This study functionally characterizes the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plastidial glycolytic isoforms of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPCp) in photosynthetic and heterotrophic cells. We expressed the enzyme in gapcp double mutants (gapcp1gapcp2) under the control of photosynthetic (Rubisco small subunit RBCS2B [RBCS]) or heterotrophic (phosphate transporter PHT1.2 [PHT]) cel...

3-Hydroxy-2-formylbenzothiophene (HFBT) is a metabolite found in many bacterial cultures that degrade dibenzothiophene (DBT) via the Kodama pathway. The fate of HFBT in cultures and in the environment is unknown. In this study, HFBT was produced by a DBT-degrading bacterium and purified by sublimation. When stored in organic solvent or as a crystal, the HFBT slowly decomposed, yielding colored ...

During growth of Pseudomonas putida strain TW3 on 4-nitrotoluene (4NT) or its metabolite 4-nitrobenzoate (4NB), the culture medium gradually becomes yellow-orange with a lambda(max) of 446 nm. The compound producing this color has been isolated and identified as a new phenoxazinone, 2-aminophenoxazin-3-one-7-carboxylate (APOC). This compound is formed more rapidly and in greater quantity when 4...

In this paper we address the phenomenon of reactive oxygen metabolite generation subsequent to phagocytosis of mineral fibers by macrophages. Natural erionite fibers were chosen because of their established toxicity. Macrophages (cell line NR8383) were loaded with the dye 5-(and 6)-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate and exposed to erionite particles by centrifuging cells and fib...

Iron is an essential element for all living organisms due to its ubiquitous role in redox and other enzymes, especially in the context of respiration and photosynthesis. The iron uptake and storage systems of terrestrial/higher plants are now reasonably well understood, with two basic strategies for iron uptake being distinguished: strategy I plants use a mechanism involving induction of Fe(III...

The active metabolite of vitamin D, 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3, is an important immunoregulatory hormone [1]. Its effects are exerted by interaction with the vitamin D receptor, which is present on human monocytes and activated T and B lymphocytes. Variation in the vitamin D receptor gene was typed in 2015 subjects from large case-control studies of three major infectious diseases: tuberculosis, ...

Currently there is an unprecedented level of interest regarding the purported wide-ranging beneficial effects of an adequate vitamin D status translating into marked increases in test requests for clinical laboratories. The well characterised endocrine pathway of vitamin D metabolism and action is solely responsible for vitamin D regulating plasma calcium and phosphate homeostasis. A large body...

A metal resistant bacterial strain, Bacillus cereus JP12, could use decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) as the sole carbon and energy source for growth in mineral salt medium. Under the conditions of pH 6.0, 30°C, 150 rpm and an inoculum of OD600=0.6, more than 88% of the initial BDE-209 (1mg/L) was degraded after 12 days. The addition of appropriate surfactants and additional carbon sources coul...

Vitamin D is well characterized for its role in mineral homeostasis and maintenance of normal skeletal architecture. Vitamin D has been demonstrated to exert anti-inflammatory effects in a variety of disease states including diabetes, arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. In these diseases poly[adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribose] polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have also proved effective as an...

The potential of micronutrients to ameliorate the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) was explored in a clinical trial conducted in Ukraine. Cardiac orienting responses (ORs) during a habituation/dishabituation learning paradigm were obtained from 6 to 12 month-olds to assess neurophysiological encoding and memory. Women who differed in prenatal alcohol use were recruited during pregnancy...