Feeding Habits in Soil Nematode Families and Genera—An Outline for Soil Ecologists

Because research on nematode involvement in trophic interactions, foodweb structure, and biodiversity is constrained by lack of an overview of nematode feeding habits, this outline presents a consensus of current thought on nematode feeding habits. The source of food is fundamental to trophic interactions and provides the basis for our definitions of the essential feeding types: 1) plant feeder, 2) hyphal feeder, 3) bacterial feeder, 4) substrate ingester, 5) predator of animals, 6) unicellular eucaryote feeder, 7) dispersal or infective stage of parasites, and 8) omnivore. Lists of families and genera with their presumed feeding types are given. Major gaps in knowledge of feeding in the smaller tylenchids and many dorylaims are noted.     

Improvement of Posttranslational Bottlenecks in the Production of Penicillin Amidase in Recombinant Escherichiacoli Strains

Using periplasmic penicillin amidase (PA) from Escherichia coli ATCC 11105 as a model recombinant protein, we reviewed the posttranslational bottlenecks in its overexpression and undertook attempts to enhance its production in different recombinant E. coli expression hosts. Intracellular proteolytic degradation of the newly synthesized PA precursor and translocation through the plasma membrane were determined to be the main posttranslational processes limiting enzyme production. Rate constants for both intracellular proteolytic breakdown (k_d) and transport (k_t) were used as quantitative tools for selection of the appropriate host system and cultivation medium. The production of mature active PA was increased up to 10-fold when the protease-deficient strain E. coli BL21(DE3) was cultivated in medium without a proteinaceous substrate, as confirmed by a decrease in the sum of the constants k_d and k_t. The original signal sequence of pre-pro-PA was exchanged with the OmpT signal peptide sequence in order to increase translocation efficiency; the effects of this change varied in the different E. coli host strains. Furthermore, we established that simultaneous coexpression of the OmpT pac gene with some proteins of the Sec export machinery of the cell resulted in up to threefold-enhanced PA production. In parallel, we made efforts to increase PA flux via coexpression with the kil gene (killing protein). The primary effects of the kil gene were the release of PA into the extracellular medium and an approximately threefold increase in the total amount of PA produced per liter of bacterial culture.     

State and time delay estimation of continuous microorganisms cultivation

A continuous fermentation model taking into account the culture memory is used for a state estimation design. The influence of the culture memory on the process dynamics is accounted for by a time delay parameter. The proposed procedure of on-line state estimation in the case when the delay has a constant value is based on the extended Kalman observer. The case when the delay parameter is evaluated on-line is also considered. An adaptive state and parameter algorithm on the base of the extended Kalman filter is proposed. The theoretical results are applied to continuous culture for growth of a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.List of Symbols X, S mg/l Biomass concentration and substrate concentration respectively - S ⁰ mg/l Feed substrate concentration - Z mg/l Past substrate concentration - µ h^–1 Specific growth rate taking into account culture memory - h^–1 Specific consumption rate - h Time delay parameter denoting culture memory - D h^–1 Dilution rate - State variables vector - W _ij Gain coefficient for on-line state and parameter estimation - F Substrate feed rate vector - () Gain coefficient matrix - R Square symmetric Riccati matrix - K Matrix of coefficients - K(t) Delay kernel taking account of culture memory - Denote an estimation value The partial support by Bulgarian National Science Research Foundation under Grant SRTS 428/94 Modeling and Control of Fermentation Processes Taking the Memory Effect into Account is gratefully acknowledged.     

Potential anticonvulsant activity of novel VV-hemorphin-7 analogues containing unnatural amino acids: synthesis and characterization

Herein, some new analogues of VV-hemorphin-7, modified at position 4 and 7 by the unnatural amino acids followed the structure Val-Val-Tyr-Xxx-Trp-Thr-Yyy-Arg-Phe-NH2, where Xxx is Ac5c (1-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid) or Ac6c (1-aminocyclohexane carboxylic acid) and Yyy is Dap (diaminopropanoic acid) or Dab (diaminobutanoic acid), were synthesized, characterized and investigated for anticonvulsant activity. The new synthetic peptide analogues were prepared by standard solid-phase peptide synthesis—Fmoc chemistry. A single intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection at doses of 5, 10, and 20 µg/10 µl, respectively, was given before evaluation with timed intravenous pentylenetetrazole (ivPTZ) infusion test and 6-Hz psychomotor seizure test in mice. The acute neurological toxicity was determined using the rotarod test. To explain the structure-active properties of the modified peptides, some physicochemical characteristic was obtained. The FT-IR spectra and their second derivatives of the amide I, II, and III bands of the peptides show ß-sheet structure conformation. The calculation of isoelectric points, by potentiometric determination of dissociated constants, is in the range from 9.79 to 10.84. This study, for the first time, also reported on the reduction-oxidative potentials of the guanidine at Arg-moiety on such kind of peptides containing arginine and tyrosine residues in different medium and electrode surface. The VV-hemorphin-7 analogues 4 and 5 were the most active against the ivPTZ test, with the effect comparable to that of peptide 1 used as a positive control. Except compound 8, all other tested peptide analogues were ineffective to raise the threshold for the clonic seizures. The peptide analogue 5 showed 100% protection in the 6-Hz test, while the other seven VV-hemorphin-7 analogues have dose-dependent activity against psychomotor seizures comparable to 1. The novel peptides did not show neurotoxicity in the rotarod test.     

Differentiation of Monocytic Cells Is Accompanied by a Change in the Expression of the Set of Oct-1 Isoforms

Changes in the expression level of Oct-1A, Oct-1L, Oct-1X, and Oct-1Z isoforms and CD14 surface antigen during differentiation of HL-60 monocytic cells induced in vitro by dimethyl sulfoxide were studied, and the expression level of the four Oct-1 isoforms in vivo in human monocytes was determined.     

Stability of Chromatin Remodeling Complex Subunits Is Determined by Their Phosphorylation Status

It was found that, in the differentiated cells of mouse brain, the level of core (Brg1 and BAF155) and specific (BRD7, BAF180, and PHF10) subunits of the chromatin-remodeling complex PBAF is reduced compared to the undifferentiated proliferating cells. Phosphorylation of PBAF complex subunits is required for maintaining their stability in differentiated brain cells.