[Comparative analysis of respiratory activity in the wild type strain of Neurospora crassa and its photoreceptor complex mutants].

Cell respiratory activity of protoplasts obtained from the wild type of Neurospora crassa and photoreceptor complex WCC--white collar 1 (wc-1) and white collar 2 (wc-2)--mutants of Neurospora crassa strains was investigated. Respiration inhibition by KCN in the presence of 25 mM succinate was similar in all strains and did not exceed 83-85% against control. The significant induction of KCN-resistant respiratory pathway occurred under 1% glucose oxidation in wc-1 and wc-2 mutants if compared with the wild type strains.

[The regulation of peroxisomal matrix enzymes (alcohol oxidase and catalase) formation by the product of the gene Mth1 in methylotrophic yeast Pichia methanolica].

Two independent mutant strains of methylotrophic yeast Pichia methanolica (mth1 arg1 and mth2 arg4) from the initial line 616 (ade1 ade5) were investigated. The mutant strains possessed defects in genes MTH1 and MTH2 which resulted in the inability to assimilate methanol as a sole carbon source and the increased activity of alcohol oxidase (AO). The function of the AUG2 gene encoding one of the subunits of AO and CTA1, a probable homolog of peroxisomal catalase of Saccharomyces cereviseae, was investigated by analyses of the molecular forms of isoenzymes.

[Properties of 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 2,4-cyclopyrophosphate--an intermediate in the non-mevalonate isoprenoid biosynthesis].

Extraction and purification from the biomass of Corynebacterium ammoniagenes of 2-C-methyl-D-erhythritol 2,4-cyclopyrophosphate (MEC) was associated with its spontaneous transformation into a number of derivatives (which was due to pyrophosphate bond lability and the formation of complexes with metals). These derivatives included 1,2-cyclophospho-4-phosphate, 2,4-diphosphate, 2,3-cyclophosphate, 1,4-diphosphate, and 3,5-diphosphate (identified by 1H, 31P, and 13C NMR spectroscopy) and accounted for about 10% MEC. When added to a solution of DNA in the presence of the Fenton reagent, MEC prevented DNA decomposition.