A study of the polygalacturonase activity of several yeast strains isolated from cocoa

Summary During the traditional fermentation of cocoa, yeasts with pectinolytic activity are involved in the degradation of the pulp. Saccharomyces chevalieri, Torulopsis candila, and Candida norvegensis, as well as Kluyveromyces fragilis included in this study as a control strain all have a pectinolytic activity (endopolygalacturonase E.C. 3.2.1.15). The enzymes studied have the same optimal pH of activity [5] but are different from each other in their optimal temperature and their thermal stability. The enzymes of Torulopsis candida and Kluyveromyces fragilis have the highest optimal temperature (60° C). Among the strains studied, Candida norvegensis produced the greatest amount of exocellular enzyme.     

Inulin hydrolysis by an immobilized yeast-cell reactor

Whole cells of Pichia polymorpha have been shown to possess inulinase (2, 1-β-d-fructan fructanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.7) activity. This activity was slightly different from that of the purified enzyme: optimum pH was modified, optimum temperature was higher and thermal stability was improved. Whole cell immobilization by adsorption on beech wood-shavings was straightforward. A reactor of this type permits the bioconversion of inulin into d-fructose (and d-glucose) with sufficient cell growth to ensure the stability of the system. A chicory extract was hydrolysed completely to a high fructose syrup during an experiment lasting 75 days.     

Inulinase ofDebaryomyces cantarellii

Debaryomyces cantarellii excretes into a buffered medium an inulinase of β-fructofuranosidase type, its synthesis being induced by inulin. The enzyme has a pH optimum at 4 and its optimum temperature is 50°C. ItsK _m for inulin is 15mm.     

Vitamin B 12 formation by a gram-variable methanol-utilizing bacterium

Summary A methanol-utilizing bacterium isolated from soil was studied for ability to produce vitamin B 12. The isolated strain XF is gram-variable, pink-pigmented and rod-shaped. Effects of growth conditions on vitamin B 12 productivity were examined. The maximal yield of vitamin B 12 was 280 g/l in shaked flasks and 236 g/l in fermentation jars.     

Inulinase activity ofDebaromyces cantarellii

Debaromyces cantarellii Capriotti contains an inulinase activity which is inducible by growth on inulin but not on other β-fructosides. The induction is inhibited by glucose and fructose. The system is situated in the cell wall and can be best extracted with a 20 mm phosphate buffer at pH 8.5. The inulinase activity shows pH optima at 4 and 6, suggesting the presence of two enzymes, the latter being more tightly bound to the cell wall. Both enzymes degrade inulin from the nonreducin end. The cells also contain a constitutive β-fructofuranosidase with a specificity partly overlapping with that of the inulinase(s).     

Microbiological and Biochemical Study of Coffee Fermentation

The coffee fermentation microflora were rich and mainly constituted of aerobic Gram-negative bacilli, with Erwinia and Klebsiella genuses at the highest frequencies. The best population increase was observed with lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, whereas those microorganisms that counted on a pectin medium remained constant during the fermentation step. Qualitatively, lactic acid bacteria belonged mainly to Leuconostoc mesenteroides species but the others microflora were relatively heterogeneous. The microorganisms isolated on pectin medium were Enterobacteriaceae, identified as Erwinia herbicola and Klebsiella pneumoniae, not reported as strong pectolytic strains. Throughout coffee fermentation, 60% of the simple sugars were degraded by the total microflora and not specifically by pectolytic microorganisms. Received: 21 August 2000 / Accepted: 25 September 2000     

Atypical audiovisual speech integration in infants at risk for autism

The language difficulties often seen in individuals with autism might stem from an inability to integrate audiovisual information, a skill important for language development. We investigated whether 9-month-old siblings of older children with autism, who are at an increased risk of developing autism, are able to integrate audiovisual speech cues. We used an eye-tracker to record where infants looked when shown a screen displaying two faces of the same model, where one face is articulating/ba/and the other/ga/, with one face congruent with the syllable sound being presented simultaneously, the other face incongruent. This method was successful in showing that infants at low risk can integrate audiovisual speech: they looked for the same amount of time at the mouths in both the fusible visual/ga/- audio/ba/and the congruent visual/ba/- audio/ba/displays, indicating that the auditory and visual streams fuse into a McGurk-type of syllabic percept in the incongruent condition. It also showed that low-risk infants could perceive a mismatch between auditory and visual cues: they looked longer at the mouth in the mismatched, non-fusible visual/ba/- audio/ga/display compared with the congruent visual/ga/- audio/ga/display, demonstrating that they perceive an uncommon, and therefore interesting, speech-like percept when looking at the incongruent mouth (repeated ANOVA: displays x fusion/mismatch conditions interaction: F(1,16) = 17.153, p = 0.001). The looking behaviour of high-risk infants did not differ according to the type of display, suggesting difficulties in matching auditory and visual information (repeated ANOVA, displays x conditions interaction: F(1,25) = 0.09, p = 0.767), in contrast to low-risk infants (repeated ANOVA: displays x conditions x low/high-risk groups interaction: F(1,41) = 4.466, p = 0.041). In some cases this reduced ability might lead to the poor communication skills characteristic of autism.