Flow Injection Analysis of Lactose in Milk Using a Chemically Modified Lactose Electrode

β-Galactosidase and glucose oxidase were immobilized with bovine serum albumin using glutaraldehyde on to a glassy carbon electrode silanized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. The laboratory-constructed lactose electrode was used for flow injection analysis to determine the lactose content in milk. Electrochemical interference could be detected by a non-enzymatic electrode (W₂) and the current was subtracted from that of the enzymatic electrode (W₁), providing an accurate measurement of the hydrogen peroxide that was enzymatically generated. The peak current was linearly related to the lactose concentration in the range 10^?4~ 1.5 × 10^?3 M (original concentration) and 40 samples/hr could be analyzed. The relative standard deviation for 10 assays was less than 2%. The proposed method was compared with the chloramine T method and the values determined by both methods were in good agreement.     

Lactose utilization byVibrio vulnificus

The ability of wild-type strains ofVibrio vulnificus to utilize lactose as a sole source of carbon and energy and produce acid in lactose-containing media is associated with the appearance of spontaneous lactose-utilizing mutants. These contain increased activities of an enzyme able to hydrolyzeo-nitrophenyl--d-galactoside as well as lactose. This activity is constitutive in some mutants and inducible by both lactose and isopropyl--d-thiogalactoside in others. A limited survey of otherVibrio species indicates thatV. pelagius also can acquire, by mutation, the ability to grow on and make acid from lactose. No immunological cross-reaction was detected between the enzymes fromVibrio and the -galactosidases ofEscherichia coli andKlebsiella.     

Lactose intolerance in Arabs

Summary A high incidence (minimum 20/26, maximum 24/26) of lactose intolerance was found in a group of adult Arab subjects. A selective reduction of intestinallactase activity was present in 4 subjects in whom a suction biopsy was performed.

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Zusammenfassung In einer Gruppe von arabischen Erwachsenen wurde eine große Häufigkeit der Lactose-Intoleranz (minimal 20/26, maximal 24/26) gefunden. Bei 4 Probanden, bei denen eine Saugbiopsie durchgeführt wurde, war die Aktivität der intestinalen Lactase erniedrigt.

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This work was supported by Stiftung Volkswagenwerk and Landesamt für Forschung, Nordrhein-Westfalen.     

Conversion of Cellobiose into Lactose

Benzyl 2, 3, 6-tri-O-acetyl-4-O-(2,3-di-O-acetyl-4,6-di-O-methylsulfonyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl)-β-d-glucopyranoside (VI) was prepared from α-cellobiose octaacetate. Displacement of the sulfonyl esters of VI with acyloxy-groups in N, N-dimethyl formamide in the presence of sodium benzoate gave 4-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-d-glucopyranose derivative (lactose derivative). Elimination of blocking groups of the derivative yielded lactose hydrate (IX), though the overall yield of lactose from cellobiose octaacetate was less than 2%.     

Proton-Coupled Dynamics in Lactose Permease

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Highlights? Deprotonation of Glu325 brings H⁺ translocation and sugar-binding sites together ? Deprotonation of Glu325 closes the internal water-filled cytoplasmic cavity ? Deprotonated LacY inserted into DMPC lipids shows no structural rearrangements ? The structural changes show remarkable similarities to experimental observations     

Kinetics of Intravenously Administered Lactose in Cows

Four adult Norwegian Red cows were employed in an experiment designed to study the kinetics of lactose. The cows were given 50 g or 60 g of lactose by rapid intravenous injection of a 10 % lactose solution. Blood samples were taken at different intervals after injection, and lactose concentrations in the samples determined by an enzymatic/spectrophotometric method. The mean half-time for lactose elimination was 85.7 min, and for distribution 8.4 min. The mean apparent volume of distribution was calculated to be 0.189 1/kg, and total body clearance 1.55 ml min−1 kg−1. There was evidence to suggest that lactose mainly is eliminated renally from its distribution volume by glomerular filtration in the cow.     

Lactose metabolism in Erwinia chrysanthemi.

Wild-type strains of the phytopathogenic enterobacterium Erwinia chrysanthemi are unable to use lactose as a carbon source for growth although they possess a beta-galactosidase activity. Lactose-fermenting derivatives from some wild types, however, can be obtained spontaneously at a frequency of about 5 X 10(-7). All Lac+ derivatives isolated had acquired a constitutive lactose transport system and most contained an inducible beta-galactosidase. The transport system, product of the lmrT gene, mediates uptake of lactose in the Lac+ derivatives and also appears to be able to mediate uptake of melibiose, raffinose, and galactose. Two genes encoding beta-galactosidase enzymes were detected in E. chrysanthemi strains. That mainly expressed in the wild-type strains was the lacZ product. The other, the lacB product, is very weakly expressed in these strains. These enzymes showed different affinities for the substrates o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside and lactose and for the inhibitors isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside and galactose. The lmrT and lacZ genes of E. chrysanthemi, together with the lacI gene coding for the regulatory protein controlling lacZ expression, were cloned by using an RP4::miniMu vector. When these plasmids were transferred into Lac- Escherichia coli strains, their expression was similar to that in E. chrysanthemi. The cloning of the lmrT gene alone suggested that the lacZ or lacB gene is not linked to the lmrT gene on the E. chrysanthemi chromosome. One Lac+ E. chrysanthemi derivative showed a constitutive synthesis of the beta-galactosidase encoded by the lacB gene. This mutation was dominant toward the lacI lacZ cloned genes. Besides these mutations affecting the regulation of the lmrT or lacB gene, the isolation of structural mutants unable to grow on lactose was achieved by mutagenic treatment. These mutants showed no expression of the lactose transport system, the lmrT mutants, or the mainly expressed beta-galactosidase, lacZ mutants. The lacZ mutants retained a very low beta-galactosidase level, due to the lacB product, but this level was low enough to permit use of the lacZ mutants for the construction of gene fusions with the Escherichia coli lac genes.     

Loss of Lactose Metabolism in Lactic Streptococci

Lactose-negative mutants occurred spontaneously in broth cultures of Streptococcus lactis C(2)F. Instability of lactose metabolism was noted in other strains of S. lactis, in strains of S. cremoris, and in S. diacetilactis. Colonies of S. lactis C(2)F grown with lactose as the carbohydrate source also possessed lac(-) cells. Treatment of lactic streptococci with the mutagen acriflavine (AF) increased the number of non-lactose-fermenting variants. The effect of AF on growth and on loss of lactose-fermenting ability in S. lactis C(2)F was consequently further examined. The presence of AF appears to favor competitively the growth of spontaneously occurring lactose-negative cells and appears to act in the conversion of lactose-positive to non-lactose-fermenting cells. The lactose-negative mutants partially revert to lactose-positive variants which remain defective in lactose metabolism and remain unable to coagulate milk. The lactose-negative cells become dominant in continuous culture growth and provide evidence that alterations in the characteristics of starter strains can be produced by continuous culture, in this case, the complete loss in ability to ferment lactose.     

Lactose intolerance in adults in Senegal

The isolated malabsorption of the lactose in the adult is an hereditary feature while is not found often in the white people but is spread out in black Africa. In Senegal, a ratio of about 29% is verified, changing according to the ethnic composition. Only the Peuhls, of semitic origin, show a full tolerance to lactose.     

解脂耶氏酵母细胞表面展示乳糖水解酶高效水解乳糖

乳糖是婴幼儿获取能量的重要碳源之一,但乳糖需要在乳糖酶的作用下水解成半乳糖与葡萄糖后才能被吸收。缺少乳糖分解酶的婴幼儿在摄入含乳糖的食品后,未被消化的乳糖会直接进入大肠,刺激大肠蠕动加快,造成一系列不适应症状即乳糖不耐症,我国属于乳糖不耐症高发国家。因此,解决乳糖的体外水解问题对减轻该症状有重要的意义。研究通过将β-半乳糖苷酶(也称为乳糖水解酶)表面展示在食品安全微生物解脂耶氏酵母(Yarrowia lipolytica)细胞表面,通过培养获得该酵母,然后直接利用酵母细胞来水解乳糖生成半乳糖与葡萄糖。采用该工程酵母细胞(HCY10),能在24小时内完全水解50g/L的乳糖,生成半乳糖与葡萄糖。该方法具有高效、简便的优点,能为乳糖的高效水解提供一条新的途径。     

Regulation of the Synthesis of the Lactose Repressor

Measurements of the lactose repressor over a tenfold range of cell growth rates were made on protein extracts from Escherichia coli cultures grown in media with various carbon energy sources. The concentration of lactose repressor varied with the number of genome equivalents per cell over this range in growth rates, suggesting that the number of lactose molecules within the cell is determined by the number of I gene copies present. The timing of repressor synthesis during the cell division cycle and its correlation with deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis was examined by synchronizing the cell division cycle of E. coli ED1039, in which the Lac region has been transposed from 10 to 36 min on the genetic map. Measurements of lactose repressor in the synchronized culture revealed a burst of repressor synthesis at the time of I gene duplication. The concentration of lactose repressor was found to decrease as a function of total cell protein during the division cycle until an increase in synthesis occurred, suggesting that repressor synthesis probably does not occur throughout the division cycle. A model for I gene regulation is proposed.     

Lactose biosynthesis: A sensitive radiochemical assay

A method is presented for the determination of lactose biosynthesis from labeled glucose, galactose, or other precursors based upon the addition of samples of the reaction mixture (after removal of the tissue or biosynthetic enzymes) to each of two strains of Escherichia coli. While both strains can metabolize glucose and galactose, only one is able to hydrolyze lactose. The sugars are converted by the bacteria largely to cell material and carbon dioxide. The difference between the residual, nonvolatile, soluble radioactivity in the medium from the two bacterial cultures represents the lactose unused by the strain unable to hydrolyze it.