Power requirement in non-newtonian fermentation broth

Power requirements in the agitation of non-Newtonian fermentation broths with and without aeration were measured by a strain gage-type dynamometer. Broth from the production of gluc-amylase by Endomyces species and carboxymethyl cellulose solutions were used as non-Newtonian fluids. In gas–liquid agitation systems, the correlation between P_g and P₀² ND³/Q^0.56 observed by Michel and Miller was found to be applicable to non-Newtonian fluids in laminar and transition regions. This was particularly true for fluids with apparent viscosities larger than 300 cp. The impeller diameter and impeller blade width had considerable effects on power consumption in a nongassed system. It was suggested, therefore, that P_g/P₀ should be correlated by a dimensionless term involving some impeller-size factors.     

日本志留纪至三叠纪牙形刺生物地层

本文系统地回顾了日本志留纪至三叠纪牙形刺研究的历史和现在的成果。志留纪牙形刺只有少数零星的报道,没有建立化石带;早泥盆世已建立了５个牙形刺组合,没有中、晚泥盆世的记录;石炭纪有８个牙形刺带,其中晚石炭世３个牙形刺带;二叠纪５个牙形刺带或动物群,其中,中、晚二叠世各１个带（动物群）;三叠纪可划分出１４个牙形刺带。     

Microbial Production of Ursodeoxycholic Acid from Lithocholic Acid by Fusarium equiseti M41

A fungus identified as Fusarium equiseti was isolated from soil and found to carry out 7β-hydroxylation of lithocholic acid to ursodeoxycholic acid (35% yield; 350 mg/liter) in 112 h.     

A novel cytochrome P450 is implicated in brassinosteroid biosynthesis via the characterization of a rice dwarf mutant, dwarf11, with reduced seed length

We have characterized a rice (Oryza sativa) dwarf mutant, dwarf11 (d11), that bears seeds of reduced length. To understand the mechanism by which seed length is regulated, the D11 gene was isolated by a map-based cloning method. The gene was found to encode a novel cytochrome P450 (CYP724B1), which showed homology to enzymes involved in brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis. The dwarf phenotype of d11 mutants was restored by the application of the brassinolide (BL). Compared with wild-type plants, the aberrant D11 mRNA accumulated at higher levels in d11 mutants and was dramatically reduced by treatment with BL, implying that the gene is feedback-regulated by BL. Precise determination of the defective step(s) in BR synthesis in d11 mutants proved intractable because of tissue specificity and the complex control of BR accumulation in plants. However, 6-deoxotyphasterol (6-DeoxoTY) and typhasterol (TY), but not any upstream intermediates before these compounds, effectively restored BR response in d11 mutants in a lamina joint bending assay. Multiple lines of evidence together suggest that the D11/CYP724B1 gene plays a role in BR synthesis and may be involved in the supply of 6-DeoxoTY and TY in the BR biosynthesis network in rice.     

Function of α subunit of heterotrimeric G protein in brassinosteroid response of rice plants

The α subunit of heterotrimeric G-proteins (Gα) is involved in a broad range of aspects of the brassinosteroid (BR) response, such as the enhancement of lamina bending. However, it has been suggested from epistatic analysis of d1 and d61, which are mutants deficient for Gα and the BR receptor BRI1, that Gα and BRI1 may function via distinct pathways in many cases. In this study, we investigated further the genetic interaction between Gα and BRI1. We report the analysis of transformants of T65d1 and T65d1/d61-7 into which were introduced a constitutively active form of Gα, Q223L. The application of 24-epi-brassinolide (24-epiBL) to T65d1 expressing Q223L still resulted in elongation of the coleoptile and, in fact, it was enhanced over the wild-type plant (WT) level in a concentration dependent manner. In T65d1/d61-7 expressing Q223L, the seed size was enlarged over that of d61-7 due to activation of Gα. These results suggest that Q223L is able to augment the BR response in response to 24-epiBL and also that Q223L functions independently of BRI1 in the process of determining seed morphology, given that Q223L was functional in the BRI1-deficient mutant, d61-7.Key words: brassinosteroid, BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE1 (BRI1), genetic interaction, G-protein α subunit, rice plants, seed morphology, transgenic plants     

Expression of pheA gene using PR-PL tandem promoter of bacteriophage lambda

Summary The genepheA ⁺ coding chorismate niutase P-prephenate dehydratase, one of the regulatory enzymes of phenylalanine biosynthesis, was cloned into the down-stream of P_R-P_L tandem promoter. In this construction, both the native promoter-operator region and the attenuator region ofpheA ⁺ operon were eliminated so as to avoid the repression and attenuation ofpheA ⁺ gene expression. The expression ofpheA ⁺ gene was directed by P_R-P_L tandem promoter of bacteriophage lambda and controlled by a temperature sensitive repressor, cI₈₅₇.It was shown that the expression as well as phenylalanine production was regulated by temperature. Maximum production of phenylalanine, 170 mg/l, was obtained at 40°C. The host strain, MC1065, produced a trace (4 mg/l) of phenylalanine at the same temperature.     

Adsorption of Lithocholic Acid to Fusarium equiseti M41 as an Essential Process in Its Conversion to Ursodeoxycholic Acid

Fusarium equiseti M41 converts lithocholic acid to ursodeoxycholic acid. Adsorption of lithocholic acid particles to mycelia of F. equiseti M41 is essential in the conversion of lithocholic acid to ursodeoxycholic acid. Production of ursodeoxycholic acid was negligible when particles of lithocholic acid were absent. As the concentration of lithocholic acid particles increased, both the amount of mycelium-bound lithocholic acid and the production of ursodeoxycholic acid increased hyperbolically (K_1/2 = 1.9 g/liter and K_mapparent = 1.9 g/liter. A fluorescent lithocholic acid derivative was used to confirm that insoluble particles of lithocholic acid attached to the surface of the mycelia. The hydrophobic nature of this binding was estimated from the close relationship observed between the hydrophobicity of bile acids and their binding capacity to the mycelia. By repeated washing with 30% dimethyl sulfoxide, two binding modes of lithocholic acid were distinguished, i.e., surface binding (59% of bound lithocholic acid) and tight binding (41% of bound lithocholic acid). From the amount of tightly bound lithocholic acid, the intracellular concentration of lithocholic acid was calculated to be 1,433-fold higher than its saturating concentration in the reaction mixture, thus promoting effective conversion to ursodeoxycholic acid in the mycelia. Several lines of evidence indicated that glycoproteins of the cell wall participated in the binding of lithocholic acid.