Chenopods synthesize betaine in the chloroplast via a two-step oxidation of choline: choline --> betaine aldehyde --> betaine. Our previous experiments with intact chloroplasts, and in vivo(18)O(2) labeling studies, led us to propose that the first step is mediated by a monooxygenase which uses photosynthetically generated reducing power (C Lerma, AD Hanson, D Rhodes [1988] Plant Physiol 88: 69...

Wax esters, ester-linked fatty acids and long-chain alcohols, are important energy storage compounds in select bacteria. The synthesis of wax esters from fatty acids is proposed to require the action of a four-enzyme pathway. An essential step in the pathway is the reduction of a fatty aldehyde to the corresponding fatty alcohol, although the enzyme responsible for catalyzing this reaction has ...

Extracts from benzyl-alcohol-grown Rhodococcus erythropolis DSM 1069 showed NAD(P)-independent, N,N-dimethyl-4-nitrosoaniline (NDMA)-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase activity. The enzyme exhibiting this activity was purified to homogeneity and characterized. It appears to be a typical nicotinoprotein as it contains tightly bound NADH acting as cofactor instead of coenzyme. Other characteristics ...

reductase is present at other sites like kidney, placenta, and seminal vesicles,[3] its presence at these places cannot be responsible for cataract formation. Moreover, the drugs used in this experiment, i.e. pioglitazone and diltiazem, are bound to plasma proteins to an extent of 99% and 80%, respectively.[4] So, it is doubtful if they will accumulate in eye in sufficient quantities to have th...

The peroxisome proliferator, WY 14,643 exhibits a pure non-competitive inhibition pattern in the aldehyde reduction and in alcohol oxidation activities of human Aldose reductase (hAR). Fluorescence emission measurements of the equilibrium dissociation constants, Kd, of oxidized (hAR•NADP+) and reduced (hAR•NADPH) holoenzyme complexes display a 2-fold difference between them. Kd values for the d...

Microorganisms produce iron-chelating compounds to sequester the iron essential for growth from the environment. Many of these compounds are biosynthesized by nonribosomal peptide synthetases, some in cooperation with polyketide synthases. Myxochelins are produced by the myxobacterium Stigmatella aurantiaca Sg a15, and the corresponding gene cluster was cloned recently. We have undertaken to ex...

The groundwater contaminant 1,4-dioxane (dioxane) is transformed by several monooxygenase-expressing microorganisms, but only a few of these, including Pseudonocardia dioxanivorans strain CB1190, can metabolize the compound as a sole carbon and energy source. However, nothing is yet known about the genetic basis of dioxane metabolism. In this study, we used a microarray to study differential ex...

A new approach, MOBILE, is presented that models protein binding-sites including bound ligand molecules as restraints. Initially generated, homology models of the target protein are refined iteratively by including information about bioactive ligands as spatial restraints and optimising the mutual interactions between the ligands and the binding-sites. Thus optimised models can be used for stru...

In this work, Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains PE-2 and CAT-1, commonly used in the Brazilian fuel ethanol industry, were engineered for xylose fermentation, where the first fermented xylose faster than the latter, but also produced considerable amounts of xylitol. An engineered PE-2 strain (MEC1121) efficiently consumed xylose in presence of inhibitors both in synthetic and corn-cob hydrolysat...

Flavonoids and organic acids were recommended in the literature as the main active constituents of Camptosorus sibiricus Rupr. Assay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of 9 flavonoids and 8 phenolic acids. All compounds were tested for DPPH scavenging activity, SOD-like and aldose reductase inhibition. Among them, compounds 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15 showed activities. The most activ...