Amylase activity in culture filtrate of Aspergillus chevalieri

This study was carried out to determine the growth and production of amylase by Aspergilluschevalieri in a defined medium. A. chevalieri was grown in a synthetic medium containing starch as the sole carbon source. Culture filtrate exhibited amylase activity. Optimum enzyme activity was observed on the tenth day of incubation. The presence of NaCl and MgCl2 stimulated amylase activity while EDTA and HgCl2 in the reaction mixture caused a reduction in the activity of the enzyme. The activity of the enzyme was optimum at 35oC and pH 6.5. The amylase of Aspergillus chevalieri was heat labile, losing its activity completely after twenty minutes of heating at 70 oC. The amylase produced by this fungus is of significance in the brewing industry and pharmaceuticals. The observed properties would aid in preserving the enzyme and knowing optimum conditions for activity to assist in maximizing industrial output.Keywords: Amylase production, Aspergellus chevalieri, enzyme, brewing industry, pharmaceuticals

Multiple Loci Are Associated with White Blood Cell Phenotypes

White blood cell (WBC) count is a common clinical measure from complete blood count assays, and it varies widely among healthy individuals. Total WBC count and its constituent subtypes have been shown to be moderately heritable, with the heritability estimates varying across cell types. We studied 19,509 subjects from seven cohorts in a discovery analysis, and 11,823 subjects from ten cohorts for replication analyses, to determine genetic factors influencing variability within the normal hematological range for total WBC count and five WBC subtype measures. Cohort specific data was supplied by the CHARGE, HeamGen, and INGI consortia, as well as independent collaborative studies. We identified and replicated ten associations with total WBC count and five WBC subtypes at seven different genomic loci (total WBC count—6p21 in the HLA region, 17q21 near ORMDL3, and CSF3; neutrophil count—17q21; basophil count- 3p21 near RPN1 and C3orf27; lymphocyte count—6p21, 19p13 at EPS15L1; monocyte count—2q31 at ITGA4, 3q21, 8q24 an intergenic region, 9q31 near EDG2), including three previously reported associations and seven novel associations. To investigate functional relationships among variants contributing to variability in the six WBC traits, we utilized gene expression- and pathways-based analyses. We implemented gene-clustering algorithms to evaluate functional connectivity among implicated loci and showed functional relationships across cell types. Gene expression data from whole blood was utilized to show that significant biological consequences can be extracted from our genome-wide analyses, with effect estimates for significant loci from the meta-analyses being highly corellated with the proximal gene expression. In addition, collaborative efforts between the groups contributing to this study and related studies conducted by the COGENT and RIKEN groups allowed for the examination of effect homogeneity for genome-wide significant associations across populations of diverse ancestral backgrounds