Publications by authors named "Soichiro Ikuta"
Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) is an isothermal DNA amplification reaction at around 41 °C using recombinase (Rec), single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB), strand-displacing DNA polymerase (Pol), and an ATP-regenerating enzyme. Considering the onsite use of RPA reagents, lyophilized RPA reagents with long storage stability are highly desired. In this study, as one of the approaches to solve this problem, we attempted to use a thermostable pyruvate kinase (PK).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdentification and enzymatic properties of arginine decarboxylase from .
Appl Environ Microbiol
May 2024
Article Synopsis
- The research focuses on agmatine, a natural compound produced in rice (strain RIB40) grown under low pH conditions, despite lacking the typical enzyme responsible for its production.
- The study identified a protein encoded by the gene AO090102000327, previously misclassified as phosphatidylserine decarboxylase, which actually exhibits arginine decarboxylase activity and contributes to agmatine synthesis.
- Techniques such as mass spectrometry, ion exchange, and gel-filtration chromatography were used to isolate and characterize the protein, revealing its expression predominantly in the substrate mycelial region of the rice.
We evaluated the suitability of Komagataeibacter europaeus, a vinegar production organism adept at synthetic media growth, as a host for heterologous gene expression. Cryptic plasmids (pGE1 and pGE2 derivatives) from K. europaeus strain KGMA0119 were employed as vectors for heterologous gene expression.
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- Fungicides need to penetrate plant tissues to effectively kill harmful fungi, and traditional mass spectrometry struggles to differentiate their presence in various tissues due to extraction methods.* -
- Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) is introduced as a method to visualize fungicide penetration directly on plant samples without the need for extraction.* -
- The study specifically observed the penetration of azoxystrobin in wheat leaves, finding it accumulates around the vascular bundles, indicating MALDI-MSI's potential for evaluating fungicide distribution in plant tissues.*
γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) accumulates in plants in response to environmental stresses. The activity levels of glutamate decarboxylase (GAD), an enzyme involved in GABA biosynthesis, are reported to increase during germination under salinity stress. However, it is not clear which tissues of the plant seeds are affected by GAD activity in response to salinity stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVisualizing the distribution of enzymes is vital for understanding physiological phenomena. Enzyme histochemistry is a technique used to investigate the localization of enzyme activity. However, the target is restricted to enzymes with easy-to-design artificial substrates that can develop color through reactions.
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