Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry
Online ISSN : 1347-6947
Print ISSN : 0916-8451
63 巻, 3 号
選択された号の論文の36件中1~36を表示しています
Analytical Chemistry Regular Paper
  • Hiroyuki UKEDA, Daisuke KAWANA, Susumu MAEDA, Masayoshi SAWAMURA
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 485-488
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      Two novel highly water-soluble tetrazolium salts, WST-1 (4-[3-(4-iodophenyl)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)-2H-5-tetrazolio]-1,3-benzene disulfonate sodium salt) and WST-8 (4-[3-(2-methoxy-4-nitrophenyl)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)-2H-5-tetrazolio]-1,3-benzene disulfonate sodium salt) were applied to the assay of superoxide dismutase (SOD). The superoxide anion generated by xanthine/xanthine oxidase (XO) reduced WST-1 and WST-8 to water-soluble formazans which exhibited absorbance maxima at 438 and 460 nm, respectively. The rates of reduction were linearly related to the XO activity, and reduction was inhibited by SOD. Complete inhibition by SOD of the reduction of both WST-1 and WST-8 was achieved, suggesting that these WSTs were not reduced with XO. WST-1 was found more useful than WST-8 because it had shown higher sensitivity which was apparently not dependent on the assay pH value in the range pH 8.0-10.2. These properties of WST-1 are ideal for the spectrophotometric assay of SOD in an aqueous system.
Analytical Chemistry Note
Organic Chemistry Regular Paper
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Regular Papers
  • Yoshinobu KIMURA, Takuo HARADA, Sayuri MATSUO, Masami YONEKURA
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 463-467
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      From the seeds of Ginkgo biloba, a glycoprotein, which is a major component that reacts with an antiserum against β1→2 xylose-containing N-glycans, has been purified and characterized. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the purified glycoprotein was H-K-A-N-X-V-T-V-A-F-V-M-T-Q-H-L-L-F-G-Q-. The molecular mass was estimated to be 17 kDa and 16 kDa by SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions, however, the molecular mass of this glycoprotein in the native state was 30,762 by MALDI-TOF MS, suggesting that this glycoprotein consists of two subunits; one is glycosylated and the other is not. The structure of N-glycan linked to this glycoprotein (designated 30 kDa GBGP) was identified as Man3Fuc1Xyl1GlcNAc2, which is the predominant N-glycan linked to the storage glycoproteins in the same seeds (Kimura, Y et al. (1998) Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 62, 253-261). From the peptic digest of the carboxymethylated glycosylated subunit, one glycopeptide was purified by RP-HPLC and the amino acid sequence was identified as H-K-A-N-N(Man3Fuc1Xyl1GlcNAc2)-V-T-V-A-F, which corresponded to the N-terminal amino acid sequence.
  • Shinya NAGAFUCHI, Takeshi TAKAHASHI, Takaji YAJIMA, Tamotsu KUWATA, Ka ...
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 474-479
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      To obtain strains of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus with high immunopotentiating activity, we screened 90 strains of this bacterial species for the proliferative response of murine spleen and β-lactoglobulin-primed lymph node cells. In this screening, certain strains showed strong immunopotentiating activity. Among them, strain 1023 had the strongest mitogenic activity for murine Peyer’s patch (PP) cells. Furthermore, strain 1023 induced IgA antibody production by PP cells as strongly as Bifidobacterium longum 6001, which had adjuvant activity when orally administered. Also in the assays using immune cells from human-flora-associated mice a few strains including 1023 showed strong immunopotentiating activity comparable to B. longum 6001. These results suggest that L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus strains such as 1023 may be useful for the production of fermented milk with a more beneficial effect on the systemic and mucosal immune system.
  • Wakako TAKEUCHI, Hironori MASUI, Junji YAMAGUCHI
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 510-514
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      The effects of reducing agents on solubilization and activation of the debranching enzyme (pullulanase) were examined using rice flour. The activity of the debranching enzyme was observed in a buffer solution (pH 7.5) in which rice flour was incubated together with thiol-reducing reagents, (dithiothreitol, 2-mercaptoethanol etc.), but there was only low activity in the absence of reducing agents. Immunochemical measurement and the specific activity of the enzyme showed that the activation caused by the reductant was due to solubilization of the enzyme protein besides the enzyme activation.
  • Hind A. A. BABIKER, Yukihiro SUGIMOTO, Tomoki SAISHO, Shinobu INANAGA, ...
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 515-518
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      The biosynthetic relationship between acutumine 1 and dechloroacutumine 2 was studied using 13C-labeled tyrosine and 3H-labeled 2 as tracers. 13C-NMR spectra of 13C-labeled 1 and 2 showed that the alkaloids, each composed of two molecules of tyrosine, are derived from the same biosynthetic pathway. Feeding Menispermum dauricum (Menispermaceae) roots, cultured in a chloride-enriched medium, with 3H-labeled 2 demonstrated that 1 is the only alkaloid metabolite of 2. Conversion (5%) of the exogenously applied 2, taken up by the roots, into 1 showed that 2 is the precursor of 1. Incomplete conversion of 2 into 1 suggests accumulation of the exogenously applied 2 in cell organelles and/or compartmentation of the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of 1.
  • Yoshihiko TOKUJI, Hiroo FUKUDA
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 519-523
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      Several genes that may be involved in embryogenesis have been isolated from somatic embryos of carrot by many workers. However, the function of these genes has not been discovered yet. As the first step toward finding the function of these genes, we established a rapid and efficient method for transformation of carrot by using direct embryogenesis from hypocotyl segments treated with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) for a short period.
  • Yan-Jun JIA, Yukiko KAKUTA, Makihiro SUGAWARA, Toshinori IGARASHI, Nob ...
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 542-549
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), which is a precursor of ethylene in plants, has never been known to occur in microorganisms. We describe the synthesis of ACC by Penicillium citrinum, purification of ACC synthase [EC 4.4.1.14] and ACC deaminase [EC 4.1.99.4], and their properties. Analyses of P. citrinum culture showed occurrence of ACC in the culture broth and in the cell extract. ACC synthase was purified from cells grown in a medium containing 0.05% L-methionine and ACC deaminase was done from cells incubated in a medium containing 1% 2-aminoisobutyrate. The purified ACC synthase, with a specific activity of 327 milliunit/mg protein, showed a single band of Mr 48,000 in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The molecular mass of the native enzyme by gel filtration was 96,000 Da. The ACC synthase had the Km for S-adenosyl-L-methionine of 1.74 mM and kcat of 0.56 s-1 per monomer. The purified ACC deaminase, with a specific activity of 4.7 unit/mg protein, showed one band in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of Mr 41,000. The molecular mass of the native ACC deaminase was 68,000 Da by gel filtration. The enzyme had a Km for ACC of 4.8 mM and kcat of 3.52 s-1. The presence of 7 mM Cu2+ in alkaline buffer solution was effective for increasing the stability of the ACC deaminase in the process of purification.
  • Fumiaki SUZUKI, Yasuhiko HATANO, Tsutomu NAKAGAWA, Kazuhiro TERAZAWA, ...
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 550-554
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      Recombinant human prorenin was activated by incubation with anti-prorenin prosegment (L1PPTDTTTFKRIFLKR15P) antiserum at 4°C. This activation was dependent on the concentration of the antiserum and incubation time. After the activation no molecular weight alteration of prorenin was observed by immunoblotting analysis. A peptide of L1PPTDTTTF8P as well as L1PPTDTTTFKRIFLKR15P potently interfered with the activation. Most of the activated prorenin bound to Protein A Sepharose CL 4B. The Km and Vmax values of the activated prorenin were 0.2 μM and 23.7 μg Ang I/ml/h, respectively, which were similar in level to those of mature renin obtained by trypsinization.
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Notes
Food & Nutrition Science Regular Papers
  • Yoko NAGAO, Hozue KODAMA, Tomomi YAMAGUCHI, Toshihiko YONEZAWA, Ayako ...
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 468-473
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      A lowered subjective evaluation of the taste and flavor of beer due to staleness or to the addition of an unpleasant taste and flavor was found to be closely correlated with the urination rate. Beer in the same lot was compared immediately after shipment from the brewery and after leaving at room temperature for 1 month or 5 months. Each beer sample was given to volunteers at the rate of 3 ml/kg/15 min for 2 hours, and the urine volume was measured every 30 minutes. The urination rate was highest from the volunteers who drank fresh beer and lowest from those who drank 5-month-old beer. The subjective evaluation of both the taste and drinkability of 5-month-old beer was significantly lower than that of fresh beer. Beer samples with various unpleasant taste and flavor substances added lowered the urination rate. The results suggest that the perception of an unpleasant taste and off-flavor would lower the urination rate.
  • Yukako HAYASHI, Takashi TSUNENARI, Tomohiko MORI
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 480-484
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      Monosodium glutamate and nucleotides are umami taste substances in animals and have a synergistic effect on each other. We studied the ligand-binding properties of the glutamate receptors in taste epithelial cells isolated from bovine tongue. Specific glutamate binding was observed in an enriched suspension of taste receptor cells in Hanks’ balanced salt solution, while no specific glutamate binding was apparent in the absence of divalent ions or when the cells had been depolarized by a high content of potassium in Hanks’ balanced salt solution. There was no significant difference between the release of glutamate under depolarized or divalent ion-free conditions and under normal conditions. However, glutamate was easily released from the depolarized cells in the absence of divalent ions. These data suggest that the binding of glutamate to receptors depends on divalent ions, which also have an effect on maintaining binding between glutamate and receptors.
  • Jun WATANEBE, Jun KAWABATA, Takanori KASAI
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 489-493
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      A methanol extract of red pepper showed potent acetyl-CoA carboxylase inhibitory activity. The active principles were isolated and identified as (E, E)- and (E, Z)-9-oxooctadeca-10,12-dienoic acids by instrumental analyses. The IC50 values of the compounds were 1.4×10-6 and 1.5×10-6 M, respectively, their activity being nearly sixty-times higher than that of the common fatty acids themselves. A comparative study of the structure-activity relationship among their related compounds showed that the inhibitory activity was influenced neither by the position and species of the oxygen functional group in the middle of the alkyl chain nor by the configurations of the double bonds. However, it was found that the presence of double bonds between the terminal carboxyl and the mid-chain oxygen functional group lowered the inhibitory activity which could be recovered by hydrogenation of the double bonds.
  • Kazutoshi HAYASE, Akira YOSHIDA
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 506-509
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      We determined whether the synthesis and degradation of N-acetylglutamate would regulate urea synthesis when the ornithine status was manipulated. Experiments were done on two groups of rats, each being treated with ornithine or saline (control). The plasma concentration of urea and the liver concentration of N-acetylglutamate in rats given ornithine were each significantly higher than in the control rats. Compared with the control rats, the liver N-acetylglutamate degradation was significantly lower in those rats treated with ornithine. Treatment of the rats with ornithine did not affect N-acetylglutamate synthesis in the liver. An inverse correlation between the liver N-acetylglutamate degradation and liver concentration of N-acetylglutamate was found. These results suggest that the lower degradation of N-acetylglutamate in the ornithine treatment group would be likely to increase the hepatic concentration of this compound and stimulate urea synthesis.
  • Yasumasa YAMADA, Noritaka SAKO, Eriko ANDO, Manami YAMADA, Hiroe KIKUZ ...
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 524-529
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      The new bitter diterpenes, rabdosianone I (C20H24O5) and II (C22H28O6), were isolated from Isodon japonicus (Japanese name, enmeiso), and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Electrophysiological experiments were performed to compare rabdosianone I with quinine. The taste responses of chorda tympani nerves to rabdosianone I were smaller than those to quinine in Wistar rats.
  • Makoto YOSHIMOTO, Shigenori OKUNO, Masaru YOSHINAGA, Osamu YAMAKAWA, M ...
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 537-541
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      Antimutagenicity of the water extracts prepared from the storage roots of four varieties of sweetpotato with different flesh colors was investigated using Salmonella typhimurium TA 98. The extract from the whole roots of the purple-colored Ayamurasaki variety effectively decreased the reverse mutation induced not only by Trp-P-1, Trp-P-2, IQ, B[a]P, and 4-NQO but also by dimethyl sulfoxide extracts of grilled beef. Comparison of the inhibitory activity of the extracts from the normal Ayamurasaki and its anthocyanin-deficient mutant one suggested that the anthocyanin pigment in the flesh decreases the mutagenic activity of the mutagens as heterocyclic amines. Two anthocyanin pigments purified from purple-colored sweetpotato, 3-(6,6′-caffeylferulylsophoroside)-5-glucoside of cyanidin (YGM-3) and peonidin (YGM-6) effectively inhibited the reverse mutation induced by heterocyclic amines, Trp-P-1, Trp-P-2, and IQ in the presence of rat liver microsomal activation systems.
  • Kenji MAEHASHI, Masato MATSUZAKI, Yasushi YAMAMOTO, Shigezo UDAKA
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 555-559
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      Soybean protein, casein, bonito protein and chicken protein, each as foodstuff protein, were hydrolyzed with four proteinases; namely, pepsin, trypsin, α-chymotrypsin and bromelain. Since the chicken protein hydrolysate with bromelain possessed the most favorable umami taste, eleven peptides were isolated from the chicken protein hydrolysate by successive chromatography on ODS, Amberlite IR-120B, Amberlite IRA-410 and AG-50W; their structures were Asp-Ala, Asp-Val, Glu-Glu, Glu-Val, Ala-Asp-Glu, Ala-Glu-Asp, Asp-Glu-Glu, Asp-Glu-Ser, Glu-Glu-Asn, Ser-Pro-Glu, and Glu-Pro-Ala-Asp. Many of them did not show any umami taste by themselves, but Glu-Glu, Glu-Val, Ala-Asp-Glu, Ala-Glu-Asp, Asp-Glu-Glu, and Ser-Pro-Glu were recognized to enhance the umami taste of 0.02% 5′-inosine monophosphate (IMP). A combination of these peptides, especially 0.5% each of Glu-Glu, Glu-Val, Asp-Glu-Glu and Glu-Glu-Asn, with 0.02% IMP produced a delicious “full” umami taste.
Food & Nutrition Science Notes
Microbiology & Fermentation Technology Regular Papers
  • Takuji OHWADA, Yukika SHIRAKAWA, Masayuki KUSUMOTO, Hiroshi MASUDA, Te ...
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 457-462
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      The root nodule bacteria (free-living cells) tested had higher susceptibility to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) than the other genera of aerobic or facultative anaerobic bacteria tested. The catalase activities tended to have a positive correlation with H2O2 resistance among all bacteria tested. Addition of a catalase inhibitor such as 3-amino-1, 2, 4-triazole increased the susceptibility to H2O2. These results suggest that the lower catalase activity brings about the higher susceptibility of root nodule bacteria to H2O2. Root nodule bacteria seemed to have two or three catalase isozymes during growth and their catalase activities were higher in log phase than in stationary phase, contrary to other genera of bacteria tested.
  • Toshiyuki OBARA, Takuji SAWAYA, Katsutoshi HOKARI, Yasuo UMEHARA, Masa ...
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 500-505
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      A microbial process for removing cadmium from a homogenate of hepatopancreas, a waste of scallop processing, was devised to use this waste for value-added protein resources. Microorganisms were screened on the basis of the ability to remove cadmium from a medium with the initial concentration of 10 mg/l of cadmium. One soil isolate, identified as Xanthomonas sp. UR No. 2 by its taxonomical characteristics, removed 98% of the cadmium in the medium in 2 d. During cultivation of this strain in the homogenates of hepatopancreas digested by endopeptidases, 90% of cadmium was removed, while this strain had little effect on the simple non-digested homogenates. The mass balance of cadmium during homogenizations of the hepatopancreas tissues and cultivations in the protease-treated homogenate were examined. The content of crude proteins of culture supernatant treated by Xanthomonas sp. UR No. 2 was equivalent to those of various feedstuffs on the market.
  • Hui-Ping LIU, Susumu TAKIO, Toshio SATOH, Isamu YAMAMOTO
    1999 年 63 巻 3 号 p. 530-536
    発行日: 1999年
    公開日: 2005/03/17
    ジャーナル フリー
      Seven genes, napKEFDABC, encoding the periplasmic nitrate reductase system were cloned from the denitrifying phototrophic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides f. sp. denitrificans IL106. Two transmembrane proteins, NapK and NapE, an iron-sulfur protein NapF, a soluble protein NapD, a catalytic subunit of nitrate reductase precursor NapA, a soluble c-type diheme cytochrome precursor NapB, and a membrane-anchored c-type tetraheme cytochrome NapC were deduced as the gene products. Every mutant in which each nap gene was disrupted by Ω-cassette insertion lost nitrate reductase activity as well as the ability of cells to grow with nitrate under anaerobic-dark conditions. A transconjugant of the napD-disrupted mutant with a plasmid bearing the napKEFDABC genes recovered both nitrate reductase activity and nitrate-dependent anaerobic-dark growth of cells. Denitrification activity, which was not observed in the napD mutant, was also restored by the conjugation. These results indicate that the periplasmic nitrate reductase encoded by the napKEFDABC genes is the enzyme responsible for denitrification in this phototroph, although the presence of a membrane-bound nitrate reductase has been reported in the same strain.
Microbiology & Fermentation Technology Notes
feedback
Top