This report describes cytological, genetic and biochemical studies designed to characterize two gamma-radiation induced, apparent "underproducer" variants of the rosy locus (ry:3-52.0), ryps1149 and ryps11136. The following observations provide a compelling basis for their diagnosis as heterochromatic position effect variants. They are associated with rearrangements that place heterochromatin a...

Nano selenium-Lovastatin mixture (Lov-Se) has antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities. A laboratory preparation of nano selenium-lovastatin mixture was examined against oxidative injury in gamma irradiated rats. Rats were exposed to whole body gamma radiation (2 Gy every 3 days up to total dose of 8 Gy) and received daily oral administration of 1ml Lov-Se ( 20 mg/kg/day/Lov and 0.1 m...

Conversion of xylose to ethanol by yeasts is a challenge because of the redox imbalances under oxygen-limited conditions. The thermotolerant yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus grows well with xylose as a carbon source at elevated temperatures, but its xylose fermentation ability is weak. In this study, a combination of the NADPH-preferring xylose reductase (XR) from Neurospora crassa and the NADP(+)...

Xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) is a molybdoflavoprotein mainly involved in purine catabolism. It exists in two forms, the oxidase (XO) and dehydrogenase (XDH) which are inter-convertible within mammalian cells. Although various researchers have reported the extraction of mammalian XOR, no extractions have yet been carried out in Malta and subsequently no characterizations are available. In this ...

A new non-functional modified form of milk xanthine oxidase is described. This contains molybdenum in a quinquivalent state, which is resistant to both oxidation and reduction. The new species is derived from the native enzyme in a two-step process. The first step is the conversion into the desulpho form, via loss of the 'persulphide' sulphur, and the second involves reaction with ethylene glyc...

Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT, EC 2.4.2.7) deficiency is an enzymopathy of purine metabolism, which is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. APRT is a salvage enzyme that normally catalyzes the conversion of adenine to adenosine monophosphate. APRT deficiency results in adenine accumulation with oxidation by xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH; EC 1.1.1.204) to 2,8-dihydroxyadenine (2,8-...

We identified a new holomycotrophic orchid that is related to the myco-heterotrophic Calypsoeae. Because chloroplast genes are primarily lacking or are highly divergent, key morphological characters are either reduced or lost from many myco-heterotrophs, and the phylogenetic relationships of weakly supported paraphyletic Calypsoeae within Epidendroideae have been poorly understood in previous m...

This study was designed to investigate the possible ameliorative effects of mulberry fruits on oxidative damage induced by γ-irradiation in male rats. Gammairradiation (2.5 Gy x 3 delivered every other day) resulted in a significant decrease of hepatic glutathione content (GSH) and the activity of xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT). The level of insulin ...

The correspondence between allozymic variation and specific differentiation was studied in four populations corresponding to the three nominal, allopatric species of clam genus Eurhomalea (E. rufa, E. lenticularis, E. exalbida) described for southern South America. Allozyme variation scored in 12 loci was high as indicated by heterozygosity levels (15.8-20.7 %) and by the presence of only three...