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Wall Material (wall + material)
Kinds of Wall Material Selected AbstractsImproved 2-DE of microorganisms after acidic extractionELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 8 2006Ben R. Herbert Professor Abstract 2-DE separations of protein extracts sometimes have problems with poor resolution and streaking. This problem is particularly apparent with microorganisms, most notably those with a large cell wall. Here we describe a novel, rapid protocol for the extraction of microorganisms in acidic conditions, leading to increased resolution and 2-D gel quality. The efficiency of the protocol is demonstrated with extracts of bacteria, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis; fungus, Trichoderma harzianum and yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We also demonstrate using a membrane centrifugal filtration, that large acidic molecules in excess of 100,kDa, probably including cell wall material, are responsible for the separation difficulties. A range of acidic extraction conditions were investigated, and it was found that optimal extraction is achieved using an extraction solution acidified to pH,3 by 80,mM citric acid. These findings have significant implications for the proteomic study of many medically, agriculturally and environmentally significant microorganisms, as the cell walls of these organisms are often considerably more complex than many commonly studied laboratory strains. [source] A preliminary archaeological and environmental study of pre-Columbian burial towers at Huachacalla, Bolivian AltiplanoGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 7 2002Matti J. Rossi Chullpas are pre-Columbian burial towers built by indigenous Aymaras on the Bolivian Altiplano. Bolivian chullpas date back to the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000,1476) and the Late Horizon (A.D. 1476,1532). We recorded 228 chullpas among 84 sites in the Huachacalla region of west-central Bolivia. In our study area, the chullpas are on debris flows and coarse alluvium in the proximal and medial segments of alluvial fans at the foot of two volcanoes. Grain-size, element, and mineralogical analysis of chullpa wall material and local sediment revealed that the burial towers are composed of calcareous sand that is readily available in alluvial fan deposits near the sites. Our data suggest that the Aymaras considered environmental factors, such as drainage and stability of the soil, when they selected the locations of chullpas, whereas cultural factors played a significant role in chullpa architecture. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Flavour encapsulation and controlled release , a reviewINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 1 2006Atmane Madene Summary Flavours can be among the most valuable ingredients in any food formula. Even small amounts of some aroma substance can be expensive, and because they are usually delicate and volatile, preserving them is often a top concern of food manufacturers. Encapsulation describes different processes to cover an active compound with a protective wall material and it can be employed to treat flavours so as to impart some degree of protection against evaporation, reaction, or migration in a food. Encapsulation of flavours has been attempted and commercialized using many different methods such as spray drying, spray chilling or spray cooling, extrusion, freeze drying, coacervation and molecular inclusion. The choice of appropriate microencapsulation technique depends upon the end use of the product and the processing conditions involved in the manufacturing product. This overview describes each method cited above in terms of the basic chemical and/or physical principles involved and covers mechanisms of flavour release from food matrices. [source] EFFECT OF WATER ACTIVITY ON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID (CLA) MICROCAPSULESJOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 3 2010MARIBEL JIMENEZ ABSTRACT The physical properties of spray drying powders must be considered for the design of equipment. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) microcapsules were spray dried by using the following as wall materials: whey protein concentrate (WPC), a blend of whey protein concentrate,maltodextrins (WPC-MD) and gum arabic (GA). These were prepared and their physical properties were studied. The bulk density, packed density, particle density, compressibility and color of the microcapsules were evaluated in a range of water activities from 0.108 to 0.898. No significant differences in the physical properties were found when WPC was used as a wall material in the microcapsules stored at the whole range of water activities tested. Maltodextrins conferred changes in some of the physical properties of the microcapsules (WPC-MD) upon storage at high water activities. GA microcapsules showed drastic changes in all physical properties studied at water activities above 0.628. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This work shows the best conditions for storing conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) microcapsules elaborated with different wall materials, which have been reported to have a high potential as a food additive because of the nutraceutical properties of CLA. This research should reveal the behavior of water activity during storage on physical properties, and make it possible to predict what characteristics need to be added to a food, besides being important for the design of equipment, packing and transport. [source] Stability of Lactobacillus reuteri in Different Types of MicrocapsulesJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 1 2006Parthiban Muthukumarasamy ABSTRACT: This study was designed to find the most suitable method and wall material for microencapsulation of the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri to maintain cell viability during gastric challenge. Five L. reuteri strains were individually encapsulated using alginate, alginate plus starch, K-carrageenan with locust bean gum, or xanthan with gellan by extrusion or phase separation (emulsion). The morphology of the microcapsules was studied using phase contrast and cryo-scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM). The resistance of these microcapsules and the viability of contained L. reuteri to simulated gastric juice were studied. The shape and size of the microcapsules produced varied with the preparation method and type of wall material. Extruded microcapsules were larger and more uniformly shaped. Survival of microencapsulated L. reuteri was significantly better than that of planktonic cells and varied with the strain, method of microencapsulation, and wall material used. In general, microencapsulation using alginate and alginate with starch by both extrusion and phase separation were found to provide bacteria significantly greater protection (P < 0.05) against simulated gastric juice. [source] A Novel Process for the Recovery of Polyphenols from Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) PomaceJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 2 2005Dietmar Kammerer ABSTRACT: A novel process for enzyme-assisted extraction of polyphenols from winery by-products was established on a pilot-plant scale. Optimization of enzymatic hydrolysis of grape skins, that is, selection of pectinolytic and cellulolytic enzymes, enzyme-substrate ratio, and time-temperature regime of enzymatic treatment, was conducted on a laboratory scale. Enzyme activities were monitored by viscosity measurement of resuspended grape pomace and by quantification of oligomeric pectin and cellulose degradation products released from cell wall material. Optimal conditions were obtained with 5000 ppm (based on dry matter) of a pectinolytic and 2500 ppm of a cellulolytic enzyme preparation, respectively, at 50°C, which were also applied in pilot-plant scale experiments. Concomitant determination of individual polyphenolics demonstrated a significantly improved yield for most compounds when compared with experiments without enzyme addition. Recovery rates were comparable to those obtained when grape pomace was extracted using sulfite. Pre-extraction of the pomace with hot water followed by treatment with cell wall degrading enzymes even increased yields of phenolic compounds. Only some quercetin glycosides and malvidin coumaroylglucoside were partly hydrolyzed due to enzyme side activities. This new process may provide a valuable alternative to the application of sulfite, which is considered crucial in food processing. [source] Methane steam reforming at microscales: Operation strategies for variable power output at millisecond contact timesAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009Georgios D. Stefanidis Abstract The potential of methane steam reforming at microscale is theoretically explored. To this end, a multifunctional catalytic plate microreactor, comprising of a propane combustion channel and a methane steam reforming channel, separated by a solid wall, is simulated with a pseudo 2-D (two-dimensional) reactor model. Newly developed lumped kinetic rate expressions for both processes, obtained from a posteriori reduction of detailed microkinetic models, are used. It is shown that the steam reforming at millisecond contact times is feasible at microscale, and in agreement with a recent experimental report. Furthermore, the attainable operating regions delimited from the materials stability limit, the breakthrough limit, and the maximum power output limit are mapped out. A simple operation strategy is presented for obtaining variable power output along the breakthrough line (a nearly iso-flow rate ratio line), while ensuring good overlap of reaction zones, and provide guidelines for reactor sizing. Finally, it is shown that the choice of the wall material depends on the targeted operating regime. Low-conductivity materials increase the methane conversion and power output at the expense of higher wall temperatures and steeper temperature gradients along the wall. For operation close to the breakthrough limit, intermediate conductivity materials, such as stainless steel, offer a good compromise between methane conversion and wall temperature. Even without recuperative heat exchange, the thermal efficiency of the multifunctional device and the reformer approaches ,65% and ,85%, respectively. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source] Ultrastructural and Immunocytochemical Studies on Effects of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus , Infection on Fusarium Head Blight, Caused by Fusarium graminearum, in Wheat PlantsJOURNAL OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY, Issue 1 2006Y. Liu Abstract The interactions between barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) and Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused by Fusarium graminearum, were studied in the two winter wheat cultivars (cvs.), Agent (susceptible to FHB) and Petrus (moderately resistant to FHB), using ultrastructural and immunocytochemical methods. Infections of wheat plants of both cvs. by BYDV increased susceptibility to FHB. BYDV infection caused numerous cytological changes in lemma tissue of both cvs. such as formation of vesicles in the cytoplasm, degradation of fine structures of chloroplasts of both cvs. and accumulation of large starch grains in the chloroplasts. Electron microscopical studies showed that the development of F. graminearum on spike surfaces was not affected in BYDV-infected plants. After penetration and intercellular growth in lemma tissue, defence responses to Fusarium infections were markedly reduced in BYDV-diseased plants compared to the tissue of virus-free plants. At sites of contact of fungal cells with host tissue, depositions of cell wall material were distinctly less pronounced than in tissues of virus-free plants of cv. Petrus. Detection of , -1,3-glucanases and chitinases in lemma tissue of cv. Agent revealed no appreciably increased accumulation of both defence enzymes in F. graminearum -infected virus-free and BYDV-infected tissues compared to the non-infected control tissue. On the other hand, in cv. Petrus, infection with F. graminearum induced a markedly enhanced activity of both enzymes 3 days after inoculation. The increase of both enzyme activities was less pronounced in BYDV-infected plants than in tissue exclusively infected with F. graminearum. Cytological studies suggest that in contrast to the susceptible cv. Agent postinfectional defence responses may play still an important role in the resistance of the moderately resistant cv. Petrus to FHB. [source] INFLUENCE OF CELL SIZE AND CELL WALL VOLUME FRACTION ON FAILURE PROPERTIES OF POTATO AND CARROT TISSUEJOURNAL OF TEXTURE STUDIES, Issue 1 2005ARTUR ZDUNEK ABSTRACT This article presents the influence of cell size and cell wall volume fraction on the failure parameters of potato tuber and carrot tissue. Confocal scanning laser microscope was used for obtaining images of the cell structure of the tissues. The mean cell face area and the cell wall volume fraction obtained from the images was compared with work to failure, failure stress, failure strain and secant modulus obtained in a compression test of potato and carrot tissue at two strain rates. Bigger cells and less amount of cell wall material weakened the tissue, which was visible as a linear decrease in the parameters: work to failure, failure stress and failure strain. There were differences between potato and carrot in the secant modulus. For carrot, the secant modulus changed with microstructural parameters, whereas for potato, the secant modulus did not depend on these values. The strain rate decreases all the failure properties for potato. For carrot, only the work to failure was affected by the strain rate. [source] RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PRIMARY PLANT CELL WALL ARCHITECTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES FOR ONION BULB SCALE EPIDERMAL CELLSJOURNAL OF TEXTURE STUDIES, Issue 6 2004DAVID G. HEPWORTH ABSTRACT This article investigates onion epidermal tissue (Allium cepa) using a combination of mechanical testing, microscopy and modeling and relates tissue mechanical properties to the known structure of the cell walls. Onion epidermal tissue has a simple, regular structure of elongated cells, which have been used to enable the contributions to mechanical properties of cell walls and of higher order structures to be separated and analyzed. Two models of wall behavior were used to explore how Poisson's ratio of cell walls parallel to the plane of the epidermal surface may vary with applied strain. In the first model, cellulose microfibrils can be reorientated in an unrestricted way with the result that the cell wall volume decreases. In the second model the volume of the cell wall remains constant, which controls the reorientation of microfibrils, hence the Poisson's ratio. Measurements made from uniaxially stretched cells show that the data most closely fits model I, therefore, it is concluded that the bulk of the matrix has little influence on the observed mechanical properties (at a test rate of 1 mm/min), allowing cellulose microfibrils to reorient through the matrix in an unrestricted way during uniaxial tests. In its mechanical attributes the primary cell wall resembles more a knitted cloth than a semisolid composite material. When biaxial stretching is applied to tissue, so that there is no re-orientation of microfibrils, the cell wall material is still able to reach surprisingly large elastic strains of up to 12.5% and no plastic deformation was recorded. Current theory suggests that cellulose microfibrils can stretch elastically by a maximum of 7%, therefore further work is required to identify mechanisms that could account for the extra elastic strain. [source] Effect of caking and stickiness on the retention of spray-dried encapsulated orange peel oilJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 15 2003César I Beristain Abstract Flavour microcapsules containing amorphous carbohydrate as wall material can undergo changes such as crystallisation, clumping, sticking and caking during handling and storage. Such physical changes may lead to the release of entrapped flavours. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of storage temperature and water activity on caking, stickiness and glass transition temperatures and to evaluate the relative degree of protection provided to orange peel oil entrapped in mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) gum by spray drying. The powders were stored at water activities (aw) ranging from 0.108 to 0.972 at 25 and 35 °C. The surface caking temperature (Tsc) and advance caking temperature (Tac) were determined by the modified ampoule and sealed glass tube methods respectively. The glass transition temperature was determined by differential scanning calorimetry. Changes in the amount of encapsulated oil were determined by Clevenger hydrodistillation. As expected, both Tsc and Tac decreased with increasing storage aw. Above aw 0.628 the powders caked and collapsed during storage at 35 °C. Below aw 0.628 the capsules were not damaged and high retention levels (above 90%) were obtained. Increasing aw in the range 0.743,0.972 caused progressive dissolution of the wall polymer, and the retention level dropped sharply. The volatiles are protected and retained by mesquite gum as long as the capsule structure remains intact. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Degradation kinetics of beetroot pigment encapsulated in polymeric matricesJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 8 2001George S Serris Abstract Kinetic studies on the degradation of water-soluble beetroot pigment, mainly consisting of the betalain betanin, encapsulated in three different matrices (pullulan and two maltodextrin samples differing in their molecular weight) were carried out under various water activity (aw,=,0.23, 0.43, 0.64, 0.75 and 0.84) and temperature (30, 40 and 50,°C) conditions. The water sorption behaviour of these materials was also examined. Degradation of the pigment was monitored by absorbance measurements at 537,nm (,max of betanin). The highest values of the rate constants for degradation were observed at an intermediate water activity level (aw,=,0.64) for all matrices and all three storage temperatures examined. An attempt to relate the degradation kinetics to the molecular mobility of the wall material was not successful. Pigment losses were observed even at temperatures below the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the polymeric matrices, although degradation was largely slowed down in the glassy state. In the vicinity of the Tg zone, where all polymers go through a glass , rubber transition, there was not a distinct change in the reaction rate, which could reflect the pronounced changes in molecular mobility of the wall material. In fact, some of the lower degradation rates were observed mostly under conditions where the matrices were fully plasticised (ie rubbery) and ,collapsed', implying that the degradation kinetics is not governed by factors related only to the physical state of the polymeric wall material. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Cell wall polysaccharides of bush butter (Dacryodes edulis (G Don) HJ Lam) fruit pulp and their evolution during ripeningJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 8 2001Crépin Ella Missang Abstract Cell wall material was isolated as alcohol-insoluble solids (AIS) from bush butter endocarp tissue at different stages of ripeness. AIS were then extracted with 0.05,M CDTA followed by increasing concentrations of KOH (0.05, 1 and 4,M respectively). The chemical extractions solubilised a total of 51.6,60.6% of AIS, the yields of CDTA extracts accounting for approximately 9.6,12.2% of AIS. The extracts as well as the residues were analysed for their sugar composition and protein and starch contents. CDTA extracted the bulk of uronic acid in AIS, but the uronic acid content (after dialysis) of these extracts showed a significant decrease as the fruits ripened (from 439 to 252,mg,g,1 between the first and the last degree of ripeness). Analysis of the CDTA extracts by anion exchange and size exclusion chromatography showed a gradual appearance of new pectic populations at low degrees of methylation and low molecular weights, indicating that CDTA-soluble pectins are demethylated and depolymerised during ripening. The dilute alkali (0.05,M KOH) extracts were essentially composed of proteins in addition to a minor quantity of pectin. The 1,M KOH and principally 4,M KOH treatments led to the extraction of hemicelluloses, mainly xyloglucan-like and mannan-like polymers. These extracts also contained substantial amounts of protein and starch. No variation related to the degree of ripeness was visible in the sugar composition of the alkali extracts. The molecular weight distribution of the hemicelluloses did not change with the degree of ripeness. The final residues accounted for 21.4,27.3% of AIS and were mostly composed of glucose (827,908,mg,g,1). All these results suggested that only CDTA-soluble pectins were involved in bush butter fruit softening. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Changes in the pectic fraction of bush butter (Dacryodes edulis (G Don) HJ Lam) fruit pulp during ripeningJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 8 2001Crépin Ella Missang Abstract CDTA-soluble polysaccharides were extracted from cell wall material (prepared as alcohol-insoluble solids) of bush butter fruit endocarp tissue at three stages of ripeness. The amount of soluble pectins remained constant but they underwent a gradual depolymerisation during ripening. The CDTA extracts were fractionated by anion exchange and the subfractions were analysed for their sugar composition and molecular weight distribution. For all degrees of ripeness the extracts were composed of three minor peaks and two major peaks. The minor peaks appeared to be composed of xyloglucan and mannan-type polymers for the first peak and arabinogalactan-type polymers for the other two peaks. The two main peaks were retained on the column. The first was exclusively composed of homogalacturonan polymers and the second contained principally highly branched rhamnogalacturonan polymers. During ripening, both homogalacturonan and rhamnogalacturonan populations were modified. Modifications in the rhamnogalacturonan fraction were principally marked by the accumulation of low-molecular-weight rhamnoglacturonan polymers in the course of ripening. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Preparation of microparticulate ,-glucan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae for use in immune potentiationLETTERS IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2002K.W. Hunter Jr Aims: To develop a method for the preparation of an immunologically active, homogeneous, nonaggregated, microparticulate ,-glucan-containing material from the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Methods and Results: Using a combination of sonication and spray-drying, a homogeneous preparation of 1,2-µ diameter ,-glucan-containing particles was made from alkali- and acid-insoluble yeast cell wall material. This microparticulate ,-glucan remained in suspension longer and, following oral administration at 0·1 mg kg,1 for 14 d, enhanced phagocytosis of mouse peritoneal macrophages significantly better than did aggregated ,-glucan particles. Conclusions: A new sonication and spray-drying method can be employed to overcome the problem of aggregation of ,-glucan microparticles in aqueous media. Significance and Impact of the Study: A microparticulate form of ,-glucan that remains in suspension longer for pharmaceutical applications and has superior immune potentiation characteristics has been developed. [source] Characterization of nonderivatized plant cell walls using high-resolution solution-state NMR spectroscopy,MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN CHEMISTRY, Issue 6 2008Daniel J. Yelle Abstract A recently described plant cell wall dissolution system has been modified to use perdeuterated solvents to allow direct in-NMR-tube dissolution and high-resolution solution-state NMR of the whole cell wall without derivatization. Finely ground cell wall material dissolves in a solvent system containing dimethylsulfoxide- d6 and 1-methylimidazole- d6 in a ratio of 4:1 (v/v), keeping wood component structures mainly intact in their near-native state. Two-dimensional NMR experiments, using gradient-HSQC (heteronuclear single quantum coherence) 1-bond 13C1H correlation spectroscopy, on nonderivatized cell wall material from a representative gymnosperm pinus taeda (loblolly pine), an angiosperm Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen), and a herbaceous plant Hibiscus cannabinus (kenaf) demonstrate the efficacy of the system. We describe a method to synthesize 1-methylimidazole- d6 with a high degree of perdeuteration, thus allowing cell wall dissolution and NMR characterization of nonderivatized plant cell wall structures. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The digestive tract and life history of small mammalsMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 2 2002PETER LANGER ABSTRACT The type of food, differentiation of the large intestine and stomach, and methane production, as well as life history data, are considered in Insectivora, Rodentia and Lagomorpha. When food containing plant cell wall material is eaten, there is either a differentiation of the stomach or the large intestine. In animals with low body mass and little differentiation of the gastrointestinal tract, methane production is low, but structures essential for microbial digestion of plant cell wall material, such as haustration of the colon or formation of a caecum, can be found in many methane-producers. Animals with a body mass < 500 g and a weaning time < 20 days are non-producers of methane. Establishment of a balanced microbial population in the gastrointestinal tract requires some time. Many non-producers of methane wean their young in < 10 days, but many producers need > 50 days for the weaning process. Caviomorpha, Thryonomyidae and Hystricidae seem to have ,opened the door' to the use of low quality food by microbial fermentation, but some of them have to ,pay' for this extension of the food range by an extended weaning period, which also means an extended dependency on the mother. [source] Kin1 is a plasma membrane-associated kinase that regulates the cell surface in fission yeastMOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2010Angela Cadou Summary Cell morphogenesis is a complex process that depends on cytoskeleton and membrane organization, intracellular signalling and vesicular trafficking. The rod shape of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and the availability of powerful genetic tools make this species an excellent model to study cell morphology. Here we have investigated the function of the conserved Kin1 kinase. Kin1-GFP associates dynamically with the plasma membrane at sites of active cell surface remodelling and is present in the membrane fraction. Kin1, null cells show severe defects in cell wall structure and are unable to maintain a rod shape. To explore Kin1 primary function, we constructed an ATP analogue-sensitive allele kin1-as1. Kin1 inhibition primarily promotes delocalization of plasma membrane-associated markers of actively growing cell surface regions. Kin1 itself is depolarized and its mobility is strongly reduced. Subsequently, amorphous cell wall material accumulates at the cell surface, a phenotype that is dependent on vesicular trafficking, and the cell wall integrity mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway is activated. Deletion of cell wall integrity mitogen-activated protein kinase components reduces kin1, hypersensitivity to stresses such as those induced by Calcofluor white and SDS. We propose that Kin1 is required for a tight link between the plasma membrane and the cell wall. [source] The PAK family kinase Cla4 is required for budding and morphogenesis in Ustilago maydisMOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2004Leonora Leveleki Summary The phytopathogenic basidiomycete Ustilago maydis displays a dimorphic switch between budding growth of haploid cells and filamentous growth of the dikaryon. In a screen for mutants affected in morphogenesis and cytokinesis, we identified the serine/threonine protein kinase Cla4, a member of the family of p21-activated kinases (PAKs). Cells, in which cla4 has been deleted, are viable but they are unable to bud properly. Instead, cla4 mutant cells grow as branched septate hyphae and divide by contraction and fission at septal cross walls. Delocalized deposition of chitinous cell wall material along the cell surface is observed in cla4 mutant cells. Deletion of the Cdc42/Rac1 interaction domain (CRIB) results in a constitutive active Cla4 kinase, whose expression is lethal for the cell. cla4 mutant cells are unable to induce pathogenic development in plants and to display filamentous growth in a mating reaction, although they are still able to secrete pheromone and to undergo cell fusion with wild-type cells. We propose that Cla4 is involved in the regulation of cell polarity during budding and filamentation. [source] Vesicle transport and the cytoskeleton in the unicellular red alga Glaucosphaera vacuolataPHYCOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2006Sarah M. Wilson SUMMARY Vesicles are continually transported from the perinuclear region to the cell's exterior in the unicellular red alga Glaucosphaera vacuolata Korshikov. This phenomenon is recorded here with time-lapse videomicroscopy. The mechanism governing this intracellular motility is unknown but the cytoskeleton is believed to be involved. Microtubules and actin filaments are located in Glaucosphaera using fluorescently conjugated antibodies and FITC-phallicidin, respectively. Microtubules radiate in all planes from the perinuclear region to the periphery whereas actin filaments form rings around migrating vesicles. This pattern of location might indicate that both microtubules and actin filaments are involved in vesicle transport. However, this conclusion is not confirmed directly because the thick mucilaginous wall material seemed to prevent the entry of cytoskeletal inhibitors. A video clip of vesicle movement is available at http://www.cytographics.com/. [source] Ultrastructure of the differentiating zygotospores of Porphyra leucosticta (Rhodophyta)PHYCOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2002Ioannes Tsekos SUMMARY The ultrastructure of zygotosporogenesis is described for the red alga Porphyra leucosticta Thuret. Packets of eight zygotosporangia, each packet derived from a single carpogonium are interspersed among vegetative cells. Zygotospore differentiation in Porphyra can be separated into three developmental stages. (i) Young zygotospores exhibit a nucleus and a large centrally located, lobed plastid with pyrenoid. Mucilage is produced within concentric membrane structures during their dilation, thus resulting in the formation of mucilage sacs. Subsequently, these sacs release their contents, initiating the zygotospore wall formation. Straight-profiled dictyosomes produce vesicles that also provide wall material. During the later stages of young zygotospores, starch polymerization commences, (ii) Medium-aged zygotospores are characterized by the presence of fibrous vacuoles. These are formed from the ,fibrous vacuole associated organelles'. The fibrous vacuoles finally discharge their contents. (iii) Mature zygotospores are recognized by the presence of numerous cored vesicles produced by dictyosomes. Cored vesicles either discharge their contents or are incorporated into the fibrous vacuoles. There is a gradual reduction of starch granules during zygotospore differentiation. Mature zygotospores are surrounded by a fibrous wall, have a large chloroplast with pyrenoid and well-depicted phycobilisomes but are devoid of starch granules. [source] Plant cell wall biosynthesis: genetic, biochemical and functional genomics approaches to the identification of key genesPLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL, Issue 2 2006Naser Farrokhi Summary Cell walls are dynamic structures that represent key determinants of overall plant form, plant growth and development, and the responses of plants to environmental and pathogen-induced stresses. Walls play centrally important roles in the quality and processing of plant-based foods for both human and animal consumption, and in the production of fibres during pulp and paper manufacture. In the future, wall material that constitutes the major proportion of cereal straws and other crop residues will find increasing application as a source of renewable fuel and composite manufacture. Although the chemical structures of most wall constituents have been defined in detail, the enzymes involved in their synthesis and remodelling remain largely undefined, particularly those involved in polysaccharide biosynthesis. There have been real recent advances in our understanding of cellulose biosynthesis in plants, but, with few exceptions, the identities and modes of action of polysaccharide synthases and other glycosyltransferases that mediate the biosynthesis of the major non-cellulosic wall polysaccharides are not known. Nevertheless, emerging functional genomics and molecular genetics technologies are now allowing us to re-examine the central questions related to wall biosynthesis. The availability of the rice, Populus trichocarpa and Arabidopsis genome sequences, a variety of mutant populations, high-density genetic maps for cereals and other industrially important plants, high-throughput genome and transcript analysis systems, extensive publicly available genomics resources and an increasing armoury of analysis systems for the definition of candidate gene function will together allow us to take a systems approach to the description of wall biosynthesis in plants. [source] Turgor pressure, membrane tension and the control of exocytosis in higher plantsPLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 9 2000Wieland Fricke ABSTRACT Both turgor pressure and differences in membrane tension are capable of providing an energy input into exocytosis, the process of fusion of Golgi vesicles with the cell membrane in plants. It is shown that the contribution of turgor pressure is much larger than that of membrane tension, so that the exocytotic process is not likely on thermodynamic grounds to be reversible unless another source of energy is made available. However, recycling of membrane material as flattened, empty vesicles is energetically possible and is likely to be favoured when the magnitude of membrane tension in the cell membrane is low. Thus the outward flows of membrane and cell wall material are in principle linked to turgor, whereas membrane tension influences the inward flow of membrane material. [source] Cyst Formation in a Freshwater Strain of the Choanoflagellate Desmarella moniliformis KentTHE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2000BARRY S. C. LEADBEATER ABSTRACT. Cyst formation in a freshwater strain of the colonial freshwater Choanoflagellate Desmarella moniliformis Kent (Protozoa; Choanoflagellida) has been studied with light and electron microscopy for the first time. Batch cultures inoculated with motile vegetative cells start to produce cysts within 3 days during the exponential phase of growth. Cyst production proceeds until in late stationary phase there is a preponderance of cysts. Transfer of cysts to fresh medium results in limited excystment. Encystment involves the production of electron-dense fibrillar wall material, firstly around the neck of the cell and then around the posterior end. As the wall material is deposited the neck of the cell elongates and the dictyosome rotates from the horizontal to vertical plane. The number of mitochondrial profiles seen in individual sections of cells increases. Finally the neck of the cell is retracted, the flagellum and collar tentacles are withdrawn, and the bottom of the neck of the cyst wall is sealed with a diaphragm of wall material. Excystment, which has not been observed directly, appears to involve the disruption of the wall at the base of the neck, the remainder of the cyst wall remains intact. Comparisons are made between encystment in Desmarella and cyst development in other protists. [source] Review: Condensed tannin and grape cell wall interactions and their impact on tannin extractability into wineAUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF GRAPE AND WINE RESEARCH, Issue 1 2010R.L. HANLIN Abstract It has been suggested that tannin extraction from grape berries into wine is limited by tannin binding to cell walls. Here we review the current state of knowledge and identify gaps in research that would enable characterisation of these interactions. Such characterisation could improve tannin extraction management in winemaking. The work identified in this review supports the hypothesis that tannin,cell wall interactions are formed by hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions with the binding capacity of the cell walls influenced by tannin and polysaccharide structure and composition. Cell wall changes during berry development may increase the tannin-binding capacity of cell walls, while tannin structure may also influence its affinity for cell wall material. This review also identifies the need to investigate cultural and environmental factors that affect tannin and polysaccharide composition, to characterise the tannin-binding capacity of cell walls and to develop methods for assessing tannin-binding capacity of fruit prior to harvest. It is envisaged that a detailed understanding of tannin interactions with other components in the grape would lead to a predictive model for extractability of condensed tannins into wine. [source] Pit membrane remnants in perforation plates of Hydrangeales with comments on pit membrane remnant occurrence, physiological significance and phylogenetic distribution in dicotyledonsBOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2004SHERWIN CARLQUIST FLS Perforation plates from ten species of seven genera of Hydrangeales sensu Thorne were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The presence of pit membranes in perforations ranges from abundant, as in Carpenteria and Hydrangea, to minimal, as in Deutzia, Escallonia and Philadelphus. Abnormally great pit membrane presence may result from the presence of secondary compounds that inhibit lysis, as in Quintinia serrata; such interference with the natural lysis process may or may not be evident from coarseness and irregularity of pit membrane surface and of threads composing the pit membrane remnants. The presence of pit membrane remnants in perforation plates is hypothesized to be a symplesiomorphy, found in a fraction of dicotyledons with scalariform perforation plates (but still in an appreciable number of species). Pit membrane remnant presence may represent incomplete lysis of primary wall material (cellulose microfibrils) in species that occupy highly mesic habitats, where such impedance in the conductive stream does not have an appreciable negative selective value. This physiological interpretation of pit membrane remnants in perforations is enhanced by the phylogenetic distribution as well as the strongly mesic ecological preferences of species that exemplify this phenomenon in dicotyledons at large. Families with pit membrane presence in perforations are scattered throughout phylogenetic trees, but they occur most often in basal branches of major clades (superorders) or as basal branches of orders within the major clades. Further study will doubtless reveal other families and genera in which this phenomenon occurs, although it is readily detected only with SEM. Phylogenetic stages in the disappearance of pit membrane remnants from perforation plates are described, ranging from intact pit membranes except for presence of pores of various sizes, to presence of membrane remnants only at lateral ends of perforations and in one or two perforations (arguably pits) at the transition between a perforation plate and subadjacent lateral wall pitting. Developmental study of the mechanism and timing of lysis of pit membranes in perforations, and assessment of the role of the conductive stream in their removal, are needed to enhance present understanding of vessel evolution. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 146, 41,51. [source] Comparative anatomy and systematics of Catasetinae (Orchidaceae)BOTANICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 2 2001WILLIAM LOUIS STERN FLS Catasetinae consist of five genera of pseudobulbous Orchidaceae of the Neotropics. Anatomy is characterized by sunken, three-celled foliar hairs, mostly tetracytic stomatal apparatuses, superficial stomata, homogeneous mesophyll, foliar fibre bundles, collateral vascular bundles in a single row, xylem and phloem sclerenchyma associated with vascular bundles in leaves, conical, and rough-surfaced silica bodies adjacent to vascular bundle sclerenchyma; epidermal cells of pseudobulbs with heavily thickened outer walls, pseudobulb ground tissue of assimilatory and water-storage cells, scattered vascular bundles in pseudobulbs, and sclerenchyma and stegmata associated only with phloem of pseudobulbs; roots with thin-walled velamen cells and tenuous spirals of cell wall material, distinctive epivelamen cells, thin-walled exodermal cells and vascular tissue embedded in parenchyma. Except for mucilaginous idioblasts that occur in Mormodes and Cycnoches, there are few outstanding anatomical differences among the five genera. Thus, there are few anatomical characteristics of phylogenetic value. The monophyly of Catasetinae is supported by the presence of sunken foliar hairs. Our results support a close relationship between Clowesia and Catasetum, and between Mormodes and Cycnoches. Among the outgroups Pteroglossaspis is especially distinctive. [source] Microencapsulation of n -Eicosane as Energy Storage MaterialCHINESE JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY, Issue 5 2004Xiao-Zheng Lan Abstract For heat energy storage application, polyurea microcapsules containing phase change material, n -eicosane, were synthesized by using interfacial polymerization method with toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI) and diethylenetriamine (DETA) as monomers in an emulsion system. Poly(ethylene glycol)octyl-phenyl ether (OP), a nonionic surfactant, was the emulsifier for the system. The experimental result indicates that TDI was reacted with DETA in a mass ratio of 3 to 1. FT-IR spectra confirm the formation of wall material, polyurea, from the two monomers, TDI and DETA. Encapsulation efficiency of n -eicosane is about 75%. Microcapsule of n -eicosane melts at a temperature close to that of n -eicosane, while its stored heat energy varies with core material n -eicosane when wall material fixed. Thermo-gravimetric analysis shows that core material n -eicosane, micro- n -eicosane and wall material polyurea can withstand temperatures up to 130, 170 and 250 °C, respectively. [source] GENETIC INFLUENCES ON THE ARTERIAL WALLCLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 7 2007Bronwyn Kingwell SUMMARY 1Arterial stiffness, which has independent predictive value for cardiovascular events, seems to have a genetic component, largely independent of the influence of blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors. 2In animal models of essential hypertension (stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats), structural modifications of the arterial wall include an increase in the number of elastin,smooth muscle cell connections and smaller fenestrations of the internal elastic lamina, possibility leading to redistribution of the mechanical load towards elastic materials. These modifications may give rise to mechanisms explaining why changes in arterial wall material accompanying wall hypertrophy in these animals are not associated with an increase in arterial stiffness. 3In monogenic connective tissue diseases (Marfan, Williams and Ehlers,Danlos syndromes) and the corresponding animal models, precise characterization of the arterial phenotype makes it possible to determine the influence of abnormal, genetically determined, wall components on arterial stiffness. 4Such studies have highlighted the role of extracellular matrix signalling in the vascular wall and have shown that elastin and collagen not only display elasticity or rigidity, but are also involved in the control of smooth muscle cell function. 5These data provide strong evidence that arterial stiffness is affected by the amount and density of stiff wall material and the spatial organization of that material. [source] Identification and functional analysis of the gene for type I myosin in fission yeastGENES TO CELLS, Issue 3 2001Mika Toya Background Type I myosin is highly conserved among eukaryotes, and apparently plays important roles in a number of cellular processes. In the budding yeast, two myosin I species have been identified and their role in F-actin assembly has been inferred. Results We cloned the fission yeast myo1 gene, which apparently encoded a myosin I protein. Disruption of myo1 was not lethal, but it caused growth retardation at high and low temperatures, sensitivity to a high concentration of KCl, and aberrance in cell morphology associated with an abnormal distribution of F-actin patches. An abnormal deposition of cell wall materials was also seen. Homothallic myo1, cells could mate, but heterothallic myo1, cells were poor in conjugation. Myo1p was necessary for the encapsulation of spores. The tail domain of Myo1p was pivotal for its function. Calmodulin could bind to Myo1p through the IQ domain at the neck. Conclusions Myo1p appears to control the redistribution of F-actin patches during the cell cycle. Loss of Myo1p function is likely to slow down the actin assembly/disassembly process, which results in a failure of the actin cycle to catch up with other events in both the mitotic and meiotic cell cycles, including extension of the conjugation tubes. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||