Change of Freezing Resistance and Retention of Metabolic and Differentiation Potentials in Cultured Green Lavandula vera Cells Which Survived Repeated Freeze-thaw Procedures

Cryostorage is one suitable method to preserve various desired types of cells. However, all cells do not survive after storage in liquid nitrogen. This suggests the possibility that the properties of the cells which survive after the storage differ from those of the unfrozen original cells.

Therefore, we did the same freeze-thaw procedure of cultured green Lavandula vera cells over again and compared the metabolic and the differentiation potentials of the cells which survived after the repeated freeze-thaw procedures with those of the unfrozen original cells. The results we found were that the frequency of colony formation of the cells which survived after the procedures was high, but that the biosynthetic capability for biotin and the differentiation potentials such as chloroplast formation and plantlet formation of the cells were equal to those of the unfrozen original cells. Cryostorage of cells in liquid nitrogen is discussed in terms of the preservation of various desired types of cells.     

Studies on Lactic Acid Fermentation

Resting cells of l. fermentum convert glyceraldehyde to equimolar lactic acid and neither the evolution of carbon dioxide nor the uptake of oxygen was observed. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and 3-phosphoglycerate were identified as intermediates which were equally labeled with inorganic P³² in reaction systems, and the presence of triokinase was suggested.     

Fates of N′-Methylnicotinamide and Nicotinamide N-Oxide in Mice

This experiment was performed to investigate the possibility that N′ -methylnicotinamide (N′-methyl-3-pyridinecarboxamide) and nicotinamide N-oxide have niacin activity or not in animals. When 20 mg N′-methylnicotinamide per mouse was administered, urinary excretion of nicotinamide, N¹-methylnicotinamide (MNA), N¹-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide (2-Py), and N¹-methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide (4-Py) increased 24-, 3-, 3-, and 3-fold, respectively, compared with the control values. The increased ratios of MNA, 2-Py, and 4-Py were almost the same as those when 20 mg nicotinamide was administered. Therefore, the relative activity of N′-methylnicotinamide to nicotinamide as niacin was considered to be about 1. When 20 mg nicotinamide N-oxide per mouse was administered, urinary excretion of nicotinamide, MNA, 2-Py, and 4-Py increased 6.4-, 1.8-, 1.6-, and 1.7-fold, respectively, compared with the control values. The increased ratios of MNA, 2-Py, and 4-Py were about 1/2 of those when 20 mg nicotinamide was administered, so the relative activity of nicotinamide N-oxide to nicotinamide as niacin is considered to be about 1/2. In conclusion, it was found the possibility that the reactions N′-methylnicotinamide → nicotinamide and nicotinamide N-oxide → nicotinamide occur, at least in mice, and that therefore N′-methylnicotinamide and nicotinamide N-oxide have niacin activity.     

Serratia Protease

The substrate specificity of Serratia protease was determined using various synthetic substrates. The enzyme did not participate in the hydrolysis of di- and tri-peptides except benzoylglycylleucinamide which was split at a limited rate into hippuric acid and leucinamide. The enzyme action on larger peptides was also studied. The enzyme cleaved the gly-leu bond in eledoisin related peptide and the gly-phe bond in bradykinin. The enzyme split oxidized insulin B-chain at twelve different peptide bonds.     

Cell Structure of Yeasts Grown Anaerobically in Aspergillus orpzae-Proteolipid-supplemented Media

Effects of Aspergillus oryzae-proteolipid (PL) on the formation of high concentrations of alcohol, more than 20% as in sake brewing, have been studied. Electron microscopy revealed that there were no vacuoles but many lipid deposits in cytoplasm of the alcoholtolerant cells of Saccharomyces sake Kyokai No. 7, which were obtained by the anaerobic culture supplemented with PL. Sphaeroplasts from the alcohol-tolerant cells were stable in 20% alcohol, whereas those from the untolerant cells grown anaerobically in the PL-unsupplemented media were ruptured. The cell membrane became alcohol-endurable in the anaerobic cultures with PL. Synthetic phospholipid promoted yeast growth and the fermentative activity, whereas a small amount of sterol ester enhanced the alcohoi-endurability. The supplementation of both lipids anaerobically induced physiological properties characteristic of the alcohol-tolerant cells.     

Serratia Protease

Protease from a strain of Serratia contained one gram atom of zinc ion per mole and the zinc ion was essential for the activity. Also zinc-free apoenzyme was isolated as a crystalline form from the native-enzyme. Several metalloenzymes were prepared by the addition of corresponding metal ions to the apoenzyme. Studies on activities toward the hydrolysis of casein showed that relative activities of native- (zinc), cobalt- and manganese-enzyme were 1.0, 1.2 and 0.8, respectively. Toward the hydrolysis of hippurylleucinamide, however, specific activity of cobalt-enzyme was about 10 times that of the native- (zinc-) enzyme. Spectroscopic studies did not reveal any significant differences in conformations among native-enzyme, apoenzyme and the other metalloenzymes.