Semi-Balanced Colorings of Graphs: Generalized 2-Colorings Based on a Relaxed Discrepancy Condition

We generalize the concept of a 2-coloring of a graph to what we call a semi-balanced coloring by relaxing a certain discrepancy condition on the shortest-paths hypergraph of the graph. Let G be an undirected, unweighted, connected graph with n vertices and m edges. We prove that the number of different semi-balanced colorings of G is: (1) at most n+1 if G is bipartite; (2) at most m if G is non-bipartite and triangle-free; and (3) at most m+1 if G is non-bipartite. Based on the above combinatorial investigation, we design an algorithm to enumerate all semi-balanced colorings of G in O(nm²) time.Acknowledgments The authors thank Tetsuo Asano, Naoki Katoh, Kunihiko Sadakane, and Hisao Tamaki for helpful discussions and comments.Supported in part by Sweden-Japan FoundationFinal version received: November 17, 2003     

Artificial nucleosides possessing metal binding sites at the 3'- and 5'-positions of the deoxyribose moieties

This paper describes a convenient synthetic procedure for nucleoside mimics, 1-6, in which the 3',5'-hydroxy groups of natural 2'-deoxythymidine or 2'-deoxyadenosine are replaced by thiol, amine, or alkylthiol groups. Such nucleosides would be built up into a single DNA strand with cooperative participation of metal coordination, where internucleoside linkages are replaced by metal complexation motifs. The X-ray crystal structure and complexation behaviors of 3',5'-dithiothymidine, 1, with Au(I) are also reported.     

Selective cross-catenation of Pd(II) and Pt(II) coordination rings

The reversible cross-catenation of two different coordination rings (Pd(II)- and Pt(II)-linked rings) has been achieved by using the labile nature of the Pd-N interaction and efficient hydrophobic contact between the rings.     

Ten new Lycopodium alkaloids having the lycopodane skeleton isolated from Lycopodium serratum Thunb

Ten new alkaloids, lycoposerramines-F (1), -G (2), -H (3), -I (4), -J (5), -K (6), -L (7), -M (8), -N (9), and -O (10), having lycopodine-related structures, were isolated from the club moss Lycopodium serratum THUNB. and their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and/or chemical transformation.     

Amide conformational switching induced by protonation of aromatic substituent

[reaction: see text] Introduction of an electron-withdrawing group on the aromatic ring of N-methylacetanilide decreased the ratio of the cis conformer, and the ratio correlates well with the Hammett sigma values of the substituents. These steric properties can be applied to achieve amide conformational switching by protonation at the aromatic substituent of 4-[bis(dimethylamino)]-N-methylacetanilide or N-[p-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-N-phenylacetamide.     

Chelation of cadmium ions by phytochelatin synthase: role of the cysteine-rich C-terminal.

The interactions between Cd(2+) and the C-terminal region of phytochelatin (PC) synthase using recombinant wild-type and mutant PC synthase were studied. We show that site-directed mutagenesis of Cys residues at C(358)C(359)XXXC(363)XXC(366) motif decreases the number of Cd(2+) and other heavy metal ions interacting with the enzyme, and that the motif binds the metals discriminatingly. The optimum binding ratio of PC synthase to Cd(2+) was also determined. The findings indicate that Cys exists as a free SH residue and that it is involved in the regulation of PC enzyme activity by transferring the metals into closer proximity with the catalytic domain. These results are important in understanding heavy metal detoxification mechanisms in higher plants, a step towards phytoremediated-applications.     

Enantioseparation of nicotine alkaloids in cigarettes by CE using sulfated β‐CD as a chiral selector and a capillary coated with amino groups

Nicotine (NC) and its related compounds (cotinine (CN), nornicotine (NN), anatabine (AT) and anabasine (AB)) were simultaneously enantioseparated by CE using a capillary with amino groups and sulfated β‐CD as a chiral selector. The optimum running conditions were found to be 30 mM acetate buffer (pH 5.0) containing 8% sulfated β‐CD with an applied voltage of +15 kV at 30°C using direct detection at 260 nm. Using a capillary coated with amino groups, the EOF migrates toward the positive pole. However, when sulfated β‐CD was added to the BGE, it was found that the EOF migrated toward the negative pole due to ionic adsorption of sulfated β‐CD to amino groups on the capillary inner wall. All the cationic analytes migrated as anions, suggesting that they formed stable anionic complexes with sulfated β‐CD. With this system and a simple pretreatment with mini‐cartridges, NC alkaloids in five cigarette samples were enantioseparated. As a result, each of the compounds except for CN was detected. In the case of NC, only (S)‐NC was detected (more than 99.9%), but in the case of NN, AT and AB, the ratios of (S)‐isomer to total isomers were in the ranges 58–70, 81–85 and 59–65%, respectively. On the other hand, only NC was detected in cigarette smoke and the ratio of (S)‐ and (R)‐NCs was 96:4. The amounts of NC alkaloids in cigarettes suggest that the production of (R)‐NC resulted from racemization due to the high temperature/burning of the cigarette.