Yeast diversity in relation to the production of fuels and chemicals

In addition to ethanol, yeasts have the potential to produce many other industrially-relevant chemicals from numerous different carbon sources. However there remains a paucity of information about overall capability across the yeast family tree. Here, 11 diverse species of yeasts with genetic backgrounds representative of different branches of the family tree were investigated. They were compared for their abilities to grow on a range of sugar carbon sources, to produce potential platform chemicals from such substrates and to ferment hydrothermally pretreated rice straw under simultaneous saccharification and fermentation conditions. The yeasts differed considerably in their metabolic capabilities and production of ethanol. A number could produce significant amounts of ethyl acetate, arabinitol, glycerol and acetate in addition to ethanol, including from hitherto unreported carbon sources. They also demonstrated widely differing efficiencies in the fermentation of sugars derived from pre-treated rice straw biomass and differential sensitivities to fermentation inhibitors. A new catabolic property of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa (NCYC 65) was discovered in which sugar substrate is cleaved but the products are not metabolised. We propose that engineering this and some of the other properties discovered in this study and transferring such properties to conventional industrial yeast strains could greatly expand their biotechnological utility

MEKK1-MKK4-JNK-AP1 Pathway Negatively Regulates Rgs4 Expression in Colonic Smooth Muscle Cells

Background: Regulator of G-protein Signaling 4 (RGS4) plays an important role in regulating smooth muscle contraction, cardiac development, neural plasticity and psychiatric disorder. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain elusive. Our recent studies have shown that upregulation of Rgs4 by interleukin (IL)-1b is mediated by the activation of NFkB signaling and modulated by extracellular signal-regulated kinases, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, and phosphoinositide-3 kinase. Here we investigate the effect of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway on Rgs4 expression in rabbit colonic smooth muscle cells. Methodology/Principal Findings: Cultured cells at first passage were treated with or without IL-1b (10 ng/ml) in the presence or absence of the selective JNK inhibitor (SP600125) or JNK small hairpin RNA (shRNA). The expression levels of Rgs4 mRNA and protein were determined by real-time RT-PCR and Western blot respectively. SP600125 or JNK shRNA increased Rgs4 expression in the absence or presence of IL-1b stimulation. Overexpression of MEKK1, the key upstream kinase of JNK, inhibited Rgs4 expression, which was reversed by co-expression of JNK shRNA or dominant-negative mutants for MKK4 or JNK. Both constitutive and inducible upregulation of Rgs4 expression by SP600125 was significantly inhibited by pretreatment with the transcription inhibitor, actinomycin D. Dual reporter assay showed that pretreatment with SP600125 sensitized the promoter activity of Rgs4 in response to IL-1b. Mutation of the AP1-binding site within Rgs

3D printing in the automobile industry

W artykule przedstawiono możliwość klasycznych oraz nowoczesnych technik wytwarzania różnego rodzaju elementów pojazdów samochodowych, na przykładzie wałka. Omówiono zagadnienia teoretyczne systemów CAD powszechnie wykorzystywanych w różnego rodzaju przedsiębiorstwach produkcyjnych. Opisano również systemy CAM i pokazano ich zastosowanie do opracowania procesu technologicznego zarówno w środowisku komputerowym jak i w rzeczywistości produkcyjnej. Kolejnym etapem było pokazanie innowacyjnego podejścia do procesu wytwarzania jakim jest stosowanie drukowania 3D.The article presents the possibility of classical and modern techniques for producing various kinds of vehicles, for example of the roller. Discusses theoretical issues commonly used CAD systems in all kinds of manufacturing companies. Also described CAM systems and showing their application to the development process in both the computer and in reality production. The next step was to show an innovative approach to the manufacturing process which is the use of 3D printing.In this paper the modeling

Myosin heavy chain isoform composition in striated muscle after denervation and self-reinnervation

Eur J Biochem. 1990 Nov 13;193(3):623-8. Myosin heavy chain isoform composition in striated muscle after denervation and self-reinnervation. Jakubiec-Puka A, Kordowska J, Catani C, Carraro U. Source Laboratory of Protein Metabolism, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland. Abstract The total content of myosin heavy chains (MHC) and their isoform pattern were studied by biochemical methods in the slow-twitch (soleus) and fast-twitch (extensor digitorum longus) muscles of adult rat during atrophy after denervation and recovery after self-reinnervation. The pattern of fibre types, in terms of ultrastructure, was studied in parallel. After denervation, total MHC content decreased sooner in the slow-twitch muscle than in the fast-twitch. The ratio of MHC-1 and the MHC-2B isoforms to the MHC-2A isoform decreased in the slow and the fast denervated muscles, respectively. After reinnervation of the slow muscle, the normal pattern of MHC recovered within 10 days and the type 1 isoform increased above the normal. In the reinnervated fast muscle, the 2B/2A isoform ratio continued to decrease. Traces of the embryonic MHC isoform, identified by immunochemistry, were found in both denervated and reinnervated slow and fast muscles. A shift in fibre types was similar to that found in the MHC isoforms. Within 2 months of recovery a tendency to normalization was observed. The results show that (a) MHC-2B isoform and the morphological characteristics of the 2B-type muscle fibres are susceptible to lack of innervation, similar to those of type 1, (b) during muscle recovery induced by reinnervation the MHC isoforms and muscle fibres shift transiently to type 1 in the soleus and to type 2A in the extensor digitorum longus muscles, and (c) the embryonic isoform of MHC may appear in the adult skeletal muscles if innervation is disturbed. PMID: 2249683 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Free full tex

The Unique Mechanisms of Cellular Proliferation, Migration and Apoptosis are Regulated through Oocyte Maturational Development—A Complete Transcriptomic and Histochemical Study

The growth and development of oocyte affect the functional activities of the surrounding somatic cells. These cells are regulated by various types of hormones, proteins, metabolites, and regulatory molecules through gap communication, ultimately leading to the development and maturation of oocytes. The close association between somatic cells and oocytes, which together form the cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs), and their bi-directional communication are crucial for the acquisition of developmental competences by the oocyte. In this study, oocytes were extracted from the ovaries obtained from crossbred landrace gilts and subjected to in vitro maturation. RNA isolated from those oocytes was used for the subsequent microarray analysis. The data obtained shows, for the first time, variable levels of gene expression (fold changes higher than |2| and adjusted p-value < 0.05) belonging to four ontological groups: regulation of cell proliferation (GO:0042127), regulation of cell migration (GO:0030334), and regulation of programmed cell death (GO:0043067) that can be used together as proliferation, migration or apoptosis markers. We have identified several genes of porcine oocytes (ID2, VEGFA, BTG2, ESR1, CCND2, EDNRA, ANGPTL4, TGFBR3, GJA1, LAMA2, KIT, TPM1, VCP, GRID2, MEF2C, RPS3A, PLD1, BTG3, CD47, MITF), whose expression after in vitro maturation (IVM) is downregulated with different degrees. Our results may be helpful in further elucidating the molecular basis and functional significance of a number of gene markers associated with the processes of migration, proliferation and angiogenesis occurring in COCs

Enhancement of the Ca2+-triggering steps of native membrane fusion via thiol-reactivity

Ca2+-triggered membrane fusion is the defining step of exocytosis. Isolated urchin cortical vesicles (CV) provide a stage-specific preparation to study the mechanisms by which Ca2+ triggers the merger of two apposed native membranes. Thiol-reactive reagents that alkylate free sulfhydryl groups on proteins have been consistently shown to inhibit triggered fusion. Here, we characterize a novel effect of the alkylating reagent iodoacetamide (IA). IA was found to enhance the kinetics and Ca2+ sensitivity of both CV-plasma membrane and CV–CV fusion. If Sr2+, a weak Ca2+ mimetic, was used to trigger fusion, the potentiation was even greater than that observed for Ca2+, suggesting that IA acts at the Ca2+-sensing step of triggered fusion. Comparison of IA to other reagents indicates that there are at least two distinct thiol sites involved in the underlying fusion mechanism: one that regulates the efficiency of fusion and one that interferes with fusion competency