Hopping in the electron-transfer photocycle of the 1:1 complex of Zn-cytochrome c peroxidase with cytochrome c

The physiological electron-transfer (ET) partners, cytochrome c peroxidase (CcP) and cytochrome c (Cc)1, can be modified to exhibit photoinitiated ET through substitution of Zn (or Mg) for Fe in either partner. Laser excitation of the Zn-porphyrin (ZnP) to its triplet excited state (3ZnP) initiates direct heme-heme ET to the ferriheme center of its partner across the protein-protein interface. This photoinitiated ET produces the charge-separated intermediate, I = [ZnP+CcP, Fe2+Cc], with a metalloporphyrin pi-cation radical (ZnP+) in the donor protein and a ferroheme acceptor protein. I, in general, is thought to return to the ground state by a thermal ET process that involves direct heme-heme back-ET to complete a simple photocycle. We here contrast intracomplex ET between yeast iso-1 Cc and ZnCcP(WT) (wild-type) with that for two ZnCcP(X) variants: X = W191F, with redox-active W191 replaced by Phe; WYM4, a W191F mutant with further replacement of four other potentially redox-active sites (W51F, Y187F, Y229F, and Y236F). The results show that W191 acts as an ET mediator, which "short-circuits" the direct heme-heme back-ET through a two-step, hopping process in which the ZnP+ cation radical formed by photoinitiated ET rapidly oxidizes W191, and the resultant W191+, in turn, rapidly oxidizes Fe2+Cc.     

Absence of crystalline ordering in two dimensions

We give conditions on the potential of a classical particle system, which imply absence of crystalline ordering in two dimensions. We thereby correct and extent some results in a previous paper.J. Fröhlich: Comment on Absence of Crystalline Ordering in two Dimensions     

Determination of fluazifop-butyl and fluazifop with the use of disposable solid phase extraction columns for selective clean-up and concentration of Soxhlet soil extracts

Summary An analytical procedure based on the solid phase extraction technology has been developed for the clean-up and concentration of Soxhlet soil extracts containing fluazifop-butyl and fluazifop by the use of a phenyl phase cartridge. No liquid-liquid partition has been used; thus the consumption of organic solvents was limited and the use of chlorinated solvents could be avoided. Quantification has been performed by ion-pair HPLC. Despite the large difference in polarity the recoveries of both the compounds from spiked soil samples between 0.1 and 1 g/g was higher than 90%. The solid-phase adsorption technology resulted in a very effective methodology of clean-up in the case of the polar compound fluazifop, for which a second disposable column with a cyanopropyl phase has been used, and was fairly satisfactory for fluazifop-butyl. The detection limits were less than 0.04 g/g and 0.10 g/g, respectively for fluazifop and fluazifop-butyl.     

Development and characterization of rat monoclonal antibodies for N-acylated homoserine lactones

Quorum sensing (QS) is a communication mechanism between bacteria using diffusible chemical signaling molecules, which are called autoinducers (AI). By detecting the concentration of quorum sensing molecules through binding to a specific receptor protein, bacteria regulate their gene expressions when the concentration of autoinducers and thus the cell density reaches a threshold level. Many Gram-negative bacteria use acylated homoserine lactones (HSLs) as autoinducers. Because of the broad biological functions of HSLs, interest in detection and analysis of HSLs is increasing with a view to their medical, biotechnological, and agricultural applications. In this study, an anti-HSL antibody-based immunochemical detection method has been developed. Four structurally distinct HSL haptens, named HSL1, HSL2, HSL3, and HSL4, have been designed for antibody and assay development. New rat anti-HSL monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been produced in-house and characterized with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), both in the coating antigen and in the enzyme tracer format. Eight mAbs (HSL1-1A5, HSL1-8E1, HSL1/2-2C10, HSL1/2-4H5, HSL4-4C9, HSL4-5E12, HSL4-5H3, and HSL4-6D3) will be presented in this paper. We demonstrate that the anti-HSL mAbs have distinguished sensitivity and selectivity toward HSLs depending upon their chemical structures. The optimized assays are capable of detecting HSLs in the microgram per liter (low micromolar to nanomolar) range. The best IC₅₀ (test midpoint) was 134 ± 30 μg L⁻¹ (n = 54) for N-(3-oxodecanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C10-HSL) using mAb HSL1/2-2C10 and HSL1–HRP in the enzyme tracer format. In the coating antigen format, the most selective mAb for N-octanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C8-HSL) was mAb HSL4-4C9. Additionally, anti-HSL mAbs showed higher sensitivity against hydrolyzed HSLs, namely homoserines. These compounds might also occur under certain biological conditions. This study marks the beginning of new ways for quick and cost-effective HSL detection, requiring small sample amounts (less than 1 mL) and little to no sample preparation.     

Simple Zeros of the Riemann Zeta-Function

Assuming the Riemann Hypothesis, Montgomery showed by meansof his pair correlation method that at least two-thirds of thezeros of Riemann's zeta-function are simple. Later he and Taylorimproved this to 67.25 percent and, more recently, Cheer andGoldston increased the percentage to 67.2753. Here we proveby a new method that if the Riemann and Generalized LindelöofHypotheses hold, then at least 70.3704 percent of the zerosare simple and at least 84.5679 percent are distinct. Our methoduses mean value estimates for various functions defined by Dirichletseries sampled at the zeros of the Riemann zeta-function. 1991Mathematics Subject Classification: 11M26.     

On axially symmetric solutions of Einstein's field equations in matter and an example of static gravitational shielding

A model system, consisting of a thin spherical shell with radiusR and massM and a point massm at a distances>R from the center of the sphere, held fixed by an appropriate strut, is solved to ordermM. The stresses in the shell are not of the canonical Weyl type, and it is argued that the same is true for more realistic situations, e.g., rotating matter. Owing to the nonlinearity of Einstein's field equations, the field of the point mass is shielded from the interior of the shell by a factor lying between 1–3M/R and 1–2M/R, and the field outside the shell explicitly depends onR.