Five fungal strains of each of the two filamentous fungi viz., Aspergillus niger Van Tieghem and A. flavus Link ex Gray, indigenous to Pakistan, were screened for their alpha-amylase activity. Different selected strains were grown on two growth media viz., Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and Enzyme Production Medium (EPM), at three pH levels viz., 4.5, 5.5 and 6.5, in all the possible combinations. ...

Ribonucleic acid containing poly(adenylic acid) [poly(A)-RNA] is present in barley aleurone layers. This poly(A)-RNA becomes labeled with radioactive precursors of RNA during the incubation of isolated aleurone layers with or without gibberellic acid. However, the rate of synthesis of poly(A)-RNA is enhanced by gibberellic acid. This enhancement begins within 3-4 hr of addition of the hormone a...

Transformed, hybrid Saccharomyces strains capable of simultaneous secretion of glucoamylase and alpha-amylase have been produced. These strains could carry out direct, one-step assimilation of starch, with conversion efficiency greater than 93% during a 5-day growth period. One of the transformants converted 92.8% of available starch into reducing sugars in only 2 days. Glucoamylase secretion b...

In the current study, we investigated 2 species of the genus Rhodiola for the inhibition of alpha-amylase,alpha-glucosidase and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity. Water extracts of Rhodiola crenulata had the highest alpha-amylase inhibitory activity (IC50,98.1 microg total phenolic /ml) followed by ethanol extract of R.crenulata (IC50, 120.9 microg total phenolic/ml) and e...

Subcellular localization of the starch-degrading enzymes in Vicia faba leaves was achieved by an electrophoretic transfer method through a starch-containing gel (SCG) and enzyme activity measurements. Total amylolytic and phosphorolytic activities were found predominantly in the extrachloroplastic fraction, whereas the debranching enzymes showed homogenous distribution between stromal and extra...

The expression of alpha-amylase genes in cereals is induced by both gibberellin (GA) and sugar starvation. All alpha-amylase genes isolated from cereals contain a TATCCA element or its variants at positions approximately 90 to 150 bp upstream of the transcription start sites. The TATCCA element was shown previously to be an important component of the GA response complex and the sugar response c...

OBJECTIVES Enzymes are commonly used in the baking industry, as they can improve dough quality and texture and lengthen the shelf life of the final product. There is little published information highlighting exposure to enzymes (other than fungal alpha-amylase) in the baking industry, therefore the purpose of this study was to identify antibodies and develop assays for the measurement of a vari...

One strategy to obtain better yields of secreted proteins has been overexpression of single endoplasmic reticulum-resident foldases or chaperones. We report here that manipulation of the unfolded-protein response (UPR) pathway regulator, HAC1, affects production of both native and foreign proteins in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The effects of HAC1 deletion and overexpression on the prod...