Existence of Sixteen 2′→5′ Dinucleotides in Nuclease P1 (Penicillium Nuclease) Digest of Technical Grade Yeast RNA

Sixteen 2′→5′ dinucleotides; (2′–5′)pA-A, pA-G, pA-C, pA-U, pG-A, pG-G, pG-C, pG-U, pC-A, pC-G, pC-C, pC-U, pU-A, pU-G, pU-C, and pU-U were detected in nuclease P₁ digest of a technical grade yeast RNA by means of gel filtration on Sephadex G-10, DEAE-Sephadex A-25 column chromatography in the presence of 7 m urea, paper electrophoresis and paper chromatography. Content of each dinucleotide was about 0.1 to 0.6% of the digest. As the sixteen 2′→5′ dinucleotides were found in all of the digests of technical grade RNA preparations tested, each polynucleotide chain in the preparations may be concluded to contain several per cent of the 2′–5′ minor phosphodiester linkages in addition to the 3′–5′ major phosphodiester linkages.     

Growth Profile of Crown Gall Cells of Tobacco in Suspension Culture

In order to obtain a basic information of plant cell suspension culture as a step toward the development of large scale culture, culture conditions of crown gall cells (auxin non-requiring cells) were investigated. Addition of yeast extract to culture medium was significantly effective for the growth and cell dispersion.

In experiments on the ability of the cultured cells to utilize sugars as the carbon source, it was observed that galactose, added to the culture medium, markedly inhibited the cell growth.

Pasteurization of the medium containing fructose as carbon source made it brownish by Maillard reaction and the medium apparently restrained the cell growth. However, the fructose medium sterilized by filtration was excellent for the cell growth as well as sucrose or glucose medium. In a jar fermentor, even the glucose medium became brownish by heat sterilization and the brown colored medium restrained the cell growth. Under optimum conditions, the doubling time was 1.1 day in exponential phase and 2.0 g of cell (dry weight) per 100 ml culture was obtained as the maximum yield.     

Some Properties of Neutral Proteolytic System in Rabbit Skeletal Muscle

The properties of the neutral proteolytic activity concentrated in a fraction (F–1) separated from rabbit muscle homogenate were examined by measuring the effects of various reagents and metal ions, the time course of the proteolysis and Ca-stability. The obtained results have indicated that F–1 contains two types of neutral protease active on proteins, tentatively named Protease I and II, The former, which is activated by Ca²⁺ and Ca-labile, shows an explosive production of Cu-Folin phenol reagent positive materials at the early stage of incubation. The latter, which is Ca-stable, shows a large production of ninhydrin positive materials throughout the incubation time. The proteolysis by F–1 was similar to the autolysis of muscle homogenate in all the properties examined. Therefore, Proteases I and II were assumed to be main enzymes responsible for the muscle proteolysis at the neutral pH region. As there has been no factor denying their functioning in living muscle, it is probable that Proteases I and II take important parts in the muscle catabolism.     

Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis of Plasteins

A peptic hydrolysate of soybean protein was filtered with Sephadex G–25 and was separated approximately into four fractions (I, II, II, and IV in the order of mol. wt.). Fraction II (av. mol. wt: 1043) and III (av. mol. Wt.: 685) were more plastein-productive than others. When plastein produced from Fraction II with Nagarse was investigated by plate electrophoresis using 7.5% polyacrylamide-gel, the upper limit of the molecular weight was found to be about 25,000. A similar result was obtained also with Fraction III. The increase of molecular weight in the course of the plastein formation with the mixture (substrate) of Fractions II and III was shown that the final product lay mainly in a position between cytochrome c (mol. wt.: 11,700) and Nagarse (mol wt.: 27,600). In addition, the gel-electrophoretic experiments revealed that the most favorable condition for the plastein synthesis were pH 6.5 and 35% in substrate concentration.     

Occurrence of Nuclease P1-Malonogalactan Complex

Nuclease P₁ from Penicillium citrinum was found to be produced in a form of complex with malonogalactan (a galactan, 1, 5-β-galactofuranoside polymer esterfied with malonic acid at position 3) in the culture on wheat bran. Neither nuclease P₁-malonogalactan complex nor malonogalactan was produced in a liquid medium. Nuclease P₁-malonogalactan complexes, P₁-MG I, II, and III were purified from an aqueous extract of the culture on wheat bran. The most anionic complex, P₁-MG III, was composed of the protein, carbohydrate and malonic acid in the ratio of 1: 2.6: 0.5 (w/w). The complex was not dissociated by purification procedures including fractionations with acetone and ammonium sulfate, gel filtration and DEAE-cellulose chromatography. A malonogalactan-specific carboxylesterase was found in culture of the same mold on wheat bran. Nuclease P₁-malonogalactan was demalonylated by the esterase to yield nuclease P₁-galactan. The binding of nuclease P₁ to galactan was rather loose so that nuclease P₁-galactan complex was partially dissociated by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. Attempt to reconstitute the complex from nuclease P₁ and malonogalactan upon mixing was unsuccessful. Exogenously supplemented nuclease P₁ did not associate with malonogalactan in the growing culture on wheat bran, either.

Several extracellular enzymes such as RNase, β-galactosidase and protease were also found in a form of complex with malonogalactan in the culture on wheat bran.     

Additional Volatile Compounds Produced by Pyrolysis of Sulfur-containing Amino Acids

Bacillus circulans WL-12, a yeast and fungal cell wall lytic bacterium, secretes a variety of polysaccharide degrading enzymes into the culture medium. When β-1,3-glucanase was induced with pachyman, a β-1,3-glucose polymer obtained from the tree fungus Poria cocus Wolf, six distinct active molecules of the enzyme with different molecular weights were detected in the culture supernatant of this bacterium. Molecular cloning of one of the β,3-gIucanase genes into E. coli was achieved by transforming E. coli HB101 cells with recombinant plasmids composed of chromosomal DNA fragments prepared from B. circulans WL-12 and the plasmid vector pUC 19. A recombinant plasmid containing 4.4 kb of inserted DNA in the Pst I site of pUC 19, designated as pNT003, conferred the ability to degrade pachyman on E. coli cells. The presence of pNT003 was harmful for E. coli cells and caused cell lysis, especially at higher temperatures of cultivation. β,3-Glucanase activity detected in E. coli was mainly recovered in the periplasmic fraction when cell lysis did not occur. SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that the periplasmic fraction contained four active molecules of β-1,3-glucanase which corresponded to four of the six active molecules produced by B. circulans WL-12.     

Characterization of a Degraded Product Derived from Serratia piscatorum Polysaccharide by Ultrasonication

Acidic polysaccharide, PLS F–II, was prepared from Serratia piscatorum polysaccharide, PLS N–I, by a sequence of ultrasonication and gel filtration and was examined for chemical composition and biological activity.

The purified PLS F–II preparation was shown to be homogeneous by ultracentrifugation, zone electrophoresis and column chromatography. The molecular weight was estimated to be about 2 × 10⁴ by the Archibald method. PLS F–II was composed of l-rhamnose, d-galactose and d-galacturonic acid in the molar ratio of 2: 1: 1 and was partially acylated on the galacturonic acid residues.

PLS F–II was found to enhance the antibody formation in mice, although it showed no anti-inflammatory activity.     

Neutral Aroma Constituents in Burley Tobacco

The constituents of the neutral volatiles from air-cured Burley tobacco were studied using distillation, silicic acid column chromatography, preparative gas chromatography and GC–MS. The isolation and identification of 84 compounds are reported of which 27 are newly identified as tobacco constituents and 4 are new natural products.     

The Photochemical Reaction of Pentachlorophenol

The chemical structure of a yellow C₁₈-compound (IV), isolated from the decomposition products of sodium pentachlorophenoxide (Na-PCP) in an aqueous solution by sunlight, has been determined by chemical and spectroscopic evidences. Some of the chemistry and the absorption spectra of IV and its related compounds containing 3-cyclohexene-1,2-dione and spiroketal structures are also described.