A common practice to compute ligand conformations of compounds with various degrees of freedom to be used in molecular modeling (QSAR and docking studies) is to perform a conformational distribution based on repeated random sampling, such as Monte-Carlo methods. Further calculations are often required. This short review describes some methods used for conformational analysis and the implication...

An NADP-dependent methylene tetrahydromethanopterin (H4MPT) dehydrogenase has recently been proposed to be involved in formaldehyde oxidation to CO2 in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1. We report here on the purification of this novel enzyme to apparent homogeneity. Via the N-terminal amino acid sequence, it was identified to be the mtdA gene product. The purified enzyme catalyzed the dehydrogen...

The present study was undertaken to confirm and refine the mapping of a quantitative trait locus in cattle for milk fat percentage that had earlier been reported to be linked to the serum amylase-1 locus, AM1. Five half-sib families from the previous study and 7 new ones were genotyped for nine microsatellite markers spanning chromosome 4. AM1 was mapped between the microsatellite markers BMS64...

Facultative methylotrophic bacteria of the genus Methylobacterium are commonly found in association with plants. Inoculation experiments were performed to study the importance of methylotrophic metabolism for colonization of the model legume Medicago truncatula. Competition experiments with Methylobacterium extorquens wild-type strain AM1 and methylotrophy mutants revealed that the ability to u...

Talpid moles are small insectivores that live in dark underground tunnels. They depend heavily on touch to navigate and find food. Most species have an array of complex epidermal sensory structures called Eimer's organs that cover the tip of the nose. In this study, the anatomy of Eimer's organ was examined in the coast mole and star-nosed mole by using the fluorescent styryl pyridinium dye AM1...

Methylomonas J is an obligate methylotroph although it is unable to grow on methane. Like Pseudomonas AM1, it produces two blue copper proteins when growing on methylamine, one of which is the recipient of electrons from the methylamine dehydrogenase. When grown on methanol, only the other blue copper protein is produced. We have determined the amino acid sequences of these blue copper proteins...

We have investigated the affinity and selectivity of tamsulosin and its metabolites, M1, M2, M3, M4 and AM1, at the tissue and the cloned alpha-1 adrenoceptor subtypes in the radioligand binding and the functional studies. In the radioligand binding studies, the compounds competed for [3H]prazosin binding to the rat liver and kidney alpha-1 adrenoceptors, with the rank order of potency tamsulos...

In serine cycle methylotrophs, methylene tetrahydrofolate (H4F) is the entry point of reduced one-carbon compounds into the serine cycle for carbon assimilation during methylotrophic metabolism. In these bacteria, two routes are possible for generating methylene H4F from formaldehyde during methylotrophic growth: one involving the reaction of formaldehyde with H4F to generate methylene H4F and ...

In rodents, the circumvallate papilla (CVP), with its underlying minor salivary gland, the von Ebners' gland (VEG), is located on the dorsal surface of the posterior tongue. Detailed morphological processes to form the proper structure of CVP and VEG have not been properly elucidated. In particular, the specific localization patterns of taste buds in CVP and the branching formation of VEG have ...

Microorganisms often encode multiple non-orthologous metabolic modules that catalyze the same reaction. However, little experimental evidence actually demonstrates a selective basis for metabolic degeneracy. Many methylotrophs-microorganisms that grow on reduced single-carbon compounds-like Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 encode two routes for methylamine oxidation: the periplasmic methylamine ...