In search of synergistic effects in antioxidant capacity of combined edible mushrooms.

The antioxidant activity of different edible mushrooms was evaluated considering the different contribution of individual and combined extracts. The radical scavenging capacity was evaluated through hydrogen atom transfer and single electron transfer reaction-based assays: DPPH radical scavenging activity and reducing power, respectively. The inhibition of lipid peroxidation was studied in lipossomes solutions by the β-carotene-linoleate system.

Multiplicity of aspartic proteinases from Cynara cardunculus L.

Aspartic proteinases (AP) play major roles in physiologic and pathologic scenarios in a wide range of organisms from vertebrates to plants or viruses. The present work deals with the purification and characterisation of four new APs from the cardoon Cynara cardunculus L., bringing the number of APs that have been isolated, purified and biochemically characterised from this organism to nine.

Biochemical Characterization of SFC-1, a class A carbapenem-hydrolyzing beta-lactamase.

The carbapenem-hydrolyzing beta-lactamase SFC-1 from Serratia fonticola UTAD54 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and characterized. The enzyme exhibited an apparent molecular mass of 30.5 kDa, determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Purification and characterization of a new peptide antibiotic produced by a thermotolerant Bacillus licheniformis strain.

A Bacillus licheniformis strain, 189, isolated from a hot spring environment in the Azores, Portugal, strongly inhibited growth of Gram-positive bacteria. It produced a peptide antibiotic at 50 degrees C. The antibiotic was purified and biochemically characterized.