Ergothioneine Improves Seed Yield and Flower Number through Gene Expression in .

Biostimulants are a new category of materials that improve crop productivity by maximizing their natural abilities. Out of these biostimulants, those that increase seed production are considered to be particularly important as they contribute directly to the increase in the yield of cereals and legumes. Ergothioneine (EGT) is a natural, non-protein amino acid with antioxidant effects that is used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and foods.

Biosynthetic ability of diverse basidiomycetous yeast strains to produce the natural antioxidant ergothioneine.

Sixteen strains of basidiomycetous yeasts were evaluated for their capability to produce ergothioneine (EGT), an amino acid derivative with strong antioxidant activity. The cells were cultured in either two synthetic media or yeast mold (YM) medium for 72 h, after which cytosolic constituents were extracted from the cells with hot water. After analyzing the extracts via liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), we found that all strains produced varying amounts of EGT.

Energy Transfer on Cytoskeleton of Red Blood Cell Ghosts and their Efficiency Control by KCl Concentration-induced Cell Shrinkage.

Lipid bilayer membranes such as liposomes have been utilized as platforms for bioinspired artificial photosynthesis. Embedding functional compounds, including chromophores and catalysts, into two-dimensional lipid membranes allows their high local concentration and proximity, resulting in enhanced reactivity compared to that of homogeneous solutions. The control of photoreactions by the physical and chemical properties of membranes, such as fluidity and phase separation, has also been well studied in recent years.

Cu(II)-Triggered Ion Channel Properties of a 2,2'-Bipyridine-Modified Amphotericin B.

The development of stimuli-responsive synthetic channels that open and close in response to physical and chemical changes in the surrounding environment has attracted attention because of their potential bioapplications such as sensing, drug release, antibiotics, and molecular manipulation tools to control membrane transport in cells. Metal coordination is ideal as a stimulus for stimuli-responsive channels because it allows for reversible gating behavior through the addition and removal of metal ions and fine-tuning of channel structure through coordination geometry defined by the type of the metal ion and ligand. We have previously reported on transition metal-ion dependent ion permeability control of Amphotericin B (AmB) modified with a metal coordination site, 2,2'-bipyridine ligand (bpy-AmB).

Peptide modification on the interior surface of red blood cell ghosts for construction of catalytic reactors.

We have succeeded in synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) on the interior surfaces of red blood cell ghosts (RBCGs) with a cytoskeleton chemically conjugated to a gold-binding peptide. The Au NP-deposited RBCG with the peptide exhibits enhanced catalytic reactivity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol due to the uniform distribution of the Au NPs on the inner surface and the coverage of the Au NPs surface with the peptide.