Enzymic production of aldopentauronic acid and use as a bioregulator in plant airlift bioreactors.

Neutral and acidic oligosaccharides were obtained from birchwood xylan by treatment with an endoxylanase, family 11 class, from Sporotrichum thermophile. The main acidic xylooligosaccharide (aldopentauronic acid) was separated from the hydrolysate by anion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography and the structure was determined by 13C NMR spectroscopy. The aldopentauronic acid yield was 25% (w/w) of the total solubilized sugars.

Developing a scale-up system for the micropropagation of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.): the effect of growth retardants, liquid culture and vessel size.

We investigated the effect of the growth retardant flurprimidol, the phase of the culture medium (solid versus liquid) and the size of the liquid culture vessel (250-ml flask versus 2.5-l airlift bioreactor) on the micropropagation of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) from nodal explants.

The application of the bioelectric recognition assay for the detection of human and plant viruses: definition of operational parameters.

The bioelectric recognition assay (BERA) is a novel biosensory method based on a unique combination of a group of cells, their immobilization in a matrix that preserves their physiological functions and the expression of the cell interaction with viruses as a change in electrical properties. A BERA sensor consists of an electroconductive, tube-like probe containing components of immobilized cells in a gel matrix. Cells are selected to specifically interact with the virus under detection.