The olfactory response of the whip spider Phrynus parvulus from Costa Rica was examined using a technique analogous to that used for insect electroantennograms on the tarsi of the antenniform legs which bear multiporous sensilla. Responses to 42 chemicals representing different chain lengths of alkanes, carboxylic acids, alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones, as well as some esters, monoterpenes, an...

Dicarboxylic acids (DCAs) are omega-oxidation products of monocarboxylic acids. After activation by a dicarboxylyl-CoA synthetase, the dicarboxylyl-CoA esters are shortened via beta-oxidation. Although it has been studied extensively where this beta-oxidation process takes place, the intracellular site of DCA oxidation has remained controversial. Making use of fibroblasts from patients with def...

Mitochondrial dysfunction during acute metabolic crises is considered an important pathomechanism in inherited disorders of propionate metabolism, i.e. propionic and methylmalonic acidurias. Biochemically, these disorders are characterized by accumulation of propionyl-CoA and metabolites of alternative propionate oxidation. In the present study, we demonstrate uncompetitive inhibition of PDHc (...

[1] Group separation of the aqueous extract of fine particles bearing water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) provides unique insights into the sources of organic carbon (OC). XAD-8 resin coupled with a Total Organic Carbon analyzer allows for direct quantification. We term the fraction of WSOC not retained by a XAD-8 resin column at pH 2 as hydrophilic WSOC (WSOCxp); this includes saccharides, ami...

The activation of NADHand NADPH-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase-catalyzed reactions appears to be similar for two structurally different compounds, ADP and any of a series of monocarboxylic L-a-amino acids. ADP and L-leucine have identical effects on a large variety of glutamate dehydrogenase-catalyzed reactions. Transient state studies show that L-leucine increases the rate of release of NAD...