Due to the problems of measurement and the lack of nationally representative data, the extent of compulsive buying behaviour (CBB) is relatively unknown. The validity of three different instruments was tested: Edwards Compulsive Buying Scale (ECBS; Edwards, E.A., 1993. Development of a new scale for measuring compulsive buying behaviour. Financial Counseling and Planning. 4, 67-85), Questionnai...

Blue native electrophoresis is used widely for the analysis of non-dissociated protein complexes with respect to composition, oligomeric state and molecular mass. However, the effects of detergent or dye binding on the mass and stability of the integral membrane proteins have not been studied. By comparison with analytical ultracentrifugation, we have evaluated whether the oligomeric state of m...

The photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle, or Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle, is now contained in every standard biochemistry textbook. Although the cycle was already proposed in 1954, it is still the subject of intense research, and even the structure of the cycle, i.e. the exact series of reactions, is still under debate. The controversy about the cycle's structure was fuelled by the findi...

The expression of the cbb and gap-pgk operons of Xanthobacter flavus encoding enzymes of the Calvin cycle is regulated by the transcriptional regulator CbbR. In order to identify other genes involved in the regulation of these operons, a mutant was isolated with a lowered activity of a fusion between the promoter of the cbb operon and the reporter gene lacZ. This mutant was unable to grow autot...

The cbb(3) cytochrome c oxidase of Rhodobacter sphaeroides consists of four nonidentical subunits. Three subunits (CcoN, CcoO, and CcoP) comprise the catalytic "core" complex required for the reduction of O(2) and the oxidation of a c-type cytochrome. On the other hand, the functional role of subunit IV (CcoQ) of the cbb(3) oxidase was not obvious, although we previously suggested that it is in...

In nonsulfur purple bacteria, redox homeostasis is achieved by the coordinate control of various oxidation-reduction balancing mechanisms during phototrophic anaerobic respiration. In this study, the ability of Rhodobacter capsulatus to maintain a balanced intracellular oxidation-reduction potential was considered; in addition, interrelationships between the control of known redox-balancing sys...

A Brazilian isolate of Beauveria bassiana (CG425) that shows high virulence against the coffee berry borer (CBB) was examined for the production of subtilisin-like (Pr1) and trypsin-like (Pr2) cuticle-degrading proteases. Fungal growth was either in nitrate-medium or in CBB cuticle-containing medium under both buffered and unbuffered conditions. In unbuffered medium supplemented with cuticle, t...

The heme-copper oxidase (HCuO) superfamily consists of integral membrane proteins that catalyze the reduction of either oxygen or nitric oxide. The HCuOs that reduce O(2) to H(2)O couple this reaction to the generation of a transmembrane proton gradient by using electrons and protons from opposite sides of the membrane and by pumping protons from inside the cell or organelle to the outside. The...

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), which is widely used to assess protein purity and molecular weight [1], is best combined with a highly sensitive, reproducible, inexpensive, rapid, and easy to perform protein staining/detection method. Coomassie brilliant blue (CBB)1 staining is a popular method, known for its simplicity, economy, and compatibility with downstream analysis but relativ...

Photosynthesis, biological nitrogen fixation, and carbon dioxide assimilation are three fundamental biological processes catalyzed by photosynthetic bacteria. In the present study, it is shown that mutant strains of the nonsulfur purple photosynthetic bacteria Rhodospirillum rubrum and Rhodobacter sphaeroides, containing a blockage in the primary CO2 assimilatory pathway, derepress the synthesi...