Organic acids and Fe deficiency: a review

Organic acid concentrations often increase with iron deficiency in different plant parts such as roots, leaves and stem exudates. The review summarises data available on the changes in the concentrations of organic anions in plants with iron deficiency and the effects of these changes in plant metabolism. The paper reviews data available in the literature on the changes in xylem and apoplasmic fluid composition with iron deficiency, both in plants grown in controlled conditions and in the field, and discusses the possible ways of iron complexation and transport in these compartments. The characteristics of the iron reduction and uptake by the iron-deficient leaf mesophyll cells are also discussed, with especial emphasis in the possible roles of organic acids in these processes. Both the possible causes and functions of the organic acid concentration increases in iron-deficient plants are reviewed.     

Clavulanic acid: a review

Natural antibiotics are almost universal secondary metabolites, not essential for the growth of the producing organisms generally produced at low growth rates or after growth has ceased. Clavulanic acid (CA), a naturally occurring powerful inhibitor of bacterial beta-lactamases is a major beta-lactam antibiotic produced by organism Streptomyces clavuligerus and is active against a wide spectrum of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The review discusses the biosynthetic pathway, fermentative production, downstream processing and applications of CA.     

Porphyrin-nucleic acid interactions: a review

Research involving three important interactions of synthetic cationic porphyrins with nucleic acids: DNA binding, oxidative-reductive strand scission and photosensitized strand scission, is examined retrospectively. The observation that these porphyrins as a class can associate with DNA by intercalative binding, outside binding and outside binding with self-stacking, i.e., the "three-mode binding model", is evaluated with regard to supporting data from several studies including recent evidence from NMR spectroscopy. Results from investigations into the "nuclease-like" activity of the metallo-derivatives of this class of porphyrins are surveyed for demonstrations of base specificity and the mechanism of the chemical interaction. The ability of cationic porphyrins to induce photosensitized damage in DNA is also reviewed with an emphasis on their strand scission activity via a singlet oxygen intermediate.     

The Constituents of Petasites japonicus: Structures of Fukiic Acid and Fukinolic Acid

A major polyphenol from P. japonicus, named fukinolic acid (XII), was isolated and its structure was investigated. Fukinolic acid afforded a new polyphenol named fukiic acid (I) and caffeic acid on hydrolysis in molar ratio 1:1. The structure of fukiic acid was established as 2,3-dihydroxy-4-(3′,4′-dihydroxyphenyl)-3-carboxybutyric acid (I), and its methyl derivatives were described.

Based on evidences presented, the structure for fukinolic acid was proposed as XII. It was further demonstrated that fukinolic acid caused the brown discoloration on action of a polyphenoloxidase from the plant tissues.     

Omega-3 fatty acids and bipolar disorder: a review.

The important role of the omega-3 fatty acids in the pathophysiology and treatment of bipolar disorder is now supported by a substantial body of indirect and direct evidence. This paper will describe the clinical and pharmacological features of bipolar disorder, review the available data regarding omega-3 fatty acids in bipolar disorder and provide recommendations for future research.     

Induced plant resistance and salicylic acid: a review

Current understanding of the involvement of salicylic acid (SA) in the formation of plant resistance has been reviewed. SA acts as a signal molecule in the SA-dependent pathway. The so-called salicylate burst observed in tissues of plants after stress increases their resistance. The mechanism whereby SA induces plant resistance depends on the ability of this compound to inhibit the enzymes of the antioxidant system of plants, which results in the accumulation of active oxygen species and expression of defense genes.     

Effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on hibernation and torpor: a review and hypothesis

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) can have strong effects on hibernation and daily torpor in mammals. High dietary PUFA contents were found to increase proneness for torpor, decrease body temperatures, prolong torpor bout duration, and attenuate hibernation mass loss. The mechanism by which PUFAs enhance torpor and hibernation is unknown, however. On the basis of a review of the literature, and on reexamining our own data on alpine marmots, we propose that effects on hibernation are not due to PUFAs in general, but to shifts in the ratio of n-6 PUFAs to n-3 PUFAs in membrane phospholipids. Specifically, high ratios of n-6 to n-3 PUFAs increase the activity of the Ca2+-Mg2+ pump in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of the heart (SERCA) and counteract Q10 effects on SERCA activity at low tissue temperatures. Therefore, high n-6 to n-3 PUFA ratios in cardiac myocyte membranes appear to protect the hibernating heart from arrhythmia, which in hypothermic nonhibernators is caused by massive increases in cytosolic Ca2+. The resulting reduced risk of cardiac arrest during hypothermia may explain why increased dietary uptake of n-6 PUFAs, but not of n-3 PUFAs, can strongly enhance the propensity for hibernation, and allows heterotherms to reach lower body temperatures, with associated increased energy savings. Therefore, at least for herbivorous hibernators, such as marmots, linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6)--the dietary source of all n-6 PUFAs--appears to represent a crucial and limited resource in natural environments.     

New perspectives of gibberellic acid production: a review

The gibberellins (GAs) are an important group of hormones which exert various effects on promoter and regulator of plant growth. Gibberellic acid (GA(3)) is a natural plant hormone, with great economical and industrial importance. It affects stem elongation, germination, elimination of dormancy, flowering, sex expression, enzyme induction and leaf and fruit senescence. Despite its diverse applications, the use of GA(3) is limited due to its high production costs. The industrial process currently used for the production of GA(3) is based on submerged fermentation (SmF) techniques. As an alternative for its production, solid state fermentation (SSF) has also been investigated for its ability to increase the yields of GA(3) with the use of agro-industrial wastes as support/substrate, which contributes to the decreased production costs. This review describes GA(3)'s physical, chemical and biological properties, its production by fermentation and new advances that are being carried out with special interest on the SSF technique.     

New perspectives of gibberellic acid production: a review

The gibberellins (GAs) are an important group of hormones which exert various effects on promoter and regulator of plant growth. Gibberellic acid (GA₃) is a natural plant hormone, with great economical and industrial importance. It affects stem elongation, germination, elimination of dormancy, flowering, sex expression, enzyme induction and leaf and fruit senescence. Despite its diverse applications, the use of GA₃ is limited due to its high production costs. The industrial process currently used for the production of GA₃ is based on submerged fermentation (SmF) techniques. As an alternative for its production, solid state fermentation (SSF) has also been investigated for its ability to increase the yields of GA₃ with the use of agro-industrial wastes as support/substrate, which contributes to the decreased production costs. This review describes GA₃’s physical, chemical and biological properties, its production by fermentation and new advances that are being carried out with special interest on the SSF technique.     

Valproic acid overdose: a case report and review of therapy

Valproic acid (VPA) is available as an antiepileptic therapy and has been used to treat bipolar disorder and migraine headaches. Reports to poison centers of VPA exposures have increased over the last few years, and there have been concerns about delayed toxicity after an overdose of VPA. We report a case of a woman with acute overdose of VPA who developed many of the complications commonly associated with the medication and review the current options available for treatment. There are many clinical manifestations of VPA overdose that are characteristic for the drug.     

Microbial processes for ascorbic acid biosynthesis: a review.

L-Ascorbic acid is an important product currently made using the Reichstein process, which is mainly chemical. Recently, bacteria have been identified that are able to transform in a very efficient way glucose to 2,5-keto-D-gluconic acid and this product to 2-keto-L-idonic acid, precursor of L-ascorbic acid. When the corresponding strains are used together, it is possible to get 2-keto-L-idonic acid directly from glucose. Moreover, new strains have been constructed by introducing a gene from a strain responsible for the second step into a strain responsible for the first step. By using one of the new strains, the transformation can be performed in a single step with only one strain. However, the classical process still remains the most competitive.     

Single amino acid supplementation in aminoacidopathies: a systematic review

Aminoacidopathies are a group of rare and diverse disorders, caused by the deficiency of an enzyme or transporter involved in amino acid metabolism. For most aminoacidopathies, dietary management is the mainstay of treatment. Such treatment includes severe natural protein restriction, combined with protein substitution with all amino acids except the amino acids prior to the metabolic block and enriched with the amino acid that has become essential by the enzymatic defect. For some aminoacidopathies, supplementation of one or two amino acids, that have not become essential by the enzymatic defect, has been suggested. This so-called single amino acid supplementation can serve different treatment objectives, but evidence is limited. The aim of the present article is to provide a systematic review on the reasons for applications of single amino acid supplementation in aminoacidopathies treated with natural protein restriction and synthetic amino acid mixtures.     

Systems biology of lactic acid bacteria: a critical review

Understanding the properties of a system as emerging from the interaction of well described parts is the most important goal of Systems Biology. Although in the practice of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) physiology we most often think of the parts as the proteins and metabolites, a wider interpretation of what a part is can be useful. For example, different strains or species can be the parts of a community, or we could study only the chemical reactions as the parts of metabolism (and forgetting about the enzymes that catalyze them), as is done in flux balance analysis. As long as we have some understanding of the properties of these parts, we can investigate whether their interaction leads to novel or unanticipated behaviour of the system that they constitute. There has been a tendency in the Systems Biology community to think that the collection and integration of data should continue ad infinitum, or that we will otherwise not be able to understand the systems that we study in their details. However, it may sometimes be useful to take a step back and consider whether the knowledge that we already have may not explain the system behaviour that we find so intriguing. Reasoning about systems can be difficult, and may require the application of mathematical techniques. The reward is sometimes the realization of unexpected conclusions, or in the worst case, that we still do not know enough details of the parts, or of the interactions between them. We will discuss a number of cases, with a focus on LAB-related work, where a typical systems approach has brought new knowledge or perspective, often counterintuitive, and clashing with conclusions from simpler approaches. Also novel types of testable hypotheses may be generated by the systems approach, which we will illustrate. Finally we will give an outlook on the fields of research where the systems approach may point the way for the near future.     

Enantioselective activity of usnic acid: a comprehensive review and future perspectives

Phytochemistry Reviews - This review is focused on the comparison of the biological and pharmacological activities of usnic acid enantiomers. Most of the available data refer to (+)-usnic acid,...     

The role of d-amino acids in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathogenesis: a review

A potential role for d-amino acids in motor neuron disease/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is emerging. d-Serine, which is an activator/co-agonist at the N-methyl-d-aspartate glutamate receptor subtype, is elevated both in spinal cord from sporadic cases of ALS and in an animal model of ALS. Furthermore, we have shown that a mutation in d-amino acid oxidase (DAO), an enzyme strongly localized to spinal cord motor neurons and brain stem motor nuclei, is associated with familial ALS. DAO plays an important role in regulating levels of d-serine, and its function is impaired by the presence of this mutation and this may contribute to the pathogenic process in ALS. In sporadic ALS cases, elevated d-serine may arise from induction of serine racemase, its synthetic enzyme, caused by cell stress and inflammatory processes thought to contribute to disease progression. Both these abnormalities in d-serine metabolism lead to an increase in synaptic d-serine which may contribute to disease pathogenesis.