BACKGROUND Bacillus thuringiensis is the most successful biological control agent used in agriculture, forestry and mosquito control. However, the insecticidal activity of the B. thuringiensis formulation is not very stable and rapidly loses its biological activity under field conditions, due to the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight. Melanin is known to absorb radiation therefore photo protecti...

Ionizing radiation is known for its cytotoxic and mutagenic properties. However, recent evidence suggests that chronic sub-lethal irradiation stimulates the growth of melanin-pigmented (melanized) fungi, supporting the hypothesis that interactions between melanin and ionizing photons generate energy useful for fungal growth, and/or regulate growth-promoting genes. There are no quantitative mode...

pathogens such as Colletotrichum lagenarium and Magnaporthe grisea, melanization of appressoria is essential for penetration into the host plant.1) Fungal conidia germinate and the tips of germ tubes differentiate into appressoria, which synthesize melanin. The melanin mediates the buildup of pressure in the appressorium and this high pressure provides the essential driving force for mechanical...

The fungal pathogen Penicillium marneffei produces melanin-like pigment in vitro. The synthetic pathway of melanin and its possible influence in the protective yeast cells surviving within macrophage cells are not known. In this work, P. marneffei produced brown black pigment in the presence of L-DOPA and black particles were extracted from yeast cells treated with proteolytic enzymes, denatura...

Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is commonly used as a drug of choice for treatment of pain and fever. Unlike non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) it does not cause gastrointestinal damage or untoward cardiorenal effects, however cutaneous adverse effects have been reported. It is known that paracetamol binds to melanin biopolymers, but the relation between the affinity of this drug to mel...

Interactions between metal ions and different forms of melanin play significant roles in melanin biochemistry. The binding properties of natural melanin and related synthetic materials can be exploited for nonbiological applications, potentially including water purification. A method for investigating metal ion-melanin interactions on solid support is described, with lead as the initial target....

Scytalidium dimidiatum is a pigmented dematiaceous coelomycete that typically causes chronic superficial skin diseases and onychomycosis, as well as deeper infections, such as subcutaneous abscesses, mycetoma, and even fungemia in immunocompromised patients. A second species, Scytalidium hyalinum, has hyaline hyphae and arthroconidia and is considered by some authors to be an albino mutant of S...

PURPOSE To determine the influence of eye pigmentation on transscleral retinal delivery of celecoxib. METHODS Melanin content in ocular tissues of both the strains was determined by sodium hydroxide solubilization METHOD The affinity of celecoxib to synthetic and natural melanin was estimated by co-incubating celecoxib and melanin in isotonic phosphate-buffered saline. The binding affinity ...

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