[en] A high-resolution structure of a noncanonical α-mannanase relevant to human health and nutrition has been solved via heavy-atom phasing of a selenomethionine derivative. The large bowel microbiota, a complex ecosystem resident within the gastrointestinal tract of all human beings and large mammals, functions as an essential, nonsomatic metabolic organ, hydrolysing complex dietary polysaccharides and modulating the host immune system to adequately tolerate ingested antigens. A significant member of this community, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, has evolved a complex system for sensing and processing a wide variety of natural glycoproducts in such a way as to provide maximum benefit to itself, the wider microbial community and the host. The immense ability of B. thetaiotaomicron as a ‘glycan specialist’ resides in its enormous array of carbohydrate-active enzymes, many of which are arranged into polysaccharide-utilization loci (PULs) that are able to degrade sugar polymers that are often inaccessible to other gut residents, notably α-mannan. The B. thetaiotaomicron genome encodes ten putative α-mannanases spread across various PULs; however, little is known about the activity of these enzymes or the wider implications of α-mannan metabolism for the health of both the microbiota and the host. In this study, SAD phasing of a selenomethionine derivative has been used to investigate the structure of one such B. thetaiotaomicron enzyme, BT2949, which belongs to the GH76 family of α-mannanases. BT2949 presents a classical (α/α)₆-barrel structure comprising a large extended surface cleft common to other GH76 family members. Analysis of the structure in conjunction with sequence alignments reveals the likely location of the catalytic active site of this noncanonical GH76

[en] The thesis concentrates on the development of new analytical systems based on the hyphenation of a FTIR-spectrometer with flow analysis (flow injection analysis, sequential injection analysis, HPLC) systems for the analysis of aqueous samples. Due to the high IR-absorption of water specialized IR-detection cells were developed for the measurement in transmission mode, based on standard flow through cells equipped with optical filters and on miniaturized fiber optic detection cells. The developed systems were applied to the determination of enzyme activities and the simultaneous determination of several enzyme activities with an one-step assay was shown. Furthermore, chemometric data evaluation methods were used for the simultaneous quantification of sugars, wine components (up to nine constituents with one spectroscopic measurement) and glucose in whole blood. All chemometric methods relied heavily on newly developed methods for automated preparation of calibration mixtures, enabled by the highly accurate sequential injection systems used. The hyphenation of micromachined enzyme reactors with the fiber optic transmission cell was the first example of a micro-total analysis system with FTIR-detection and with an improved cell sample volumina in the sub-μl were feasible. (author)

[en] The aim of this work was to investigate the convective drying process of malt bagasse and to evaluate the influence of this process on the application of this residue as adsorbent in methylene blue removel by adsorption process. The experimental system for drying was a fixed bed dryer with parallel airflow, with operating conditions: air temperature in the range of 40 to 90 oC and air veocity of 2 m/s. The adsorption experiments were perfomed with solution of methylene blue at 70 ppmconcentration. The drying kinetics showed a constant drying rate period followed by a falling drying rate. The results obtained for the dye removal efficiency were 56% for in natura sample and in the range of 81.69% to 93.99% for dried samples. (Author)

[en] In PSL analysis, all unirradiated samples showed less than 700 (negative) photon counts (PCs). At 5 kGy, spice samples showed PCs in range of 700-5,000 (intermediate), while grains, legumes, root-crops, and seasonings samples showed PCs over 5,000 (positive). This PSL based-detection of radiation treatment was possible even after 24 months of storage. In TL analysis, TL glow curve was characteristically different between unirradiated and irradiated samples. Glow curves were observed in temperature ranges of 150-250 .deg. C for irradiated and over 300 .deg. C for unirradiated samples. TL ratio (TL₁/TL₂) provided valuable additional confirmations as unirradiated sample showed values less than 0.1, while irradiated sample showed more than 0.1. However, with storage time, TL intensity and TL ratio decreased but discrimination was still possible even after storage of 24 months. Samples stored at room temperature with exposure to direct or indirect light enhanced the mentioned decrease of TL intensity and TL ratio as compared to low temperature storage in dark room. In ESR analysis, legumes and spices showed radiation-induced cellulose radicals, while seasonings showed multi-component signals of radiation-induced crystalline sugar radical. These radiation-induced radicals could be potential markers for the detection of radiation treatments in subjected samples. The decreasing trend was also found for radiation-specific ESR signals of cellulose and crystalline sugar radicals during storage. However, radiation-induced radicals in legumes, powdered pepper and seasonings were detectable even after 6 months of storage

No abstract available

[en] Time-dependent isothermal dielectric measurements were carried out deeply in the glassy state on two very important saccharides: sucrose and trehalose. In both compounds two prominent secondary relaxation processes were identified. The faster one is an inherent feature of the whole family of carbohydrates. The slower one can also be detected in oligo- and polysaccharides. It was shown earlier that the β process is the Johari-Goldstein (JG) relaxation coupled to motions of the glycosidic linkage, while the γ relaxation originates from motions of the exocyclic hydroxymethyl unit. Recently, it was shown that the JG relaxation process can be used to determine structural relaxation times in the glassy state [R. Casalini and C. M. Roland, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 035701 (2009)]. In this paper we present the results of an analysis of the data obtained during aging using two independent approaches. The first was proposed by Casalini and Roland, and the second one is based on the variation of the dielectric strength of the secondary relaxation process during aging [J. K. Vij and G. Power, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 357, 783 (2011)]. Surprisingly, we found that the estimated structural relaxation times in the glassy state of both saccharides are almost the same, independent of the type of secondary mode. This finding calls into question the common view that secondary modes of intramolecular origin do not provide information about the dynamics of the glassy state.

[en] Full text: The production and secretion of nectar has an energy cost that can be a substantial part of the energy economy of the plant. Plants may therefore recover part of the energy allocated to nectar secretion by reabsorbing nectar not collected by pollinators. This energy-saving strategy has been demonstrated by several authors by different methods. Here we demonstrate nectar reabsorption and sugar translocation in Cucurbita pepo by means of microautoradiography. Our results confirm that the dynamics of nectar reabsorption is different in male and female flowers. Differences in the dynamics of nectar reabsorption and sugar translocation were also found in pollinated and unpollinated female flowers. Pollinated female flowers reabsorbed sugar very quickly and translocated it to developing fruits in which ovules were the main sugar sink. Sugar translocation was slower and ovules did not label in unpollinated female flowers. (author)

[en] Crystal structures of the bacterial α1,6-fucosyltransferase NodZ in complex with GDP and GDP-fucose are presented. Rhizobial NodZ α1,6-fucosyltransferase (α1,6-FucT) catalyzes the transfer of the fucose (Fuc) moiety from guanosine 5′-diphosphate-β-l-fucose to the reducing end of the chitin oligosaccharide core during Nod-factor (NF) biosynthesis. NF is a key signalling molecule required for successful symbiosis with a legume host for atmospheric nitrogen fixation. To date, only two α1,6-FucT structures have been determined, both without any donor or acceptor molecule that could highlight the structural background of the catalytic mechanism. Here, the first crystal structures of α1,6-FucT in complex with its substrate GDP-Fuc and with GDP, which is a byproduct of the enzymatic reaction, are presented. The crystal of the complex with GDP-Fuc was obtained through soaking of native NodZ crystals with the ligand and its structure has been determined at 2.35 Å resolution. The fucose residue is exposed to solvent and is disordered. The enzyme–product complex crystal was obtained by cocrystallization with GDP and an acceptor molecule, penta-N-acetyl-l-glucosamine (penta-NAG). The structure has been determined at 1.98 Å resolution, showing that only the GDP molecule is present in the complex. In both structures the ligands are located in a cleft formed between the two domains of NodZ and extend towards the C-terminal domain, but their conformations differ significantly. The structures revealed that residues in three regions of the C-terminal domain, which are conserved among α1,2-, α1,6- and protein O-fucosyltransferases, are involved in interactions with the sugar-donor molecule. There is also an interaction with the side chain of Tyr45 in the N-terminal domain, which is very unusual for a GT-B-type glycosyltransferase. Only minor conformational changes of the protein backbone are observed upon ligand binding. The only exception is a movement of the loop located between strand βC2 and helix αC3. In addition, there is a shift of the αC3 helix itself upon GDP-Fuc binding

[en] Honey is a medication material and its very expensive, so some people try to cheat honey by adding sugar solution to it. In this work, a method was done to investigate the ratio of cheat or sugar solution in honey. UV-spectroscopy was done for original honey. UV-spectroscopy for several mixtures containing different ratios for honey and sugar solution was done to make normalization curve. Different types of honey were collected from Iraqi market and UV-spectroscopy was done for these types. For every graph done for these honey types collected from Iraqi market, maximum absorbance point was taken and applied on the normalization curve. After application on the normalization curve, the ratios of honey and sugar solution were found for every type of honey collected. (paper)

No abstract available