New Cytotoxic Terpenoids from Soft Corals Nephthea chabroli and Paralemnalia thyrsoides.

A novel cytotoxic diterpenoid, chabrolin A () (possessing an unprecedented terpenoid skeleton), as well as three new cytotoxic sesquiterpenoids, parathyrsoidins E-G (-), were isolated by cytotoxicity-guided fractionation from soft corals and . The structures of the new compounds were determined by extensive analysis of spectroscopic data.

Jeongeupia chitinilytica sp. nov., a chitinolytic bacterium isolated from soil.

A novel bacterium, designated strain Jchi(T), was isolated from soil in Taiwan and characterized using a polyphasic approach. Cells of strain Jchi(T) were aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, motile and rod-shaped. They contained poly-β-hydroxybutyrate granules and formed dark-yellow colonies.

Mutations derived from the thermophilic polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase PhaC enhance the thermostability and activity of PhaC from Cupriavidus necator H16.

The thermophile Cupriavidus sp. strain S-6 accumulated polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from glucose at 50°C. A 9.

Detection of polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase activity on a polyacrylamide gel.

This study presents a method to detect active polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase on a polyacrylamide gel that combines the polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) polymerization reaction with Sudan Black B staining. After separation of the protein samples on a modified sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), the slab gel was submerged in a buffer containing beta-hydroxybutyryl-coenzyme A (3-HBCoA) as substrate and incubated at room temperature for in vitro PHB polymerization. The active PHA synthase catalyzed 3-HBCoA into the PHB polymer and was stained with Sudan Black B.

Cloning of peroxisome proliferators activated receptors in the cobia (Rachycentron canadum) and their expression at different life-cycle stages under cage aquaculture.

We present the cDNA sequences and tissue mRNA expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha, beta and gamma isotypes in the cobia (Rachycentron canadum), a warm water pelagic fish that is becoming a fish of choice for offshore cage farming. RT-PCR and real-time PCR showed that PPARalpha mRNA predominated in red muscle, heart and liver whereas PPARbeta was expressed mainly in liver and pyloric caeca. In contrast, PPARgamma transcripts were detected in all of the tissues examined, with the highest level occurring in visceral fat depot.

Improved superoxide-generating system suitable for the assessment of the superoxide-scavenging ability of aqueous extracts of food constituents using ultraweak chemiluminescence.

In the interest of developing a simple and rapid ultraweak chemiluminescence assay for assessing the superoxide (O(2)(-))-scavenging activities of various aqueous extracts of food constituents, a specific and stable O(2)(-)-generating system was sought. Reported herein is the obtainment for the first time of a specific and stable O(2)(-)-generating system consisting of methylglyoxal (MG), a reactive 2-oxo aldehyde and arginine, which has been shown to produce much steadier lucigenin-based chemiluminesence (LBCL) than the conventional xanthine/xanthine oxidase system running in parallel and monitoring by an ultraweak chemiluminescence analyzer. Upon mixing of MG and arginine in a phosphate-buffered saline solution, pH 7.