Roles of Endophytic Fungi Isolated from L. in Promoting Plant Growth.

Endophytic fungi have been shown to synthesize bioactive secondary metabolites, some of which promote plant growth through various mechanisms. In our previous study, endophytic fungi were isolated from mango trees ( L.).

Rice-based fermented products: the functional properties of the microorganisms in the defined starter contributing to melanogenesis inhibition activity.

Rice contains numerous nutrients and biologically active compounds. The phytochemical composition of rice varies among cultivars, leading to diversities in biological activities. Fermentation is an efficient way of improving nutrient bioavailability and the functional properties of raw materials.

Metatranscriptomics Reveals Sequential Expression of Genes Involved in the Production of Melanogenesis Inhibitors by the Defined Microbial Species in Fermented Unpolished Black Rice.

Fermented products require metabolic enzymes from the microbial community for desired final products. Using a metatranscriptomic approach, the role of microorganisms in fermented products on producing compounds with a melanogenesis inhibition activity has not yet been reported. Previously, unpolished black rice (UBR) fermented with the E11 starter containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, and Pediococcus pentosaceus (FUBR) showed potent melanogenesis inhibition activity.

A novel yeast-based screening system for potential compounds that can alleviate human α-synuclein toxicity.

Aims: This study aimed to establish a yeast-based screening system for potential compounds that can alleviate the toxicity of α-synuclein (α-syn), a neuropathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease, either inhibition of α-syn aggregation or promotion of ubiquitin-mediated degradation of α-syn.

Methods And Results: A powerful yeast-based screening assay using the rsp5 -mutant strain, which is hypersensitive to α-syn aggregation, was established by two-step gene replacement and further overexpressed the GFP-fused α-syn in the drug-sensitive yeast strain with a galactose-inducible multicopy plasmid. The rsp5 -mutant strain treated with baicalein, a known α-syn aggregation inhibitor, showed better α-syn toxicity alleviation than the same background wild type strain as accessed by comparison on the reduction kinetics of viable dye resazurin fluorometrically (λ 540/λ 590 nm).

Metaproteomic investigation of functional insight into special defined microbial starter on production of fermented rice with melanogenesis inhibition activity.

Fermentation of rice grains requires diverse metabolic enzymes to be synchronously synthesized by the microbial community. Although many studies have used a metaproteomic approach to investigate the roles of microorganisms in improving the flavor of fermented foods, their roles in producing compounds with biological activity have not yet been reported. In a previous study the ferment obtained from unpolished black rice (UBR) fermented with a defined microbial starter (De-E11), comprised of Rhizopus oryzae, Saccharomycopsis fibuligera, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Pediococcus pentosaceus, (fermented UBR; FUBR) showed a strong melanogenesis inhibition activity in B16F10 melanoma cells.

Fermented Unpolished Black Rice ( L.) Inhibits Melanogenesis via ERK, p38, and AKT Phosphorylation in B16F10 Melanoma Cells.

Melanin is a major factor that darkens skin color as one of the defense systems to prevent the harmful effects of UV light. However, darkened skin from the localized or systemic accumulation of melanin is viewed in many cultures as an esthetic problem. Consequentially, searching for antimelanogenic agents from natural sources is very popular worldwide.

Pinostrobin suppresses the Ca2+-signal-dependent growth arrest in yeast by inhibiting the Swe1-mediated G2 cell-cycle regulation.

Pinostrobin, a flavonoid compound known for its diverse pharmacological actions, including anti-leukemic and anti-inflammatory activities, has been repeatedly isolated by various screenings, but its action mechanism is still obscure. Previously, pinostrobin was rediscovered in our laboratory using a yeast-based assay procedure devised specifically for the inhibitory effect on the activated Ca2+ signaling that leads the cells to severe growth retardation in the G2 phase. Here, we attempted to identify target of pinostrobin employing the genetic techniques available in the yeast.

Two flavonoid-based compounds from as novel human carbonic anhydrase isozyme II inhibitors detected by a resazurin yeast-based assay.

Human carbonic anhydrase isozyme II has been used as protein target for disorder treatment including glaucoma. Current clinically used sulfonamide-based CA inhibitors can induce side effects, and so alternatives are required. This study aimed to investigate a natural CA inhibitor from .

Development of a high throughput yeast-based screening assay for human carbonic anhydrase isozyme II inhibitors.

Carbonic anhydrase (CA; EC 4.2.1.

Clausmarin A, Potential Immunosuppressant Revealed by Yeast-Based Assay and Interleukin-2 Production Assay in Jurkat T Cells.

Small-molecule inhibitors of Ca2+-signaling pathways are of medicinal importance, as exemplified by the immunosuppressants FK506 and cyclosporin A. Using a yeast-based assay devised for the specific detection of Ca2+-signaling inhibitors, clausmarin A, a previously reported terpenoid coumarin, was identified as an active substance. Here, we investigated the likely mechanism of clausmarin A action in yeast and Jurkat T-cells.

Pinostrobin from Boesenbergia pandurata is an inhibitor of Ca2+-signal-mediated cell-cycle regulation in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Upon searching plant extracts for inhibitors of the Ca(2+) signaling pathway using the zds1Delta-yeast proliferation based assay, a crude rhizome extract of Boesenbergia pandurata was found to be strongly positive, and from this extract pinostrobin, alpinetin, and pinocembrin chalcone were isolated as active components. Further biochemical experiments confirmed that pinostrobin possesses inhibitory activity on the Ca(2+) signals involved in the control of G2/M phase cell cycle progression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Checkpoint independence of most DNA replication origins in fission yeast.

Background: In budding yeast, the replication checkpoint slows progress through S phase by inhibiting replication origin firing. In mammals, the replication checkpoint inhibits both origin firing and replication fork movement. To find out which strategy is employed in the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, we used microarrays to investigate the use of origins by wild-type and checkpoint-mutant strains in the presence of hydroxyurea (HU), which limits the pool of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs) and activates the replication checkpoint.

Enforcement of late replication origin firing by clusters of short G-rich DNA sequences.

Previous studies in budding yeast suggested that the default firing time of most DNA replication origins is early in S phase and that origins can be forced to fire later by proximity to certain cis-acting sequences. However, these cis-acting sequences were not well defined. We have attempted to characterize cis-acting sequences that affect replication timing in the fission yeast.