Correlation Analysis between Eating Quality,Rheological Property and Amylose Content of Starch

A screening was designed to isolate microorganisms having poly(γ-glutamic acid) (PGA) endohydrolase activity. Of the strains screened, TM-4222, from a soil sample, showed the highest viscosity decrement ability on PGA. It was identified to be a Myrothecium sp. The fungal production of the enzyme was slightly promoted with yeast extract and greatly promoted with· both yeast extract and PGA. The fungus was evaluated to produce PGA hydrolase of an endo-type specificity by analyzing of the reaction products.     

The Formation of Higher Alcohols in the Fermentation of Amino Acids by Yeast

We have found that some straight-chained α-amino acids are converted by yeast to the alcohols with correspondingly longer carbon chains in the alcoholic fermentation contrary to F. Ehrlich’s scheme, i.e., isobutyl alcohol from alanine and active amyl alcohol from α-amino-n-butyric acid or threonine.

In this report, we confirmed this fact in the alcoholic fermentation of many aliphatic amino acids by 2 yeast strains using gas chromatography. Moreover, n-propyl alcohol was proved to come from α-amino-n-butyric acid or threonine. Small quantities of n-propyl, isobutyl, active amyl and isoamyl alcohols were found in all the fermented solutions. There was some difference in the composition of higher alcohols of the alcoholic solutions fermented by different yeasts.     

Relation of Rheological Properties with Starch Components among Glutinous,Sticky, Less-sticky Non-glutinous Rice Starches

Varoius piericidin analogues (PS-I, -II and -III in Fig. 2) were synthesized from three 4-acetoxy-6-formylpyridines by Wittig reaction to determine the structure-activity relationships. New type inhibitors, 5-alkenyl-2, 3-dimethoxy-4-hydroxy-6-methylpyridines (PS-IV) were synthesized by intramolecular cyclization.     

Structure-Activity Study of S-n-Butyl S′-p-teri-Butylbenzyl N-3-Pyridyldithiocarbonimidate (S-1358, Denmert®) and Its Derivatives

Fungicidal activities of S-alkyl S′-p-substituted benzyl N-3-pyridyldithiocarbonimidates toward Coniothyrium diplodiella, Scleotinia sclerotiorum (on agar medium) and Sphaerotheca fuliginea (on pot test) were shown. The activities varied with the change of the S-alkyl group and were maximized at certain numbers of carbon atoms. A different pattern was observed in the activity toward S. fuliginea when the carbon number was 8 or more. Bulkiness of the S-alkyl group also appeared to influence the activities. The steric factor of the p-alkyl substituents mainly influenced the activity toward S. fuliginea up to the tert-butyl analog. The activities toward C. diplodiella and S. sclerotiorum increased with the increase in the bulkiness and the hydrophylicity of the p-substituent. Rm values were determined on reversed phase TLC and the structure-activity correlations were analyzed against hydrophobic (Rm), electronic (σ) and steric (Es) factors on 34 compounds.     

Moisture Sorption Isotherms of Various Tobaccos

The equilibrium moisture contents of sun-cured (Kroumougrad), flue-cured (Bright Yellow—4) and air-cured (Burley-21 and Matsukawa) tobaccos were measured over a relative humidity range from 5 to 80% at 20°C. The moisture sorption isotherms of tobaccos were of sigmoid type, and classified into two groups. In a lower humidity range below ca. 40% RH, the A group (Kroumougrad and BY-4) had a smaller moisture sorption capacity than B group (Burley-21 and Matsukawa), while in a higher humidity range above ca. 50% RH the former had a larger moisture sorption capacity than the latter. By extracting with water, the moisture content of BY-4 was increased in the lower humidity range, while it decreased in the higher humidity range. However, the moisture content of Matsukawa was scarecely changed by extracting it with water. These results suggest that the differences in equilibrium moisture content with the type of curing were due to the differences in contents of water soluble com- ponents. To control the hygroscopic properties of a tobacco, therefore, the influences of the addition of sucrose and glycerol on the equilibrium moisture content were quantitatively analysed. The moisture sorption capacity of tobacco was greatly different from its nitrogen sorption capacity. The specific surface area of tobacco calculated from moisture sorption isotherm was ca. 110 times larger than the specific surface area calculated from the nitrogen sorption isotherm. Both the nitrogen and moisture sorption data should be necessary for better understanding of the complicated sorption-desorption phenomena in tobaccos.     

Sedimentation Analysis of the Interacting Mixture of Dextran Sulfate and Low Density Lipoprotein

The reversible interaction between dextran sulfate (D) and the low density lipoprotein of human serum (P) was investigated by sedimentation velocity. Analysis of the velocity patterns of dextran sulfate—lipoprotein mixtures revealed that the maximum number of binding sites on dextran sulfate molecule is approximately 6. It was also shown that the species of the complex formed is affected by the mixing ratio of the two constituents: at the molar ratio (P/D) 0.69, the complex exists in average as DP_1.6 and at 0.98 as DP_2.2. The linear increment of sedimentation coefficient of the complex due to the binding of one lipoprotein molecule was 7.8S. Finally, the mechanism of precipitation of the complexes was discussed.     

Deep Cerebellar Nuclei Play an Important Role in Two-Tone Discrimination on Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in C57BL/6 Mice

Previous studies have shown that deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN)-lesioned mice develop conditioned responses (CR) on delay eyeblink conditioning when a salient tone conditioned stimulus (CS) is used, which suggests that the cerebellum potentially plays a role in more complicated cognitive functions. In the present study, we examined the role of DCN in tone frequency discrimination in the delay eyeblink-conditioning paradigm. In the first experiment, DCN-lesioned and sham-operated mice were subjected to standard simple eyeblink conditioning under low-frequency tone CS (LCS: 1 kHz, 80 dB) or high-frequency tone CS (HCS: 10 kHz, 70 dB) conditions. DCN-lesioned mice developed CR in both CS conditions as well as sham-operated mice. In the second experiment, DCN-lesioned and sham-operated mice were subjected to two-tone discrimination tasks, with LCS+ (or HCS+) paired with unconditioned stimulus (US), and HCS− (or LCS−) without US. CR% in sham-operated mice increased in LCS+ (or HCS+) trials, regardless of tone frequency of CS, but not in HCS− (or LCS−) trials. The results indicate that sham-operated mice can discriminate between LCS+ and HCS− (or HCS+ and LCS−). In contrast, DCN-lesioned mice showed high CR% in not only LCS+ (or HCS+) trials but also HCS− (or LCS−) trials. The results indicate that DCN lesions impair the discrimination between tone frequency in eyeblink conditioning. Our results suggest that the cerebellum plays a pivotal role in the discrimination of tone frequency.     

Galectin-9 Ameliorates Clinical Severity of MRL/lpr Lupus-Prone Mice by Inducing Plasma Cell Apoptosis Independently of Tim-3

Galectin-9 ameliorates various murine autoimmune disease models by regulating T cells and macrophages, although it is not known what role it may have in B cells. The present experiment shows that galectin-9 ameliorates a variety of clinical symptoms, such as proteinuria, arthritis, and hematocrit in MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice. As previously reported, galectin-9 reduces the frequency of Th1, Th17, and activated CD8⁺ T cells. Although anti-dsDNA antibody was increased in MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice, galectin-9 suppressed anti-dsDNA antibody production, at least partly, by decreasing the number of plasma cells. Galectin-9 seemed to decrease the number of plasma cells by inducing plasma cell apoptosis, and not by suppressing BAFF production. Although about 20% of CD19^−/low CD138⁺ plasma cells expressed Tim-3 in MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice, Tim-3 may not be directly involved in the galectin-9-induced apoptosis, because anti-Tim-3 blocking antibody did not block galectin-9-induced apoptosis. This is the first report of plasma cell apoptosis being induced by galectin-9. Collectively, it is likely that galectin-9 attenuates the clinical severity of MRL lupus-prone mice by regulating T cell function and inducing plasma cell apoptosis.