Fungal biotransformations of α-santonin (1) were conducted with Mucor plumbeus (ATCC 4740), Cunninghamella bainieri (ATCC 9244), Cunninghamella echinulata (ATCC 9245), Curvularia lunata (ATCC 12017) and Rhizopus stolonifer (ATCC 10404). Rhizopus stolonifer (ATCC 10404) metabolized compound 1 to afford 3,4-epoxy-α-santonin (2) and 4,5-dihydroα-santonin (3) while Cunninghamella bainieri (ATCC 924...

Protein kinase A from the fungus Mucor circinelloides shows high affinity interaction between regulatory (R) and catalytic (C) subunits. Its R subunit shows a differential presence of several acidic residues in linker I region, in the amino terminus. Mutants R1, lacking the N-terminal region, and R2, lacking the acidic cluster, were used to analyze its effect on the interaction with the C subun...

One potent lactic acid bacterial strain C14 with strong antifungal activity was isolated from homemade curd. Based on morphological as well as biochemical characters and 16S rDNA sequence homology the strain was identified as Lactobacillus fermentum. It displayed a wide antimicrobial spectrum against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria, and also against number of food spoil...

BACKGROUND Microbial milk-clotting enzymes are valued as calf rennet substitutes in the cheese industry. The worldwide increase of cheese production coupled with a reduced supply of calf rennet has prompted a search for calf rennet substitutes, including microbial and plant rennets. However, most plant rennets have proved unsuitable because they impart a bitter taste to the cheese. Microbial re...