High-quality high-multiplicity X-ray diffraction data were collected on five different crystals of thaumatin using a homogeneous-profile X-ray beam at E = 8 keV to investigate the counteracting effects of increased multiplicity and increased radiation damage on the quality of anomalous diffraction data collected on macromolecular crystals. By comparing sulfur substructures obtained from subsets...

During ripening of grape (Vitis labruscana L. cv Concord) berries, abundance of several proteins increased, coordinately with hexoses, to the extent that these became the predominant proteins in the ovary. These proteins have been identified by N-terminal amino acid-sequence analysis and/or function to be a thaumatin-like protein (grape osmotin), a lipid-transfer protein, and a basic and an aci...

The crystal structure of tobacco PR-5d, an antifungal thaumatin-like protein isolated from cultured tobacco cells, was determined at the resolution of 1.8 A. The structure consists of 208 amino acid residues and 89 water molecules with a crystallographic R-factor of 0.169. The model has good stereochemistry, with respective root-mean-square deviations from the ideal values for bond and angle di...

We investigated the ability of zinc sulfate (5, 25, 50 mM) to inhibit the sweetness of 12 chemically diverse sweeteners, which were all intensity matched to 300 mM sucrose [800 mM glucose, 475 mM fructose, 3.25 mM aspartame, 3.5 mM saccharin, 12 mM sodium cyclamate, 14 mM acesulfame-K, 1.04 M sorbitol, 0.629 mM sucralose, 0.375 mM neohesperidin dihydrochalcone (NHDC), 1.5 mM stevioside and 0.01...

Cryocooled insulin and thaumatin crystals were irradiated in a series of alternating data collections and high-dose-rate exposures using either a vertically focused or vertically defocused beam. The main result is that the radiation damage is limited to the exposed region, which can be explained by the short range of the photoelectrons and the Auger electron cascade produced by light elements. ...

BACKGROUND Cynanchum komarovii Al Iljinski is a desert plant that has been used as analgesic, anthelminthic and antidiarrheal, but also as a herbal medicine to treat cholecystitis in people. We have found that the protein extractions from C. komarovii seeds have strong antifungal activity. There is strong interest to develop protein medication and antifungal pesticides from C. komarovii for pha...

The differences between stylar protein of the Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia (Burm.f.)) cultivars ‘Kosui’ (SS) and ‘Kikusui’ (SS) were compared by two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE), and were labelled and visualized with different fluorescent dyes (IC3-OSu, IC5-OSu) on a single 2-D gel. The individual different expressed proteins spots were subjected to identification. Th...

Allergic diseases have been increasing in industrialized countries. The environment is thought to have both direct and indirect modulatory effects on disease pathogenesis, including alterating on the allergenicity of pollens. Certain plant proteins known as pathogenesis-related proteins appear to be up-regulated by certain environmental conditions, including pollutants, and some have emerged as...

Genes encoding pathogenesis-related (PR-) proteins isolated from a cDNA library of Fusarium graminearum-infected wheat spikes of scab-resistant cultivar 'Sumai-3' were transformed into susceptible spring wheat, 'Bobwhite' using a biolistic transformation protocol, with the goal of enhancing levels of resistance against scab. Twenty-four putative transgenic lines expressing either a single PR-pr...