Cloning of pullulanase gene from local isolated bacteria

Pullulanases (pullulan-6-glucanohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.41) are debranching enzymes that are able to hydrolyze α-1,6-glycosidic linkages in pullulan and branched polysaccharides, producing maltotriose. Pullulanases are a member of family 13 glycosyl hydrolases or α-amylase family. Pullulanase are classified in two categories based on substrate specificity: Type I pullulanases that only hydrolyze α-1,6 linkages, and Type II pullulanases that hydrolyze α-1,6 and α-1,4 linkages. Due to this debranching ability, pullulanases are used in combination with α-glucosidase to improve saccharification rate and yield. In this project, local isolated bacteria were screened for the pullulanase activity by using AZCL-pullulan and Red pullulan. Bacteria S7 and bacteria P2 exhibited the ability to degrade AZCL-pullulan. However, Red pullulan plate growth with bacteria P2 exhibited halo zone. This result confirmed that bacteria P2, which was isolated from local resources, is a pullulanase-producer. I kb pullulanase gene fragment was amplified using PCR. Four conserved regions of amylolytic enzyme and a highly conserved region of pullulanase type I (YNWGYDP) were identified within the deduced amino acid sequence. Bacteria P2 was identified as Exiguohacterium,sp. MAA-I using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field