Strong synergy between a eukaryotic antimicrobial peptide and bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria.

The antimicrobial effect obtained upon combining the prokaryotic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs; more commonly referred to as bacteriocins) pediocin PA-1, sakacin P, and curvacin A (all produced by lactic acid bacteria [LAB]) with the eukaryotic AMP pleurocidin (from fish) has been investigated. The three LAB AMPs alone were active against gram-positive Listeria ivanovii bacteria at nanomolar concentrations, whereas they were inactive against gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria. Pleurocidin alone was active against both of these types of bacteria at micromolar concentrations.

Genetic change for clinical mastitis in Norwegian cattle: a threshold model analysis.

Records of clinical mastitis on 1.6 million first-lactation daughters of 2,411 Norwegian Cattle sires that were progeny tested from 1978 through 1998 were analyzed with a threshold model. The main objective was to infer genetic change for the disease in the population.

Zea mays ZmMybst1 cDNA, encodes a single Myb-repeat protein with the VASHAQKYF motif.

A cDNA clone from a 4 DAP dissected maize embryo sac encoding a novel Zea mays single-repeat Myb protein is reported here. This full-length cDNA contains an ORF of 948 bp. The gene ZmMybst1 contains two introns (1166 and 706 bp) and is a single copy gene.

Protection of the environment from ionising radiation: ethical issues.

The paper identifies some of the main ethical issues concerning the protection of the environment from radiation and suggests ways in which ethics can aid in developing a system of protection. After a presentation of background on ethical theory and environmental ethics, three main issues related to environmental protection are discussed: First, the question of valuing the environment and implications for the definition of harm and monetary valuation of environmental goods; second, difficulties with scientific uncertainty and applications of the precautionary principle; and third, issues concerned with the distribution of risk and its relevance for participation in decision-making. In summary, the paper argues that there are strong ethical grounds to provide for the protection of the environment and that, all other things being equal, there is no reason to treat ionising radiation differently to other environmental stressors.

Traditional medicine in Bulamogi county, Uganda: its practitioners, users and viability.

Traditional medicine (TM) in Bulamogi (Uganda) is holistic, providing treatments for physical illnesses as well as psycho-spiritual ones. People use it to prevent and eliminate the effects of witchcraft, to appease spirits and to cure chronic illnesses. The traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) are numerous and have extensive experience of traditional healing.

Coastal resources and management systems influenced by conflict and migration: Mecúfi, Mozambique.

Coastal resource utilization and management systems, both traditional and more recently conceived, were studied in Mecúfi district, northern Mozambique in a post-conflict situation prior to which a significant migration of people to the coast had occurred. A wide variety of coastal biotopes containing a multitude of resources had been affected in various ways. Intertidal organisms exhibited signs of decreasing abundance and average size, whereas offshore fishes and mangrove forests did not show signs of over-utilization.

Cooperation between Lactococcus lactis and nonstarter lactobacilli in the formation of cheese aroma from amino acids.

In Gouda and Cheddar type cheeses the amino acid conversion to aroma compounds, which is a major process for aroma formation, is essentially due to lactic acid bacteria (LAB). In order to evaluate the respective role of starter and nonstarter LAB and their interactions in cheese flavor formation, we compared the catabolism of phenylalanine, leucine, and methionine by single strains and strain mixtures of Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris NCDO763 and three mesophilic lactobacilli.

Social exploitation of vitellogenin.

Vitellogenin is a female-specific glucolipoprotein yolk precursor produced by all oviparous animals. Vitellogenin expression is under hormonal control, and the protein is generally synthesized directly before yolk deposition. In the honeybee (Apis mellifera), vitellogenin is not only synthesized by the reproductive queen, but also by the functionally sterile workers.

Passage rate through the anterior digestive tract of broiler chickens fed on diets with ground and whole wheat.

1. Birds were fed diets containing ground or whole wheat and titanium dioxide for 10 min, followed by dissection of 4 birds per treatment after 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 min. 2.

Disruption of vitellogenin gene function in adult honeybees by intra-abdominal injection of double-stranded RNA.

Background: The ability to manipulate the genetic networks underlying the physiological and behavioural repertoires of the adult honeybee worker (Apis mellifera) is likely to deepen our understanding of issues such as learning and memory generation, ageing, and the regulatory anatomy of social systems in proximate as well as evolutionary terms. Here we assess two methods for probing gene function by RNA interference (RNAi) in adult honeybees.

Results: The vitellogenin gene was chosen as target because its expression is unlikely to have a phenotypic effect until the adult stage in bees.

Study of the collision-induced radical cleavage of flavonoid glycosides using negative electrospray ionization tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry.

Negative electrospray ionization tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry was used to study the collision-induced dissociation (CID) of the O-glycosidic bond from different commercially available flavonoid glycosides. Depending on the structure, flavonoid glycosides can undergo both a collision-induced homolytic and heterolytic cleavage of the O-glycosidic bond producing deprotonated radical aglycone ((Y(0) - H)(-*)) and aglycone (Y(0) (-)) product ions. The relative abundance of the radical aglycone to the aglycone fragment from flavonol-3-O-glycosides increased with increasing number of hydroxyl substituents in the B ring and in the order kaempferol - View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Inducible bacteriocin production in Lactobacillus is regulated by differential expression of the pln operons and by two antagonizing response regulators, the activity of which is enhanced upon phosphorylation.

Expression of the five (pln) operons involved in the bacteriocin production of Lactobacillus plantarum C11 is regulated by a so-called pheromone-based signal-transducing network, in which the peptide pheromone (PlnA) induces bacteriocin production through the action of a histidine protein kinase (PlnB) and two antagonizing response regulators (PlnC as an activator and PlnD as a negative regulator). All pln-regulated promoters contain a conserved pair of direct repeats that serve as binding sites for PlnC and PlnD. In the present work, we show that the five PlnA-responsive operons are differentially expressed with regard to both timing and strength, and that the pheromone triggers a strong autoactivating loop of the regulatory unit (plnABCD) during an early stage of induction that gradually leads to enhanced activation of the other operons.

Use of real-time quantitative PCR for the analysis of phiLC3 prophage stability in lactococci.

Bacteriophages are a common and constant threat to proper milk fermentation. It has become evident that lysogeny is widespread in lactic acid bacteria, and in this work the temperate lactococcal bacteriophage phi LC3 was used as a model to study prophage stability in lactococci. The stability was analyzed in six phi LC3 lysogenic Lactococcus lactis subsp.

Generic features of modulational instability in nonlocal Kerr media.

The modulational instability (MI) of plane waves in nonlocal Kerr media is studied for a general response function. Several generic properties are proven mathematically, with emphasis on how new gain bands are formed through a bifurcation process when the degree of nonlocality, sigma, passes certain bifurcation values and how the bandwidth and maximum of each individual gain band depends on sigma. The generic properties of the MI gain spectrum, including the bifurcation phenomena, are then demonstrated for the exponential and rectangular response functions.

Comparative nutrient digestibility of arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) on Svalbard and farm-raised blue foxes (Alopex lagopus).

Arctic foxes from Svalbard (n=4) and farmed blue foxes (n=4) was used in a digestibility experiment with a high-carbohydrate feed to add more information to the nutritional physiology of the arctic fox, and to compare its digestive capacity with that of the farmed blue fox. The arctic fox has a diet containing mainly protein and fat from mammals and birds, while farmed blue foxes have been exposed to an omnivorous dietary regime for more than 80 generations. The experiment showed in general no difference in digestive capacity for protein and fat between the foxes (P>0.

Oxidation states of uranium in DU particles from Kosovo.

The oxidation states of uranium contained in depleted uranium (DU) particles were determined by synchrotron radiation based micro-XANES, applied to individual particles in soil samples collected at Ceja Mountain, Kosovo. Based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with XRMA prior to micro-XANES, DU particles ranging from submicrons to about 30 microm (average size: 2 microm or less) were identified. Compared to well-defined standards, all investigated DU particles were oxidized.

Isolation of GUS marker lines for genes expressed in Arabidopsis endosperm, embryo and maternal tissues.

In order to identify marker lines expressing GUS in various endosperm compartments and at different developmental stages, a collection of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. promoter trap lines were screened.

A genome scan for quantitative trait loci affecting milk production in Norwegian dairy cattle.

An autosomal genome scan for quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting milk production traits was carried out on the Norwegian Dairy Cattle population. Six half-sibling families with a total of 285 sons organized according to a granddaughter design were analyzed by a multiple marker regression method. Suggestive QTL for one or several of the five milk traits (milk yield, protein percentage, protein yield, fat percentage and fat yield) were detected on chromosomes 3, 5, 6, 11, 13, 18 and 20.

Linear mechanistic models for the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of cat probed using drifting-grating stimuli.

Experiments with sinusoidal visual stimuli in the early visual pathway have traditionally been interpreted in terms of descriptive filter models. We present an alternative mechanistic approach for interpretation of this type of data recorded from X cells in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of cat. A general, linear, rate-based mathematical expression for the geniculate transfer ratio, i.

Production of class II bacteriocins by lactic acid bacteria; an example of biological warfare and communication.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fight competing Gram-positive microorganisms by secreting anti-microbial peptides called bacteriocins. Peptide bacteriocins are usually divided into lantibiotics (class I) and non-lantibiotics (class II), the latter being the main topic of this review. During the past decade many of these bacteriocins have been isolated and characterized, and elements of the genetic mechanisms behind bacteriocin production have been unravelled.

Assessment and prediction of overall environmental quality of Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, China.

Fuzzy comprehensive assessment was applied to assess the quality of air, water and soil in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, China based on the monitoring data of 1997 and National Environmental Quality Standards of China. Results show that Zhuzhou air quality belonged to Class II with industry and traffic as the main control areas and SO2 as the major pollutant. Water quality within the Zhuzhou section of the Xiang River belonged to Class IV, with the Xiawan section as the main control area and NH3-N as the major pollutant.

Comparative studies of immunity proteins of pediocin-like bacteriocins.

Genes encoding pediocin-like bacteriocins are usually co-transcribed with a gene encoding a cognate immunity protein. To investigate the functionality and specificity of immunity proteins, immunity genes belonging to the bacteriocins curvacin A, enterocin A, enterocin P, leucocin A, pediocin PA-1 and sakacin P, as well as a putative immunity gene, orfY, were expressed in three bacteriocin-sensitive lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus sake, Carnobacterium piscicola and Enterococcus faecalis). The transformed indicator strains, each containing one of the immunity genes, were tested for sensitivity towards seven different purified bacteriocins (curvacin A, enterocin A, enterocin P, leucocin A, leucocin C, pediocin PA-1 and sakacin P).

LasX, a transcriptional regulator of the lactocin S biosynthetic genes in Lactobacillus sakei L45, acts both as an activator and a repressor.

The 11 kb las locus, present on the 50 kb plasmid pCIM1, specifies the production of the lantibiotic lactocin S in Lactobacillus sakei L45. The gene cluster is organized into two oppositely orientated operons, lasAMNTUVPJW (lasA-W) and lasXY, the former of which contains the biosynthetic, immunity and transport genes. We have previously shown that inactivation of lasX abolishes lactocin S production and causes a drastic reduction in lasA-specific transcripts (encoding pre-lactocin S).

Apparent ruminal degradation and rumen escape of soluble nitrogen fractions in grass and grass silage administered intraruminally to lactating dairy cows.

The main objective of this study was to investigate in vivo ruminal degradation and rumen escape of soluble N fractions in grass and grass silage. Soluble protein and long-chain peptides (PLP), small peptides (SP) and free AA (FAA) were obtained from fresh grass and grass silages fertilized with different levels of N. Soluble extracts from the forages were pulse dosed into the rumen of three cannulated lactating dairy cows, and a simple or complex model was used to examine the kinetics of the soluble N fractions in the rumen.

Effects of temperature and date of snowmelt on growth, reproduction, and flowering phenology in the arctic/alpine herb, Ranunculus glacialis.

Changes in growing season temperature and duration may have profound effects on the population dynamics of arctic and alpine plant species in snow-bed and fell-field habitats. We examined how a typical herbaceous pioneer species, Ranunculus glacialis, responded to experimental climate change in open-top chambers for three seasons at an alpine site in southern Norway. Warming had no significant effect on any reproductive, growth or phenological variables, except for seed weight, which increased significantly during the first 2 ears.