Asperuloside stimulates metabolic function in rats across several organs under high-fat diet conditions, acting like the major ingredient of Eucommia leaves with anti-obesity activity.

Eucommia leaves (Eucommia ulmoides Oliver) contain chlorogenic acid (a caffeic acid derivative) and geniposidic acid and asperuloside (ASP), iridoid glucosides used in beverages. We used a metabolic syndrome rat model, produced by feeding a 35 % high-fat diet (HFD), to examine potential anti-obesity and anti-metabolic syndrome effects and mechanisms of chronic administration of ASP. These effects were compared with Eucommia leaf extract (ELE), the positive control, which exhibits anti-obesity effects.

Comparison of the mesophilic cellulosome-producing Clostridium cellulovorans genome with other cellulosome-related clostridial genomes.

Clostridium cellulovorans, an anaerobic and mesophilic bacterium, degrades native substrates in soft biomass such as corn fibre and rice straw efficiently by producing an extracellular enzyme complex called the cellulosome. Recently, we have reported the whole-genome sequence of C. cellulovorans comprising 4220 predicted genes in 5.

Protein O-mannosylation is necessary for normal embryonic development in zebrafish.

Two distinct cDNAs corresponding to two zebrafish protein O-mannosyltransferase genes, zPOMT1 and zPOMT2, were cloned from early developmental embryos. Gene expression analysis revealed that zPOMT1 and zPOMT2 were expressed in similar patterns during early embryonic development and in all adult tissues. To study the regulation of zPOMT1 and zPOMT2 mRNA distribution during zebrafish embryogenesis, we injected enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) mRNA fused to the 3'untranslated regions of each zPOMT gene.

Genome sequence of the cellulosome-producing mesophilic organism Clostridium cellulovorans 743B.

Clostridium cellulovorans 743B was isolated from a wood chip pile and is an anaerobic and mesophilic spore-forming bacterium. This organism degrades native substrates in soft biomass such as corn fiber and rice straw efficiently by producing an extracellular enzyme complex called the cellulosome. Here we report the genome sequence of C.

[Research and development of combinatorial bioengineering using zebrafish and its application on drug discovery].

The main challenge of the post-genomic era is to functionally characterize genes identified by the genome sequencing projects. Model organisms, including zebrafish (Danio rerio), are indispensable for this demanding task. Zebrafish has recently been successfully incorporated into large-scale genetic screens due to the optical clarity of the embryos and their accessibility to various experimental techniques throughout development.