Expression of alkaline phosphatase induces rapid and artificial mineralization in specific transformed Escherichia coli

Matrix vesicles (MV) having high alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity act as initiators of biological mineralization. Although bacteria have similar membranous structures to MV, ALP mediated mineralization has not been studied in bacterial cells. Escherichia coli was transformed with a bacterial ALP gene in this study. Recombinant E. coli overproducing ALP induced mineralization through hydrolysis of calcium-glycerophosphate (Ca-GP). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy combined with electron diffraction revealed newly formed hydroxyapatite mineral deposits. These findings suggest that hydrolysis of Ca-GP through ALP induced high Ca and Pi concentrations within bacterial cells followed by complete bacterial mineralization.     

Molecular characterization of Anisakis pegreffii larvae in Pacific cod in Japan

It is now recognized that the morphospecies Anisakis simplex is not a single species but a complex composed of three sibling species, A. simplex sensu stricto, A. pegreffii and A. simplex C. In Japan, A. simplex-like larvae have been isolated from a variety of fish and humans, but the larvae collected have been identified as A. simplex by only light microscopy. Therefore, the epidemiology of the A. simplex complex, composed of three sibling species, is still unclear in Japan. In the present study, 26 A. simplex-like larval isolates were obtained from two Pacific cod landed in Hokkaido, Japan, and examined genetically by PCR-RFLP and direct sequencing of the ITS region of rDNA. Among the 26 isolates, 24 were identified as A. simplex sensu stricto, the other two as A. pegreffii. The present study is the first to confirm the distribution of A. pegreffii in Japan, and to detect A. pegreffii larvae in Pacific cod.