It has been suggested that the differences in synonymous codon use between mammalian genes within a genome are due to differences in the efficiency of DNA mismatch repair. This hypothesis was tested by developing a model of mismatch repair, which was used to predict the expected relationship between the rate of substitution and G+C content at silent sites. It was found that the silent-substitut...

In the study of molecular evolution, it is important to know the number of nucleotide substitutions per site (d) between DNA sequences. There are many different methods for estimating this number (for reviews, see Nei 1987, chap. 5; Gojobori et al. 1990)) but all of them depend on some simplifying assumptions and do not always give reliable estimates. Two important factors that should be consid...

Background and objectives: The seed extract of Silybum marianum contains seven flavonolignans known collectively as silymarin. These metabolites can be produced in hairy root cultures of S. marianum. The effect of different physical factors can change root biomass and silymarin production which has been investigated in the present study. Methods<...

Silken tofu which retains soluble solids present in the soymilk was investigated for differences in the microstructure, sugars and isoflavones content from regular silken. Soy slurry treated with Viscozyme L (2.5 mL/L) was incubated for 30 minutes at 55°C. Stachyose was the predominant oligosaccharide in treated tofu, 4.58 g/100 g and 3.30 g/100 g in control tofu, raffinose content was 1.21 and...

The hydration of actin was studied by differential scanning calorimetry between -30 degrees C and 30 degrees C and by thermogravimetric analysis. The differential scanning calorimetry provided the freezable water content of G- and F-actin as a function of concentration, and the thermogravimetric analysis measured the total water content. The difference between the two yielded the nonfreezable w...

The cps cluster of Escherichia coli K-12 comprises genes involved in synthesis of capsular polysaccharide colanic acid. Part of the E. coli K-12 cps region has been cloned and sequenced and compared to its Salmonella enterica LT2 counterpart. The cps genes from the two organisms are homologous; in the case of the LT2 genes, with G+C content of 0.61 and codons characteristic of high G+C species,...

The aim of this work was to contribute to our knowledge of the proximate composition, mineral and vitamin content of 20 edible wild plants used as spices in Cameroon. The plant species were collected from 3 different markets in the West Region of Cameroon and analysed for their content of crude proteins, and lipid, ash, moisture, available sugars, total phenols, carotenoids, minerals (Ca, Zn, K...