Amorphophallus titanum Becc.: a Historical Review and Some Recent Observations

Amorphophallus titanum Becc., discovered in 1878 by OdoardoBeccari in Sumatra has flowered only a few times in botanicalgardens. Its corms may weigh as much as 50 kg, have a diameterof 50–55 cm, a circumference of nearly 2 m and be 40cmhigh. The inflorescences, which produce a fetid smell, may last3–4 days and can reach a height of 2 m. The spadix isyellow-red in colour and the spathe greenish purple. Amorphophallus titanum, Araceae, inflorescence, spadix, spathe, corm, pistillate flowers, staminate flowers     

Heat Production in the Voodoo Lily (Sauromatum guttatum) as Monitored by Infrared Thermography

The pattern of surface temperatures of the inflorescence of Sauromatum guttatum was investigated by using an infrared camera. The male flowers are weakly thermogenic on the first day of inflorescence opening (D-day) as well as on the next day (D + 1), reaching 0.5 to 1°C above ambient temperature. The appendix (the upper sterile part of the inflorescence) is highly thermogenic on D-day, reaching 32°C, and is faintly thermogenic on D + 1, reaching 1°C above ambient temperature. The lower part of the spadix, close to the female flowers, is also thermogenic on D-day and D + 1, reaching a temperature similar to that of the appendix only on D + 1. Salicylic acid does not induce heat production in the lower part of the spadix, as it does in the appendix. Respiration of tissue slices obtained from the appendix shows that the capacity for cyanide-insensitive respiration is present in young and mature appendices. This alternative respiratory pathway is not, however, utilized in young appendix tissue, but is engaged during the maturation of that tissue.     

Respiration,temperature regulation and energetics of thermogenic inflorescences of the dragon lily Dracunculus vulgaris (Araceae)

Dracunculus vulgaris is a protogynous arum lily with thermogenic inflorescences consisting of male and female florets on a spadix within a floral chamber. Above the chamber, an odour-producing appendix and a carrion-coloured spathe attract flying insects. The inflorescence shows a triphasic warming pattern. The floral chamber warms weakly on the first night as the spathe opens. Then the appendix produces a large amount of heat and a powerful scent during the first day. As the appendix cools on the second night, scent production ceases and the floral chamber rewarms. Warming ceases when the pollen is shed on the second day. The heating pattern is associated with attraction of pollinating insects by the appendix on the first day, entrapment in the warm chamber at night and release after pollen shedding. The temperature in the floral chamber is regulated at around 18 °C during the second night. The oxygen consumption rate of the florets is inversely related to the ambient temperature as in other thermoregulatory flowers. Conversely, the oxygen consumption rate of the appendix is directly related to the ambient temperature, indicating that it does not thermoregulate. Thus, temperature regulation is not associated with scent production, but with some activity inside the floral chamber.     

Changes in free fatty acids of awamori during aging

The fatty acid components of awamori during aging were as follows. The total amount of volatile acids calculated as acetic acid ranged from 20 to 140 mg/l, the main acid was acetic acid, and the proportion of acetic acid to total acids ranged from 35 to 80 per cent. The main acids other than acetic acid were propionic acid and i-butyic acid. Differences were observed in fatty acid constituents between awamori and other alcoholic beverages.Certain components tended to increase during maturation in kame (porous earth-enware pots): acetic acid, i-butyric acid, i-valeric acid, valeric acid, capric acid, lauric acid, myristic acid and total fatty acids. Others, however, showed no distinct changes: propionic acid, butyric acid, caproic acid, caprylic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid.During maturation in non-porous containers (stainless-steel or glass-linked tanks), on the other hand, caprylic acid, capric acid, lauric acid and myristic acid components tended to increase, while no distinct changes however were shown by acetic acid, propionic acid, i-butyric, butyric acid, i-valeric acid, valeric acid, caproic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and total fatty acids.     

Constitution of inactive phenolase-inhibitor complex in spinach chloroplasts

From inactive phenolase-inhibitor complex of spinach chloroplasts, the inhibitor is liberated with ethyl acetate. The complex is re-constituted from its two components by freezing, and can be activated at elevated temperatures. The inhibitor seems to be a volatile acid, and on freezing, propionic, butyric and valeric acids can reduce the enzyme activity greatly.     

Production of flavor esters by lipases of Staphylococcus warneri and Staphylococcus xylosus

The present paper describes the potential of Staphylococcus warneri and Staphylococcus xylosus lipases in the production of a variety of flavor esters. Both immobilized lipases produced ethyl esters from hexanoic to oleic acids with an optimum at decanoic acid. They esterified aliphatic and branched chain primary alcohols from ethanol to hexanol. Under our standard conditions, acetic, butyric, 2-methyl butyric, 3-methyl butyric, and valeric acids underwent slight esterification.     

Olfactory performance of rats after selective deafferentation of the olfactory bulb by 3-methyl indole

Rats trained to detect propyl acetate and valeric acid and to discriminate between propyl acetate and amyl acetate and between valeric acid and butyric acid were injected with a low dose of 3-methyl indole, a treatment that produces well-defined and selective deafferentation of the olfactory bulbs. Treatment completely deafferented most but not all bulbar loci for aliphatic acids and at least disrupted those for propyl and amyl acetate. In posttreatment tests, experimental rats performed somewhat but not significantly more poorly than controls and about as well on the acid detection and discrimination tasks as on the corresponding acetate tests.     

Influence of chain ordering on the selectivity of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayer membranes for permeant size and shape.

The effects of lipid chain packing and permeant size and shape on permeability across lipid bilayers have been investigated in gel and liquid crystalline dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers by a combined NMR line-broadening/dynamic light scattering method using seven short-chain monocarboxylic acids (formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, isovaleric acid, and trimethylacetic acid) as permeants. The experimental permeability coefficients are compared with the predictions of a bulk solubility diffusion model in which the bilayer membrane is represented as a slab of bulk hexadecane. Deviations of the observed permeability coefficients (Pm) from the values predicted from solubility diffusion theory (Po) lead to the determination of a correction factor, the permeability decrement f (= Pm/Po), to account for the effects of chain ordering. The natural logarithm of f has been found to correlate linearly with the inverse of the bilayer free surface area with slopes of 25 +/- 2, 36 +/- 3, 45 +/- 8, 32 +/- 12, 33 +/- 4, 49 +/- 12, and 75 +/- 6 A2 for formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, isovaleric acid, and trimethylacetic acid, respectively. The slope, which measures the sensitivity of the permeability coefficient of a given permeant to bilayer chain packing, exhibits an excellent linear correlation (r = 0.94) with the minimum cross-sectional area of the permeant and a poor correlation (r = 0.59) with molecular volume, suggesting that in the bilayer interior the permeants prefer to move with their long principal axis along the bilayer normal. Based on these studies, a permeability model combining the effects of bilayer chain packing and permeant size and shape on permeability across lipid membranes is developed.     

Measurement of the appearance of volatile fatty acids in the portal vein during digestion in conscious pigs

A method used to measure the nutrient exchanges between the intestinal lumen and the portal blood was applied to 3 pigs receiving 800 g of a diet containing 6% of cellulose. During a postprandial period of 24 hrs., the mixture of volatile fatty acids (90 mM/h) appearing in the portal vein was composed of acetic acid (57%), propionic acid (30%), butyric acid (9%), isovaleric (2.5%) and valeric acid (1.5%). The composition of this mixture differed from that of the colic contents because of its acetic acid enrichment at the expense of butyric acid. The resulting energy supply to the animal represented about 600 to 700 kcal/24 hrs.     

Cytotoxic effects of culture supernatants of oral bacteria and various organic acids on Vero cells

Dilute culture filtrates of the three asaccharolytic black-pigmented Bacteroides species as well as B. macacae, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and animal strains resembling B. gingivalis were cytotoxic for the African green monkey kidney cell line (Vero cells). Butyric or propionic acid, major metabolic products of these bacteria, seem to be responsible for the characteristic morphological changes observed. Among the organic acids studied, only butyric, propionic, and valeric acids exhibited cytotoxic effects. Finally, cumulative effects (as opposed to synergistic) were observed when mixtures of two organic acids were tested.     

Precursors of the major end products of aerobic metabolism of Brochothrix thermosphacta

To further our understanding of off-odour production by Brochothrix thermosphacta , the nature and origins of its end products have been compared during aerobic growth in complex and in minimal, defined medium. In complex medium glucose is the major precursor of acetoin and acetic acid but alanine may be an additional minor source. Iso butyric, iso valeric (3-methylbutyric) and 2-methylbutyric acids are derived exclusively from valine, leucine and iso leucine, respectively. In minimal defined medium although the same end products are produced they are all derived from glucose.     

n-alkane oxidation by apseudomonas formation and β-oxidation of intermediate fatty acids

Summary From a culture broth ofPseudomonas aeruginosa (KSLA strain 473) grown on heptane as the sole source of carbon, fatty acids could be isolated after a period of decreased oxygen supply. The corresponding methyl esters—obtained by treatment with diazomethane—were separated by gas-liquid chromatography and identified by mass spectrometry. Heptylic, valeric and propionic acids were shown to be present in the original culture broth. Using the same techniques the formation of caproic acid from hexane was shown to occur, whereas the amount of butyric acid formed was extremely small and inconsistent. These results show conclusively that this microbiological oxidation of heptane and hexane proceeds by way of the corresponding fatty acids, which are further degraded by β-oxidation. The absence of caproic and valeric acids in heptane and hexane oxidation, respectively, shows that decarboxylation of fatty acids does not occur.     

Multi-omic profiling reveals associations between the gut mucosal microbiome,the metabolome,and host DNA methylation associated gene expression in patients with colorectal cancer

Actinomyces oris is an early colonizer and has two types of fimbriae on its cell surface, type 1 fimbriae (FimP and FimQ) and type 2 fimbriae (FimA and FimB), which contribute to the attachment and coaggregation with other bacteria and the formation of biofilm on the tooth surface, respectively. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are metabolic products of oral bacteria including A. oris and regulate pH in dental plaques. To clarify the relationship between SCFAs and fimbrillins, effects of SCFAs on the initial attachment and colonization (INAC) assay using A. oris wild type and fimbriae mutants was investigated. INAC assays using A. oris MG1 strain cells were performed with SCFAs (acetic, butyric, propionic, valeric and lactic acids) or a mixture of them on human saliva-coated 6-well plates incubated in TSB with 0.25% sucrose for 1 h. The INAC was assessed by staining live and dead cells that were visualized with a confocal microscope. Among the SCFAs, acetic, butyric and propionic acids and a mixture of acetic, butyric and propionic acids induced the type 1 and type 2 fimbriae-dependent and independent INAC by live A. oris, but these cells did not interact with streptococci. The main effects might be dependent on the levels of the non-ionized acid forms of the SCFAs in acidic stress conditions. GroEL was also found to be a contributor to the FimA-independent INAC by live A. oris cells stimulated with non-ionized acid. SCFAs affect the INAC-associated activities of the A. oris fimbrillins and non-fimbrillins during ionized and non-ionized acid formations in the form of co-culturing with other bacteria in the dental plaque but not impact the interaction of A. oris with streptococci.     

Metabolism of NG,NG-and NG,N'G-dimethylarginine in rats

The metabolic fates of NG,NG-and NG,N'G-dimethylarginines in rats were investigated isotopically and novel metabolites, alpha-keto-delta-(N,N-dimethylguanidino)-and alpha-keto-delta-(N,N'-dimethylguanidino)valeric acids and gamma-(N,N-dimethylguanidino)-and gamma-(N,N'-dimethylguanidino)butyric acids were identified. In the case of the rats injected with NG,NG-dimethyl-L-[1,2,3,4,5-14C]arginine, about 13% of the radioactivity was recovered in the first 12-h urine and was distributed in the following metabolites (relative ratios): unchanged NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine (35.2%), gamma-(N,N-dimethylguanidino)butyric acid (18.4%), alpha-keto-delta-(N,N-dimethylguanidino)valeric acid (16.4%), and N alpha-acetyl-NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine (8.5%). The radioactivity retained in the tissues was found mainly in citrulline and was further distributed in ornithine, arginine, and glutamic acid and even in protein-bound arginine. In the case of NG,N'G-dimethyl-L-[1,2,3,4,5-14C]arginine-injected rats, about 75% of the radioactivity was excreted in the first 12-h urine and was recovered in the following metabolites (relative ratios): N alpha-acetyl-NG,N'G-dimethyl-L-arginine (48.4%), unchanged NG,N'G-dimethyl-L-arginine (23.7%), alpha-keto-delta-(N,N'-dimethylguanidino)valeric acid (20.2%), and gamma-(N,N'-dimethylguanidino)butyric acid (9.6%). In the tissues, most of the radioactivity was associated with unchanged NG,N'G-dimethyl-L-arginine. These findings show that both dimethylarginines are metabolized by a pathway forming the corresponding alpha-ketoacid analogs and the oxidatively decarboxylated products of the alpha-ketoacids in addition to the N alpha-acetyl conjugates identified previously (K. Sasaoka, T. Ogawa, and M. Kimoto (1982) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 219, 454-458), and NG,NG-dimethyl-L-arginine is catabolized by an additional pathway leading to the formation of citrulline and its metabolically related amino acids. By considering their catabolism, an attempt to use urinary dimethylarginines as an index of in vivo breakdown of tissue proteins is invalid at least in rats.     

Short-chain fatty-acid-induced effects on the cell cycle in root meristems of Pisum sativum

Propionic acid and valeric acid at 1 m M reduced the mitotic index of root meristem cells of Pisum sativum to <1% after 12 h in aerated White's medium. After 12 h exposure to either acid, seedlings transferred to fresh medium resumed their normal mitotic index 12 h after transfer, with a burst of mitosis at 8 h. Exposure times of 8 h to either acid inhibited DNA synthesis, and nuclei released from either propionic or valeric acid inhibition were still unable to resume normal DNA synthesis after 12 h. Neither acid significantly altered the distribution of meristematic cells in G1 and G2 after 12 h. Propionic acid at 1 m M reduced the uptake of [¹⁴C]-leucin but conversion rates to protein were constant regardless of whether any acid was present. Another longer fatty acid, caprylic acid, at 1 m M did not significantly reduce the mitotic index nor did 1 m M benzoic acid, another organic acid. This information suggests that only the short-chain fatty acids, propionic acid and valeric acid, limit progression through the cell cycle by inhibiting DNA synthesis and arresting cells in G1 and G2 in a manner similar to butyric acid, a known cell arresting agent.     

AEROBIOLOGY OF SYMPLOCARPUS FOETIDUS: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE SPATHE AND SPADIX

The aerobiology of the skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus (l .) Nutt., is examined as a factor contributing to efficient pollination and temperature regulation around the spadix. Field measurements show that the compass orientation of the asymmetrical opening of the spathe is random, while wind tunnel studies reveal that similar patterns of airflow are generated around the spadix regardless of the orientation of the spathe opening to the direction of airflow. Temperature measurements within a model of the inflorescence reveal that airflow around the spathe effectively maintains heat generated by the spadix, even at airflow speeds of 1.5 m/s. These results are discussed as exaptations of the spathe for pollination and for temperature regulation in sub-freezing weather.     

Microbiological and biochemical indices of changes in microbial ecology of rat large intestine under the effect of rifampicin

Intragastric administration of rifampicin to rats in a dose of 40 mg/kg resulted in decreasing of the contents of grampositive cocci and lactobacilli and increasing of the number of gramnegative aerobic potentially pathogenic bacteria in feces of the experimental animals. It was noted that along with changes in the composition of the fecal microflora after the exposure to the antibiotic there were disorders in feces excretion of ammonia and amino acids such as alanine and glutamic acid as well as lactic, amber, butyric, valeric and alpha-ketoglutaric acids. Reduction of the changed biochemical indices was shown to be slower than that of the routine microbiological indices.     

Oxidation of Proline and Glutamate by Mitochondria of the Inflorescence of Voodoo Lily (Sauromatum guttatum)

In appendices of Sauromatum guttatum that are developing thermogenicity, mitochondria isolated from successive developmental stages of the inflorescence show an increase in the oxidation rates of proline and glutamate. A similar rise in the oxidation rates of these compounds is observed in mitochondria obtained from the spathe, a nonthermogenic organ of the inflorescence. Changes in oxidative metabolism were also observed in mitochondria isolated from sections of immature appendix treated with salicylic acid (SA) at 0.69 microgram per gram fresh weight indicating that they are induced by SA. At that concentration, however, SA has no effect on oxygen consumption by mitochondria in the presence of glutamate, proline, or malate. Furthermore, oxygen uptake by mitochondria in the presence of proline or glutamate is partially sensitive to salicylhydroxamic acid (SHAM) at concentrations greater than 2 millimolar when in the presence of 1 millimolar KCN. For NADH, succinate, and malate a high capacity of the alternative (cyanide-resistant) pathway is found that is completely sensitive to SHAM at 1.5 to 4 millimolar. The increase in the mitochondrial capacity to oxidize either amino acid is also found in four other Araceae species including both thermogenic and nonthermogenic ones. After anthesis, the rates of proline and glutamate oxidation decline.     

Synthesis of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) from activated sludge

Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate- co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) was produced using a co-culture of activated sludge. When butyric acid was used as sole carbon source, PHB was produced. When valeric acid was added to the medium, PHBV was produced. The 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) mole fraction in the PHBV reached a maximum of 54% when valeric acid was used as sole carbon source. When the 3HV units in the co-polymer increased from 0.0 to 54.0 mol%, the melting temperature ( T m ) decreased from 178 to 99°C. The composition, and hence the mechanical properties, of the co-polymer produced by activated sludge can be controlled by adjusting the medium composition.     

Leakage of cellular material from Thiobacillus ferrooxidans in the presence of organic acids.

Thiobacillus ferroodixans cells released varying amounts of iron, phosphate, sugar, ribonucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid, and substances that absorbed light at both 260 and 280 nm, when exposed to 10(-2) to 10(-1) M concentrations of these organic acids: propionic, butyric, valeric, hexanoic, and oxalacetic. These acids also retarded iron oxidation by the cells. Electron microscope observation of cells after exposure to the organic acids showed varying degrees of cell envelope disruption, suggesting that the mode of inhibition of autotrophic iron oxidation in the cell involves interference with the function of the cell envelope, possibly the cell membrane.