Screening of thermotolerant yeasts as producers of superoxide dismutase

Abstract A screening procedure for highly thermostable yeast superoxide dismutase was developed. Growth yields at various temperatures were estimated for ten mesophilic and thermotolerant strains, belonging to the genera Saccharomyces, Kluyveromyces and Pichia . Higher yields at 45°C were obtained for K. lactis 90-3 and 90-4. A correlation between the ability to grow at higher temperature and the thermostability of the superoxide dismutase enzyme synthesized was observed. A comparison of the operational stability of the superoxide dismutase of all tested strains suggests that the enzyme of K. lactis strains was more thermostable than that of the other tested microorganisms.     

Aggregates of modified low density lipoproteins indicate accumulation of lipids in human aortic intima cells in vitro

Spontaneous aggregation of glycosylated, desialated, oxidized and malondialdehyde modified low density lipoprotein (LDL) as well as LDL of coronary heart disease patients has been discovered using methods for determination of light transmission fluctuations in suspensions and gel filtration. At the same time; LDL of healthy donors failed to aggregate under conditions of cellular culture. On the other hand, human aortic cells from unaffected intima incubated with modified LDL, but not native LDL of healthy donors, showed a rise in esterified cholesterol levels. There was a strong correlation between the degree of LDL aggregation and intracellular cholesterol ester accumulation (r-0.86, p 0.001, n-21). Removal of aggregates by passing preparations through and 0.1 um filter significantly inhibited the accumulation of cholesterol esters. The obtained data point to the essential, if not decisive, role of LDL aggregation in the processes of lipid accumulation by intimal cells in vitro.     

A Survey Investigating the Infection of Fusarium langsethiae and Production of HT‐2 and T‐2 Mycotoxins in UK Oat Fields

Fusarium langsethiae is a toxigenic fungal species that has been reported in European small‐grain cereal crops such as oats, wheat and barley. Although its relative contribution to fusarium head blight (FHB) symptoms is not well understood, it is reported to contaminate these cereals with high levels of HT‐2 and T‐2 trichothecenes mycotoxins that are currently under consideration for legislation by the European Commission. Ten commercial oat fields in Shropshire and Staffordshire (two adjacent counties in the Midlands) in the UK were surveyed in the 2006/2007 growing season. Samples were taken from predetermined field locations at Zadoks growth stages 32/33, 69, 77‐85 and 90‐92 for F. langsethiae biomass and HT‐2 and T‐2 toxins quantification. The results from this study showed that oats can be heavily infected with F. langsethiae and have high concentrations of HT‐2 and T‐2 toxins with no apparent FHB symptoms. The regression of HT‐2 + T‐2 toxins on F. langsethiae DNA concentration was highly significant (P < 0.001, r² = 0.55). The results indicated that although F. langsethiae had no direct effect on crop yield, it may result in indirect economic losses where the grain can be rejected or downgraded as a result of intolerable levels of HT‐2 and T‐2 toxins, which are of human food and animal feed safety concern. The influence of cultural field practices on the infection and HT‐2 and T‐2 toxins accumulation in oats was not clear and warrants further studies to identify the sources of F. langsethiae inoculum and conditions favourable for infection and mycotoxin production.     

Direct acid-catalysed transmethylation of lactobacillic acid in lactic acid bacteria

Summary Cellular fatty acids inLactobacillus büchneri were transmethylated with H₂SO₄ catalyst in methanol at elevated temperature. By optimising the reaction time and the amounts of catalyst and methanol used at a fixed temperature it was possible to maximise the lactobacillic acid yield. The yield of lactobacillic acid with this method was better than with the traditional method using base-catalysed saponification followed by HCL-catalysed methylation.     

p103 and A60: novel proteins of the neuronal membrane-associated cytoskeleton.

Associated with the neuronal plasma membrane are cytoskeletal proteins which probably control the specialization of the membrane into axonal and dendritic domains. Specialized isoforms of the proteins spectrin and ankyrin are located in each region and provide molecular mechanisms for locating specific transmembrane proteins at required points. However, spectrin and ankyrin were defined by extensions of the model for the erythrocyte membrane, an analogy unlikely to provide a complete account of the neuronal membrane skeleton. We have defined two new proteins of the neuronal membrane skeleton, designated p103 and A60. p103 is enriched in post-synaptic densities and binds with high affinity to integral membrane proteins--we suggest that it may have a role in linking the cytoskeleton to synaptic glycoproteins. A60 is a 60 kDa axonal protein, which appears to form a lining to the axolemma. It is almost exclusively axonal, although some neurons (such as Purkinje cells) appear to contain it in the cell body and initial dendrite segment. A60 binds both ankyrin and neurofilaments, and may have a role in transmitting information critical to axonal morphology to the membrane.     

Subpopulations of rat lung fibroblasts with different amounts of type I and type III collagen mRNAs

A fluorescence-based method using the cell sorter has been devised to separate rat lung fibroblasts into subpopulations. Type I or type III collagen antiserum was used as the primary antibody to react with parent rat lung fibroblasts. This was followed by a fluorescein-conjugated secondary antibody. Specificity of the primary collagen antibody was determined using a monoclonal beta-actin antibody and purified IgG as the primary antibodies. The fluorescent shift of parent rat lung fibroblasts was optimized for the amount of primary collagen antibody and secondary fluorescein-conjugated antibody. An increase in slot blot intensity was observed for pro-alpha 1(I), pro-alpha 2(I), and pro-alpha 1(III) mRNAs with increasing amounts of cellular RNA. When precipitating with type I collagen antibodies, the total cellular steady-state levels of type I procollagen mRNAs were increased in the high intensity cells as compared with the low intensity cells. Alternately, when the type III collagen antibodies were used to precipitate the rat lung fibroblasts, the low intensity cells had increased type I procollagen mRNAs while the high intensity cells had increased type III procollagen mRNA. The subpopulations of rat lung fibroblasts after isolation using the fluorescent cell sorter were readily propagated for at least four passages.     

Interconnection of physico-chemical characteristics of organic solvents and their denaturing ability in relation to proteins]

Reversible denaturation of several proteins (alpha-chymotrypsin, trypsin, laccase, chymotrypsinogen, cytochrome c and myoglobin) by a broad series of organic solvents of different nature was studied. The regularities of this process were analyzed, employing both experimental and literary data based on the results of kinetic and spectroscopic measurements. In all the systems under study denaturation proceeded in a threshold manner, i. e., an abrupt change in the catalytic and/or spectroscopic properties of the dissolved proteins was observed after a certain threshold concentration of the organic solvent had been reached. To account for the observed features of the denaturation process, a thermodynamic model of reversible protein denaturation by organic solvents was proposed. This model is based on the widely accepted viewpoint that the undisturbed water shell around the protein globule is necessary for maintaining the dissolved protein in the native state. Quantitative analysis of the model led to an equation establishing a relationship between the threshold concentration of an organic solvent and its physico-chemical characteristics, such as hydrophobicity, solvating ability and molecular geometry. This equation fits well in the experimental data for all the proteins tested. Based on the above thermodynamic model of protein denaturation, a novel quantitative parameter characterizing the denaturing strength of organic solvents (termed as the denaturation capacity or DC) was proposed. Different organic solvents arranged according to their DC values form the DC scale of organic solvents which permits to predict theoretically the threshold concentration of any organic solvent for a given protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)