Biology and traits of the formation of stock of big-eyed shad Alosa saposchnikowii

Special traits of distribution, reproduction, growth, feeding, and population abundance of the big-eyed shad Alosa saposchnikowii are discussed. In investigations of the formation of abundance, the focus is on the strategy of observations on the stock in the absence of fishery statistics data. The informational representativeness of two monitoring methods is noted: trawl survey of the annual abundance of underyrearlings and census of the relative abundance of spawners recalculated per 100 nets. The big-eyed shad was a secondary commercial species. At present it prospers and occupies a leading position among herrings. In the observed period of sea transgression, in the northern Caspian Sea where principal spawning grounds of herrings are situated, the freshened zone has considerably widened, with conditions favorable to the spawning of big-eyed shad. As a result, its abundance has increased. In spite of the increase in species abundance, its linear and weight growth also increased. The latter is attributed to the change in the diet of the big-eyed shad, namely, its transition to consumption of food consisting mainly of fish.     

Isolation from Micrococcus sp. n. of a homogeneous heme-containing catalase and a crystalline protein with catalase activity

A method for isolation and purification of catalases from the culture of Micrococcus sp. n. grown under aeration conditions is described. Heme-containing catalase (I) and the protein possessing a catalase activity (II) were separated by fractionation with ammonium sulfate. The specific activity of the highly purified protein causing degradation of H2O2 is 200 times less than that of the heme-containing enzyme. The molecular weights of catalases I and II as determined by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel gradient 4/30% are 240000 and 130000, respectively. The method described is designed at rapid isolation of preparative amounts of catalases from Micrococcus sp. n.     

Biosynthesis of isoprenoids, polyunsaturated fatty acids and flavonoids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Industrial biotechnology employs the controlled use of microorganisms for the production of synthetic chemicals or simple biomass that can further be used in a diverse array of applications that span the pharmaceutical, chemical and nutraceutical industries. Recent advances in metagenomics and in the incorporation of entire biosynthetic pathways into Saccharomyces cerevisiae have greatly expanded both the fitness and the repertoire of biochemicals that can be synthesized from this popular microorganism. Further, the availability of the S. cerevisiae entire genome sequence allows the application of systems biology approaches for improving its enormous biosynthetic potential. In this review, we will describe some of the efforts on using S. cerevisiae as a cell factory for the biosynthesis of high-value natural products that belong to the families of isoprenoids, flavonoids and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. As natural products are increasingly becoming the center of attention of the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries, the use of S. cerevisiae for their production is only expected to expand in the future, further allowing the biosynthesis of novel molecular structures with unique properties.