Correction: Different transferability of incompatibility (Inc) P-7 plasmid pCAR1 and IncP-1 plasmid pBP136 in stirring liquid conditions.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Different transferability of incompatibility (Inc) P-7 plasmid pCAR1 and IncP-1 plasmid pBP136 in stirring liquid conditions.

Self-transmissible plasmids are classified into two types based on their sex pili: short and rigid pili, and long and flexible pili. The transferability of two plasmids with different types of sex pili, pBP136 and pCAR1, was compared in stirring liquid conditions with different cell density. The most probable number method to count transconjugants could detect differences in the transfer frequency with higher resolution in comparison with the conventional CFU counting method.

High-pressure tolerance of earthworm fibrinolytic and digestive enzymes.

Earthworms contain several digestive and therapeutic enzymes that are beneficial to our health and useful for biomass utilization. Specifically, earthworms contain potent fibrinolytic enzymes called lumbrokinases, which are highly stable even at room temperature and remain active in dried earthworm powder. However, the high-temperature sterilization method leads to the inactivation of enzymes.

Two arginine residues in the substrate pocket predominantly control the substrate selectivity of thiocyanate hydrolase.

Thiocyanate hydrolase (SCNase) of Thiobacillus thioparus THI115 is a cobalt (Co)-containing enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of thiocyanate (SCN⁻), a major component of wastewater from coke oven factories, to carbonyl sulfide and ammonia. Although SCNase exhibits high structural similarities to Co-type nitrile hydratase (NHase), including a unique Co³⁺ catalytic center with two oxidized Cys ligands, both SCNase and NHase exclusively catalyze only their own substrates. Based on the differences in the substrate-binding pockets of these enzymes, βArg90 and γArg136 of SCNase, with side chains extending toward the pocket, were separately substituted with Phe and Trp, the corresponding residues, respectively, in Co-type NHase.

Abnormal biantennary sugar chains are expressed in human chorionic gonadotropin produced in the choriocarcinoma cell line, JEG-3.

Over the past two decades, sugar chain structures of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) produced in healthy people, three types of trophoblastic disease, and some types of cell lines have been analyzed. The abnormal biantennary structure of hCG is a good marker for the diagnosis of malignant choriocarcinoma. In spite of much research, hCG with an abnormal biantennary structure is only detected in the urine of choriocarcinoma or pregnant diabetic patients.