Two purified proteinaceous fungal elicitors, parasiticein (an alpha elicitin) and cryptogein (a beta elicitin), as well as a fungal cell wall-derived carbohydrate elicitor all rapidly activated a 48-kD kinase in tobacco suspension cells. The maximum activation of this kinase paralleled or preceded medium alkalization and activation of the defense gene phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL). In addit...

KSper, a pH-dependent K(+) current in mouse spermatozoa that is critical for fertility, is activated by alkalization in the range of pH 6.4-7.2 at membrane potentials between -50 and 0 mV. Although the KSper pore-forming subunit is encoded by the Slo3 gene, heterologously expressed Slo3 channels are largely closed at potentials negative to 0 mV at physiological pH. Here we identify a Slo3-assoc...

Vertebrate cells require a very narrow pH range for survival. Cells accordingly possess sensory and defense mechanisms for situations where the pH deviates from the viable range. Although the monitoring of acidic pH by sensory neurons has been attributed to several ion channels, including transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 channel (TRPV1) and acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), the mechani...

This study aimed to determine the influence of sewage sludge alkalization and acidification on the qualitative and quantitative composition of keratinolytic and keratinophilic fungi in a model experiment. The sludge was alkalized to pH 9 with 0.5N NaOH, 0.5N KOH, 0.5N NH 4 OH or with 2% burnt lime mixed with powdered limestone (20g CaO + 5g CaCO 3 ), and acidified to pH 4 with 0.5N HCl, 0.5N HN...

Abscisic acid (ABA) induces stomatal closure and inhibits light-induced stomatal opening. The mechanisms in these two processes are not necessarily the same. It has been postulated that the ABA receptors involved in opening inhibition are different from those involved in closure induction. Here, we provide evidence that four recently identified ABA receptors (PYRABACTIN RESISTANCE1 [PYR1], PYRA...

The stomachs of most vertebrates operate at an acidic pH of 2 generated by the gastric H(+)/K(+)-ATPase located in parietal cells. The acidic pH in stomachs of vertebrates is believed to aid digestion and to protect against environmental pathogens. Little attention has been placed on whether acidic gastric pH regulation is a vertebrate character or a deuterostome ancestral trait. Here, we repor...

The effects of alkalization on antioxidant activity and physical properties of chocolate were studied during conching using a chocolate recipe of the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute. The study was designed according to Response Surface Methodology in two variables. Alkali concentration and conching temperature were plotted in the range of 1 − 15 g kg-1 and 40 – 80°C, respectively...

Corals build their skeletons using extracellular calcifying fluid located in the tissue-skeleton interface. However, the mechanism by which corals control the transport of calcium and other ions from seawater and the mechanism of constant alkalization of calcifying fluid are largely unknown. To address these questions, we performed direct pH imaging at calcification sites (subcalicoblastic medi...