Aldehyde dehydrogenase from the bioluminescent bacterium, Vibrio harveyi, catalyses the oxidation of long-chain aliphatic aldehydes to acids. The enzyme is unique compared with other forms of aldehyde dehydrogenase in that it exhibits a very high specificity and affinity for the cofactor NADP(+). Structural studies of this enzyme and comparisons with other forms of aldehyde dehydrogenase provid...

N-beta-Hydroxybutanoyl homoserine lactone (HBHL), the autoinducer of the luminescent system of Vibrio harveyi, has been identified as the first small compound to restore virulence to avirulent mutants of Xenorhabdus nematophilus. HBHL stimulated the level of lipase activity excreted by avirulent X. nematophilus and lowered the phenoloxidase activity in the hemolymph of insects infected with X. ...

Pulse-chase experiments with [(3)H]tetradecanoic acid and ATP showed that the bioluminescence-related 32-kDa acyltransferase from Vibrio harveyi can specifically catalyze the deacylation of a (3)H-labeled 18-kDa protein observed in extracts of this bacterium. The 18-kDa protein has been partially purified and its physical and chemical properties strongly indicate that it is fatty acyl-acyl carr...

The beneficial effects of probiotics have been attributed to their ability to promote the immunological and nonimmunological defense barrier in the gut, normalization of increased intestinal permeability and altered gut microflora. Twelve different intestinal bacterial colonies were isolated from Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon). Among them strain PPP 13 was studied and characterized due to...