eds. Alan R. Liss,New York, 1980; hardbound, 355 pages, $52.00”

Two MMP-7-ase isoenzymes were purified 100-fold from rat muscle extract to apparent homogeneity, with an overall yield of 10%, using homogenization, ultracentrifugation, high-performance aqueous size-exclusion and high-performance anion exchange chromatography methods. When using a TSK G-2000SW column, the separation resulted in a 6-fold purification and 30% recovery of isoenzymes B and C. This concentrated enzyme extract was then passed through a TSK-DEAE-2SW column, using salt gradient at pH 7.5, with an additional 25-fold purification and 90% recovery of the isoenzymes. Two symmetrical enzyme peaks, representing isoenzymes B and C, were detected when performing purity tests of the active enzymes on the anion exchanger and reversed-phase HFLC columns. The procedures involved are extraction, ultracentri-fugation, chromatographies and enzyme assays and require less than five hours.     

Ecliptamines A–D,four new guanidine alkaloids from Eclipta prostrata L.

Four structurally unique guanidine alkaloids ecliptamines A–D (1–4) and one known analog (5) were isolated from the aerial parts of Eclipta prostrata (Asteraceae). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analyses and chemical methods. The inhibitory activities of 1, 2 and 5 were assayed with respect to cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and -2 (COX-2). Compound 5 showed moderate inhibitory activities against COX-1 and -2 with IC₅₀ values of 3.0 × 10⁻³ M and 8.3 × 10⁻⁴ M, respectively, whereas aspirin as a positive control displayed the IC₅₀ values of 4.2 × 10⁻⁴ M (against COX-1) and 7.1 × 10⁻⁴ M (against COX-2).     

Seed structure in Crocus sativus L. ×, C. cartwrightianus Herb., C. thomasii Ten., and C. hadriaticus Herb. at SEM

Crocus sativus L. (Iridaceae) is a sterile triploid geophyte widely cultivated for the production of the spice saffron and only reproduced by means of corms. Extensive research has identified Crocus cartwrightianus Herb. as being a probable progenitor of C. sativus. However, other diploid Crocus species of the same C. sativus group, such as C. thomasii Ten. and C. hadriaticus Herb., have been considered as possible progenitors of saffron. Of the characteristics for distinguishing critical genera, species and intraspecific taxa of angiosperms, the most widely adopted have been seed organisation and patterns of spermoderma microstructure detected at SEM. The aim of this study is to use SEM to analyse the seeds of C. sativus ×, a cross obtained by C. sativus with pollen of C. cartwrightianus Herb. and the seeds of allopollinated C. cartwrightianus, C. thomasii Ten., and C. hadriaticus Herb. Results indicate that the seed surface microstructure of C. sativus × is very similar to that of C. cartwrightianus while being different from those of C. thomasii and C. hadriaticus.     

Kinetics of Avibactam Inhibition against Class A,C, and D β-Lactamases

Avibactam is a non-β-lactam β-lactamase inhibitor with a spectrum of activity that includes β-lactamase enzymes of classes A, C, and selected D examples. In this work acylation and deacylation rates were measured against the clinically important enzymes CTX-M-15, KPC-2, Enterobacter cloacae AmpC, Pseudomonas aeruginosa AmpC, OXA-10, and OXA-48. The efficiency of acylation (k₂/K_i) varied across the enzyme spectrum, from 1.1 × 10¹ m⁻¹s⁻¹ for OXA-10 to 1.0 × 10⁵ for CTX-M-15. Inhibition of OXA-10 was shown to follow the covalent reversible mechanism, and the acylated OXA-10 displayed the longest residence time for deacylation, with a half-life of greater than 5 days. Across multiple enzymes, acyl enzyme stability was assessed by mass spectrometry. These inhibited enzyme forms were stable to rearrangement or hydrolysis, with the exception of KPC-2. KPC-2 displayed a slow hydrolytic route that involved fragmentation of the acyl-avibactam complex. The identity of released degradation products was investigated, and a possible mechanism for the slow deacylation from KPC-2 is proposed.     

A.L.Demain教授来华访问

美国麻省理工学院(MIT)营养和食品科学系工业微生物学教授A. L. Demain教授偕其夫人,于1982年5月24日—6月5日来华进行学术访问。先后在上海和北京访问了中国科学院和     

Vitis vinifera L.: Wild or cultivated? Study of the grape pips found at Petra, Jordan; 150 B.C. – A.D. 40

The identification of carbonised grape pips (Vitis vinifera ssp.) is problematic, and the morphological features generally used to distinguish the wild subspeciesV. vinifera ssp.sylvestris from the cultivated subspeciesV. vinifera ssp.vinifera are not satisfactory. Different biometric studies were carried out on Nabataean and Roman seeds found at Petra, Jordan, dated to 150 B.C. – A.D. 400, and the results were compared to known phytogeographical and climatic data. Depending on the identification method selected, the seeds were attributed either to wild grapevines (based on the ratio of breadth over length, and on discriminant analyses of size variables such as pip length, stalk length, and chalaza position), or to an archaic variety of vine with seeds morphologically close to those of wild grapevines (ratio of stalk length over total pip length). The methods used here were applied to European grape pips; they should be tested on Near Eastern material. Archaeological data did not clarify the situation, and the importance of viticulture, which was prohibited during the Nabataean period, remains difficult to evaluate at Petra.