Flux Analysis of Glucose Metabolism in Rhizopus oryzae for the Purpose of Increasing Lactate Yields

A flux analysis of glucose metabolism in the filamentous fungus Rhizopus oryzae was achieved using a specific radioactivity curve-matching program, TFLUX. Glycolytic and tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates labeled through the addition of extracellular [U-14C]glucose were isolated and purified for specific radioactivity determinations. This information, together with pool sizes and the rates of glucose utilization and end product production, provided input for flux maps of the metabolic network under two different experimental conditions. Based upon the flux analysis of this system, a mutant of R. oryzae with higher lactate and lower ethanol yields than the parent was sought for and found.     

Using Scrapings from Formalin-Fixed Tissues to Diagnose Leptospirosis by Fluorescent-Antibody Techniques

Small specimens of formalin-fixed tissues approximatey 1 × 1 × 0.2 cm were cut from the suspect specimen. Several clean microscope slides were dipped in 1% aqueous gelatin and air-dried or dried on a slide warmer. Each tissue specimen was washed in running tap water for 2-5 min and then lightly scraped with a straight knife blade, cutting edge perpendicular to the surface of the specimen. The scrapings were allowed to build up and cling to the knife blade, which was then turned so that the broad surface contacted the slide; thus, the scrapings could be smeared onto the slide in a single motion. Sufficient pressure was applied to embed the tissue fragments in the gelatin coating. Smears, dried in air or on a slide warmer, were stained immediately by a standard direct or indirect technique to detect fluorescein-labeled antigens. This scraping method, adapted to the study of leptospirosis by fluorescent-antibody technique, could reduce the need for cryostat-cut tissues and facilitate the observation of individual leptospires.     

The crystal structure of plasminogen activator inhibitor 2 at 2.0 A resolution: implications for serpin function.

BACKGROUND: Plasminogen activator inhibitor 2 (PAI-2) is a member of the serpin family of protease inhibitors that function via a dramatic structural change from a native, stressed state to a relaxed form. This transition is mediated by a segment of the serpin termed the reactive centre loop (RCL); the RCL is cleaved on interaction with the protease and becomes inserted into betasheet A of the serpin. Major questions remain as to what factors facilitate this transition and how they relate to protease inhibition. RESULTS: The crystal structure of a mutant form of human PAI-2 in the stressed state has been determined at 2.0 A resolution. The RCL is completely disordered in the structure. An examination of polar residues that are highly conserved across all serpins identifies functionally important regions. A buried polar cluster beneath betasheet A (the so-called 'shutter' region) is found to stabilise both the stressed and relaxed forms via a rearrangement of hydrogen bonds. CONCLUSIONS: A statistical analysis of interstrand interactions indicated that the shutter region can be used to discriminate between inhibitory and non-inhibitory serpins. This analysis implied that insertion of the RCL into betasheet A up to residue P8 is important for protease inhibition and hence the structure of the complex formed between the serpin and the target protease.     

An efficient strategy for assignment of cross-peaks in 3D heteronuclear NOESY experiments

The question is addressed of how maximal structural NOE data on double labelled proteins can be acquired with a minimal set of NOESY experiments. Two 3D-NOESY spectra are reported which, in concert with other commonly used spectra, provide a convenient strategy for NOE assignment. The 3D CNH-NOESY and 3D NCH-NOESY provide NOE connectivities between amide protons and carbon-bound protons and constitute orthogonal heteronuclear filters which eliminate diagonal signals, considerably improving spectral quality. Two different heteronuclear chemical shift dimensions are recorded in the spectra, thus exploiting the extra dispersion of the heteronucleus and considerably simplifying assignment.     

Hypervalent interactions in anthraquinone-based Group 15 ’onium salts - fact or fiction?

Metal ion-catalysed replacement of bromine in 1-amino-2-methyl-4-bromoanthraquinone by triphenylphosphine and triphenylstibine occurs readily under mild conditions to give the respective phosphonio- and stibonio-anthraquinone salts, the carbonyl group acting as a coordination template for the metal ion, facilitating replacement of the halogen. The extent to which the Group 15 element may be involved in hypercoordination from the adjacent carbonyl oxygen atom in the ’onium salts has been investigated by X-ray crystallography. Both salts involve considerable distortion of bond angles about the Group 15 atom in the direction of trigonal bipyramidal geometry, with phosphorus-oxygen (2.661 Å) and antimony-oxygen (2.497 Å) distances which are well within the sum of the van der Waals radii. In both structures, the Group 15 element and the adjacent carbonyl oxygen atom are bent out of the plane of the anthraquinone system. However, the extent of out of plane deformation is smaller in the case of the larger antimony atom, suggesting that there is a genuine hypercoordinative interaction which increases as the Group is descended.     

Synthesis and X-ray crystal structures of organotri(2-furyl)phosphonium salts: effects of 2-furyl substituents at phosphorus on intramolecular nitrogen to phosphorus hypervalent coordinative interactions

The synthesis of tri(2-furyl)(8-quinolylmethyl)phosphonium bromide and 2-[2-tri(2-furyl)phosphoniophenyl]benzimidazole perchlorate is described, the latter involving a nickel(II)-catalysed displacement of bromine from 2-(2-bromophenyl)benzimidazole by tri(2-furyl)phosphine. X-ray structural studies of the phosphoniobenzimidazole salt reveals the existence of a significant hypervalent coordinative interaction between heterocyclic nitrogen and the phosphonium centre, which also appears to be retained in solution, the ³¹P NMR spectrum showing a significantly shielded phosphorus atom, δ³¹P=ca. 40 ppm in CDCl₃. The structure of the phosphoniophenylbenzimidazole cation reveals major distortion of bond angles about phosphorus away from the idealised tetrahedral angles expected for a tetraarylphosphonium salt, in the range 102-116°. Three of the angles are reduced below the tetrahedral angle and three are increased, the structure about phosphorus approaching that of a trigonal bipyramid, in which the heterocyclic imino nitrogen forms part of a five-membered ring spanning apical-equatorial positions. The apical axis of the trigonal bipyramid is formed by this nitrogen atom and one of the 2-furyl groups, the apical axial bond angle (N2-P-C14) being an average of 178°. The remaining 2-furyl groups occupy equatorial positions, along with the phenyl ring. Significantly, the nitrogen-phosphorus distance is an average of 2.67 Å (for two independent molecules in the unit cell), being the shortest observed in structures of this type, a consequence of the electron-withdrawing properties of the 2-furyl substituents at phosphorus. The structure also shows edge to face associations of 2-furyl substituents of one cation with the phenyl ring of the benzimidazole unit of another cation. The perchlorate anion is hydrogen-bonded to the nitrogen bearing the hydrogen atom in the benzimidazole ring system. In contrast, the N-P interaction in the quinolylmethylphosphonium salt is much less developed, with an N-P distance of 3.511 Å, although there is considerable deformation of bond angles at phosphorus. The crystal structure is dominated by the existence of hydrogen-bonded interactions between the cation, anion and a molecule of water, and by face to face interactions between cations. Both salts undergo loss of a 2-furyl group on treatment with hydroxide ion.     

Homogeneity of the 16S rDNA sequence among geographically disparate isolates of Taylorella equigenitalis

Background

At present, six accessible sequences of 16S rDNA from Taylorella equigenitalis (T. equigenitalis) are available, whose sequence differences occur at a few nucleotide positions. Thus it is important to determine these sequences from additional strains in other countries, if possible, in order to clarify any anomalies regarding 16S rDNA sequence heterogeneity. Here, we clone and sequence the approximate full-length 16S rDNA from additional strains of T. equigenitalis isolated in Japan, Australia and France and compare these sequences to the existing published sequences.

Results

Clarification of any anomalies regarding 16S rDNA sequence heterogeneity of T. equigenitalis was carried out. When cloning, sequencing and comparison of the approximate full-length 16S rDNA from 17 strains of T. equigenitalis isolated in Japan, Australia and France, nucleotide sequence differences were demonstrated at the six loci in the 1,469 nucleotide sequence. Moreover, 12 polymorphic sites occurred among 23 sequences of the 16S rDNA, including the six reference sequences.

Conclusion

High sequence similarity (99.5% or more) was observed throughout, except from nucleotide positions 138 to 501 where substitutions and deletions were noted.