Biogeochemical processes mediated by microorganisms in river sediments (hyporheic sediments) play a key role in river metabolism. Because biogeochemical reactions in the hyporheic zone are often limited to the top few decimetres of sediments below the water-sediment interface, slow filtration columns were used in the present study to quantify biogeochemical processes (uptakes of O2, DOC, and ni...

Biogeochemical properties, including nutrient concentrations, carbon gas fluxes, microbial biomass, and hydrolytic enzyme activities, were determined along a strong nutrient gradient in an ombrotrophic peatland in the Republic of Panama. Total phosphorus in surface peat decreased markedly along a 2.7 km transect from the marginal Raphia taedigera swamp to the interior sawgrass swamp, with simil...

Straightforward conversion of (+)-6,8-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydro-3- undecylisocoumarin (3) to the title isocoumarin was carried out. Hydrolytic ring opening of (3) afforded the hydroxy acid (4) which was immediately oxidized to keto acid (5) using chromic acid, Cyclodehydration of (5) afforded the 6,8- dimethoxy-3-undecylisocoumarin (6) which on selective demethylation of 8- methoxy group furni...

The hydrolysis of specifically labeled phosphatidylethanolamine and the 1 and 2 isomers of lysophosphatidylethanolamine catalyzed by enzymes in three subcellular fractions of Escherichia coli (wall, inner membrane and cytosol) has been studied. Two hydrolytic activities, phospholipases A1 and AS, are localized in the wall. Both enzymatic activities manifest similar properties and requirements f...

Smooth muscle myosin has two heads, each capable of interacting with actin to generate force and/or motion as it hydrolyzes ATP. These heads are inhibited when their associated regulatory light chain is unphosphorylated (0P), becoming active and hydrolyzing ATP maximally when phosphorylated (2P). Interestingly, with only one of the two regulatory light chains phosphorylated (1P), smooth muscle ...

Plant nitrate (NO3(-)) acquisition depends on the combined activities of root high- and low-affinity NO3(-) transporters and the proton gradient generated by the plasma membrane H(+)-ATPase. These processes are coordinated with photosynthesis and the carbon status of the plant. Here, we present the characterization of romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa 'Conquistador') plants engineered to overexpr...

Extreme habitats serve as a source of enzymes that are active under extreme conditions and are candidates for industrial applications. In this work, six large-insert mixed genomic libraries were screened for hydrolase activities in a broad temperature range (8-70°C). Among a variety of hydrolytic activities, one fosmid clone, derived from a library of pooled isolates of hyperthermophilic archae...

Model films of native cellulose nanofibrils, which contain both crystalline cellulose I and amorphous domains, were used to investigate the dynamics and activities of cellulase enzymes. The enzyme binding and degradation of nanofibril films were compared with those for other films of cellulose, namely, Langmuir-Schaefer and spin-coated regenerated cellulose, as well as cellulose nanocrystal cas...

A phosphatase specific for tyrosine-O-phosphate (Tyr-P) was separated from several nonspecific phosphatases present in the third instar larvae of Drosophila melanogaster. The enzyme hydrolyzed L-Tyr-P, with an apparent Km of 0.14 mM, but not D-Tyr-P after being freed from hydrolytic activity toward p-nitrophenyl phosphate, the common phosphatase substrate. Such purified preparations also cataly...

Extracellular enzymes synthesized by soil microbes play a central role in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients in the environment. The pH optima of eight hydrolytic enzymes involved in the cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur, were assessed in a series of tropical forest soils of contrasting pH values from the Republic of Panama. Assays were conducted using 4-methylumbelliferon...