AIM To demonstrate a capacity for producing exopolysaccharides (EPSs) and an ability to form biofilm on abiotic materials of Actinomyces oris strain K20. METHODOLOGY The productivity of EPSs and the ability to form biofilm of strain K20 were evaluated by measuring viscosity of spent culture media and by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the biofilm assay on microtitre plates, respectivel...

Histone lysine methylation is a key regulator of gene expression and heterochromatin function, but little is known as to how this modification impinges on other chromatin activities. Here we demonstrate that a previously uncharacterized SET domain protein, Set9, is responsible for H4-K20 methylation in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Surprisingly, H4-K20 methylation does not have a...

K20 is a novel amphiphilic antifungal aminoglycoside that is synthetically derived from the antibiotic kanamycin A. Reported here are investigations of K20's antimicrobial activities, cytotoxicity, and fungicidal mechanism of action. In vitro growth inhibitory activities against a variety of human and plant pathogenic yeasts, filamentous fungi, and bacteria were determined using microbroth dilu...

Histone lysine methylation is a central modification to mark functionally distinct chromatin regions. In particular, H3-K9 trimethylation has emerged as a hallmark of pericentric heterochromatin in mammals. Here we show that H4-K20 trimethylation is also focally enriched at pericentric heterochromatin. Intriguingly, H3-K9 trimethylation by the Suv39h HMTases is required for the induction of H4-...

An E1B 55-kDa gene-defective adenovirus (Adv), ONYX-015, has been reported to be a highly useful replication-competent Adv that shows cytopathic effect for cancers with an abnormal p53 gene, without damaging normal tissues. In this study, we combined this Adv (Adv-E1AdB) with a fiber mutation, F/K20, which has a stretch of 20 lysine residues added at the COOH-terminus of the fiber and shows hig...

BACKGROUND Covalent modifications of histone N-terminal tails play fundamental roles in regulating chromatin structure and function. Extensive studies have established that acetylation of specific lysine residues in the histone tails plays an important role in transcriptional regulation. Besides acetylation, recent studies have revealed that histone methylation also has significant effects on h...

The effects of a municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) (from Villarrasa-HuelvaSpain) on growth, yield and mineral composition of tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Miller, cv. Genaro) were studied. Results were compared with those observed both without the application of organic matter (Control) and with the app1ication of a commercial compost AC (made from sheep manure). Soils of the three ...

A mouse anti-anti-anti-idiotypic (Id) IgM monoclonal antibody (mAb K20, Ab4), functionally mimicking a Wyckerhamomyces anomalus (Pichia anomala) killer toxin (KT) characterized by fungicidal activity against yeasts presenting specific cell wall receptors (KTR) mainly constituted by β-1,3-glucan, was produced from animals presenting anti-KT Abs (Ab3) following immunization with a rat IgM anti-Id...