Identification of potentially safe promising fungal cell factories for the production of polyketide natural food colorants using chemotaxonomic rationale

Background  

Colorants derived from natural sources look set to overtake synthetic colorants in market value as manufacturers continue to meet the rising demand for clean label ingredients – particularly in food applications. Many ascomycetous fungi naturally synthesize and secrete pigments and thus provide readily available additional and/or alternative sources of natural colorants that are independent of agro-climatic conditions. With an appropriately selected fungus; using in particular chemotaxonomy as a guide, the fungal natural colorants could be produced in high yields by using the optimized cultivation technology. This approach could secure efficient production of pigments avoiding use of genetic manipulation.     

SIMPROT: Using an empirically determined indel distribution in simulations of protein evolution

Background  

General protein evolution models help determine the baseline expectations for the evolution of sequences, and they have been extensively useful in sequence analysis and for the computer simulation of artificial sequence data sets.     

A method for the enrichment of auxotrophic mutants of Serratia marcescens with the antibiotic azthreonam

A new method for the enrichment of cultures of Serratia marcescens for auxotrophic mutants has been developed. The method is based on the formation of filaments by growing cells in minimal medium M70 containing azthreonam. Auxotrophic mutants unable to grow in M70 do not form filaments. Mutants are collected from the culture by filtration.     

Obstetrics and gynecology: AIDS and pregnancy

The Scientific Board of the California Medical Association presents the following inventory of items of progress in obstetrics and gynecology. Each item, in the judgment of a panel of knowledgeable physicians, has recently become reasonably firmly established, both as to scientific fact and important clinical significance. The items are presented in simple epitome and an authoritative reference, both to the item itself and to the subject as a whole, is generally given for those who may be unfamiliar with a particular item. The purpose is to assist busy practitioners, students, research workers, or scholars to stay abreast of these items of progress in obstetrics and gynecology that have recently achieved a substantial degree of authoritative acceptance, whether in their own field of special interest or another.The items of progress listed below were selected by the Advisory Panel to the Section on Obstetrics and Gynecology of the California Medical Association and the summaries were prepared under its direction.     

Annual and seasonal survival of trumpeter swans in the upper midwest

The reintroduction of trumpeter swans to the north central United States appears to be a conservation success story. For the most part, population management goals have been met or exceeded. The population cannot be considered self-sustaining, however, because 90% of the swans migrate short distances to wintering sites where supplemental feeding occurs. The remaining 10% migrate longer distances to areas where adequate open water and forage occur naturally. To determine how these 2 different wintering habits might affect mortality, we used mark-resight data gathered between 2000 and 2008 to estimate and compare annual survival rates for long- and short-distance migrant swans marked in Wisconsin. Apparent annual survival rates were similar for long- (0.81, SE = 0.019) and short- (0.81, SE = 0.022) distant adult migrants but were higher for long-distance sub-adult (0.86, SE = 0.036) migrants than for short-distance sub-adult migrants (0.7, SE = 0.046). We also estimated seasonal survival of long-distance migrants to determine if the migratory periods are a time of high mortality. We found little evidence for seasonal variation in survival and estimates for both migratory and non-migratory seasons were very high (>0.97). Overall, the results suggest that little mortality occurs during migration and long-distance migrants are able to survive at rates at least equal to, but probably higher than, short-distance migrants. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

Water Balance in Cucumis Plants, Measured by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, II

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was used to investigate theeffects of changes in root temperature, of changes in the areaof root in contact with culture solution and of day/night rhythmon the water balance of a cucumber and a gherkin plant. Resultsare discussed in terms of water potential, flow rate and resistanceusing a previously presented model of water balance. As longas water uptake alone is varied, flow rate and water content(or potential) will change in the same direction. In contrast,from that model it is predicted that changes in transpirationwill affect flow rate and water content in opposite ways. Anexperimental verification of this prediction was given in theprevious paper. Results obtained by the NMR method are comparedto those determined using a dendrometer. The results demonstratethat the NMR method is a valuable tool to study plant waterbalance and that it can serve as a technique for discriminatingbetween changes in plant water balance that are due to changesin water uptake by roots and those due to changes in transpiration. Key words: Water balance model, Cucumis satious L., flow, water content, NMR, water balance measurement