Degradation of a Lignin–Carbohydrate Substrate by Soil Fungi Producing Laccase and Cellobiose Dehydrogenase

The growth of nonsporulating mycelial fungi INBI 2-26(+), a producer of laccase; INBI 2-26(–), a producer of cellobiose dehydrogenase; and their mixed culture on lignin–carbohydrate substrates under conditions of submerged fermentation was studied. The degrees of degradation of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose of cut straw over 23 days amounted to 29.8, 51.4, and 72% for the laccase producer; 15.8, 33.9, and 59.1% for the cellobiose dehydrogenase producer; and 15.8, 39.4, and 64.5% for the mixed culture, respectively. The laccase activity in the medium when strain 2-26(+) was cultivated individually reached its maximum on day 28; the activity of cellobiose dehydrogenase of strain 2-26(–), on days 14–28. A method for determining cellobiose dehydrogenase activity in the presence of laccase was developed. In the mixed culture, both enzymes were formed; however, the level of laccase synthesis was 1.5-fold lower compared to that of strain 2-26(+), while synthesis of cellobiose dehydrogenase was similar to that of the corresponding producer. Cellobiose dehydrogenase failed to boost the action of laccase while degrading the lignin of straw.     

European checkerspots (Melitaeini: Lepidoptera,Nymphalidae) are not aposematic – the point of view of great tits (Parus major)

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Change in muscarinic modulation of transmitter release in the rat urinary bladder after spinal cord injury

Muscarinic facilitation of 14C-ACh release from post-ganglionic parasympathetic nerve terminals was studied in bladder strips prepared from spinal intact (SI) and spinal cord transected (SCT) rats. The spinal cord was transected at the lower thoracic spinal segments 3 weeks prior to the experiments. Using non-facilitatory stimulation (2 Hz) the release of ACh in spinal intact rats did not change in the presence of a non-specific muscarinic antagonist, atropine (100 nM), an M(1) specific antagonist (pirenzepine, 50 nM) or an M(1)-M(3) specific antagonist (4-DAMP, 5 nM). However, during a facilitatory stimulation paradigm (10 Hz or 40 Hz, 100 shocks) atropine and pirenzepine, but not 4-DAMP inhibited the release of ACh in bladders from spinal intact rats, indicating an M(1) receptor-mediated facilitation. In spinal cord transected rats, 2 Hz stimulation-induced release was significantly inhibited by atropine or 4-DAMP but not by pirenzepine indicating that a pre-junctional facilitatory mechanism mediated via M(3) muscarinic receptors could be induced by a non-facilitatory stimulation paradigm after spinal injury. In bladders of spinal cord transected rats, 10 Hz stimulation-evoked release of ACh was also inhibited by atropine and 4-DAMP (5 nM) but not by pirenzepine (50 nM). These results indicate that pre-junctional muscarinic receptors at cholinergic nerve endings in the bladder change after chronic spinal cord injury. It appears that low affinity M(1) muscarinic receptors are replaced by high affinity M(3) receptors. This change in modulation of ACh release may partly explain the bladder hyperactivity after chronic spinal cord injury.     

ONTOGENETIC NICHE SHIFT IN THE BRACHIOPOD TEREBRATALIA TRANSVERSA: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LOSS OF ROTATION ABILITY AND ALLOMETRIC GROWTH

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Modification of isoflavones in soybean seeds via expression of multiple phenolic biosynthetic genes

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Diversity and ecology of algae from the Nahal Qishon river,northern Israel

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Concentrations and ecological risks of metals in surface sediments of some coastal creeks in the Niger Delta,Nigeria

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