Comparison of Bioactive Compounds Content and Techno-Functional Properties of Pea and Bean Flours and their Protein Isolates

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - Recently, legume protein isolates are increasingly of interest as ingredients for the food industry; however, in spite of their health benefits, there is a limited...     

Digestive enzyme activity at different developmental stages of blackspot seabream, Pagellus bogaraveo (Brunnich 1768)

Blackspot seabream, Pagellus bogaraveo (Brunnich), has been identified as a potential species to diversify European aquaculture production. Although rearing aspects have been widely investigated, little information exists on the nutritional requirements for this species. The aim of this study was to build up information on the activity of digestive enzymes at certain developmental stages of blackspot seabream in order to understand the nutritional needs of larvae and post larvae. Fish larvae were reared from hatching to 55 days after hatching (dah), and the feeding plan consisted in rotifers (5–35 dah), Artemia naupli (30–35 dah) metanaupli (35–45) and Gemma microdiet (45–55 dah). At 7, 11, 21, 45 and 55 days after hatching (dah), pooled samples of fish larvae were collected for analysis of trypsin, amylase, lipase, alkaline phosphatase and leucine–alanine peptidase activity. Up to 21 dah, the whole larvae body was used for enzymatic analysis, whereas in older larvae only the dissected abdominal cavity was used. Blackspot seabream body dry weight growth was exponential, increasing from 60 μg at 5 dah to 30±9.7 mg at 55 dah. Amylase specific activity decreased significantly during development, exhibiting at 11 dah (0.6 U mg^?1 protein) an average value 2.7 times lower than at 7 dah, and remaining stable between 45 and 55 dah (0.7 U mg protein^?1). Trypsin specific activity remained constant until 21 dah (between 38 and 44 mU mg protein^?1), which could be related to the larvae feeding regime. At later stages of development, lipase‐specific activity exhibited a significant increase (P<0.05), being three times higher at 55 dah (8 U mg protein^?1) than at 45 dah. The total activity of the studied digestive enzymes increased significantly during larval development (until 21 dah), whereas afterwards only lipase and leucine–alanine peptidase increased significantly between 45 and 55 dah. The pattern of digestive enzymes activity was related to organogenesis and the type of food used at different developmental stages.     

Exploring Micromonospora as Phocoenamicins Producers

Over the past few years, new technological and scientific advances have reinforced the field of natural product discovery. The spirotetronate class of natural products has recently grown with the discovery of phocoenamicins, natural actinomycete derived compounds that possess different antibiotic activities. Exploring the MEDINA’s strain collection, 27 actinomycete strains, including three marine-derived and 24 terrestrial strains, were identified as possible phocoenamicins producers and their taxonomic identification by 16S rDNA sequencing showed that they all belong to the Micromonospora genus. Using an OSMAC approach, all the strains were cultivated in 10 different media each, resulting in 270 fermentations, whose extracts were analyzed by LC-HRMS and subjected to High-throughput screening (HTS) against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra and Mycobacterium bovis. The combination of LC-UV-HRMS analyses, metabolomics analysis and molecular networking (GNPS) revealed that they produce several related spirotetronates not disclosed before. Variations in the culture media were identified as the most determining factor for phocoenamicin production and the best producer strains and media were established. Herein, we reported the chemically diverse production and metabolic profiling of Micromonospora sp. strains, including the known phocoenamicins and maklamicin, reported for the first time as being related to this family of compounds, as well as the bioactivity of their crude extracts. Although our findings do not confirm previous statements about phocoenamicins production only in unique marine environments, they have identified marine-derived Micromonospora species as the best producers of phocoenamicins in terms of both the abundance in their extracts of some major members of the structural class and the variety of molecular structures produced.     

Ligno-aliphatic complexes in soils revealed by an isolation procedure: implication for lignin fate

For the last decades, the fate of lignins in soil was analyzed mainly with cupric oxide (CuO) oxidation, which is traditionally used to quantify soil lignin content and characterize its state of degradation. This method presents limitations due to incomplete depolymerization of the lignin structure. In this study, we used a physicochemical soil lignin isolation procedure, which permits recovery of a milled wall enzymatic lignin (MWEL) fraction. Elemental composition and chemical structure of MWEL isolated from plants and soil were characterized. Its incorporation rate into an agricultural loamy soil was studied using stable isotope analyses of MWEL isolated from soils after 0 to 9 years of maize cultivation after wheat. Comparison of MWEL isolated from maize tissues and soil provided information on evolution of the lignin structure once incorporated into soil. We observed aromatic–aliphatic complex formation, which could lead to its sequestration in soil evidenced by increasing MWEL content after 9 years of maize cultivation. The ¹³C natural abundance of isolated MWEL showed faster incorporation of MWEL (17.4 % of renewed lignins after 9 years) compared to total soil organic matter (9 % of total soil organic carbon (SOC) was renewed). This faster incorporation rate of MWEL compared to bulk soil organic matter is in agreement with lignin turnover observed by CuO oxidation. Radiocarbon dating of MWEL suggested a mean age of around 50 years. We conclude that lignin isolation allows (1) access to a different fraction compared to CuO oxidation and (2) a detailed characterization of lignin transformation in soil. We suggest that interaction with aliphatic compounds could be one possible pathway of lignin preservation in soil.     

Sponge-Derived Kocuria and Micrococcus spp. as Sources of the New Thiazolyl Peptide Antibiotic Kocurin

Forty four marine actinomycetes of the family Microccocaceae isolated from sponges collected primarily in Florida Keys (USA) were selected from our strain collection to be studied as new sources for the production of bioactive natural products. A 16S rRNA gene based phylogenetic analysis showed that the strains are members of the genera Kocuria and Micrococcus. To assess their biosynthetic potential, the strains were PCR screened for the presence of secondary metabolite genes encoding nonribosomal synthetase (NRPS) and polyketide synthases (PKS). A small extract collection of 528 crude extracts generated from nutritional microfermentation arrays was tested for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites against clinically relevant strains (Bacillus subtilis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Acinetobacter baumannii and Candida albicans). Three independent isolates were shown to produce a new anti-MRSA bioactive compound that was identified as kocurin, a new member of the thiazolyl peptide family of antibiotics emphasizing the role of this family as a prolific resource for novel drugs.     

Crambescidin-816 Acts as a Fungicidal with More Potency than Crambescidin-800 and -830, Inducing Cell Cycle Arrest,Increased Cell Size and Apoptosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In this paper, we show the effect of crambescidin-816, -800, and -830 on Saccharomyces cerevisiae viability. We determined that, of the three molecules tested, crambescidin-816 was the most potent. Based on this result, we continued by determining the effect of crambescidin-816 on the cell cycle of this yeast. The compound induced cell cycle arrest in G2/M followed by an increase in cell DNA content and size. When the type of cell death was analyzed, we observed that crambescidin-816 induced apoptosis. The antifungal effect indicates that crambescidins, and mostly crambescidin-816, could serve as a lead compound to fight fungal infections.     

An in vivo map of the yeast protein interactome

Protein interactions regulate the systems-level behavior of cells; thus, deciphering the structure and dynamics of protein interaction networks in their cellular context is a central goal in biology. We have performed a genome-wide in vivo screen for protein-protein interactions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by means of a protein-fragment complementation assay (PCA). We identified 2770 interactions among 1124 endogenously expressed proteins. Comparison with previous studies confirmed known interactions, but most were not known, revealing a previously unexplored subspace of the yeast protein interactome. The PCA detected structural and topological relationships between proteins, providing an 8-nanometer-resolution map of dynamically interacting complexes in vivo and extended networks that provide insights into fundamental cellular processes, including cell polarization and autophagy, pathways that are evolutionarily conserved and central to both development and human health.     

Variation of favism-inducing factors (vicine,convicine and L-DOPA) during pod development inVicia faba L.

Changes in the concentrations of vicine, convicine and L-DOPA in two cultivars ofVicia faba L. seeds in different stages of pod development were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The vicine and convincine conent was highest in fresh green cotyledons (moisture content about 80%) and gradually declined until a constant level was reached when seed dry matter percentage was around 40%. A similar pattern of variation in glucoside concentration was observed for the seed coat. The pods contained neither vicine nor convicine but they were particularly rich in L-DOPA. These compounds were not homogeneously distributed in the seeds.