Bioethanol strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae characterised by microsatellite and stress resistance.

Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae may display characteristics that are typical of rough-type colonies, made up of cells clustered in pseudohyphal structures and comprised of daughter buds that do not separate from the mother cell post-mitosis. These strains are known to occur frequently in fermentation tanks with significant lower ethanol yield when compared to fermentations carried out by smooth strains of S. cerevisiae that are composed of dispersed cells.

Microsatellite marker-based assessment of the biodiversity of native bioethanol yeast strains.

Although many Brazilian sugar mills initiate the fermentation process by inoculating selected commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, the unsterile conditions of the industrial sugar cane ethanol fermentation process permit the constant entry of native yeast strains. Certain of those native strains are better adapted and tend to predominate over the initial strain, which may cause problems during fermentation. In the industrial fermentation process, yeast cells are often exposed to stressful environmental conditions, including prolonged cell recycling, ethanol toxicity and osmotic, oxidative or temperature stress.

Expression of differential genes involved in the maintenance of water balance in human skin by Piptadenia colubrina extract.

Background: Hydration and integrity of the stratum corneum (SC) is an important determinant of skin appearance, metabolism, mechanical properties, and barrier function. The presence of aquaglyceroporins and envelope proteins are crucial to provide greater corneocyte cohesion to keep water and other moisturizers in the skin.

Aims: In this study, we evaluated the ability of Piptadenia colubrina, a plant native of South American rain forests, in the expression of genes involved in skin capacitance and SC integrity.

Effect of green Coffea arabica L. seed oil on extracellular matrix components and water-channel expression in in vitro and ex vivo human skin models.

Background: Green Coffea arabica L. seed oil is being widely used in cosmetic formulations, although its effects on human skin cells are not clear and most observations are unpublished.

Aims: In this study, we evaluated the in vitro effects of green coffee (C.

Mutational analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana plant uncoupling mitochondrial protein.

In this study, point mutations were introduced in plant uncoupling mitochondrial protein AtUCP1, a typical member of the plant uncoupling protein (UCP) gene subfamily, in amino acid residues Lys147, Arg155 and Tyr269, located inside the so-called UCP-signatures, and in two more residues, Cys28 and His83, specific for plant UCPs. The effects of amino acid replacements on AtUCP1 biochemical properties were examined using reconstituted proteoliposomes. Residue Arg155 appears to be crucial for AtUCP1 affinity to linoleic acid (LA) whereas His83 plays an important role in AtUCP1 transport activity.

Haemagglutination induced by Bordetella pertussis filamentous haemagglutinin adhesin (FHA) is inhibited by antibodies produced against FHA(430-873) fragment expressed in Lactobacillus casei.

Filamentous haemagglutinin adhesin (FHA) is an important virulence factor from Bordetella pertussis related to the adhesion and spread of the bacteria through the respiratory tract. Three distinct domains have been characterized in mature FHA, and among them, the FHA(442-863) fragment was suggested to be responsible for the heparin-binding activity. In this study, we cloned the gene encoding the HEP fragment (FHA(430-873)) in a Lactobacillus casei-inducible expression vector based on the lactose operon.

ZmPUMP encodes a fully functional monocot plant uncoupling mitochondrial protein whose affinity to fatty acid is increased with the introduction of a His pair at the second matrix loop.

Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are specialized mitochondrial transporter proteins that uncouple respiration from ATP synthesis. In this study, cDNA encoding maize uncoupling protein (ZmPUMP) was expressed in Escherichia coli and recombinant ZmPUMP reconstituted in liposomes. ZmPUMP activity was associated with a linoleic acid (LA)-mediated H(+) efflux with K(m) of 56.

Antibodies produced against a fragment of filamentous haemagglutinin (FHA) of Bordetella pertussis are able to inhibit hemagglutination induced by the whole adhesin.

Filamentous hemagglutinin adhesin (FHA) is important for the adherence of Bordetella pertussis to the host ciliary epithelial cells of the respiratory tract. Several binding domains have been characterized in the FHA molecule. For example, an putative heparin-binding domain of FHA was previously located in the FHA(442-863) region.