Several nitrogen compounds were identified and quantified in the apoplastic and symplastic sap of sugarcane stems. The sap of stems was composed mainly of soluble sugars, which constituted 95% of the total organic compounds detected. Sap also contained nitrogen compounds, with amino acids (50-70% of N) and proteins (20-30% of N), being the main nitrogenous substances, as well as inorganic forms...

A novel levansucrase was identified in the supernatant of a cell culture of Bacillus megaterium DSM319. In order to test for the contribution of specific amino acid residues to levansucrase catalysis, the wild-type enzyme along with 16 variants based on sequence alignments and structural information were heterologously produced in Escherichia coli. The purified enzymes were characterized kineti...

Cyclic di-GMP is a novel second messenger in bacteria that was first described as an allosteric activator of cellulose synthase in Gluconacetobacter xylinus. It is now established that this nucleotide regulates a range of functions including developmental transitions, aggregative behavior, adhesion, biofilm formation and virulence in diverse bacteria. The level of cyclic di-GMP in bacterial cel...