MS Analysis and Molecular Characterization of Botrytis cinerea Protease Prot-2. Use in Bioactive Peptides Production

Prot-2 protease previously purified to homogeneity from Botrytis cinerea showed potentiality to be used in detergency and for production of bioactive peptides. To extend the characterization of Prot-2 protease, antifungal and antibacterial assays were performed in vitro using protein hydrolysates prepared from muscle of mackerel (Scomber scomborus) treated with this enzyme. The most active hydrolysate (degree of hydrolysis of 8 %) exhibited inhibition effect towards bacteria and phytopathogenic fungi, demonstrating that Prot-2 proteolysis generated bioactive peptides. Biochemical and molecular characterization of the purified Prot-2, by SDS-PAGE/Tryptic in gel-digestion and LC-MS/MS analysis, was investigated. The peptide amino acid sequence alignment search in database revealed a moderate homology between the determined amino acid sequence of Prot-2 protease and the known fungal trypsin/chymotrypsin in particular from Glomerella, Metarhizium and Streptomyces. From peptide sequence data obtained by mass spectrometry and sequences homologies, primers were defined and a cDNA fragment of 786 bp was amplified by RT-PCR. The cDNA nucleotide sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame coding for 262 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence of Prot-2 showed moderate identity with trypsin of Glomerella graminicola (74 %) and with chymotrypsin from Metarhizium anisopliae (71 %). Prot-2 exhibited a Ser protease homology and showed in addition the specific His motif of trypsin/chymotrypsin family.     

Biselective refocusing pulses and the SERF experiment

The SERF experiment is a variant of the homonuclear J-resolved experiment, in which a single coupling constant is measured. It consists of a single chemical shift selective excitation that is followed by a biselective spin echo. Recent articles mention the existence of artefacts in SERF spectra that are supposedly related to pulse imperfections. This article presents a detailed study of the biselective refocusing pulses. It also reports a method for predicting the position and amplitude of the expected and unexpected 2D spectral peaks in SERF spectra. Artefacts can be partially eliminated by phase cycling or by the introduction of static field gradient pulses in the acquisition sequence. A procedure to obtain of pure absorption peaks in SERF spectra is proposed.     

Evaluation of Vetiver Volatile Compound Production under Aeroponic-Grown Conditions for the Perfume Industry

Vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty) is a major tropical perfume crop. Access to its essential oil (EO)-filled roots is nevertheless cumbersome and land-damaging. This study, therefore, evaluated the potential of vetiver cultivation under soilless high-pressure aeroponics (HPA) for volatile organic compound (VOC) production. The VOC accumulation in the roots was investigated by transmission electron microscopy, and the composition of these VOCs was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) after sampling by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME). The HPA-grown plants were compared to plants that had been grown in potting soil and under axenic conditions. The HPA-grown plants were stunted, demonstrating less root biomass than the plants that had been grown in potting soil. The roots were slender, thinner, more tapered, and lacked the typical vetiver fragrance. HPA cultivation massively impaired the accumulation of the less-volatile hydrocarbon and oxygenated sesquiterpenes that normally form most of the VOCs. The axenic, tissue-cultured plants followed a similar and more exacerbated trend. Ultrastructural analyses revealed that the HPA conditions altered root ontogeny, whereby the roots contained fewer EO-accumulating cells and hosted fewer and more immature intracellular EO droplets. These preliminary results allowed to conclude that HPA-cultivated vetiver suffers from altered development and root ontology disorders that prevent EO accumulation.     

Palindromic Vectors,Symmetropy and Symmentropy as Symmetry Descriptors of Binary Data

Today, the palindromic analysis of biological sequences, based exclusively on the study of “mirror” symmetry properties, is almost unavoidable. However, other types of symmetry, such as those present in friezes, could allow us to analyze binary sequences from another point of view. New tools, such as symmetropy and symmentropy, based on new types of palindromes allow us to discriminate binarized 1/f noise sequences better than Lempel–Ziv complexity. These new palindromes with new types of symmetry also allow for better discrimination of binarized DNA sequences. A relative error of 6% of symmetropy is obtained from the HUMHBB and YEAST1 DNA sequences. A factor of 4 between the slopes obtained from the linear fits of the local symmentropies for the two DNA sequences shows the discriminative capacity of the local symmentropy. Moreover, it is highlighted that a certain number of these new palindromes of sizes greater than 30 bits are more discriminating than those of smaller sizes assimilated to those from an independent and identically distributed random variable.     

Snake Venom Components: Tools and Cures to Target Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are considered as a major cause of death worldwide. Therefore, identifying and developing therapeutic strategies to treat and reduce the prevalence of CVDs is a major medical challenge. Several drugs used for the treatment of CVDs, such as captopril, emerged from natural products, namely snake venoms. These venoms are complex mixtures of bioactive molecules, which, among other physiological networks, target the cardiovascular system, leading to them being considered in the development and design of new drugs. In this review, we describe some snake venom molecules targeting the cardiovascular system such as phospholipase A2 (PLA2), natriuretic peptides (NPs), bradykinin-potentiating peptides (BPPs), cysteine-rich secretory proteins (CRISPs), disintegrins, fibrinolytic enzymes, and three-finger toxins (3FTXs). In addition, their molecular targets, and mechanisms of action—vasorelaxation, inhibition of platelet aggregation, cardioprotective activities—are discussed. The dissection of their biological effects at the molecular scale give insights for the development of future snake venom-derived drugs.     

钴掺杂Sr1.5La0.5MnO4的合成及高温电化学性能研究

采用EDTA-柠檬酸法合成了中温固体氧化物燃料电池阴极材料Sr_1.5La_0.5Mn_1-xCo_xO₄（SLMCO_x）,并利用粉末X射线衍射（XRD）、X射线光电子能谱（XPS）以及电化学交流阻抗谱（EIS）进行表征。结果表明,该材料与Ce_0.9Gd_0.1O_1.95（CGO）在1 200℃烧结12 h不发生化学反应。随着Co掺入量的增加,氧化物中Mn³⁺和Co²⁺含量增多,晶格氧含量降低,晶格畸变率增大。交流阻抗谱（EIS）测试结果显示,钴的掺杂明显降低电极的极化电阻,其中Sr_1.5La_0.5Mn_0.7Co_0.3O₄阴极在700℃空气中的极化电阻为0.62 Ω·cm²,明显小于Sr_1.5La_0.5MnO₄阴极在750℃的极化电阻（1.5 Ω·cm²）,表明钴掺杂的Sr_1.5La_0.5Mn_1-xCo_xO₄是一种潜在的IT-SOFC阴极材料。     

Model-independent constraints on spin observables

We discuss model-independent constraints on spin observables in exclusive and inclusive reactions, with special attention to the case of photoproduction.