Flammulina velutipes was treated with 10, 50, and 250 μL L−1 isoamyl isothiocyanate (IAITC), effects on quality preservation were assessed. IAITC displayed positive during the storage of F. velutipes: (i) maintained tissue integrity, reduced weight loss rates; (ii) browning degree by inhibiting activities browning-related enzymes; (iii) enhanced two antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase cat...

The potential contributions of techniques, such as restriction enzyme analysis, nucleic acid detection, the polymerase chain reaction and competitive inhibitive tests, are only beginning to be defined. The extraordinary promise of these procedures has yet to be fully realized. However, before these techniques are accepted and widely used, they should be shown to have sensitivity and specificity...

Analysis of many bacterial genomes is impeded by the inability to separate individual species from complex mixtures of cells or to propagate cells in pure culture. This problem is an obstacle to the study of many bacterial symbionts that live intracellularly in insects and other animals. To recover bacterial DNA from complex samples, we devised a method that facilitates the cloning of DNA fragm...

The homing endonuclease I-Ssp6803I causes the insertion of a group I intron into a bacterial tRNA gene-the only example of an invasive mobile intron within a bacterial genome. Using a computational fold prediction, mutagenic screen and crystal structure determination, we demonstrate that this protein is a tetrameric PD-(D/E)-XK endonuclease - a fold normally used to protect a bacterial genome f...

DNA methytransferases (MTs) in bacteria are best understood in the context of restriction-modification (R-M) systems, which act as bacterial immune systems against incoming DNA including phages, but have also been described as selfish elements. But several orphan MTs, which are not associated with any restriction enzyme, have also been characterized and may protect against parasitism by R-M sys...

Bacterial populations often consist of multiple co-circulating lineages. Determining how such population structures arise requires understanding what drives bacterial diversification. Using 616 systematically sampled genomes, we show that Streptococcus pneumoniae lineages are typically characterized by combinations of infrequently transferred stable genomic islands: those moving primarily throu...

A series of 5H-thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidin-5-ones were synthesized by the cyclization reactions of S-alkylated derivatives in concentrated H₂SO₄. Upon treatment of S-alkylated derivatives at different temperatures, intramolecular cyclization to 7-(substituted phenylamino)-5H-thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidin-5-ones or sulfonation of cyclized products to sulfonic acid derivatives occurred. The structures of...

Two previously isolated Lactobacillus strains (L. fermentum HM3 from human milk and L. buchneri FD2 from fermented dates), intended as probiotic for human, were assessed for their safety using acute and subacute oral toxicity tests in rats. In addition, their effects on cecal microflora and harmful bacterial enzymes (β-glucuronidase and β-glucosidase) of the tested animals were also determined....

Humans are exposed to numerous xenobiotics, a majority of which are in the form of pharmaceuticals. Apart from human enzymes, recent studies have indicated the role of the gut bacterial community (microbiome) in metabolizing xenobiotics. However, little is known about the contribution of the plethora of gut microbiome in xenobiotic metabolism. The present study reports the results of analyses o...

The emergence of bacterial resistance to the major classes of antibiotics has become a serious problem over recent years. For aminoglycosides, the major biochemical mechanism for bacterial resistance is the enzymatic modification of the drug. Interestingly, in several cases, the oligosaccharide conformation recognized by the ribosomic RNA and the enzymes responsible for the antibiotic inactivat...