4-Hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal (HNE) and ω6 fatty acids contents were analyzed in pork and beef. The HNE contents in beef (n=4) and pork (n=7) were 14.0-150 nmol/g and 1.0-152 nmol/g, respectively. Furthermore, a linear correlation between the content of HNE and the content of total ω6 fatty acids, linoleic acid, or arachidonic acid was observed in pork.
Various deletion genes for the δ-endotoxin protein of Bacillus thuringiensis strain Buibui were made. The truncated proteins were produced in E. coli, and their larvicidal activity against the cupreous chafer was checked. The fifth block of the five blocks described as "conserved" was shown to be necessary for the activity.
The complete amino acid sequence of pokeweed lectin-C (PL-C) consisting of 126 residues has been determined. PL-C is an acidic simple protein with molecular mass of 13, 747 Da and consists of three cysteine-rich domains with 51-63% homology. PL-C shows homology to chitin-binding proteins such as wheat germ agglutinin, and all eight cysteine residues in the three domains of PL-C are completely conserved in all other chitin-binding domains.
A gene encoding a homolog of the chymotrypsin-like serine protease (SAM-P20), which was isolated as the target enzyme of a protease inhibitor (SSI), was cloned from Streptomyces lividans 66. This gene contained an open reading frame of 1065 nucleotides encoding 354 amino acid residues with a putative prepro portion of 157 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of the cloned gene had significant homology to those of members of Streptomyces extracellular chymotrypsin-like protease family. By Southern blot analysis, it was suggested that protease genes of this type are found at a high frequency in Streptomyces. In this sense, we propose to categorize this protease as a member of the `SAL' series (SAM-P20-like proteases).