Fed-batch cultivation of recombinant escherichia coli JM103 and production of the fusion protein SPA::EcoRI in a 60-L working volume airlift tower loop reactor

SPA::EcoRI fusion protein was produced by Escherichia coli JM103 carrying the multicopy expression plasmid pMTC48, the multicopy repressor plasmid pRK248, and the multicopy protection plasmid pEcoR4 in a 60-L working volume airlift tower loop reactor on M9 minimal medium with glucose. Cell mass concentration, total cell count, number of colony-forming units, specific growth rate, yield coefficient, and metabolite (acetate, pyruvate, succinate, lactate, ethanol) concentrations were monitored during the growth phase and gene expression. Gene expression was induced by temperature shift or chemically by isopropyl-thiogalactosidase in the airlift tower loop reactor (ALTR) at constant cultivation time and in a small stirred tank reactor at different cultivation times. During induction, the cultivation medium was supplemented with concentrated Luria-Bertani (LB) medium. The intracellular enzyme activity was evaluated as a function of the time after the start of the induction. It was found that the reduction of the glucose concentration and increase of the dissolved oxygen concentration reduced the acetate produced and increased the intracellular enzyme activity. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The effect of hydration on the dynamics of trimethoprim bound to dihydrofolate reductase. A deuterium NMR study.

To determine the effect of hydration on the dynamics of a protein complex, we used deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to examine a trimethoprim (TMP)/E. coli dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) complex in its lyophilized, partially hydrated, polycrystalline, and ammonium sulfate-precipitated states. The results indicate that TMP is rigid in the lyophilized powder state. The dynamic behavior could be restored by partial rehydration. At 30 wt% hydration the deuterium spectrum of the partially hydrated sample was indistinguishable from that of the polycrystalline and ammonium sulfate-precipitated samples, suggesting that the structure of the protein/TMP complex is similar in the three physical states. Furthermore, we found that the para- and meta-methoxyl groups have very different dynamical behavior.     

Degradation of ornithine decarboxylase: exposure of the C-terminal target by a polyamine-inducible inhibitory protein.

Polyamine-mediated degradation of vertebrate ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) is associated with the production of antizyme, a reversible tightly binding protein inhibitor of ODC activity. The interaction of antizyme with a binding element near the N terminus of ODC is essential but not sufficient for regulation of the enzyme by polyamines (X. Li and P. Coffino, Mol. Cell. Biol. 12:3556-2562, 1992). We now show that a second element present at the C terminus is required for the degradation process. Antizyme caused a conformational change in ODC, which made the C terminus of ODC more accessible. Blocking the C terminus with antibody prevented degradation. Tethering the C terminus by creating a circularly permuted, enzymatically active form of ODC prevented antizyme-mediated degradation. These data elucidate a form of feedback regulation whereby excess polyamines induce destruction of ODC, the enzyme that initiates their biosynthesis.     

Development of haploid asparagus embryos from liquid cultures of anther-derived calli is enhanced by ancymidol

Summary The effect of ancymidol concentration on the development of haploid asparagus embryos was determined. Liquid cultures from anther-derived calli were grown for three weeks in MS medium plus 1.0 mg l^–1 2,4-D, 0.1 mg l^–1 NAA, 0.2 mg l^–1 kinetin, 800 mg l^–1 glutamine, 500 mg l^–1 casein hydrolysate, 2% sucrose and 0.0–1.0 mg l^–1 ancymidol. Cell clumps (224–500 m) were plated on solid embryo maturation medium (MS medium plus 3% sucrose, 0.1 mg l^–1 NAA, 0.5 mg l^–1 kinetin and 0.0–1.0 mg l^–1 ancymidol) and grown for eight weeks. Ancymidol enhanced embryo maturation and germination and was more critical in the solid than liquid medium. Total embryo number did not vary among most treatments. The best response was observed when ancymidol concentrations were 0.1 and 0.5 mg l^–1 in the liquid and solid media, respectively; two-thirds of the embryos produced were bipolar and 35% of bipolar embryos germinated. Seven to 82% of plants recovered from different ancymidol treatments were haploid; the others were diploid, triploid or chimeric for ploidy level.Abbreviations NAA naphthaleneacetic acid - 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - GA₃ gibberellic acid - MS Murashige and Skoog (1962)     

Welfare and Medicine

In an analysis of 6,024 injuries in 1,865 persons hurt or killed in traffic accidents, it was noted that the incidence of injuries to the head and lower extremities was 32 per cent in each instance. Twenty-five per cent of all fractures involved the head.