Insights on long-term ecosystem changes from stable isotopes in historical squid beaks.

Background: Assessing the historical dynamics of key food web components is crucial to understand how climate change impacts the structure of Arctic marine ecosystems. Most retrospective stable isotopic studies to date assessed potential ecosystem shifts in the Arctic using vertebrate top predators and filter-feeding invertebrates as proxies. However, due to long life histories and specific ecologies, ecosystem shifts are not always detectable when using these taxa.

A Novel Two-Domain Laccase with Middle Redox Potential: Physicochemical and Structural Properties.

The gene for a previously unexplored two-domain laccase was identified in the genome of actinobacterium Streptomyces carpinensis VKM Ac-1300. The two-domain laccase, named ScaSL, was produced in a heterologous expression system (Escherichia coli strain M15 [pREP4]). The enzyme was purified to homogeneity using affinity chromatography.

Life History of the Arctic Squid (Cephalopoda: Oegopsida) Reconstructed by Analysis of Individual Ontogenetic Stable Isotopic Trajectories.

Cephalopods are important in Arctic marine ecosystems as predators and prey, but knowledge of their life cycles is poor. Consequently, they are under-represented in the Arctic ecosystems assessment models. One important parameter is the change in ecological role (habitat and diet) associated with individual ontogenies.

Expression of thermophilic two-domain laccase from in and its activity against triarylmethane and azo dyes.

Background: Two-domain laccases are copper-containing oxidases found in bacteria in the beginning of 2000ths. Two-domain laccases are known for their thermal stability, wide substrate specificity and, the most important of all, their resistance to so-called «strong inhibitors» of classical fungal laccases (azides, fluorides). Low redox potential was found to be specific for all the two-domain laccases, due to which these enzymes lost the researchers' interest as potentially applicable for various biotechnological purposes, such as bioremediation.

The effect of S53P4-based borosilicate glasses and glass dissolution products on the osteogenic commitment of human adipose stem cells.

Despite the good performance of silicate bioactive glasses in bone regeneration, there is considerable potential to enhance their properties by chemical modifications. In this study, S53P4-based borosilicate glasses were synthesized and their dissolution profile was studied in simulated body fluid by assessing pH change, ion release and conversion to hydroxyapatite. The viability, proliferation, attachment, osteogenesis and endothelial marker expression of human adipose stem cells (hASCs) was evaluated upon direct culture on glass discs and in the extract medium.