The first committed step in the biosynthesis of L-ascorbate from D-glucose in plants requires conversion of GDP-L-galactose to L-galactose 1-phosphate by a previously unidentified enzyme. Here we show that the protein encoded by VTC2, a gene mutated in vitamin C-deficient Arabidopsis thaliana strains, is a member of the GalT/Apa1 branch of the histidine triad protein superfamily that catalyzes ...

We examine the extent to which U.S. patent applications and patents granted respond to the cyclical variation of the U.S. economy as reflected by major macroeconomic aggregates such as real GDP and others. We find that patents granted are cointegrated with GDP and research and development indicating a long run stochastic relationship among these variables. We also find Granger Causality going f...

Most polyene macrolide antibiotics are glycosylated with mycosamine (3,6-dideoxy-3-aminomannose). In the amphotericin B producer, Streptomyces nodosus, mycosamine biosynthesis begins with AmphDIII-catalyzed conversion of GDP-mannose to GDP-4-keto-6-deoxymannose. This is converted to GDP-3-keto-6-deoxymannose, which is transaminated to GDP-mycosamine by the AmphDII protein. The glycosyltransfera...

Does U.S. state pension funding affect real GDP growth rates? Do states that witness higher GDP growth also have better funded pensions? Can one expect less GDP growth when state pensions are poorly funded? My study took the funding ratio of state pension plans, the asset-to-liability ratio, and compared it with real state GDP levels. The methods I used consisted of time series panel data regre...

When pig liver microsomal preparations were incubated with GDP-[(14)C]mannose, 10-40% of the (14)C was transferred to mannolipid and 1-3% to mannoprotein. The transfer to mannolipid was readily reversible and GDP was one of the products of the reaction. It was possible to reverse the reaction by adding excess of GDP and to show the incorporation of [(14)C]GDP into GDP-mannose. When excess of un...

This paper revisits the yield spread's usefulness for predicting future real GDP growth. We show that the contribution of the spread can be decomposed into the effect of expected future changes in short rates and the effect of the term premium. We find that both factors are relevant for predicting real GDP growth but the respective contributions differ. We investigate whether the cyclical behav...