The development of improved seeded bermudagrass cultivars has led to an increased interest in these grasses for numerous areas of turfgrass use. One area that has yet to be investigated is the potential to produce sod using a seed-propagated bermudagrass, rather than the standard practice of vegetative propagation, which is currently used. To this end, a series of studies are underway to invest...

Superoxide dismutases (SODs) represent the major antioxidant defense system against superoxide anions (O2 ). Three isoforms of superoxide dismutase have been identified in mammals: copper-zinc SOD (Cu, ZnSOD), manganese SOD (Mn-SOD), and extracellular SOD (ecSOD). Cu, Znand Mn-SOD are localized intracellularly, whereas the last discovered SOD isoform, ecSOD,1 is secreted and bound to heparan su...

The role of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD) in myocardial ischemic reperfusion injury was studied by using a mouse model with targeted disruption of the mouse Sod I gene. Inactivation of the functional mouse Sod I gene in hearts by gene targeting (Sod I(+/-)) resulted in a 50% reduction of Cu/Zn-SOD mRNA and significant reduction of Cu/Zn-SOD enzyme activity compared with that of wild-type Sod...

In pea (Pisum sativum L.) leaves, manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) is mainly localized in mitochondria as well as in peroxisomes. In this work, the effect of leaf senescence on the peroxisomal and mitochondrial Mn-SOD was studied in detached leaves from pea plants which were incubated in the dark at 25 degrees C for 3-11 d. Northern blots hybridized with a cDNA encoding mitochondrial Mn-...

A gene (sod) encoding superoxide dismutase (SOD) was cloned from Streptococcus mutans in Escherichia coli, and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The presumptive amino acid sequence of its product revealed that the SOD is basically of Mn type. Insertional inactivation of the sod gene resulted in the loss of SOD activity in crude extracts, indicating that the gene represents the only functi...

Increased production of oxygen free radicals is an important mechanism of endothelial dysfunction in diabetes mellitus. Our goal was to test whether adenovirus (Ad)-mediated gene transfer of copper/zinc (CuZn) or manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn SOD) improves relaxation of diabetic vessels. The aortas from 9 alloxan-induced diabetic mellitus (DM) and 16 control rabbits were used. Control and ...

Superoxide dismutase (SOD)-deficient Escherichia coli OX326A cells are protected against chemically-induced oxidative stress by expression of the chaperonin GroESL. This protection is equivalent to expression of superoxide dismutase even though GroESL has no inherent SOD activity. Co-overexpression of GroESL and SOD in the same cells results in higher protein yields of SOD and greater metallati...

Staphylococcus xylosus is a facultative anaerobic bacterium used as a starter culture for fermented meat products. In an attempt to analyze the antioxidant capacities of this organism, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) was characterized. S. xylosus contains a single cytoplasmic SOD, which was not inhibited by H2O2. The SOD activity in crude extracts was completely lost upon metal depletion, but it...

Extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) is an enzyme that catalyses the dismutation of superoxide anions. It has multiple functions, such as reactive oxygen species scavenging, anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, antichemotatic and antitumor activities. Recently, we demonstrated that EC-SOD inhibits ovalbumin-induced allergic airway inflammation in mice. However, the anti-allergic effect of...