The kynureninase-type enzymes of three fungi and one bacterium were isolated and examined kinetically for their ability to catalyze the hydrolysis of L-kynurenine and L-3-hydroxykynurenine. The phycomycete Rhizopus stolonifer was found to contain a single, constitutive enzyme with Km for L-3-hydroxykynurenine and L-kynurenine of 6.67 times 10-minus 6 and 2.5 times 10-minus 4 M, respectively. Th...

attacking film reels stored in the UK's North West Film Archive. Although the fungi responsible were common Aspergillus and Penicillum species, the discovery reveals the ubiquity of fungi. " Fungi are the great recyclers — the 'rotting fungi' break down dead and decaying matter while other fungi are intimately associated with roots, ensuring that our forest trees can absorb essential nutrients,...

Biodegradation refers to the chemical dissolution of materials by microorganisms or other biological means. Biodegradable materials are those that can be consumed by microorganisms whereas biodegradability of a material refers to the ability of that material to be decomposed by biological agents, especially bacteria. Plastics are synthetic or semi – synthetic long chain polymeric molecules that...

BACKGROUND The pharmaceutical and food industries expect detailed knowledge on the physicochemical properties of elderberry fruit extracts, their stability and microbiological quality, as well as the polyphenol content in elderberry cultivars. The characteristics of the extracts might be additionally modified by citric acid, which improves the stability of anthocyanins and protects processed fr...

A panel of 133 allergens derived from 28 different sources, including fungi, trees, grasses, weeds, and indoor allergens, was surveyed utilizing prediction of HLA class II-binding peptides and ELISPOT assays with PBMC from allergic donors, resulting in the identification of 257 T cell epitopes. More than 90% of the epitopes were novel, and for 14 allergen sources were the first ever identified ...

The discovery of the various classes of 8-lactam antibiotics is reviewed and the derived structures with clinical potential highlighted. In addition, the involvement of carbapenam intermediates in the biosynthesis of carbapenems is discussed. Novel non-8-lactam compounds detected via bioassays for -lactams are listed. It is well over 50 years since the discovery of penicillin; it is over 40 yea...

It is now generally acknowledged that particulate air pollution can cause respiratory symptoms and that indoor dust particles may be associated with mucous membrane irritation and odour annoyance. One reason for this may be that dust particles adsorb large quantities of gases and other volatile compounds. It is therefore important to be able to determine the chemical compounds adsorbed onto ind...