The trienoic and tetraenoic polyenes, (3Z,6Z,9Z)-3,6,9-nonadecatriene, (3Z,6Z,9Z)-3,6,9-henicosatriene, and (3Z,6Z,9Z)-1,3,6,9-henicosatetraene were found in the abdominal cuticle and pheromone gland of the winter moth Operophtera brumata L. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), in addition to the previously identified single component sex pheromone (3Z,6Z,9Z)-1,3,6,9-nonadecatetraene. The pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN) is involved in the regulation of ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Bitter acids (e.g. humulone) are prenylated polyketides synthesized in lupulin glands of the hop plant (Humulus lupulus) which are important contributors to the bitter flavour and stability of beer. Bitter acids are formed from acyl-CoA precursors derived from branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) degradation and C5 prenyl diphosphates from ...

De novo biosynthesis of male sex pheromone from two bumblebee species (Bombus terrestris and Bombus lucorum) was studied by using in vitro incubations of labial glands (LGs) with radioactive [1,2-(14) C]acetate and deuterated [D(3) ]acetate. The labeled substrate was incorporated into several types of compounds, such as terpenic alcohols, fatty ...

The fatty acid composition of the digestive gland from the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis subjected to three different dietary regimens for 30 days was analysed. Samples were collected at the beginning and at the end of the trial to obtain a comprehensive picture of fatty acid dynamics. Group A was unfed; ...

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to identify 103 organic compounds from urine, feces, anal glands, and preputial glands of free-ranging African wild dogs, Lycaon pictus. Aliphatic acids were the dominant class of compound in all materials. In addition to aliphatic acids, urine contained dimethyl sulfone, 1,3-propanediol, benzoic acid, 1-methyl-2,4-imidazolidinedione, and ...

Occlusal raising method (so-called 'Template therapy') has been reported to alleviate various diseases and symptoms, but the underlying mechanism is not clear. We searched the low-molecular weight metabolite(s) in the saliva, the concentration of which is significantly changed by the template therapy. One female patient with headache underwent the template ...

The invasive Pomacea canaliculata estivates during periods of drought and should cope with harmful effects of reoxygenation during arousal. We studied thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, SOD and catalase, CAT) and non-enzymatic antioxidants (uric acid and reduced glutathione), and heat shock protein expression (Hsc70, Hsp70 and Hsp90) ...

The aim was to determine the relative role of each of the lactogenic hormones (insulin, prolactin and hydrocortisol), and their combinations in regulating elongation and desaturation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and subsequently on composition of cellular lipid compartments in mammary epithelia. Cultured cells of the mammary gland epithelial cell line ...

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is one of the most commonly occurring potentially malignant disorders in India and south East Asian countries where betel chewing is common practice. Iron and ascorbic acid are important agents for collagen synthesis. The aims of this study were to estimate the levels of iron and ...

The efficacy of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in diet supplements for milk fat reduction is well documented in several species. However, the mechanisms by which fatty acids regulate mammary lipogenesis remain largely unknown, especially with regard to gene expression of enzyme and regulators. In this study, 8 Holstein dairy cows ...

The metapleural gland is exclusive to ants, and unusual among exocrine glands in having no mechanism for closure and retention of secretion. As yet, no clear conclusion has been reached as to the function of metapleural gland secretion. Metapleural gland secretions were investigated for fungus-growing ants representing the derived attines ...

Using a tracer-tracee approach, we fed 1-d-old virgin Heliothis virescens U-(13)C-glucose and analyzed the key labeled fatty acids, (Z)-11-hexadecenoate, hexadecanoate and octadecanoate, known to be intermediates in pheromone biosynthesis, by mass isotopomer distribution analysis. This method allowed determination of enrichment, and fractional (FSR) and absolute (ASR) synthetic rates. As expected, ...

All living organisms respond to various physical or chemical stressors by the induction of heat shock protein (HSP). The present study was performed on transgenic Drosophila melanogaster (hsp70-lacZ) Bg(9) in which the transformation vector is inserted with a P-element, the line contains wild-type hsp70 sequence up to the lacZ fusion ...

Increasing the concentration of α-linolenic acid (LNA; 18:3 cis-9,cis-12,cis-15) in blood might affect fatty acid (FA) metabolism in the mammary gland of dairy cows. The objective was to determine the effects of different arterial concentrations of 18:3 cis-9,cis-12,cis-15 (18:3n-3) achieved via duodenal infusions with LNA on mammary uptake [assessed via ...

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nucleocapsid (NC) protein plays an essential role in several stages of HIV-1 replication. One important function of HIV-1 NC is to act as a nucleic acid chaperone, in which the protein facilitates nucleic acid rearrangements important for reverse transcription and recombination. NC contains ...

Inside a living cell there can be a variety of interactions for any given protein, which serve to regulate denaturation and renaturation processes. Insights into some of them can be obtained by in vitro studies using various denaturing agents. In this study, all-atom MD simulations in explicit solvent and NMR ...

Latently infected cells harbor human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) proviral DNA copies integrated in heterochromatin, allowing persistence of transcriptionally silent proviruses. It is widely accepted that hypoacetylation of histone proteins by histone deacetylases (HDACs) is involved in maintaining the HIV-1 latency by repressing viral transcription. HIV-1 replication can be ...

Electronic parameters of 1',3 '-oxygen play significant roles in steering the conformation of nucleoside phosphonic acid analogues. To investigate the relationship of two oxygen atoms with antiviral enhancement, novel 1',3 '-dioxolane 5 '-deoxyphosphonic acid purine analogues were synthesized via de novo acyclic stereoselective route from acrolein and glycolic acid. The synthesized nucleoside phosphonic ...

Amino acid property methods have repeatedly proven more sensitive than nucleotide-based methods, especially to the subtle influences of selection on Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of population sampling and sliding window size on the sensitivity of one amino acid based method ...

Molting in arthropods is orchestrated by a series of endocrine changes that occur towards the end of an instar. However, little is understood about the mechanisms that trigger these endocrine changes. Here, nutritional inputs were manipulated to investigate the minimal nutritional inputs required for a Manduca sexta larva to initiate ...

BACKGROUND: Apelin is a peptide that was originally isolated from bovine stomach extract and has been demonstrated to be an endogenous ligand for orphan receptor APJ. Both apelin and the APJ receptor are widely distributed in the whole body. Apelin is supposed to have important regulatory roles in the function ...

Micro-ribonucleic acids (microRNAs) are small molecules containing 20-23 nucleotides. Despite their small size, it is likely that almost every cellular process is regulated by them. Moreover, aberrant microRNA expression has been involved in the development of various diseases, including cancer. Although many data are available about the role of microRNAs ...

We established microRNA profiles from active and inactive multiple sclerosis lesions. Using laser capture microdissection from multiple sclerosis lesions to pool single cells and in vitro cultures, we assigned differentially expressed microRNA to specific cell types. Astrocytes contained all 10 microRNA that were most strongly upregulated in active multiple sclerosis ...

Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate the proton-transfer mechanism in liquid phosphonic acid at different temperatures. The transfers are observed if additional charge carriers are present. The liquid phosphonic acid has been characterized by pair-distribution functions, self-diffusion coefficients, and hopping rates. Moreover, we find that the proton ...

A new chiral molecular tweezer was synthesized with (1R,2R)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane as spacer and two molecules of (+)-usnic acid as pincers. The ability of this molecular tweezer to bind 2,4,7-trinitrofluorenone was studied. A charge-transfer complex was formed in which TNF was sandwiched between the two usnic acid units with pi-pi-stacked aromatic interactions.

Hexaamide receptor 4 and coumarin phosphate 5 form an ensemble for effective sensing of geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP). Fluorescence resonance energy transfer in the 4 + 5 ensemble diminishes when 5 is replaced by GPP. Receptor 4 binds selectively with GPP over other anions, including fatty acids. The 4-GPP complex in ...

Dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS) is involved in the unpalatable aroma of stale sake, called "hineka"; however, the mechanism underlying the formation of DMTS during the storage of sake has not been elucidated. This paper investigates the precursors of DMTS in sake. An experiment using [methyl-d(3)]-methionine showed that Strecker degradation of methionine ...

A synthetic pathway has been constructed for the production of glucuronic and glucaric acids from glucose in Escherichia coli. Coexpression of the genes encoding myo-inositol-1-phosphate synthase (Ino1) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX) from mice led to production of glucuronic acid through the intermediate myo-inositol. Glucuronic acid concentrations up ...

In order to determine the allelopathic nature of lichen acids produced by lichen mycobionts, we compared lichen photobionts with other photosynthetic organisms in terms of inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport around photosystem II (PSII) by representative lichen acids. Whereas at the thylakoid level we found no clear difference in tolerance ...

L-threo-3,4-Dihydroxyphenylserine (DOPS) is a chiral unnatural beta-hydroxy amino acid used for the treatment of Parkinson disease. We developed a continuous bioconversion system for DOPS production that uses whole-cell biocatalyst of recombinant Escherichia coli expressing L-threonine aldolase (L-TA) genes cloned from Streptomyces avelmitilis MA-4680. Maximum conversion rates were observed at 2 ...

Fallen leaves of Ficus altissima, F. virens, F. benjamina, F. fistulosa and F. semicordata, were collected in Chiang Mai Province in northern Thailand and examined for fungi. Eighty taxa were identified, comprising 56 anamorphic taxa, 23 ascomycetes and 1 basidiomycete. Common fungal species occurring on five host species with high ...

Hydroxyacids represent an important class of compounds that see application in the production of polyesters, biodegradable plastics and antibiotics, and that serve as useful chiral synthetic building blocks for other fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. An economical, high-titer method for the production of 4-hydroxyvalerate (4HV) and 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) from the inexpensive ...

Conjugate acids of cyclic (amino)(phosphino)carbenes (P-NHCs) have been prepared, and several different processes have been observed during their deprotonation, which include the formation of a metastable P-NHC, an azomethine ylide, and a bicyclic phosphirane.

We report a new strategy that uses N-trimethylsilyl (N-TMS) amine to mediate controlled ring-opening polymerization of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs). This polymerization proceeds via a unique, trimethylsilyl carbamate (TMS-CBM) propagating group that results from the cleavage of the Si-N bond of N-TMS amine followed by NCA ring opening. Propagation of ...

Trichoderma spp. are regularly found as a constituent of the mycoflora of many soils and are noted for their antagonistic activity against bacteria and other fungi. This latter property is the basis for the widespread interest in their use in the biological control of soil-borne fungal plant pathogens. This antagonism ...

Lactate dehydrogenase A4 (LDH-A4) was purified for yak skeletal muscle. Michaelis constant (Km) analysis showed that yak LDH-A4 for pyruvate was significantly higher than that of cattle. cDNA cloning of LDH-A revealed two amino acid substitutions between yak and cattle. We suggest that the higher Km of yak LDH-A4 might ...

Previously, we reported the synthesis of stable gold nanorods with higher aspect ratio (approximately 15-20) and more enhanced uniformity by a modified seed mediated growth approach using a binary surfactant system consisting of CTAB and Pluronic F-127. For the in vivo application of gold nanorods, the removal of CTABs that ...

Three organic sensitizers containing bis-dimethylfluorenyl amino donor and a cyanoacrylic acid acceptor bridged by p-phenylene vinylene unit were synthesized. The power conversion efficiency was quite sensitive to the length of bridged phenylene vinylene groups. A nanocrystalline TiO2 dye-sensitized solar cell was fabricated using three sensitizers. The maximum power conversion efficiency ...

The thiol (-SH) of the active cysteine residue in peroxiredoxin (Prx) is known to be reversibly hyperoxidized to cysteine sulfinic acid (-SO(2)H), which can be reduced back to thiol by sulfiredoxin/sestrin. However, hyperoxidized Prx of an irreversible nature has not been reported yet. Using an antibody developed against the sulfonylated ...

A simplified procedure for the isolation of gram quantities of illudin M from culture broths of basidiomycete Omphalotus olearius is described. Esters of illudin M with docosahexaenoic acid, chlorambucil, demethylcantharidinic acid (endothall) and 2,2'-bipyridyl-5,5'-dicarboxylic acid were synthesised and tested for cytotoxicity and induction of apoptosis in two clinically relevant tumour ...

Analyses of the hexane washes of antennae, forelegs and whole bodies of Helicoverpa zea, Heliothis virescens, and Manduca sexta revealed notable differences in the components of the cuticular coatings of each species. Most striking were the differences between the cuticular coatings of male and female antennae of both H. zea ...

Studies were carried out to isolate Acid red 119 (AR-119) resistant and decolourising bacteria from dye contaminated soil and water samples. Six morphologically distinct bacterial isolates resistant to 100 ppm AR-119 dye were isolated directly from the soil and waste contaminated with azo dyes. The most efficient isolate, which showed ...

Phenylbutazone (PB) is known to be biotransformed to its O- and C-glucuronide. Recently, we reported that PB C-glucuronide formation is catalyzed by UGT1A9. Interestingly, despite UGT1A8 sharing high amino acid sequence identity with UGT1A9, UGT1A8 had no PB C-glucuronidating activity. In the present study, we constructed eight UGT1A9/UGT1A8 chimeras and ...

This paper presents a facile synthesis of single-crystalline Au nanowires by reduction of HAuCl4 in oleic acid and oleylamine. The diameter of these micron-meter-long Au nanowires is controlled to be 3 and 9 nm by volume ratio of oleylamine and oleic acid. When linked between two gold electrodes, the 9 ...

The Rio Agrio and Lake Caviahue system (RAC), in Northwestern Patagonia, is a natural acidic environment. The aims of this study were to characterize the yeast community and to provide the first ecological assessment of yeast diversity of this extreme aquatic environment. Yeast occurrence and diversity were studied at seven ...

Two families of sterol C24-methyltransferase (SMT) are responsible for the formation of the ergostane (C(1)-transfer activity; SMT1) and stigmastane (C(2)-transfer activity: SMT2) sterol side chains, respectively. The fungal Saccharomyces cerevisiae SMT1 (Erg6p) operates the first C(1)-transfer in concerted fashion to form a single product whereas the protozoan and plant SMTs ...

The yeast 20S proteasome is subject to sulfhydryl redox alterations, such as the oxidation of cysteine residues (Cys-SH) into cysteine sulfenic acid (Cys-SOH), followed by S-glutathionylation (Cys-S-SG). Proteasome S-glutathionylation promotes partial loss of chymotrypsin-like activity and post-acidic cleavage without alteration of the trypsin-like proteasomal activity. Here we show that the ...

Cyanophycin [multi-L-arginyl-poly(L-aspartic acid) (CGP)] was, for the first time, produced in yeast. As yeasts are very important production organisms in biotechnology, it was determined if CGP can be produced in two different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The episomal vector systems pESC (with the galactose-inducible promoter GAL1) and pYEX-BX (with the ...

Most recent studies on the physiology of proglycogen and macroglycogen in skeletal muscles have adopted a homogenization-free acid extraction protocol to separate these 2 pools of glycogen. The purposes of this study were to determine (a) whether this protocol is suitable; (b) if the acid-insoluble glycogen fraction corresponds to proglycogen; ...

The tumor suppressor p53 enhances repair of UVC-induced DNA damage. The comet-NE assay, a conventional alkaline comet assay which includes a nuclear digestion step, was used to examine the effects of p53 on the excision activity of nuclear extracts (NEs). In contrast with untreated NEs, NEs immunodepleted of p53 or ...