Solvent effects on focused microwave assisted extraction of polyphenolic acids from Eucommia ulmodies

An open microwave-assisted extraction system was used to extract gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid from Eucommia ulmodies. The effect of extraction variables, especially solvent, on the recoveries of these polyphenolic compounds was investigated using factorial design. As extracting solvent for these compounds, methanol produced a higher recovery than pure water. For straight chain alcohol solvents, the lower the carbon number, the higher the recoveries of the polyphenolic acids. The optimal ratio of methanol:water:glacial acetic acid in the solvent mixture used in microwave-assisted extraction was 2:8:0.3 (v/v) and this solvent could be directly used as the mobile phase in HPLC separation without additional intermittent treatment as reported in literature. The extraction under the condition of 50% microwave power and 30 s irradiation at a solvent:sample ratio of 10 (mL/g) was found to be the most advantageous. The repeatability test of extraction and chromatographic analysis was satisfactory for the analysis of these polyphenolic compounds.     

抗氧化蛋白Peroxiredoxin家族研究进展

Peroxiredoxin是新近发现的抗氧化酶系 ,广泛存在于各种生物体内。根据分子所具有保守半胱氨酸数目的不同 ,哺乳动物的 6个Peroxiredoxin分为 2个亚类。Peroxiredoxin除了具有共同的抗氧化功能外 ,它还具有其它的功能如细胞增殖与分化、细胞信号转导及保护其它蛋白的氧化等。对该类蛋白分子结构的深入研究已初步揭示其抗氧化的作用机制。Peroxiredoxin与肿瘤关系密切 ,它可能成为一个肿瘤标记物 ,可为肿瘤的治疗提供新的思路。     

小鼠肝炎病毒的研究近况

小鼠肝炎病毒 (micehepatitisvirus ,MHV)是一种日冕冠状病毒 ,具有嗜神经性 ,可引起啮齿动物急慢性神经性疾病。可通过血液、脑脊液和消化液等渠道传播 ,引起肠炎、肝炎、胸腺退化、多发性硬化症、脱髓鞘性脑脊髓炎等疾病 ,同时它也能刺激B淋巴细胞分泌抗体。目前国内对其研究的还很少 ,国外报道的也不多。本综述的意图是通过对MHV冠状病毒感染机制的探讨 ,以有助于指导抗病毒的有效药物的筛选     

Universal primer PCR with DGGE for rapid detection of bacterial pathogens

A universal primer PCR (UPPCR) combined with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was evaluated as a method permitting the rapid detection of pathogens. The results show that this method is efficient at amplifying the conserved regions of bacterial 16S rRNA genes with universal primers and can detect causative bacterial pathogens rapidly. Six species of bacteria from fisheries (Pseudomonas fluorescens, Vibrio anguillarum, Aeromonas hydrophila, Vibrio fluvialis, Providencia rettgeri and Aeromonas sobria) were examined. Our results indicate that the approach we undertook can be adopted not only for axenic bacterial populations but also for mixed communities as well. Furthermore, we were able to achieve the rapid detection of multiple bacteria a single in sample. In addition, UPPCR-DGGE was shown to be better than previously reported UPPCR-single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP)-based methods for the rapid detection of bacterial pathogens.     

Characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">HoMADS 1</Emphasis> and its induction by plant hormones during <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis> ovule development in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hyacinthus orientalis</Emphasis> L.

To understand the molecular mechanism of ovule development, a MADS box gene,HoMADS 1, has been isolated from the ovule tissues of Hyacinthus. Sequence comparison showed that HoMADS 1 is highly homologous to both class C and D genes. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis suggests that HoMADS 1 is most likely a class D MADS box gene. RNA hybridization revealed that HoMADS 1 was exclusively expressed in the ovules. Over-expressing HoMADS 1 in transgenic Arabidopsis plants produced ectopic carpelloid structures, including ovules, indicating that HoMADS 1 is involved in the determination of carpel and ovule identities. Interestingly, during in vitro flowering, no HoMADS 1 mRNA was detected in the floral tissues at high level hormones in the media. However, HoMADS 1 mRNA accumulated in the floral tissues when the regenerated flowers were transferred to the media containing low level hormones which could induce in vitro ovule formation. Our data suggest that the induction of HoMADS 1 by plant hormones may play important roles during ovule initiation and development in the regenerated flower. Whether HoMADS 1 expression is also regulated by cytokinin and auxin during ovule development in planta remains to be investigated.     

Indene bioconversion by a toluene inducible dioxygenase of Rhodococcus sp. I24

Rhodococcus sp. I24 can oxygenate indene via at least three independent enzyme activities: (i) a naphthalene inducible monooxygenase (ii) a naphthalene inducible dioxygenase, and (iii) a toluene inducible dioxygenase (TID). Pulsed field gel analysis revealed that the I24 strain harbors two megaplasmids of 340 and 50 kb. Rhodococcus sp. KY1, a derivative of the I24 strain, lacks the 340 kb element as well as the TID activity. Southern blotting and sequence analysis of an indigogenic, I24-derived cosmid suggested that an operon encoding a TID resides on the 340 kb element. Expression of the tid operon was induced by toluene but not by naphthalene. In contrast, naphthalene did induce expression of the nid operon, encoding the naphthalene dioxygenase in I24. Cell free protein extracts of Escherichia coli cells expressing tidABCD were used in HPLC-based enzyme assays to characterize the indene bioconversion of TID in vitro. In addition to 1-indenol, indene was transformed to cis-indandiol with an enantiomeric excess of 45.2% of cis-(1S,2R)-indandiol over cis-(1R,2S)-indandiol, as revealed by chiral HPLC analysis. The K_m of TID for indene was 380 M. The enzyme also dioxygenated naphthalene to cis-dihydronaphthalenediol with an activity of 78% compared to the formation of cis-indandiol from indene. The K_m of TID for naphthalene was 28 M. TID converted only trace amounts of toluene to 1,2-dihydro-3-methylcatechol after prolonged incubation time. The results indicate the role of the tid operon in the bioconversion of indene to 1-indenol and cis-(1S,2R)-indandiol by Rhodococcus sp. I24.     

Lactate production in an integrated process configuration: reducing cell adsorption by shielding of adsorbent

The problem of binding of microbial cells to an adsorbent matrix during in situ recovery of bioproducts from a fermentation broth has been addressed by shielding the adsorbent with a thin layer of a non-ionic polymer. Extractive bioconversion of lactic acid by integrating ion-exchange adsorption with the fermentation stage was studied. The effect of coating of the ion-exchanger with agarose on product recovery and cell adsorption was evaluated. Extractive fermentation with both uncoated and coated resin resulted in an increase in reactor productivity as compared to the normal fermentation. The free cell density in the system with agarose-coated beads was similar to that in control fermentation, but was significantly lower in the system with the uncoated ion-exchanger. Electron microscopic scanning of the bead surface after passage of the fermentation broth showed cells attached to the native adsorbent but not to the coated one.     

Mannopeptimycin esters and carbonates, potent antibiotic agents against drug-resistant bacteria

A series of ester and carbonate derivatives of the glycopeptide mannopeptimycin alpha (1) with potent activity against G+ bacteria, including the methicillin-resistant staphylococci and vancomycin-resistant enterococci, was synthesized. The SAR data obtained from natural and semisynthetic compounds demonstrated the importance of a hydrophobic group in the terminal mannosyl moiety for antibacterial activity.     

Encoding microbial metabolic logic: predicting biodegradation

Prediction of microbial metabolism is important for annotating genome sequences and for understanding the fate of chemicals in the environment. A metabolic pathway prediction system (PPS) has been developed that is freely available on the world wide web (), recognizes the organic functional groups found in a compound, and predicts transformations based on metabolic rules. These rules are designed largely by examining reactions catalogued in the University of Minnesota Biocatalysis/Biodegradation Database (UM-BBD) and are generalized based on metabolic logic. The predictive accuracy of the PPS was tested: (1) using a 113-member set of compounds found in the database, (2) against a set of compounds whose metabolism was predicted by human experts, and (3) for consistency with experimental microbial growth studies. First, the system correctly predicted known metabolism for 111 of the 113 compounds containing C and H, O, N, S, P and/or halides that initiate existing pathways in the database, and also correctly predicted 410 of the 569 known pathway branches for these compounds. Second, computer predictions were compared to predictions by human experts for biodegradation of six compounds whose metabolism was not described in the literature. Third, the system predicted reactions liberating ammonia from three organonitrogen compounds, consistent with laboratory experiments showing that each compound served as the sole nitrogen source supporting microbial growth. The rule-based nature of the PPS makes it transparent, expandable, and adaptable.